There’s a new bible in town, “Today’s New International Version”, or TNIV, brought to us by the same people who brought us the NIV. I use the original NIV Study Bible because I like the additional information it offers to put things in context.
Some are upset that some of the language has been changed to a more gender-neutral wording, changing some of the masculine words. The one that first jumped out at me is this one:
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.”
Not one to accept what I read in the news at face value, I went looking for more information. I was not going to accept that the publishers of the NIV would succumb to a PC feminist version of the bible. So off to do research. Here’s Genesis 1:27 NIV and TNIV:
NIV: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
TNIV: So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
I’m ok with that; it very obvious from the context that inclusive gender-neutral language was meant. A similar phrase also appears in Genesis 5:1-3.
NIV: When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them “man.”
TNIV: When God created human beings, he made them in the likeness of God. He created them male and female and blessed them. And when they were created, he called them “human beings.”
I’m still ok with this translation; it’s obvious that God is talking about creating men and women, and when the NIV was written 30 years ago, the English word “man” was often used to refer to man and women. We don’t do that today, largely because of the feminist movement.
Let’s go see the passage where God took a rib from Adam and see how it’s changed. Genesis 2:18-24:
NIV: The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
TNIV: The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
No changes at all; man is still man, woman is still woman, God is still God.
After that, lunch was over, so I stopped researching. 😛 One of the authors, Mark Strauss, goes to great lengths to show that appropriate gender-neutral language does not mean the bible has been compromised by a feminist agenda. So some of the sites critical of the TNIV update, I suspect, are doing a knee-jerk reaction to the news without looking to see what the TNIV authors have done.
More here and here and here and here and here and here and here.
Chasing the Wind 
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