New Quaker Notebook

A chopstick in the eye. It's expected that sometime at the end of March the US State Department will issue Supporting Human Rights and Democracy, a report detailing how the Bush administration is going to handle countries with poor human rights records and how, at the same time, it will continue spreading democratic principles. In the meantime, it has submitted to Congress its annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. The short version of this human rights report for 2004 is that none of the 196 countries discussed comes off looking very good—but special demerits really go to China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan as nations where the report says serious human rights violations are occurring.[1]

After striking out at China, however, the Asian nation issued it own annual Human Rights Record of the United States, accusing the US of atrocities in Iraq, a poor domestic record of human rights, and a system of government (a democracy "manipulated by the rich") that promulgates poverty, hunger, homelessness, racial discrimination, widespread crime, and the sexual victimization of women and children.[2] Ouch! Said China's report: "No country should exclude itself from the international human rights development process, or view itself as the incarnation of human rights which can reign over other countries and give orders to the others." That sounds suspiciously like our Lord's admonitions:

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."[3]

Often I think our president only reads the CliffsNotes® version of the Bible.

My friends at Jesus Radicals have announced the 2005 Anarchism and Christianity Conference in Chicago on August 5-6, 2005. Here is an early, brief description of the event:

Practically Speaking: Anarchism, Christianity and Living in Fellowship

August 5-6, 2005 Chicago
International Conference Center
4750 North Sheridan Road
Chicago, IL 60640
Contact: jesusradicals @ jesusradicals.com

Anarchists and Christians have the common bond of being labeled dreamers in both the negative and positive senses of the word. To those who deem our ideas impractical, we are living in a fantasy world with nice but unrealistic goals. For those of us who bare these labels, our dreams are a vision for another way of structuring our neighborhoods, our societies, our relationships with one another. They are ideas built not only on a history of thought, but also on the examples we?ve seen of these ideas in practice. Most of all we are driven by a deep belief that Anarchism and Christianity hold important keys to our ability to live in fellowship with one another.

In this year?s two-day conference we aim to seek out connections between Anarchist and Christian thought with practice through presentations on questions we face in our daily lives: How can we structure our economic lives so that they have a positive impact? How can we interact with our earth in sustainable ways? How can we act on what we feel to be true? Roundtable discussions, a skill-share and social opportunities will also be available for informal networking and resource sharing.

It's incontrovertible—TNIV is readable. I received my copy of Today's New International Version in the mail this week and today I was able to look through it to see what the fuss was all about. This translation is the most recent, most complete version, including both Old and New Testaments and with a revision of the more controversial New Testament translation that was published by itself in 2002. The TNIV, as it is abbreviated, is meant for a specific audience, and what makes it controversial (at least in part) is its attempt to create a gender-accurate translation for adults 18 to 34, a demographic that incorporates the so-called Millennials and Gen-X populations.

Some of the translation differences are difficult to argue with, as in Genesis 1:27, where "God created man in his own image," in the NIV, is now "God created human beings in his own image" in TNIV. And so too with some attempts to refine the language, in some cases making it more contemporary, in others helping to capture the sense better. Mary is now "pregnant" instead of "with child," "alien" is "foreigner," "men" are "people," and "desert" is "wilderness."[1] In certain areas, the new version is no improvement at all, occasionally rendering what was once lyrical into something now really cacophonous: "'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will send you out to fish for people.'" Say what? That's how TNIV renders Matthew 1:19 and Mark 1:17, as opposed to the NIV: "'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.'" At least this TNIV has fixed the uglier, ear-bending 2002 version, which had Jesus saying, "and I will send you out to catch people."

Some of the changes have other, serious implications. In Psalm 34:19, where Jesus is predicted as the Messiah in the New Testament, the TNIV pluralizes the passage, consequently obscuring its purpose completely.[2] And complicating things is the translators' consistent decision to use the standard Masoretic Text for the Old Testament and an "eclectic" choice for the New Testament, "based on the latest editions of the Nestle-Aland/United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament."[3] Thus, because "New Testament authors, writing in Greek, often quote the Old Testament from its ancient Greek version, the Septuagint," what happens is that New Testament references to the Old are no longer the same. If you're like me and frequently look up the Old Testament references in the New, you'll understand what I mean when I say this gets to be downright creepy.

As a new version whose chief aim is to improve the readability of the Bible, the TNIV is a good one. I remember my excitement when I first got my hands on the New International Version: for the first time I was reading the Bible in contemporary English, and studying it became less of a linguistic chore and more an intellectual and emotional pleasure. If the TNIV manages to do this for Millennial and Gen-X readers, then I approve. I certainly don't approve of this as one's main study Bible—it just varies too far from the mainstream rendering of the canonical literature to be serviceable as such. As for other reasons to avoid such translations as the TNIV, I don't want to have to repeat myself here. On this subject, there is a nice comprehensive collection of links to press discussions at the Church of the Good Shepherd.

The International Bible Society, which publishes the TNIV, is giving them away free (while supplies last) for residents of US and Canada only. This offer is also available at the TNIV site. In addition, the Bible translation is available as a PDF version, and as a special-access version of the TNIV for readers who use vision screen reading software services such as JAWS for Windows, Braille display devices, or other reader-assisted online services.

1. Denver Post, February 20, 2005.
2. Fox News, February 2, 2005.
3. See "A Word to the Reader," TNIV.