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Zondervan officials tout the TNIV as fresher and more accessible than other versions, and they claim the changes that make its language more contemporary also make it more readable, relevant, and understandable to modern readers. Caminiti says the new translation is designed specifically to target 18- to 34-year-olds.
However, Grudem says there are several modern English translations of the Bible that manage to be fresh and accessible without changing the meaning of scripture as he feels the TNIV does. He believes many of the changes that the TNIV's translators claim make the text more understandable were unnecessary.
"Who can't understand 'He keeps all His bones -- not one of them is broken'?" the Phoenix Seminary professor asks. "That's English. What's the need to change that? Who can't understand 'What is man that You are mindful of him, the Son of Man that You care for Him?' Those are first-grade words -- those haven't changed."
According to Grudem, time and culture have not altered English usage or the understanding of the scriptures to the extent that some translators would suggest. "The meanings of the words 'father,' 'son,' 'brother,' 'man,' and 'he,' 'him,' and 'his' haven't changed, and the meanings of the original Greek and Hebrew words haven't changed," he says. Rather, it is the Committee on Bible Translation that has changed, the professor contends, and he believes he knows why.
"I think they've changed because there's been cultural pressure in our society to avoid the use of male-oriented examples when teaching a general truth," Dr. Grudem says. And that is why, he maintains, the TNIV is a serious threat to the accuracy of God's Word.
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Today's New International Version (
Phoenix Seminary (
