Wayne (from Better Bibles) commented on the post below. Wayne seems to be saying that we can have a translation that is free of the taint of the ideology of the translator (treating the translation team as if they were one person). He cites the NRSV which he claims is "free of liberal, conservative, complementarian, and, for the most part, egalitarian ideology". And, viewed from where he and I sit, it is.
However, look closer, as conservative critics of the NRSV point out, to avoid sexist language it often substitutes a generic plural for a singular reference.
So, in Psalm 1:1 :
Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers;Is NOT the same thing as "Happy is the man (understood generically) who..." In our fallen, post-Babel, world, good intentions are not enough, perfect translation is impossible, and ideology affects translation. ¶ 6:42 AM
[to Del.icio.us]
Tim, I am guilty! I wasn't clear enough when I wrote what you excerpted: "free of liberal, conservative, complementarian, and, for the most part, egalitarian ideology".
When I wrote that, I was well aware of how totally gender-inclusive the NRSV is. It is clear in the NRSV Introduction that the NRSV team was required to follow a gender-inclusive mandate.
What I was trying to say was that the NRSV, for the most part, does not reflect egalitarian theology or ideology. Of course, we can see that reflected in the pervasive gender-inclusive language. But gender-inclusive language does not, by any means, constitute all of a Bible translation. One can still teach complementarian ideology from the NRSV Bible. The propositional teaching of the Bible remains essentially the same in the NRSV as in translations which have been produced by complementarians.
I was hoping that my hedge "for the most part" re: egalitarian theology would be adequate to address these issues, but I can see that it wasn't.
By 
Wayne Leman, at
June 22, 2005 7:36 AM
I think it is a sufficient hedge, I'd just say that it applies to all aspects of ideology not just one. Actually I like the way NRSV works, they think like me, but that's the issue, if they think like me then they do not "think like" somebody different from me!
By Tim, at
June 22, 2005 8:39 AM
