To continue celebrating 50 years since work began on the New International Version (NIV) translation of the Bible, Biblica and Zondervan are releasing the next campaign theme: Made to Study.

Since its release in 1978, over 450 million copies of the NIV has been distributed worldwide.

“Made to Study” launched this week, continuing its focus on the historical milestones that accompanied the translation process. Fifty years ago, an international committee of cross-denominational evangelical scholars committed to spend countless hours discussing and debating detailed translation and language nuances.

Their goal? To create a Bible translation that could be understood and adopted by pastors, academics, and laypeople alike.

In 1978, the committee, known as The Committee on Bible Translation (CBT), released the full version of the NIV; readers were ecstatic that they could finally understand the Word of God in contemporary language. But the CBT’s work was far from complete.

A smaller group of committee scholars assembled study notes, maps, charts and diagrams to provide additional content and context, resulting in the NIV Study Bible. This Bible released in 1985 and provided unprecedented clarity with over 20,000 study notes and hundreds of study tools available to readers. The NIV Study Bible was designed for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the Bible.  To date, this Study Bible has sold more than 10 million copies, making it the best-selling single study Bible available over the past 30 years.

 “This anniversary campaign has been exciting thus far and we have only just begun to share the history of the NIV in this year-long campaign,” said John Kramp, SVP and Bible publisher for HarperCollins Christian Publishing. “The Made to Study campaign will continue to bring historical context to the NIV’s establishment within the Christian movement throughout the world. In addition to the translation itself, another key milestone of the CBT’s hard work was the publication of the NIV Study Bible.

“This Bible has been so impactful in helping Bible readers to grow deeper in their faith and understanding of God’s Word. Hundreds of thousands of people have come to better know Jesus because of this Bible’s commitment to making the deep study of God’s Word achievable.”

Visit www.thenivbible.com to view the Made to Study video, along with several stories related to the theme under the “50th Anniversary” tab. Earlier this year, Biblica, Zondervan and Tecarta launched a free NIV 50th Anniversary mobile app available on IOS and Android that provides free access to the NIV for the 2015 calendar year.

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