October 7 2002

ARTICLE TOOLS

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The main points that Dr. Strauss tries to make are not new, but have already received a response in Vern S. Poythress and Wayne A. Grudem, The Gender-Neutral Bible Controversy: Muting the Masculinity of God's Words (GNBC; Broadman & Holman, 2000; now online at www.cbmw.org/resources/books and www.keptthefaith.org).

Dr. Strauss says that the TNIV makes improvements to the NIV, such as using person or people when that is what the Greek means. But this has never been the question under debate (see my approval of such changes in GNBC, 91-99, 197-198). The question is not whether the TNIV got some things right, but whether it is faithful in the area of gender—and there are many places where it is not, verses with changes in meaning due to the gender-neutral policy stated in the TNIV preface.

For example, the TNIV changes father to parents (Heb. 12:7), son to children (Gal. 4:7; Heb. 12:7b; Rev. 21:7), and brother to fellow believers (1 Cor. 5:11; 2 Thess. 3:15; 1 John 2:10). This neutering of meaning conforms to political correctness. In all these verses, the Greek is singular, and the singular form consistently carries a male meaning that is dropped by the TNIV (GNBC, 251-276; "Analyzing Today's NIV," www.keptthefaith.org). Dr. Strauss confuses the discussion because, under the term inclusive, he unfortunately lumps together these cases that wrongly change a male meaning with cases that rightly translate a Greek meaning that is already explicitly inclusive (GNBC, 94-95, 115-117).

TNIV's systematic elimination of generic he also causes meaning changes (GNBC, 111-232, 335-347).

Consider Revelation 22:18:

NIV: "If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues … "

TNIV: "If anyone of you adds anything to them, God will ...