GENDER-NEUTRAL BIBLE VERSION SPARKS CONTROVERSY IN AREA.

Byline: Amy Raisin Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - A gender-neutral version of the Bible will be available in April - instead of ``sons of God,'' it will read ``children of God,'' for example - which has stirred strong opinions among many religious leaders.

Colorado-based International Bible Society, which has sold more than 150 million New International Version Bibles since 1978, said the gender-neutral translation, called Today's New International Version (TNIV), will still use masculine terms in reference to God and Jesus.

Robert Thomas, professor of New Testament at Master's Seminary in Sun Valley, affiliated with Master's College in Santa Clarita, said it is important for his students to know about the modern versions, but only so they can answer the questions of their congregants.

``I encourage my students to become aware of everything that's going on so they can minister to everyone effectively,'' Thomas said. ``But I cannot encourage them to use the TNIV or NIV or any free translation. I would not recommend it in a positive sense.''

Thomas argues that those committed to the integrity of the original scriptures are better served by studying versions most faithful to the ancient Greek language. And he does not support the idea that the words ``man'' or ``he'' exclude females.

``We are living in a culture now where an extremist feminist element is promoting doing away with gender and generic language,'' Thomas said. ``But there are quite a few females who recognize that the word `he' does mean females, too.''

And so begins the struggle over how God relates to humans.

Rev. Judith Hirsch-Fikejs, pastor of the Acton Community Presbyterian Church for more more than 16 years, called the notion that masculine terminology is inclusive of women nonsense.

``It just makes me so angry. The English language is the largest in the world,'' she said. ``Can't we figure out how to include everyone? I spend half my time in my church assuring women that God is talking about them, too. And they're not radical feminists. They're women who want to be included.

``I try not to refer to men or women specifically when talking about how God relates to the human race. We are not just sons of God, we are children of God,'' Hirsch-Fikejs said.

Another example of changes in the TNIV includes: ``a man is justified by faith'' in Romans 3:28 will read ``a person is justified by faith.'' According to statements on the International Bible Society's web site, the company's intention ``is to provide the next generation with a translation that is unquestionably accurate and brilliantly clear.

``We believe that earnest Christians want total accuracy in translation, with no bowing to a feminist agenda, no compromise with the biblical text,'' it states. ``The TNIV uses generic language only where the meaning of the text was intended to include both men and women.''