Southern Baptists announced their rejection of the new NIV Bible at their annual convention in Phoenix, Ariz., saying they could not commend the translation and its use of gender-neutral language. The resolution introduced by author Tim Overton of Muncie, Ind., passed by at least a 2-to-1 margin, and only received a handful of opposing votes, Baptist Press reported.

“Southern Baptists repeatedly have affirmed our commitment to the full inspiration and authority of Scripture,” the resolution states. “This translation alters the meaning of hundreds of verses, most significantly by erasing gender-specific details which appear in the original language.”

Expressing “profound disappointment” with Biblica and Zondervan Publishing House, who printed 1.9 million copies of the updated Bible in the first run, the SBC “respectfully [requested]” that Lifeway Bookstores not sell the new version in their stores and encouraged pastors to let their congregations know of the translation errors.

“We cannot commend the 2011 NIV to Southern Baptists or to the larger Christian community,” the resolution concluded.

Criticism over the update has been high ever since its inception, with opponents like the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood – which support a complementarian view of manhood and womanhood – finding over 3,600 gender-related problems in the new version.

Although the CBMW did find some significant improvements in the update and praised the openness and transparency of the translation process, major errors were still evident and it could not commend the 2011 NIV as a sufficiently reliable English translation.

Problems also arose because the updated NIV Bible would completely replace the current NIV translation, without offering the 1984 edition alongside it.

“This is as big as it gets,” said Overton, according to the Associated Baptist Press. “This is the word of God. The best-selling Bible translation in the United States is now gender neutral.”

“As Southern Baptists, I don’t think we have the luxury of not speaking to this important issue. People are buying this translation unaware of what’s happening. We are the anchor of the evangelical world.”
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