Gender Inclusive Language in the Bible

While attending a Christian conference yesterday, someone asked my opinion of the revised New International Version (NIV) of the Bible and its use of gender inclusive language. I have not bought a copy of the latest NIV, but I have read portions of it online. I have not read enough of it to give an informed opinion about whether the NIV has been improved or damaged by the changes.

However, I read a couple of versions of the Bible that use gender inclusive language. The Message and the New Living Translation do a good job of capturing the general spirit of the text, but I'm not comfortable with relying on either when I'm engaged in a serious study of a biblical text. I'm not an expert in the original biblical languages, so I depend on essentially literal translations of the Bible to guide my studies. I want to study from a version of the Bible that places an extremely high value on accuracy.

I like the approach taken by the translation team of the English Standard Version (ESV):

"In the area of gender language, the goal of the ESV is to render literally what is in the original. For example, 'anyone' replaces 'any man' where there is no word corresponding to 'man' in the original languages, and 'people' rather than 'men' is regularly used where the original languages refer to both men and women. But the words 'man' and 'men' are retained where a male meaning component is part of the original Greek or Hebrew." (Preface to the English Standard Version)

It's important to get an accurate understanding of the Scriptures. Sometimes a more accurate understanding can be achieved with gender inclusive language, but sometimes it can't. Whatever the case may be, I want to be able to study from a Bible that gives me a highly accurate translation of the original words in a text.

Bob Lepine on the Rob Bell Controversy

Bob Lepine serves as a co-host of the FamilyLife Today radio program and as a pastor of Redeemer Community Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. On the church's blog (which can be accessed from my blog roll on the right side of this post) on March 16, 2011, Mr. Lepine wrote an excellent article about the controversy concerning Rob Bell's latest book.

This is his post:

Over the past few weeks, there has been a lot of on-line and, more recently, on air talk about Pastor Rob Bell’s new book “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.”

Based on the reviews of the book I have read and the interviews I’ve read or seen this week with Rob, I would say that the book is neo-liberal at best and heretical at worst.

I’ll have a little more to say about Love Wins in my message this Sunday. But what I want us to think about here is the role you and I may have played in nudging Rob Bell in the direction he’s going.

Kevin DeYoung, a pastor who has written a helpful critique of Love Wins makes what I think is a very astute observation about where we are as evangelicals at this moment in church history:

“As younger generations come up against an increasingly hostile cultural environment, they are breaking in one of two directions—back to robust orthodoxy (often Reformed) or back to liberalism.”

“The neo-evangelical consensus is cracking up. Love Wins is simply one of many tremors.”

I think Pastor DeYoung is right. As the culture becomes increasingly hostile toward Christianity and a biblical worldview, many younger evangelicals find themselves facing a fork in the road – either they stand for biblical orthodoxy and find themselves marginalized and castigated by the culture, or they soften their positions and find that the culture is friendlier. Because many younger evangelicals want to take the gospel to the culture, they decide that the softer approach is the only way to gain a hearing for their message.

But there is another reason that I think some younger evangelicals shy away from holding on too firmly to biblical truth.

It’s because they’ve seen some of us hold onto truth in a way that was unattractive and unlike Jesus.

They have seen Christians who care more about being right than about caring for people.

They have seen Christians who turn secondary issues into primary issues, getting angry and divisive over things that shouldn’t matter as much as they end up mattering.

They have seen Christians deal harshly with sinners, acting more like the Pharisees with the woman caught in adultery than like Jesus.

They have seen Christians who think too highly of themselves instead of taking on the form of a servant.

They have seen Christians who are dogmatic about issues where godly, committed, Bible believing people disagree.

They have seen Christians turn prejudices and preferences into tests of fellowship and holiness. From hair styles to worship styles, from piercings to politics.

In short, they have seen people committed to a high view of God and truth who are very harsh, stubborn, unloving, ungracious and self-righteous.

And they’ve said to themselves “I love Jesus, but there’s no way I want to be that guy.”

At the same time, they’ve have seen non-Christians who have been kinder, more selfless and more caring. And they have rightly asked themselves in the process “How much does this high regard for truth really matter anyway? Looks to me like it hurts more than it helps.”

It is hard sometimes to find the place where grace and truth come together, with no compromise in either. Jesus was full of grace and truth. He is who we look to –not the TV preacher or the Koran burning pastor or the funeral protesting pastor – as our model for what being His follower should look like.

More than a generation ago, A.W. Tozer commented on a similar slide toward a softening of truth in his day. He said:

“Little by little, evangelical Christians these days are being brainwashed. One evidence is that increasing numbers of them are becoming ashamed to be found unequivocally on the side of truth. They say they believe but their beliefs have been so diluted as to be impossible of clear definition.”

“Moral power has always accompanied definitive beliefs. Great saints have always been dogmatic. We need right now a return to a gentle dogmatism that smiles while it stands stubborn and firm on the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever”.

