The translator behind one of the best-selling Bible versions of the 20th century has died.
Robert Bratcher, who has passed away at the age of 90, was responsible for the Good News Bible, a translation that sold close to 20 million copies in its first three years.
Bratcher penned the Good News Bible in response to a call by the American Bible Society (ABS) for a translation aimed at speakers of English as a second language.
Published in 1966 as Good News for Modern Man, the Bible version relied on the "dynamic equivalence" theory of translation. Eschewing the word-for-word approach of traditional literal translations, Bratcher built on the ideas of Baptist minister and linguist Eugene Nida to produce a plain English translation that reproduced the thoughts, if not the exact words of the original Greek and Hebrew.
Despite its popularity among both Protestant and Catholic Christians worldwide, the Good News Bible was a source of controversy in some conservative evangelical circles. The thought-for-thought principle led to accusations that it undermined the "Word of God."
Bratcher was born to a Southern Baptist missionary couple in Brazil. He taught at Baptist Theological Seminary in Rio de Janeiro from 1945 to 1956, before moving to the ABS.
In the 1980s, Bratcher's denial of inerrancy—the evangelical doctrine that the Scriptures are without error—invited further criticism from Southern Baptist fundamentalists, and he resigned from the ABS, despite having the support of his fellow United Bible Societies members.
He passed away in a retirement home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He was a long-time member of the Olin T. Binkley Memorial Baptist Church in the town.
26 July 2010
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