The news that there will be a new translation of the New International Version (NIV) has been somewhat overshadowed by the simultaneous announcement that its much-criticized revision, Today's New International Version (TNIV), is to be scrapped.

Both developments are of great significance to the Christian retailing world, where the core Bibles market has become increasingly competitive in recent years. As we noted in a report earlier this year, Christian stores' Bible sales in 2007 covered more than 7,000 SKUs. That's a lot of variations on a theme.

Those behind the NIV and TNIV--the Committee for Bible Translation, Biblica and Zondervan--have launched a Web site (http://www.nivbible2011.com/index.php) explaining the move and inviting comments and questions.

At the Zondervan blog (http://zondervan.typepad.com/zondervan), President and CEO Moe Girkins says that she hopes the new edition will be "the first step toward an NIV that's even easier to read and understand, and that it will continue to find its way into the hands and hearts of millions."

Critics of the TNIV have responded to the news of its demise: Randy Stinson, president of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (http://www.cbmw.org/Blog/Posts/CBMW-leader-very-encouraged-by-NIV-announcement) and Albert Mohler, president of Southern Seminary (http://www.cbmw.org/Blog/Posts/The-NIV-Announcement-A-Statement).

Not everyone is happy about the announcement, though: http://www.emergingwomen.us/2009/09/01/zondervan-the-tniv-and-gender/

Here (http://www.biblica.com/bible/cbt/index.php)
you can find details of the team that will be working on the new NIV.

What do you think? Let us know by joining the conversation at our Christian Retailing Community forum, https://www.christianretailing.com/index.php/retail-focus/forum.

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