Zondervan, Newsboys Partner for New TNIV Bible

Zondervan and Newsboys announced today a partnership that will make the New Testament of Today's New International Version of the Bible (TNIV) available on Newsboys' website.

By Kenneth Chan, Tuesday, January 04, 2005

Zondervan, the leading Christian communications company in the world, and internationally-renowned Christian recording artists Newsboys announced today a partnership that will make the New Testament of Today's New International Version of the Bible (TNIV) available on Newsboys' website.

The TNIV—translated by the same committee that translated the world's bestselling modern English translation, the NIV—is a new Bible translation published by Zondervan that will release in both Old and New Testaments on Feb. 4, 2005. According to Zondervan, the TNIV will be published in creative, innovative formats to engage the hearts and minds of 18- to 34-year-olds.

“A national Harris Interactive poll conducted earlier this year found that 18- to 34-year-olds are highly receptive to the TNIV,” Zondervan reported. “77 percent of them found the TNIV easier to understand than the NIV, and 72 percent of them found the text more readable.”

Brad Doll, senior director of marketing for Zondervan's 18- to 34-year-old Bible team, said "Newsboys is a perfect partner for the TNIV, as they play before hundreds of thousands of 18- to 34-year-olds every year."

"Newsboys is just as passionate as we are about reaching today's generation with a Bible translation that is incredibly accurate and incredibly readable,” Doll added. “We're extremely proud to be partnering with them."

In February of 2005, Zondervan will release nine innovative TNIV Bibles, and in April 2005, a Newsboys' song and a TNIV endorsement from lead singer Peter Furler will be included on the TNIV MP3 New Testament CD, which will be available in retail stores.

A TNIV endorsement from lead singer Peter Furler is currently included as an insert in the latest newsboys CD, devotion, as well as in the back of The Purple Book, which is a Bible study produced by newsboys and Every Nation.

"The TNIV will be the biggest Bible translation launch in history, based on the breadth of products offered and the promotion that we intend to do," said Paul Caminiti, publisher and vice president of Bibles at Zondervan. "We know there is a need for this translation and we're thrilled to begin reaching today's generation with God's word in compelling, innovative formats, all supported by a translation that is uncompromisingly accurate and absolutely faithful to the original biblical texts."

According to Zondervan, the TNIV has been in development for nearly a decade under the direction of the Committee on Bible Translation, or CBT, a fully independent group of top evangelical scholars from around the world. The CBT is the same body that translated the NIV, the most read, most trusted modern English translation. Because English is constantly changing and the NIV was first published more than 30 years ago, the CBT saw the need to produce a text that more accurately reflected today's language.

For more information on the TNIV, visit http://www.TNIV.com . For more information on Newsboys and to read the TNIV New Testament, visit http://www.newsboys.com .