AP

So. Baptists reject new NIV Bible, endorse pathway for illegals

PHOENIX - Southern Baptists have asked their LifeWay bookstores not to sell the new NIV Bible, expressing "profound disappointment" with the gender-neutral translation.

A resolution passed this week at the denomination's annual meeting says the 2011 NIV Bible "alters the meaning of hundreds of verses, most significantly by erasing gender-specific details which appear in the original language."

The resolution's author, the Rev. Tim Overton of Muncie, Indiana, denounced the new version of the popular Bible translation as "a feminists' dream." He said Southern Baptists needed to protect their congregations from misunderstanding what the Scriptures teach.

Also during their annual gathering, SBC "messengers" passed a resolution advocating a path to legal status for illegal immigrants. The resolution was passed on Wednesday at the annual meeting of the nation's largest protestant denomination in Phoenix. It also calls on Southern Baptists to reject bigotry and to minister to all people, regardless of immigration status.

Resolutions committee chairman Paul Jimenez said the fact that the meeting was in Arizona, which some groups have boycotted over its perceived hostility toward immigrants, only played a small role in the introduction of the resolution. He said the main reason for the resolution was the desire to spread the gospel to immigrants.

The resolution only passed by a broad margin after language was added saying it should not be construed as an endorsement of amnesty.

Some churches denounce Alabama immigration law
On a related note, some churches are objecting to Alabama's new law that makes it a crime to knowingly hire illegal immigrants, rent them a place to live, or transport them in a vehicle.

Leaders of the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church, the Lutheran Church, and the Roman Catholic Church all have criticized the law as running counter to biblical teachings about caring for neighbors, helping visitors, and showing hospitality to strangers. The state's largest denomination, the Alabama Baptist Convention, hasn't taken a public position.

Republican Gov. Robert Bentley, who signed the law last week, is a deacon and Sunday school teacher at the First Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa.

Source: http://onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=1372366