New International Version

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New International Version

Full name:	New International Version
Abbreviation:	NIV
Complete Bible published:	1978
Textual Basis:	28% deviation from Nestle-Aland 27th edition (NT)
Translation type:	10% paraphrase rate
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 (NIV) is an English translation of the Christian Bible which is the most popular of the modern translations of the Bible made in the twentieth century. It is exclusively published by Zondervan.

1 Translation
2 Circulation
3 Features
4 Criticism and controversy
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Translation

Work on the NIV began in 1965, sponsored by the New York Bible Society, which is today the Colorado Springs-based International Bible Society. The New Testament was set forth in 1973, the Old Testament and full NIV Bible in 1978, and a modified edition in 1984.

The translation took more than ten years and involved 100 scholars from the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. The range of theologians includes over 20 different denominations such as Baptists, Evangelicals, Methodists, Lutherans, Anglicans, and many more.

[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.^[1] It is especially popular among American Evangelicals. It is considered by many Christians a good, modern supplement to more historic bible translations like the King James Version, or even as more accurate (since it draws from a wider range of source texts including the Dead Sea Scrolls).

[edit] Features

Evangelical Protestants received the Revised Standard Version, which first appeared in the whole Bible 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 translation philosophies of the NIV were 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 argue that it is different from King James Version in some key parts. Some strongly oppose the NIV and some claim it to be a heretical counterfeit. They 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 'unbiblical Catholic doctrine'. [1] [2].

It has also been accused of supporting an Evangelical agenda, such as in translating "effeminate" as "homosexual".^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

It also works-in apologetics to smooth out apparent contradictions in more precise translations, such as between Acts 9:7 and 22:9.^[6]

[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