From Christian Retailing:
http://www.christianretailing.com/article.php?sid=312
For more information on the ill-effects of the TNIV see:
Kept The Faith
and particularly the following denominational actions:
http://www.shepherdchurch.com/ktf/denom_resolutions.htm
http://www.christianretailing.com/article.php?sid=312
'Aggressive' marketing campaign planned for controversial 'gender' translation
By Andy Butcher
Zondervan intends to take the offensive for the forthcoming full release of its controversial new Bible translation, the Today´s New International Version (TNIV).
The company plans an "œaggressive" marketing campaign and a challenge to critics who urged a boycott of the translation when the New Testament TNIV was released two years ago.
"œWe are well aware that there is probably a little bit of molten lava left in the volcano, and we are prepared for that," said Paul Caminiti, vice president and associate publisher of Bibles. "œA few years from now people will be asking what all the fuss was about."
The result of a 10-year translation effort, the TNIV is being seen as the eventual successor to the New International Version (NIV), the best-selling modern English Bible in the world since its launch 30 years ago. Advertising on VH1 and in Rolling Stone magazine will be part of the promotional effort as Zondervan launches nine TNIV editions in February.
But the full TNIV is going to come under close scrutiny from those who said that revisions made to male and female references in the New Testament diluted the Bible´s meaning in places. They called the translation "œgender-neutral," a charge Caminiti said was "œoffensive."
LifeWay Christian Stores refused to stock the New Testament, and the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (CBMW) took out advertisements in which 100 church leaders said they did not recommend the TNIV for personal study or church use. The Southern Baptist Convention and the Presbyterian Church in America passed resolutions along similar lines.
Earlier this month Broadman & Holman Publishers (B&H) released The TNIV and the Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy by Vern S. Poythress and Wayne A. Grudem, which argues that although the TNIV translators may be well intentioned, "œthe results are subtly changing meanings of the original texts."
CBMW Director Randy Stinson said he was disappointed but not surprised by news of the February launch. "œWe had prayed that they would listen to the broad representation from the evangelical community that this was a problem and they would have at least indicated they were willing to discuss it and work through it."
Zondervan has begun introducing the TNIV to CBA-market retailers and will promote the translation at two key theological groups meeting this month"”the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature, and the Evangelical Theological Society.
Caminiti said Zondervan would be calling critics to "œintellectual honesty and integrity," referencing the B&H and LifeWay opposition to the TNIV, while B&H had produced its own edition of the New Living Translation (NLT)"”which he said took a similar philosophical approach to gender issues as the TNIV"”and the chain sold various versions of the NLT.
Both B&H and LifeWay declined to comment to Christian Retailing.
The "œaggressive" marketing campaign for the TNIV is in the works, Caminiti said. The 2002 launch of the TNIV New Testament was "œmore of a test than anything else," and a strategy for getting the word out about the translation that "œwe didn´t do very well," he added.
Since then around 100,000 copies had been given away and a recent Internet poll had found that 82% of respondents preferred the TNIV to the NIV, and 79% felt it was easier to understand.
The TNIV was particularly intended to engage 18- to 34-year-olds who were largely disconnected from the church, Caminiti said. The work of a team of leading Bible scholars, it was the latest addition to a genre of "œgender-accurate" translations including the NLT, New Century Version and Good News Bible.
Caminiti said that he believed there was a "œgrowing movement" of acceptance of the TNIV among CBA-market retailers, and that Zondervan would continue to explain its approach. There had been a lot of misinformation in the past, he told Christian Retailing. "œWe are going to tell the truth at every level."
Stinson said CBMW would review the forthcoming Bible. "œWhen you deviate from allowable meanings of particular words in the Old or New Testaments, inasmuch as you do that you begin to shave, even if only slightly, particular nuances of meaning and eliminate them so they will no longer be there "¦ it ceases to be translation and, in the end, becomes interpretation."
For more information on the ill-effects of the TNIV see:
Kept The Faith
and particularly the following denominational actions:
http://www.shepherdchurch.com/ktf/denom_resolutions.htm