I was following a blog stat link (am I obsessed?) and ended up at the home page of the Evangelical Covenant Church, which is the organizing body of the local church that my wife and I were members of up until about a year ago.
Anyway, I thought the TNIV users among us would be interested to know that the ECC was featuring that translation for their Verse of the Day site widget. I did follow some quick search links and discovered that the ECC was the first group to whom Zondervan gave pastoral gift copies of the TNIV. I don’t know if there’s been any official recommendation or commendation of the translation to the various Covenant churches, but there’s at least that denomination supporting the new translation.
As for me, I’ve been drifting again toward using the TNIV as my Sunday Bible - the differences between it and the NIV that my current church uses are easily overcome and I’m coming to terms with the differences in gender language, as my comments on TC’s blog might indicate:
I don’t know if I’d include the NIV with the other two. The HCSB and ESV were explicitly translated in conformation to the Colorado Springs Guidelines, while the NIV was translated at a time when “man” was still an acceptable gender-neutral term. It’s absolutely critical that we not rush to [gender] judgment on older translations produced under different [cultural] language contexts.
[The] divide between the NIV and TNIV is probably much less than we see it today, given the contextual meanings of the respective language. Where the NIV uses “man” and the TNIV uses “human beings”, where the NIV uses “brothers” and the TNIV uses “brothers and sisters” - those may be exactly the same meaning, just seen from a different vantage point in the evolution of language.
14 Comments
Thanks for that tidbit. Well, I’m glad that you’re willing to give the TNIV a try. I think it is a great translation and a great improvement of the NIV. He’re DA Carson on the TNIV:
“The TNIV is more accurate than its remarkable predecessor, the much-loved NIV, while retaining all the readability of the latter. It is a version I can use with confidence, whether I am speaking at a university mission, or in a Bible conference anywhere in the English-speaking world. I am deeply impressed by the godliness, linguistic competence, cultural awareness, and sheer fidelity to Scripture displayed by the translators. Thirty or forty years from now, I suspect, most evangelicals will have accepted the TNIV as a ’standard’ translation, and will wonder what all the fuss was about in their parents’ generation—in the same way that those of us with long memories marvel at all the fuss over the abandonment of ‘thees’ and ‘thous’ several decades ago.
- D.A. Carson, Ph.D
Research Professor of New Testament
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
He’s written a nice piece on the gender-issue that has helped me tremendously: Gender-Issue in TNIV
TC thanks for that article. I got through part of Grudem’s and am reading all of Carson’s.
ElShaddai are you switching translations as much as trombone/brass players switch mouthpieces? (He’ll know what I’m talking about.)
Jeff
Jeff, that article by Carson is quite good.
@Jeff — HA HA HA, good one! That made me laugh - and if only you knew… I think my Bible count is nearing my mouthpiece count. The REB is still in the overall #1 spot though.
I’ve been taking my little TNIV with me to church ever since I purchased it. The translation goes well with the majority of readings which are usually NIV, plus I get to see the changes between them. The main reason I take it however is due to the actual form of my TNIV bible. It has an amazing magnetic closure that holds a pen for me, and it is a handy size, sewn, and black letter text. What more could a guy want?
You can buy yourself a copy too, and you can thank me later.
http://www.amazon.com/The-TNIV-Pocket-Bible/dp/0310922690/
Whew… it’s never a good sign when I can’t even read the sample text on ChristianBook.com. I never understood those little itty bitty ones… I have a TNIV Thinline that’s about as small as I’d want to go.
It’s not that hard to read, LOL. That image on CBD is unreadable because of their terrible compression… The Zondervan sample is very legible, though I admit this is a pocket size bible with a smaller font.
http://www.zondervan.com/media/samples/pdf/0310922690_samptxt.pdf
I dunno, that PDF at 100% is still small… you must have better glasses than me.
I’ll like to see Elshaddai make the TNIV his primary text, but that REB…
I dunno, that PDF at 100% is still small… you must have better glasses than me.
I’m 99% sure that if you print out the PDF it will look just like how it would in the book/Bible. (As opposed to the CBD scans.)
Yikes I just printed one out and it is pretty small. I have good eyes and don’t need glasses (yet). I can read it fine but it’s not easy on the eyes.
I wish I liked TNIV or ESV the best because of all the options.
Jeff
Indeed - after spending 10-12 hours a day in front of a computer screen, I definitely appreciate the luxury of a larger font size in my Bibles.
I’ll like to see Elshaddai make the TNIV his primary text, but that REB…
Is that a “finish this sentence” challenge?
I’ll like to see Elshaddai make the TNIV his primary text, but that REB has him stuck halfway up the goofy tree.
I’ll like to see Elshaddai make the TNIV his primary text, but that REB is just too good to pass up.
Is that a “finish this sentence” challenge?
I’ll like to see Elshaddai make the TNIV his primary text, but that REB has him stuck halfway up the goofy tree.
I’ll like to see Elshaddai make the TNIV his primary text, but that REB is just too good to pass up.
I like the former better than the latter possibilities…hahaha
Well after my little TNIV, I’d recommend the TNIV Reference Bible for carrying to church. I think it’s the only non-decorative cover available in the US.
http://www.amazon.com/TNIV-Reference-Bible/dp/0310938414/
From Cambridge there is a Popular Edition that uses a larger 9pt font and should be well made.
http://www.amazon.com/Bible-Popular-French-Morocco-Leather/dp/0521675138/
http://www.cambridge.org/uk/bibles/tniv/popular.htm
Nathan - (sorry for the tardy reply - I had to rescue your comment from the spam bucket, then I was in the middle of blog moving…)
Zondervan was kind enough to send me a TNIV Reference Bible when they first came out, so I do have one of those and use it from time to time. I’ve previously written about the nitpicking I have about it, but if I were to switch translations, it would be my primary Bible. Though that Cambridge Popular Edition does look very attractive too…