The translators of the New Testament in The New English Bible (1970) state in the "Introduction" that they have rendered the Greek "into the English of the present day, that is, into the natural vocabulary, constructions, and rhythms of contemporary speech." In the "Introduction" to the Old Testament a similar claim is made for the rendering of the Hebrew & Aramaic into English. Then in the Preface to the whole Bible, written by the Archbishop of York, Dr. Donald Coggan, it is stated that the purpose was to produce a translation in "a contemporary idiom" with "a delicate sense of English style."
The publication of the New Testament in 1961, followed by the publication of the Old Testament with the [revised] New Testament in 1970 (and also as a further revision in 1972) as the complete Bible, were greeted enthusiastically by church leaders in Great Britain and Ireland, as well as in the British Commonwealth. Here, it seemed to them, was the Bible in a contemporary English free from the archaic and obsolete words and expressions. This NEB would speak God's word to modern people in a modern world.
Amazingly, neither in 1961 nor in 1970, is there any explanation given in the Preface or Introductions for the retention of the second person singular "Thou" and "Thee" for the addressing of the God of the Old and New Testaments. This usage was judged to be so much part of religious English that it was preserved as being part of contemporary English and thus no comment was needed! Looking back this is quite amazing!!!
We recall that over the Atlantic Ocean in the United States of America, The Revised Standard Version (1952, revised 1971) had also retained the "Thou" and "Thee" form of address for the Deity as part of modern standard English usage. For the addressing of human beings "you" was used throughout for this had been standard English for several centuries.
Yet, this long established usage within the English language did not last for too long within the new generation of versions of the English Bible. Revision of the NEB began in 1974 in order to make it more acceptable and useful for a dual purpose. Dr. Coggan explained that: "The widespread enthusiasm for The New English Bible had resulted in its being frequently used for reading aloud in public worship, the implication of which had not been fully anticipated by the translators. As a result it became desirable to review the translation." So the revised translation of the full Bible was published in 1989 as The Revised English Bible, and was intended both for reading in public and for private reading, study and devotion.
In the Preface, Dr. Coggan explained once again the commitment to contemporary English, this time the English of the 1980s.
"Care has been taken to ensure that the style of English used is fluent and of appropriate dignity for liturgical use, while maintaining intelligibility for worshippers of a wide range of ages and backgrounds. The revisers have sought to avoid complex or technical terms where possible, and to provide sentence structure and word order, especially in the Psalms, which will facilitate congregational reading but will not misrepresent the meaning of the original texts. As the 'you'-form of address to God is now commonly used, the 'thou'-form which was preserved in the language of prayer in The New English Bible has been abandoned."
Thus within the space of ten to twenty years there has been a decisive change in the language of prayer in the British Churches and the translators had decided to accept it as inevitable (just as the liturgists had done in the 1970s). Apparently, this change occurred or was assisted within the churches because of changes in the general culture, wherein familiarity between persons of differing rank and position became more common. Thus the feeling was abroad that if God is real and we are honest then we should speak to him as we speak to each other as "you."
But this change to familiarity in address to God is not the only one. There is yet another significant change. Let Archbishop Coggan explain it:
"The use of male-oriented language, in passages of traditional versions of the Bible which evidently apply to both genders, has become a sensitive issue in recent years; the revisers have preferred more inclusive gender references where that has been possible without compromising scholarly integrity or English style."
Evidence of this new principle at work is seen in Psalm 1 which in the REB (1989) begins, "Happy is the one who." This contrasts with the NEB (1970) which begins, "Happy is the man who." [Other renderings of Psalm 1 from this period prefer, "Happy are they who."]
So it would seem that the two innovations go together, or perhaps, follow on from each other. Once the traditional language of prayer (which as John Wesley wrote in 1760 is that "We say 'Thou' to God and 'you' to man") is set aside then immediately there are adjustments, great or small, made towards the demands of the feminist lobby [which of course includes men and women]. Whether these adjustments are appropriate or not is here not the point - which is that once the "Thou"-God disappears then the "You"-God who replaces Him is much more tolerant of modern agendas in the world that seek to become part of the Gospel of the churches. We know that what happened in this regard to the R.E.B. has happened to virtually all modern versions of the Bible from Protestant or Roman Catholic sources either in their first edition or subsequently in revised editions [see the Jerusalem Bible, the New Revised Standard Version etc.].
And, of course, what has happened in versions of the Bible has also happened in the new liturgies and prayer books as well as the new hymnbooks and chorus books. It seems that once God is addressed as "You" then this Deity welcomes the major social agendas of the culture that originally pressured the Church to use "You."
We shall see how tolerant is the "You"-God to the current lesbigay agenda and to forthcoming manifestations of the Zeitgeist within the versions of the Bible, liturgies and hymns/songs of the next decade.
August 26, 2002
The Rev'd Dr. Peter Toon
Minister of Christ Church, Biddulph Moor,
England & Vice-President and Emissary-at-Large
of The Prayer Book Society of America
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