Bill Mounce Joins the NIV Committee on Bible Translation

Writing today in "A Personal Note on the NIV 2011," at Zondervan Academic's Koinonia blog, Bill Mounce announced that he is joining the NIV Committee on Bible Translation. His joining came at the invitation of other CBT memmbers, Douglas Moo and Mark Strauss.

What makes all this very interesting is that Mounce was the NT chair for the English Standard Version. Further, when the TNIV was released, Mounce was one of the original signers of the "Statement of Concern" regarding the TNIV, although he later asked that his signature be removed.

Of course, you'll want to read Dr. Mounce's entire note for yourself, but here are a few items that This Lamp readers might find interesting:

I don’t want anyone to think that I am unhappy with the ESV or that I am "jumping ship." I am not. I thoroughly enjoy reading and studying from the ESV. But if you have been reading this blog very long, you will know that I strongly believe in different translation philosophies, that there is not a "One Size Fits All," and that the translator’s responsibility is to be consistent with that stated philosophy. So I have no trouble looking at the NIV’s translation philosophy and working within those guidelines.

My biggest concern was the gender language, and the mishandling of the TNIV rollout that has been such a problem, and how that could happen again. You should know that I have been absolutely assured that the gender language is truly on the table for discussion, and since so much of the committee has changed, it is not a foregone conclusion as to how this committee will vote. Without that assurance, I could not have joined.

I am not expecting "brother and sister" to go away (nor should it, given the NIV’s translation philosophy), and thankfully "humankind" never occurs in the NIV/TNIV. What an ugly word! But "mankind" continues to be used as a generic term in English, as does "man." I know there are people who disagree with this point, but the fact that it is used generically over and over again cannot truly be debated; the evidence is everywhere.

And personally, I use "they" as an indefinite singular. But who knows where the NIV 2011 will go and how I will vote.

Of related interest: "Thoughts & Predictions on the 2011 NIV"