Since online users are already seeing the new version and comparisons are being made, the move has lent a new sense of urgency to the work of the WELS committee appointed to discuss principles of biblical translation, to evaluate whether the new version is acceptable for use in our synod, and to explore options for other translations if the new NIV is judged to be unacceptable.
As previously reported in "Together" and Forward in Christ, a short time after publication of the revised version of the NIV, the current version will not be permitted to be used in publications. The committee plans to evaluate the various changes that have been made to the NIV and will eventually arrive at recommendations regarding its use. If the committee concludes that the NIV is not acceptable due to inaccuracies, it will also lead a process in which the synod will choose a translation that is desirable both for its accuracy and for its English clarity.
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GJ - The Syn Conference got behind the NIV, which lavished funds on some key decision makers. Everyone knew what a Pente-Babti-Reformed paraphrase of the Bible would be. They defended the results. WELS got rid of pastors who objected, even though they previously advocated the KJV.
Another schock - the Shrinkers use and defend "Make disciples" in the Great Commission, the reading of the NIV, but not Luther's orginal, not the KJV. Naturally, making disicples converts a clear passage into Pietistic hash. That was the idea. The NIV also obliterates clear Sacramental passages.
The Lutherans could have gone with the New KJV if they had to have a new one. That would have kept the wording they were used to using, instead of shifting to NIV mumbo-jumbo nonsense.
A better solution would have been to produce a slight Lutheran revision of the KJV, because the KJV has been modestly revised a few times since it was originally kelmed from Tyndale, who was close to Luther and his language.
The Syn Conference Lutherans work together via Fuller Seminary, Willow Creek, and Thrivent. They could have cooperated on a worthwhile project, so Lutheran publications could have shared a common language. That was the original goal of the KJV, to have one English Bible for all English-speaking people.
The KJV will celebrate its 400th anniversary next year, and the celebrations have started. That may remind the Syn Conference leaders how poor their stewardship has been.
Misouri, WELS, and the Little Sect have produced a generation or two of NIV pastors, a generation or two of Shrinkers.
