London, 28th March 2005 (CNA)
- A new version of one of the world’s most
widely read English-language Bibles has caused a
stir among some Christians in the United States.
The New International Version, renamed
Today’s New International Version, underwent a
recent “modernization” by a team of 15 American
and British scholars and was published March 15.
Scholars say that more than 45,000 changes,
about seven per cent of the text, have been made
in an effort to update the “archaic” language and
use more colloquial terms.
But Paige Patterson, a former president of
the Southern Baptist Convention, told the
Telegraph that the translators have gone beyond
trying to clarify meaning.
"They have an agenda — to attempt to force
egalitarian and even feminist perspectives on
readers in the name of translation," he was quoted
as saying.
Patterson is referring to the "inclusive"
language that has been introduced in the new
version.
Where the original read: "When God created
Man, he made him in the likeness of God"; the new
version says: "When God created human beings, he
made them in the likeness of God."
The translators have also changed the word
"aliens," which they thought younger readers would
associate with extra-terrestrials, to
"foreigners.” The term "saints", considered too
"ecclesiastical", was changed to "God's chosen
people." And the Virgin Mary is no longer "with
child"; she is "pregnant."
The scholars rejected the charges, reported
the Telegraph. They said the changes were a fair
reflection of the original Greek or Hebrew texts
or updated colloquial English
words.
