Bill Mounce to Join the Committee for Bible Translation

Thanks to Mike Aubrey for this bit of groundbreaking news! Bill Mounce’s announcement can be read in its entirety HERE.

My first impression was one of shock! How could a member of the ESV translation team join the CBT when their charters appear to be so radically different? However, as Mike points out, Mounce is an translator of high regard. However, in his blog post Mounce provides a clarification/disclaimer as to why he decided to accept the CBT’s invitation and with this I am concerned:

“My biggest concern was the gender language, and the mishandling of the TNIV rollout that has been such a problem, and how that could happen again. You should know that I have been absolutely assured that the gender language is truly on the table for discussion, and since so much of the committee has changed, it is not a forgone conclusion as to how this committee will vote. Without that assurance, I could not have joined.”

I hope and trust that Dr Mounce is not intending to join the CBT so that he may reform it (I have no reason to suspect he does but I have found other ESV supporters to be quite aggressive in their opposition of the TNIV and am therefore wary) This is certainly not in anyway personal, but I hope that both Mounce can learn and develop his skills as a translator (as is mentioned by Mike) while also bringing a fresh/different perspective to the table. It is my hope that the NIV 2011 will remain faithful to most of the gender inclusive decisions made in the TNIV.

Finally I was aware that they had requested two new member to join the CBT. If any one knows of the second I would dearly like to know. I wondered if it might be BW3! Although, another woman on the committee would also be a positive move.

Interview with Douglas Moo on the 2011 NIV

I came across this interview with Doug Moo at DashHouse.com

I can only wonder how Moo, Fee, Waltke and the other CBT members must be feeling after all of the hard work they put into the TNIV. If anyone knows of comments concerning the TNIV’s demise from any of the CBT, could you please let me know?

CBT, Biblica and Zondervan NIV 2011 Webcast

If you head over to the NIV 2011 website you will find a 45 minute webcast by the Committee for Bible Translation, Biblical and Zondervan held at Trinity Christian College, concerning the revision of the NIV. It has some good comments from Douglas Moo and some very interesting comments from Zondervan’s CEO. The webcast allowed people to email questions to representatives of each organisation. There are some very good questions and for the most part the answers are open and honest. One thing is made crystal clear by Zondervan – NIV 2011 will be known as NIV!

The first question asked to the representatives concerned the future of the TNIV. Reading between the lines, and I could be wrong about this, I think the decision to dump the TNIV came from Zondervan. Perhaps this is what prompted the CBT’s decision to begin working toward a revision of the NIV. Remember, of the three organistaions, Zondervan is the business – the other two organisations are ministries. Sales were not cutting it so a descision was made to dump the TNIV.

And here it is: RIP TNIV – It was Fun While it Lasted…

According to Zondervan president Moe Girkins (as quoted in CT article)

“Whatever its strengths were, the TNIV divided the evangelical Christian community…so as we launch this new NIV, we will discontinue putting out new products with the TNIV.”

Two things I would love to ask Zondervan: Will they give me a brand new Bible to replace the TNIV I received at my ordination? Furthermore, will they reimburse our church who just purchased  TNIV pew Bibles?

Furthermore, Douglas Moo states:

“I can predict that this is going to look 90 percent or more what the 1984 NIV looks like and 95 percent what the TNIV looks like,” he said. “The changes are going to be a very small portion of the whole Scripture package.”

So why change? Marketing! The CBT believed in the TNIV a few years ago (and still do according to Moo). What has changed? Nothing! This is about Zondervan not making the money they projected from the TNIV. They underestimated the depth of resistance to gender inclusive language (which won’t change a whole lot in the new edition).

I found this comment from Moo quite funny as I was only talking to a fellow minister about this exact same thing yesterday:

“I sit in a church where the NIV is pew Bible,” he said. “But Sunday after Sunday I hear the preacher say, ‘I don’t think the NIV is quite right here.’ And I feel like saying I as a member of the CBT, ‘Yes, but we’ve changed that!’”

Well, one thing is for sure, I will stick to my Harper Collins NRSV Study Bible for personal use. When the RNIV is released in 2011 I will consider it as my preaching text (considering our church just outlaid the money for TNIV Pew Bibles). However, once bitten twice shy! Finally, overall I DO think this is a positive step for the NIV. I just wished they hadn’t messed up with the TNIV.

A thought concerning the TNIV…

Is it me, or does the TNIV/Revision of the NIV have a “New Coke” ring to it? Just thought I would put it out there!

The R-NIV is on its way!

And I prophesied it here last week! What can I say? I am a prophet without honour!

There are copious amounts of blog posts about the announcement so I won’t add to them. Nevertheless, I would like to say to Zondervan and Biblica, this is disappointing for those of us who have supported the TNIV. I think we all understood the TNIV to be a revision of the NIV and not a completely new translation. I do however, understand the TNIV got off to a bad start and has been misrepresented and unfairly criticised. However, I never thought Zondervan and Biblical would sound its death knell so soon or so subtly. I just hope the R-NIV keeps the many positive changes taken up in the TNIV – Including gender inclusivity!

On the bright side, one thing is for sure; they will produce the mother of all study Bibles in light of last year’s release of the ESV Study Bible! and, sales of the R-NIV will increase the overall readership of the Bible, so that is good news regardless of what this grumpy young fella thinks!

For more official information: The NIV 2011 website and press release can be found here

Furthermore, Mike has a good overview of thoughts from around the blogsphere

Now the only thing left to do is petition that it be called the RNIV!

What I Dislike Most About the TNIV…

…Is its name!

It is my opinion that the TNIV is an improved translation of its predecessor. As Mike Aubrey notes, there is a 4.2% variation across the board between the two versions. This is not a large difference, however, as has been noted elsewhere, some of the changes are significant and, in my opinion, help the reader to better hear God’s Word. As with all translations it is not perfect and it still has areas in which improvements could be made. However, it seems to me that the TNIV suffers from lack of respect. It is not selling and is perhaps being overlooked by Zondervan as a premier Bible.

Allow me to digress for a moment:

It is a balmy summer’s night in New York City and the Committee for Bible Translation is bringing its final NIV revision session to a close. Perhaps a prayer or two of thanksgiving is said and the committee goes off to enjoy dinner together (paid for by Zondervan as a small gesture of thanks for the committees hard work and commitment).

As the various evangelical scholars return to their seminaries, schools and universities, they are left wondering if they have been faithful to the task of translating scripture. Nevertheless, as the months go by their work on the NIV revision fades into the background as they deal with more pressing matters.

One day, as they are dealing with some of those pressing matters, they receive an email from Zondervan announcing the marketing strategy for the mammoth translation work they have faithfully committed themselves to for the past decade. The revision of the NIV will be marketed as “Todays New International Version”, or “TNIV” for short! and so it is, what the 100 or so scholars have faithfully spent the past decade working towards; a reliable, accurate, faithful and dynamic translation, has been undermined by a marketing strategy!

Of course this tale is apocryphal. However, I believe it illustrates where the TNIV has been failed. What could have been a new, well respected and well used Bible, has been reduced to a marketing slogan. Let us not be fooled, the inclusion of Today instead of Revised has done insurmountable damage to the TNIV’s reputation – and unfairly so.

Do you think “TNIV” is the wrong name for a translation that should actually be more widely used and more widely respected than its predecessor? I for one would vote that it be known as the Revised NIV, for that is what it is!