WIS News 10 - Columbia, South Carolina | Man sues Bible publisher over verse

Man sues Bible publisher over verse

DETROIT, MI (NBC) - The Bible and a reference to homosexuals is the focus of a $60 million lawsuit against a west Michigan Christian publisher.

This hand-written lawsuit was filed Monday in federal court in Detroit.

There are a lot of unanswered questions at this point about whether this $60 million suit has a chance of going anywhere.

The suit alleges Grand Rapids-based Zondervan deliberately caused homosexuals to suffer by, what the suit claims, is a misinterpretation of the Bible.
 
The suit centers on one passage in scripture: first Corinthians, chapter six, verse nine and how it reads in Bibles published by Zondervan.

Bradley Fowler filed the suit. He says Zondervan Bibles published in 1982 and 1987 used the word homosexuals among a list of those who are 'wicked' or 'unrighteous' and won't inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Fowler says his family's pastor used that Zondervan Bible and because of it, his family considered him a sinner.

Now he's suing for $60 million.

Bradley Fowler says "to compensate for the past 20 years of emotional duress and mental instability."

Fowler claims the company is misinterpreting the Bible by specifically using the word homosexuals. He admits that every Bible printed is a translation, interpreted in some way, but he says specifically using that word is not a translation but a change.

Fowler says "these are opinions based on the publishers and they are being embedded in the religious structure as a way of life."

The man filing the suit says he came across the discrepancy while researching a book  noting, he says, Zondervan Bibles published in the 80s used the word homosexuals but earlier and later ones didn't.

We went to the library to do some research of our own, finding Zondervan Bibles published both in the 80s and post-2000 use the word homosexuals.

And some other Bibles like the New American Standard also use the word.

Others don't.

The regular American Standard version uses the phrase 'abusers of themselves with men.' the King James says 'abusers of themselves with mankind.' Still others use the word 'sodomites.'

Fowler says the idea that those phrases are another way of saying homosexuals is a misinterpretation as well.
 
As for Fowler, he tells us he is suing two other publishers for similar language.

A statement from Zondervan reads:  Zondervan has not been served with a lawsuit and therefore cannot comment on it. However, it is important to note that since Zondervan does not translate the Bible or own the copyright for any of the translations we publish, we should not comment on the merits of how a word should or should not be translated. We rely on the scholarly judgment of the highly respected and credible translation committees behind each translation and never alter the text of the translations we are licensed to publish. We only publish credible translations produced by credible Biblical scholars.