New International Version

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New International Version
Full name: New International Version
Abbreviation: NIV
NT published: 1973
Complete Bible published: 1978
Textual Basis: NT: Medium Correspondence to Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Graece 25th edition. OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, with Septuagint influence.
Translation type: Dynamic equivalence[1]
Reading Level: Middle School[2]
Copyright status: Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society
Genesis 1:1-3
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The New International Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. It became one of the most popular modern translations made in the twentieth century.[3] It is published by Zondervan.

The idea for the New International Version began in 1965 after a meeting in Palos Heights, Illinois between the Christian Reformed Church, National Association of Evangelicals, and a group of international scholars.[4] The New York Bible Society (now the Colorado Springs-based International Bible Society) was selected to do the translation. The New Testament was released in 1973 and the full Bible in 1978. It underwent minor revision in 1984.

The core translation group consisted of fifteen Biblical scholars. The translation took ten years and involved a team up to 100 people from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The range of those participating included over twenty different denominations such as Baptists, Evangelicals, Methodists, Lutherans, Anglicans, and more.[5]

Contents

[edit] Circulation

According to Zondervan (publisher of the NIV), the translation has become the most popular modern English translation of the Bible, having sold more than 215 million copies worldwide.[6] It is especially popular among American Evangelicals.[7]

[edit] Features

Evangelical Protestants received the Revised Standard Version, which first appeared in whole in 1952, with some trepidation. The RSV was criticized by conservative Christians for not using traditional Christian translations of certain texts regarding the virginity of Mary, and other Old Testament passages whose Christian interpretation referred them to Jesus. The New International Version project was begun to meet the perceived need of having an updated Bible in contemporary English but which preserved traditional Evangelical theology on these contested points. Unlike the RSV and New Revised Standard Version, the NIV is an explicitly Protestant translation; the deuterocanonical books were not included in the translation. Apart from these theological issues, the manuscript base of the NIV is similar to the RSV, and the NIV, like the RSV, uses the critical Greek New Testament texts, rather than the Textus Receptus of the King James Version.

Packaged versions of the NIV usually feature an introduction to the individual chapters as well as charts, maps, etc.

Also, there are numerous study bibles available with extensive notes on the text and background information to make the Biblical stories more comprehensible. Among these are the NIV Study Bible and its Wesleyan revision, the Reflecting God Study Bible, as well as the Life Application Study Bible.

[edit] Criticism and controversy

Critics argued that it is different from the King James Version in some key parts. Some critics strongly oppose the NIV. Some are part of the King-James-Only Movement, within the Protestant Fundamentalist Christianity of English-speaking countries, which rejects all modern translations of the Bible, accepting only the King James Version (KJV), also known as the Authorized Version (AV). They claim that NIV version supports Catholic doctrine.

Other critics criticize the NIV (along with most other translations except the KJV) for using a text based on Textual Criticism instead of the Received Text. Offered as proof are the verses deleted from most modern versions, including part of 1 John 5:7, Matthew 17:21, 18:11, 23:14, Mark 7:16, 9:44, 9:46, 11:26, 15:28, Luke 17:36, 23:17, John 5:4, Acts 8:37, 15:34, 24:7, 28:28, and Romans 16:24.[8] Although the earliest extant manuscripts of the Greek Bible, codex Vaticanus and codex Sinaiticus, omit these same missing verses as well, both contradict each other in many other places.[9][10][11][12] There are manuscripts older than the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus of Syrian [13][14] and Latin [15][16][17] origins from as early as the 2nd century that contain the verses. Defenders of the NIV and modern Bible translations reply that most evangelical Biblical scholars reject fundamentalist arguments in favor of the King James Version and the Received Text and that fundamentalists distort the textual evidence and use illogical arguments.[18]

It has also been accused of supporting an evangelical agenda, such as in translating "effeminate" as "homosexual".[19][20][21][22]

It also sometimes claimed that it works in apologetics to smooth out apparent contradictions in more precise translations, such as between Acts 9:7 and 22:9.[23]

Some Christians prefer the KJV to the NIV because it is in the public domain and can be fully reproduced without paying any royalties (except in Britain).

Some Christians who reject the King James Version/Textus Receptus arguments of fundamentalists and prefer modern Bible translations are also critical of the NIV because they consider it a loose translation that lacks the word-for-word accuracy of other versions.[24] The NIV routinely translates the Greek word "sarx" as "sinful nature" rather than "flesh," for example, even though the word literally refers to physical flesh and is the etymological root of "sarcophagus." Christians who prefer a more literal rendering of the original languages in modern English may use translations like the English Standard Version, New American Standard Bible, or New Revised Standard Version. Fundamentalists generally reject these translations as well.

[edit] See also

The Bible in English +/-
Old English (pre-1066)
Middle English (1066-1500)
Early Modern English (1500-1800)
Modern Christian (1800-)
Modern Jewish (1853-)
Miscellaneous

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Translations/Stats/New+International+Version+%28NIV%29.htm?QueryStringSite=Zondervan
  2. ^ http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Translations/Stats/New+International+Version+%28NIV%29.htm?QueryStringSite=Zondervan
  3. ^ CBA Best Sellers.
  4. ^ biblegateway.com.
  5. ^ Background of the New International Version (NIV) Bible.
  6. ^ http://www.zondervan.com/Cultures/en-US/Translations/FAQ.htm?QueryStringSite=Zondervan
  7. ^ CBA Best Sellers.
  8. ^ http://www.av1611.org/niv.html
  9. ^ http://www.exorthodoxforchrist.com/Textual%20Crit%20Bks.htm#Codex B & Allies-top
  10. ^ http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hoskier/codexb1.html
  11. ^ http://www.ccel.org/ccel/hoskier/codexb2.html
  12. ^ http://www.deanburgonsociety.org/CriticalTexts/sinaiticus.htm
  13. ^ http://www.ableever.net/Apologetics/Syrian_Recension/syrian_recension.html
  14. ^ http://www.concernedmembers.com/spiritualdeception.htm#5
  15. ^ http://logosresourcepages.org/Versions/johannine.htm
  16. ^ http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/vindicationof.htm
  17. ^ http://www.1john57.com/1john57.htm
  18. ^ White, James. Is Your Modern Translation Corrupt? Answering the Allegations of KJV Only Advocates. Available online at http://www.equip.org/site/c.muI1LaMNJrE/b.2730401/k.B6D3/DK115.htm
  19. ^ http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/twohomosexuals.htm
  20. ^ http://www.av1611.org/niv.html
  21. ^ http://www.ncf.ca/ip/sigs/life/gay/religion/bob
  22. ^ http://www.otkenyer.hu/halsall/lgbh-cortim.html
  23. ^ http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1994/1/1voice94.html
  24. ^ http://faith.propadeutic.com/conclusions.html

[edit] External links

v • d • e
English language translations of the Christian Bible
Middle English Wycliffe
16th-17th century Tyndale · Coverdale · Great Bible · Geneva · Douay-Rheims · King James
18th-19th century Challoner · Young's Literal · Revised Version
20th century American Standard · Revised Standard · Jerusalem · New American · New English Bible · New American Standard · Living Bible · Good News · New International · New King James · New Revised Standard · Revised English · Contemporary English · New Century · New Living
21st century English Standard · The Message · Holman Christian Standard · Today's New International · New English Translation · World English
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