Bible's language riles evangelicals

Tinkering with the Bible has always been controversial.

In 1536, William Tyndale was burned at the stake for translating and printing the holy book in English.

Release of the King James Version in 1611 sparked such a furor that the Pilgrims refused to take it on the Mayflower. They stuck instead with the Geneva Bible. Still, the KJV won out, eventually becoming the beloved standard among Protestants for more than three centuries.

In the 1960s, when Kenneth Taylor worried that his children weren't understanding what they read in the Bible, he produced The Living Bible. He faced a torrent of criticism, but his venture later grew into Tyndale Publishing House.

Now, in a world of 70 English translations and a multiplicity of specialty Bibles, a new translation of the perennial bestseller is again causing a ruckus. This time the controversy has flared within the evangelical community, the largest US market for the scriptures, over gender-inclusive language. Some conservatives vigorously oppose changes they claim are being made for the sake of political correctness.

The International Bible Society (IBS) decided that the most popular Bible of recent decades – the New International Version (NIV), with 150 million copies sold since 1978 – needed updating to communicate the word accurately in "the language of the day." Earlier this year it announced publication of Today's New International Version (TNIV), with the New Testament to debut this month, and the Old Testament in 2005.

"Everyone should have access to the transforming power of God's Word in language they can understand and relate to," said Ronald Youngblood, board chairman of IBS, which since 1810 has sponsored translations in 600 languages.

The glitch, however, was that back in 1997, the society had promised not to do it. Their plan then to prepare a gender-inclusive revision sparked a firestorm of criticism from such influential conservatives as James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family, and leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, who branded the effort a capitulation to feminists. After discussions, the society and its commercial publisher, Zondervan, backed down on their plan.

But then they had a change of heart. "It came down to fulfilling our mission," says Larry Lincoln, communications director at IBS. "People don't speak the same way now they did 30 years ago – and we needed to offer another choice for today's generation."

Only 7 percent of the NIV was changed, Mr. Lincoln says, and less than 2 percent of changes relate to gender. Most are to clarify passages or update English, referring to Mary as "pregnant," for instance, rather than "with child." Male terminology for God is retained, and inclusive language is used only in situations where it was the original intent – for example, "sons of God" becomes "children of God," and "brothers" becomes "brothers and sisters." Another change with import for interfaith relations involves using more specific language; references to "the Jews," for instance, become "Jewish leaders."

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