Evangel Protests NIV Bible

Evangel Presbytery, at its Stated Meeting on May 13, 1997, adopted an overture from Briarwood Presbyterian Church, protesting the decision by Zondervan to publish a "gender-neutral" version of the New International Version of the Bible. The overture cites the PCA's commitment "to the authority of Scripture because of its inerrancy, infallibility, and inspiration" and denominational belief "that eldership is open only to male members of the Church of Jesus Christ." It also speaks of the cultural pressures to adopt an egalitarian view of men and women, including in the language of hymns and Scripture, and it commends "the strong stand of evangelical organizations who have resisted this cultural pressure opting to be consistent with biblical truth."
The overture concludes: "WHEREAS, it is now the announced intention of Zondervan Publishing Company to produce and publish a NIV bible with gender-neutral language; THEREFORE, THE PRESBYTERY OF EVANGEL OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF AMERICA overtures the Twenty-Fifth General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America . . . to register its protest at Zondervan and with our brothers of the NIV Committee on Bible Translation, expressing our disappointment with their decision to yield to cultural pressure to change the language of Scripture, violating the clear understanding of centuries that the Word of God is not to be 'tampered with'. This decision to eliminate the references to maleness or femaleness from Scripture will bring confusion to the minds of many concerning the teaching of God the Father and His design for the man and woman that He created."