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Jerry Falwell Furious Over Publication
of Gender-Neutral Bible

International Bible Society Updates USA's Best-Selling Version

Unashamed 'Inerrantist' Will Not Surrender to Gender Equality

Compiled by GayToday

Gender Bender: The Rev. Jerry Falwell opposes the gender-neutral Bible recently published

Lynchburg, Virginia-The homophobic Reverend Jerry Falwell has his panties in an uproar over the publication by the International Bible Society of what he calls a "gender neutral" version of the Bible. In a long, rambling letter to his religious constituents, Falwell asks them to write to the Bible's publishers warning them about what he calls an impending "theological disaster."

Thursday evening, January 31, Falwell argued his reasons for opposing the new Bible's translation on the Fox News Channel's Hannity & Colmes..

Those activists who've labored long to make the principle of the equality of the sexes a reality are, for the most part, amused by Falwell's commentaries. He was, after all, the man whose publication outed the famous Teletubby, Tinky Winky. They are also hailing the new translation as a positive step taken.

Falwell, furious over what he calls the Dangers of the Gender-Neutral Bible worries:

"As an evangelical Christian, I believe that the Bible is directly inspired by God, literally a God-breathed intercommunication from the Almighty to man. While many men wrote the Bible over a period of hundreds of years, these men were divinely energized to precisely inscribe the words God specifically intended. I am unashamedly an inerrantist.

"That is why I am so concerned by the recent announcement that the International Bible Society (IBS) will 'update' America's best- selling modern Bible by utilizing 'gender-neutral' wording in order to make the Bible more readable for present generations.

"The revision will be called 'Today's New International Version' (TNIV). Zondervan of Grand Rapids, Mich., owned by HarperCollins, and the IBS have spent a reported $2 million to develop the new translation. The New Testament version of the TNIV will go on sale in April."

Falwell calls the new translation "an attempt to alter the Word of God" and to "accommodate the present age," which, he whines, is concerned with "inclusiveness" and "tolerance."

Speaking out against gender equality, Falwell continues:

"This new publication is nothing more than acquiescence to feminists who are more concerned with the so-called language of 'equality' than they are with the message of the Gospel of Christ. God certainly does not need the help of fallen man to help Him explain his own Word."

Falwell rings his alarm bells loudest by predicting soon-to-be-made changes in the wording of the Ten Commandments. Even God himself, he foresees, could become androgynous:

"My concern," he says, "is that if we allow these seemingly minor changes to the Bible, the Ten Commandments may indeed soon be targeted. We could ultimately see Bible publishers consent to expanded pressure by actually 'gender neutralizing' God Himself."

Quoting Randy Stinson, executive director of the Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood (www.cbmw.org), Falwell allows that there are several reasons "why this gender manipulation is dangerous." Stinson, he says, has declared that this new version of the Bible contains "absolute mistranslations."

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Related Sites:
The Rev. Jerry Falwell

The Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

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"There are instances," complains Falwell, "where unnecessary mistranslation occurs that loses male meaning in male-specific words."

Falwell charges the International Bible Society with accommodating "feminist-minded" persons and says the Society has opened the door to "nothing more than gradualism towards the slippery slope which will ultimately lead to theological disaster."