This day in history: The first portion of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible was published on this day in 1946. According to Wikipedia, the RSV was "the first serious challenge to the popularity of the Authorized King James Version." This is incorrect. The first serious challenge to the popularity of the KJV came in 1881 with the publication of the English Revised Version, followed by the American Standard Version in 1901.
The Revised Version (RV) or English Revised Version (ERV) remains the only officially authorized and recognized revision of the King James Version in Great Britain, though you would be hard-pressed to find a copy to buy. The American Standard Version has received a second life of its own online.
While the King James Version used the Divine Name "Jehovah" 4 times (Ex.6:3, Ps.83:18, Is.12:2, Is.26:4), and the ERV used "Jehovah" 9 times and the ASV used the name almost 7000 times, the RSV went against the Hebrew text and removed all mention of the name.
This however did not cause any controversy. What was deemed controversial was removing the word "virgin" in Isaiah 7:14 and replacing it with "young woman." Luther Hux, a pastor in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, announced his intention to burn a copy of the RSV during a sermon on November 30, 1952. This was reported in the press and attracted shocked reactions, as well as a warning from the local fire chief. On the day in question, he delivered a two-hour sermon entitled "The National Council Bible, the Master Stroke of Satan—One of the Devil's Greatest Hoaxes". After ending the sermon, he led the congregation out of the church, gave each worshipper a small American flag and proceeded to set light to the pages containing Isaiah 7:14. Hux informed the gathered press that he did not burn the Bible, but simply the "fraud" that the Isaiah pages represented. Hux later wrote a tract against the RSV entitled Modernism's Unholy Bible.
The controversy stemming from this rendering helped reignite the King-James-Only Movement within the Independent Baptist and Pentecostal churches. Furthermore, many Christians have adopted what has come to be known as the "Isaiah 7:14 litmus test", which entails checking that verse to determine whether or not a new translation can be trusted.
In the Revised Standard Version, a change was made in the usage of archaic English for second-person pronouns, "thou", "thee", "thy", and verb forms "art, hast, hadst, didst", etc. The KJV, RV, and ASV used these terms for addressing both God and humans. The RSV used archaic English pronouns and verbs only for addressing God, a fairly common practice for Bible translations until the mid-1970s.
For the New Testament, the RSV followed the latest available version of Nestle's Greek text, whereas the RV and ASV had used the Westcott and Hort Greek text, and the KJV had used the Textus Receptus.
There are several different editions of the RSV Bible. Catholics have embraced the Catholic Edition (RSV-CE Ignatius Bible). The Common Bible: An Ecumenical Edition is supposed to be an edition of the RSV for all branches of Christendom. The RSV was also the basis of the Readers Digest Bible.
In 1989, the National Council of Churches released a full-scale revision to the RSV called the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV). It was the first major version to use gender-neutral language and thus drew more criticism and ire from conservative Christians than did its 1952 predecessor. For instance, at Matthew 4:4 and RSV has "Man shall not live by bread alone" while the NRSV has "One does not live by bread alone."
As a result, Evangelicals produced their own Bible called the English Standard Version. Evangelicals also produced the New King James Version and the New American Standard Bible.
Several members of the Faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary complained in 1953 that the RSV Bible refused "to concede the full deity of Jesus Christ."
I'll let you be the judge:
Psalm 45:6 "Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever" ASV
"Your divine throne endures for ever and ever" RSV
Micah 5:2 "But thou, Beth-lehem Ephrathah, which art little to be among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall one come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting." ASV
"But you, O Bethlehem Eph'rathah, who are little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days." RSV
Romans 9:5 "...Christ, who is God over all, forever praised." New International Version
"God, who is over all be blessed for ever." RSV
Acts 20:28 "Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." NIV
"be the shepherds of the church of God, which he obtained with the blood of his own Son." Revised Standard Version
See also the footnotes at Hebrews 1:8, Titus 2:13 and 2 Peter 1:1.
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