Bible Translation Causes Trauma


For most people reading the Bible can transform and uplift the spirit. However, one man claims that certain verses in particular translations have caused him "emotional pain and mental instability," according to a recent RNS story printed in the Grand Rapids Press. Because of this trauma, Bradley Lashown Fowler of Canton, Michigan, is now seeking $60 million from Zondervan, as well as $10 million from Thomas Nelson Publishing in a lawsuit filed in federal court on July 7. The reason for his trauma? Fowler claims that the Bibles published by the above companies refer to homosexuality as a sin and therefore have made him "an outcast from his family" and have "contributed to physical discomfort and periods of demoralization, chaos, and bewilderment." He believes that "the intent of the publisher was to design a religious, sacred document to reflect an individual opinion or a group's opinion or a group's conclusion to cause him or anyone who is a homosexual to endure verbal abuse, discrimination, episodes of hate, and physical violence...including murder."

Enough of the conspiracy thinking and paranoia. Maybe the Word is simply doing what it is intended to do: convict the sinful heart and lead it to repentance. When the hammer of the law strikes a sinful heart, there is bound to be inner pain. The Old Adam does not die easily. Perhaps Fowler is feeling the effects of the Spirit's calling, rather than imagined hatred of his assumed enemies.

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