May 19, 1999
LifeWay plans Bible translation
___NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Broadman & Holman Publishers, an arm of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, is producing a new Bible translation.
___Named the Holman Christian Standard Bible, or CSB for short, the translation will combine commitment to accuracy in communicating the original text and modern-day readability, said Kenneth Stephens, president of Broadman & Holman.
___"Up until now, every English translation of the Bible has been a tradeoff between accuracy and readability," he said. "The more accurate it was, the harder it was to read, and the more reader-friendly it was, the more it drifted from a precise translation of the original text. ... We've eliminated the tradeoff."
___In recent years, the battle between contemporary readability and textual accuracy has been waged loudly over the masculine pronouns traditionally used in earlier Bible translations. Some scholars argue that those pronouns, in certain cases, should be interpreted from the original languages as applying to both male and female. Given contemporary understandings that the word "he" in English often is perceived as an exclusive reference to the male gender, these scholars have argued that more neutral words would convey the text's meaning more accurately today.
___But the most conservative scholars in evangelical Christianity have strongly opposed this notion, insisting on retaining the traditional masculine references, especially to God.
___Guidelines for the Christian Standard Bible translators instruct that "inclusive language will be used only where the text (not the social climate of the contemporary culture) requires."
___These guidelines assert that "language has not changed as much in this area as some suppose" and that "we do not want to contribute to the egalitarian drift in our society that confuses what we believe is a biblical distinction between manhood and womanhood."
___In general, the guidelines say, "man" will be used to designate the human race.
___The Gospel of John has been completed, with all four gospels and the Book of Revelation set to be finished by the end of 1999. The New Testament is targeted for completion by the end of 2000, with the entire Bible to be released by 2004.
___General Editor Edwin Blum of Dallas is working with a 78-person team of translators, lexicologists, stylists and other scholars around the world. Team members represent 20 denominations.
___Work on the new translation began in 1984 as an independent project of Arthur Farstad, who served as general editor for the New King James Version. Broadman & Holman joined forces with Farstad in 1998. Only months after beginning his collaboration with Broadman & Holman, Farstad died. Leadership of the editorial team then passed to Blum, a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary who had been an integral part of the team.
___Blum, who taught 17 years at Dallas Theological Seminary, also has business experience, serving as vice president of management services for Fletcher Pacific Construction Co. in Honolulu from 1990-96.
___To reach people effectively, Blum said he believes a Bible translation should be accurate to the text, but conversational.
___The new translation will maintain use of traditional, theologically significant words such as "grace" and "justification" and it will offer word studies to help readers grasp their full meaning, Blum said. Additionally, it will provide footnotes to show alternate translations and alternate textual readings, cross references and explanatory material.Frontpage / Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!