The Highway Forums General Discussion Theology Discussion Forum Bill Hybels & Willow Creek h.

The church I attend has just started a 4 week series on "living beyond ourselves" by Hybels. I facilitate one of the groups & I prefaced the sessions with a review of his endorsing the TNIV version of the bible, and I detailed the disgusting (to me) "translation work done on it. Any comments?

Gnarley,

I've had a chance recently to meet with one of the translaters and the publisher to discuss this version of the Bible. As you probably know the translators who worked on the New International Version are the same team that worked on this version. They say they felt a need to develop a Bible which spoke the language of the 18 - 35 year olds today. So they call it Today's New International Version.

It has received a great amount of criticism from the conservatives and has been welcomed by their target market. Many call this version of the Bible "gender neutral". They prefer to call it "gender accurate." They have tried to be specific in rendering correct language depending on the context. For example in I Timothy 3 where we have guidelines for office bearers in the church they were careful not to surrender the male gender as spelled out in that context.

It's rather unfortunate that some of those who criticise this version misquote it's contents. For example a well known Baptist pastor spoke to a very large group of young pastors and told them that this version calls God a woman. I think it's okay to disagree with the changes the translaters have made but I think it's dishonest to go beyond the scope of the changes that were made to say it calls God a woman. This goes to show you the kind of reaction it has caused in the Christian community.

The TNIV has been out three years now and the translators will be meeting this summer to go back over their work to determine if further corrections need to be made. They tell me they are often forced to reconsider word meanings because of the changes which happen in our language today. Apparently 100,000 definition changes have occurred since they published this version and 10,000 new words have been added to our dictionary.

I'm personally not attracted to the TNIV nor even the NIV because I think in an effort to speak in the language of today they have lost some of the significant words and meanings that are much more accurate/profound in the word for word versions of the Bible. I told the publisher that the church today has created a buffet of choices for today's Christian by offering so many different styles of worship and the same is true for versions of the Bible which are taylored for specific groups. I think this causes problems in the church. They agreed but they are driven by market studies and trends. After all they are in a "for-profit" business.


Wes

I'm no slouch at reading, but the NIV does read better than the KJV. The older I get the more I can appreciate the language of the King James, but when I was younger it was nice to have something that I could read and understand more easily.

Besides, since everything else seems to be market driven, why not the market for bibles? And if they don't have a new translation out every so often, how can Zondervan and some of the others keep their sales up? I hope its nothing so commercial as that, but its possible.

Gnarly while everything that Wes said was true I like you have no appreciation for the TNIV or the NIV for that matter. The church where I attend has unfortunately seen fit to use the NIV as pew bibles mainly because its easy to read. I of course read from my NKJV or ESV both of which I'm convinced are better translations. Here is an article that explains my view and you might give to your elders too.
Paraphrase: Adding to God's word?

Gnarley,

Although I have a number of serious criticisms and concerns about Bill Hybels <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/Eeeeeek.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/scratch1.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/whatsgoingonhere.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/uhoh.gif" alt="" />, I personally wouldn't go to the mat <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/takethat.gif" alt="" /> over the use of his work or Willow Creek resources in general. I am not familiar with the Living Beyond Ourselves material, but his Too Busy Not to Pray and Making Life Work, while not perfect, are serviceable, especially for those who have not yet developed a taste for richer and more satisfying fare.

His endorsemnt of the TNIV is inexcusable <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/jawdrop.gif" alt="" />, but entirely consistent with his egalitarian beliefs and the practices of his church, which has had women elders since its founding <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/nope.gif" alt="" />, and is open in priciple to women serving in all areas of leadership, teaching, and ministry <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wow1.gif" alt="" /> (Hybels is a signatory of the Statement on Men, Women and Biblical Equality of Christians for Biblical Equality). <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/sick.gif" alt="" />

Boanerges has already cited one good resource on the TNIV and translation issues in general (The Sacred Sandwich also has some EXCELLENT satirical "photojournalism" that should not be missed <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/bravo.gif" alt="" />), and here are a couple of others that you might find useful:

Wayne Grudem - Changing God's Words
(Also available at The Sacred Sandwich website)

Vern Poythress - Is The TNIV Faithful in Its Treatment of Gender? No

Statement of Concern about the TNIV Bible (Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood)

Categorized List of 912 TNIV Inaccuracies



Soli Deo Gloria,

Brad Hammond

I think Brad hit the nail right on the head with the tie of Hybels endorsement of TNIV and the egalitarian issues. Very well said. I too have reservations now with Hybels. And I used to attend Willowcreek myself several years ago and my current church is in the Willowcreek association. I really started questioning Hybel's discernment in general when he had Bill Clinton come speak at the pastor's conference a few years ago. I can't comment on the specific material gnarley brings up, but I do know the problems that exists with the TNIV.