It’s true in our day as well. We must stand stubborn around the truth of the gospel and stand firm on God’s Word, while we demonstrate grace and love and care and kindness for all. Let’s make sure we’re not giving younger evangelicals a reason to doubt the gospel because we make it so unattractive.

And when we do, I think there will be fewer Rob Bells leading people in dangerous directions.

How to Become a Successful Religion

Click on the link below to a satirical, but honest, representation of how a marketing firm would have advised the early church.

How to Become a Successful Religion | Christianity Today | A Magazine of Evangelical Conviction

The Inerrancy of Scripture

The ESV Study Bible contains several very good articles. This is an excerpt about the inerrancy of the Bible from the article "Biblical Doctrine: An Overview."

"The doctrine of inerrancy means that the Bible is entirely truthful and reliable in all that it affirms in its original manuscripts. Another way of saying this is that the Bible does not affirm anything that is contrary to fact. Because God is the ultimate author of the Bible, and because God is always perfectly truthful, it follows that his Word is completely truthful as well: He is the 'God who never lies' (Titus 1:2). It would be contrary to his character to affirm anything false. God is all-knowing, always truthful and good, and all-powerful, so he always knows and tells the truth and is able to communicate and preserve his Word. 'O Lord GOD, you are God, and your words are true, and you have promised this good thing to your servant' (2 Sam. 7:28). 'Every word of God proves true' (Prov. 30:5; cf. Ps.12:6; 119:42; John 17:17).

"Inerrancy does not require twenty-first century precision or scientifically technical language. The following quotation from the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy summarizes what inerrancy does not mean:

"'We affirm the propriety of using inerrancy as a theological term with reference to the complete truthfulness of Scripture. We deny that it is proper to evaluate Scripture according to standards of truth and error that are alien to its usage and purpose. We further deny that inerrancy is negated by Biblical phenomena such as a lack of modern technical precision, irregularities of grammar or spelling, observational descriptions of nature, the reporting of falsehoods, the use of hyperbole and round numbers, the topical arrangement of material, variant selections of material in parallel accounts, or the use of free citations' (Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy, Art. XIII).

"The inerrancy of Scripture gives the believer great confidence in the Bible as his sure foundation for understanding all God wants him to know and all that he needs for godliness and eternal life."

Reaching the Next Generation

Last week, Kevin DeYoung offered good, solid advice to Christians and churches wanting to reach the next generation. Actually, it's good advice for reaching anyone. Here are the links:

1. http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2009/10/19/reaching-the-next-generation-is-harder-and-easier-than-you-think-grab-them-with-passion/

2. http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2009/10/20/reaching-the-next-generation-win-them-with-love/

3. http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2009/10/21/reaching-the-next-generation-hold-them-with-holiness/

4. http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2009/10/22/reaching-the-next-generation-challenge-them-with-truth/

5. http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2009/10/23/reaching-the-next-generation-amaze-them-with-god/

Do Hard Things

Alex and Brett Harris are teenage twin brothers who are tired of society's low expectations of teenagers. If a teenager does not use drugs or get his girlfriend pregnant, he is considered an outstanding young man. The Harris brothers' new book, Do Hard Things, challenges teens to go beyond such low expectations.

In Part 1 of Do Hard Things, Alex and Brett Harris provide a historical perspective of adolescence. They point to George Washington, David Farragut, and Clara Barton as models of people who took on heavy responsibilities as teenagers. In doing so, those teenagers prepared themselves to become the first U.S. president, the U.S. Navy's first admiral, and the founder of the American Red Cross.

In Part 2, the Harris brothers encourage teenagers to do five kinds of hard things:

1. Hard things that take you outside your comfort zone
2. Hard things that go beyond what's expected or required
3. Hard things that require collaboration because they are too big for you to do alone
4. Hard things that don't pay off immediately
5. Hard things that go against the crowd

In Part 3, the brothers tell inspiring stories of teenagers who are doing hard things today. Some are providing clean water to poor communities around the world. Some have become modern-day abolitionists who are advocating for the freedom of slaves around the world. Some volunteer to help abused children in their communities. Some have run statewide political campaigns. Some have raised tens of thousands of dollars to purchase ultrasound machines for pro-life pregnancy resource centers. Some have started ministries to feed and evangelize the homeless. Whatever they are doing, they are doing far more than society expects from good teenagers. They have taken on responsibility to improve their world; and they have taken the initiative to get the job done.

In explaining Jesus' description of his disciples as the salt of the earth and the light of the world, Alex and Brett write, "He's saying we have been placed here to preserve (the earth) until He returns--to fight against the decay of sin, to combat sickness and suffering, and to oppose corruption and injustice...The picture of us as a city on a hill or a lamp on a stand means that as Christians we display the truth in word and action--shining the light of God's Word and the gospel all around us, in every corner...(W)e are change makers who influence our world both as salt and light. That is to say, we influence our world both by fighting against sin, suffering, and decay and by fighting for truth and justice. And that covers a whole lot" (pp. 172-173).

