First, there is the overwhelming impression that what God actually says depends on who you are. Standing in a book-shop recently, I saw the following Bibles for sale: Kids Bible, New Adventure Bible, Teen Study Bible, New Student Bible, Women’s Devotional Bible, The Couple’s Devotional Bible, Everyday Study Bible, The Defender’s Study Bible, Thematic Bible, The God’s Word Bible, Life Application Bible, Touch Point Bible, Possibility Thinker’s Bible, Personal Growth Bible, Chronological Bible, Parallel Bible, Spirit Filled Bible, Youth Bible, Beginner’s Bible, and that is only a small sample. Whatever good comes of this remains to be seen, but the dangers are quite evident. Is there anything within Scripture itself that would push for so many different publications? No, the word of God is addressed to all mankind. It does not say something different to women, to couples, to teens, or to preachers. Every word God says about everything is for everyone. The same gracious covenant of redemption is to be known and believed by all humanity. The impression being given by the plethora of Bibles is that it would not do to have everyone reading the same Bible! There has to be a different Bible for every human psyche!

The push is from outside Scripture. It is largely a marketing enterprise. The Bible is still the best selling book in the world and the use of "product differentiation" is merely another way of making money. By all means, let teachers and parents present the word of God in ways suited to their audiences, but let Bibles be Bibles! Why are we printing truckloads of different Bibles when there are still hundreds of language groups in the world who have no Bible at all? This is bordering on the obscene! Moreover, what on earth is meant by "The Spirit Filled Bible"? Who would buy a Spirit Empty Bible? And what is this "God’s Word Bible"? Is there some other sort? And what will we have next? The Aussie Battler’s Bible? The Senior Citizen’s Bible? The Migrant’s Bible? We already have "Microsoft Word for Idiots". Will we also have "God’s Word for Idiots"? What is God actually saying in all of this?

Second, there is the problem of abandoning accuracy in preference for clarity, or worse, reader acceptability. Modern Bible translations rarely use the principle of reasonable "verbal equivalence" (telling us what every letter and stroke in the original language says). The trend is not even to a preoccupation with "dynamic equivalence" (telling us what the translator thinks it means, not what it actually says). The new preoccupation is with the readers and their assumed needs, abilities, and dispositions. It is a pledge to make the Bible clear, even where it is not clear in the original, and acceptable to modern man where it is not acceptable (and that means most of it).

It is not exaggerating to say that modern Bible translating is becoming dishonest. The euphemisms now used for the governing principles of dishonest translation include: "inclusive language Bible", (meaning ‘maleness’ in humanity, in God, and in roles like headship, is translated out of all nouns, pronouns, adjectives and verbal suffixes wherever possible). A current example is the "NIV Inclusive language Version" published by Hodder & Stoughton in Great Britain in 1996, which drew the apt comment from J. I. Packer: "Adjustments made by what I call the feminist edition are not made in the interests of legitimate translation procedure. These changes have been made to pander to a cultural prejudice that I hope will be short lived".

The "sensitive language Bible" includes all that, together with tidying up any words that might offend racial or minority groups (like homosexuals). So words like "swine", "dogs", "sons of hell", even "hell" itself, are being judged expendable because ‘insensitive’. Sinful man has made it his task to edit God’s speech, removing the many insensitive words breathed out by the Holy Spirit. This is virtual blasphemy! Translations care less and less what God actually says, and more and more what people are willing to hear. So terms like "gender neutrality", "unisex", "politically correct", and "reader easy" are all the buzz words in the world of ‘translation’ today. They all mean one thing: doctoring the text of Scripture.

Perhaps we should not be surprised at all this. With some exceptions, translating the Bible is less likely to be seen as a spiritual service for God, where faithfulness is the key. Rather it is big business where profit is the key. To illustrate, Zondervan (publisher of the NIV) is owned by Harper Collins since a take-over in 1988. Harper Collins is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation. No wonder the NIV team is currently working on a unisex version. Market research calls the tune, not textual research.

Presumably it underlines the importance of giving the best possible education to men training for preaching ministries. Our Theological Halls must equip men to read and proclaim exactly what God says. Hebrew and Greek are non negotiable priorities, as well as all the right interpretive skills. A church neglects its Theological Colleges at a terrible cost. Let the average Christian keep several reasonable translations on hand for daily use (like NASV, NKJV, NIV). Let us read good Christian books and listen to faithful contemporary preaching. Let our discernment be sharp. There is no warrant for despair, but nor is there a place for blissful ignorance. What did God actually say? That was the question in Eden and it is still the question today ... perhaps even more so.