Southern Baptists oppose ‘inaccurate translation,’ but update of best-selling Bible is ‘being received well’ by others Zondervan has defended its updated New International Version (NIV) following criticism of the revision of the world’s best-selling Bible translation by a Southern Baptists forum. The censure came during the denomination’s annual meeting in June in Phoenix, when a debate on the 2011 translation was brought forward by a delegate rather than church leadership. Passed overwhelmingly, the resolution faulted the new NIV, which combines the 1984 NIV and the controversial Today’s New International Version (TNIV), replacing both versions. Calling the revision an “inaccurate translation,” the resolution said the new NIV changes the meaning of hundreds of verses, erasing gender-specific details that appear in the original language. “We are disappointed that delegates to the Southern Baptist Convention passed a resolution opposing the updated NIV against the wishes of the SBC resolution committee, who affirmed the transparency of the NIV translation process,” Zondervan said in a statement. Also in a statement, the Committee on Bible Translation (CBT), comprised of the global biblical scholars who translated the NIV and TNIV, decried the accusation that “the 2011 NIV has gone beyond acceptable translation standards.” “Our concern is always ... to represent God’s unchanging Word accurately and naturally in modern English,” CBT said. The resolution encouraged that the Bible not be carried by LifeWay Christian Stores, which are affiliated with the SBC. Al Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said that he regretted that the resolution addressed the chain so directly, according to Baptist Press. However, LifeWay stores “continue to sell the 2011 NIV, while working through the process of review with our board of trustees,” LifeWay Christian Resources Director of Communications Micah Carter told Christian Retailing. Family Christian Stores officials declined to comment, but the nation’s largest Christian retail chain’s Web site did not feature the updated NIV. Parable Group Sales and Marketing Manager Randy Maricle told Christian Retailing that the 2011 translation has had “good sell-through.” “The NIV continues to hold a steady 30%-plus market share,” he said. “We have not seen a variance in that since the transition to the new SKUs. … We have not heard any complaints from customers or Parable store owners. The product transition was as seamless as could be expected. "The NIV has been a trusted brand for a long time, and we don’t see any indication of that shifting," he added. David Rooker, manager of The Scroll Discount Christian Store in Tyler, Texas, said that the new NIV was “being received well.” “As far as sales and customer response, it is being accepted,” he told Christian Retailing. “We’ve done pretty well with them so far. … We accepted Zondervan’s original buy-in, which gave us extra terms and discount. It also gave us a much deeper selection of NIV in our Bible department than we had previously. The result has been encouraging. … The new NIV criticism is much ado about nothing in the wider scheme of things.” Supported by a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign, the new NIV debuted in March with the first of more than 150 SKUs. Zondervan was “humbled” by demand warranting a first print run of 1.4 million, said Senior Vice President and Publisher for Bibles Chip Brown. The NIV update was announced in September 2009, when it was also revealed that the controversial TNIV was to be phased out after the revision. A previous effort to remake the NIV for contemporary audiences was dogged by controversy. Zondervan released a New Testament of the TNIV in 2002 and the complete Bible in 2005, although critics—including the SBC—decried it for changing gender-specific pronouns in some references. The 2011 NIV was updated by the CBT to reflect changes in English usage and advances in biblical scholarship. In the NIV update, the CBT’s approach to gender language “has simply been to faithfully reflect the intentions of the original authors,” Zondervan said. “(It) … reflects widely accepted best practices for translation and mirrors the approach taken by many other well-respected Bible translations and commentaries.” The Grand Rapids, Mich.-based publisher has sold more than 50 million copies of the NIV since its debut in 1978, including more than 3 million copies last year.
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