Zondervan Publishing Co. is being sued by a man who claims he and other homosexuals have suffered based on what he says is a misinterpretation of I Corinthians 6:9 in some of the Bible versions that they publish.
In the passage, homosexuals are on a list of those who are “wicked” or “unrighteous” and won’t inherit the kingdom of heaven. Bradley Fowler says that his family pastor used that Zondervan Bible, and because of it his family considered him to be a sinner and he has suffered. Now he is asking for an apology and for $60 million.
The New American Standard Version seems to be the Bible in question. Zondervan points out that they merely publish and distribute the work. A Bible committee of scholars is responsible for the translation and holds the copyrights to the Bible version.
Response: The NASV is known to be among the most accurate translations and is a word by word translation from the original into vernacular American English. Are we now at the point in this country that Bible publishers are going to be sued because of the contend in the Word of God? Are Pastors now vulnerable to civil action if they uphold traditional Christian teachings on homosexuality? This case could be full of precedents and needs to be followed closely.