I highly recommend this book for parents, teenagers, and youth ministers. It casts a biblical vision for using the teen years as a launching pad into responsibility, significance, and adulthood. It will inspire young (and older) readers to reject low expectations and to make a difference now.

Just Courage

Gary Haugen, the president and CEO of International Justice Mission (http://www.ijm.org/), senses a restlessness among American Christians. We appear to be dissatisfied with the safety of our routine suburban Christianity in which we pray, read the Bible, attend worship services, and perform small acts of kindness for our neighbors. While none of that is bad and each of those activities is necessary to be fulfilled, we know something vital is missing in such a life.

In his new book, Just Courage, Mr. Haugen argues that many Christians are missing out on the risks and adventure of pursuing justice for the poor. Throughout the world, the poor are suffering from injustice. Little girls in southeast Asia are being kidnapped and enslaved in brothels by adults who will profit from their continual raping by violent men. Widows in Africa are being forced from their homes and property by bullies who would have never had the guts to take on their deceased husbands. Men, women, and children in India are being deceived into slavery and brutally beaten and mutilated so that they remain enslaved.

"The sin of injustice," Mr. Haugen writes, "is defined in the Bible as the abuse of power--abusing power by taking from others the good things that God intended for them, namely, their life, liberty, dignity, or the fruits of their love or their labor" (p. 46). He goes on to argue that Christians need to stand up against violent perpetrators of injustice. Feeding the hungry and providing medical care for the poor are good deeds, but sometimes the world's poor need something more: they need to be rescued from their oppressors, and they need men and women who will risk personal harm to stand between them and their oppressors. They need courageous Christians who will love and protect them.

In the last chapter, Gary Haugen writes, "There are two things that are always the will of God and almost always dangerous: telling the truth and loving needy people...Doing what Jesus does--telling the truth and loving needy people--is inherently unsafe in a fallen world of lies and selfishness...It's not safe to love people in need...It's messy, untidy, unsafe, and even dangerous. And yet, paradoxically, Jesus tells us this is where the deepest joy is found"(pp. 115-116).

Just Courage is a small book with a powerful message. If you are bored with your Christianity, this could be the book for you. You just might be inspired to join International Justice Mission in its efforts to rescue slaves and prosecute oppressors. You might be inspired to serve the poor in some other way. You will be challenged to have the love and courage to

"Seek justice,

encourage the oppressed.

Defend the cause of the fatherless,

plead the case of the widow" (Isaiah 1:17, NIV).

Religion Respected by the Working Class and Poor

"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16, NIV).

I read a very interesting column in our local newspaper today. You may access it at http://www.tulsaworld.com/opinion/article.aspx?subjectID=65&articleID=20080713_222_G3_pncase93712. Here are the first few paragraphs:

"In her 2001 memoir of seminary life, Episcopal priest Chloe Breyer expressed befuddlement that the Rikers Island inmates to whom she was ministering mocked her liberal approach to religion.

"'They want answers, not questions,' Breyer wrote in frustration. 'The more contradictions I point out in the Bible, the more the inmates decide there is no point in wasting their time with a religion that lacks answers.'

"Can you blame them? The poor and working class tend to prefer non-squishy religion prescribing a stark moral code--even if they struggle to live up to its demands.

"It's not hard to see why. Unlike Breyer, whose father is a Supreme Court justice, and other social elites, folks living nearer the economic margins have far more to lose from individual and communal moral failure.

"A Mexican immigrant housekeeper whose husband works on the road told me that her Pentecostal congregation in Dallas is the only thing she has to help her keep her teenage girls on a path to a stable future. Given the skyrocketing teen pregnancy rate among Latinas, you can see why a mother like this housekeeper gravitates toward Pentecostalism, not liberal Protestantism or laissez-faire Catholicism."

As a guy in a working class job (mail carrier) who is involved in a ministry to the urban poor (Contact Church of Christ), I concur with the conclusions of the author. Among the majority of people with whom I associate, the moral relativism of postmodernism has little appeal. It's more of a concept to be discussed among university professors, editorial writers, preachers, and guests on National Public Radio programs. In real life, most of us understand that genuine right and wrong exist. We do not debate whether it is right or wrong to torture children, cheat people out of money, or spread harmful gossip. We do not respect churches without the sense to recognize the existence of truth or the backbone to tell the truth.

Because we fail to live up to the highest ethical standards, we also want to be in churches that will tell the truth to us with grace. We want leaders who are both honest and compassionate. We are attracted to the forgiveness available through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on our behalf. We are drawn to the hope offered in his resurrection and promised return. We appreciate being in the presence of people who have his Spirit within them, people who care about us and will help us in dealing with our sins, temptations, and problems.

If a congregation wants to reach the working class and poor, it will proclaim the truth and love the people.