NIV Bible to Get First Update in 25 Years

Changes will include modernizing the language in some sections and reflecting and advances in Biblical scholarship. Keith Danby, global president and CEO of Biblica, a Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Christian ministry that holds the NIV copyright said:

"We want to reach English speakers across the globe with a Bible that is accurate, accessible and that speaks to its readers in a language they can understand."

However, the problem is that past attempts to revamp the NIV for contemporary audiences different editions have met with pushback, much of it around controversies about gender language.

As you might assume, what we're talking about is references to "men" vs. "people" or "women." Gender-specific terms that translators felt were not intended to be gender-specific were change. An example would be references to "sons of God," which became "children of God."

The fear is that this revision will reopen old wounds and create the same sorts of arguments about gender-specific terminology. The NIV was first published in 1978 and more than 300 million NIV Bibles are in print worldwide.