c. 2007 Religion News Service

Biblical Translator Bruce Metzger Dies at 93

(RNS) Bruce Metzger, a revered biblical scholar who was both respected and sometimes criticized for championing the use of modern language in translating the Bible, has died at the age of 93.

Metzger, a long-time professor at Princeton Theological Seminary and a towering figure for students who used to joke that he had actually written the Bible himself, died of respiratory failure Tuesday (Feb. 13) in Princeton, N.J.

Metzger is likely to be best remembered as the editor of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) of the Bible, a work first introduced in 1989 and which eliminated many, though not all, of the Bible’s masculine pronouns. It became the standard text used in many colleges, seminaries and divinity schools.

That work was an extension of the Revised Standard Version (RSV), released in its full version almost 40 years earlier and which eschewed much of the archaic language of the King James Bible. Metzger served on the translation team for the RSV, which was the first to use material from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

The turn to modern language and the goal of trying to eliminate much of the Bible’s non-inclusive language did not always sit well with some theological conservatives _ though some feminist scholars were critical as well, saying the new version did not go far enough in removing masculine references to God.

The evangelical magazine Christianity Today pointed out that Metzger believed that some extra-biblical books were “inspired” but not canonical. That belief, some evangelicals said, appeared to undermine the contention that biblical scripture is inerrant, Christianity Today reported.

Nonetheless, both theological conservatives and liberals praised Metzger as a giant in his field.

Darrell Bock, a research professor of New Testament at Dallas Theological Seminary, said Metzger was “one of the great Christian statesmen and New Testament scholars of the last century.” Eileen Lindner, the deputy general secretary for the National Council of Churches (NCC), which holds the copyright to both the RSV and NRSV, said Metzger’s “enthusiasm for the Bible as an ever-present guide for Christians (was) second only to his scholarship about the Bible.”

Metzger, an ordained Presbyterian minister, was professor emeritus of New Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary at the time of his death. He was a graduate of Lebanon Valley College, Princeton Theological Seminary and Princeton University.

_ Chris Herlinger

NYC Valentine’s Day Condom Distribution Draws Bishops’ Ire

(RNS) New York City Catholic leaders are criticizing the city health department’s Valentine’s Day distribution of condoms, saying it degrades society.

The subway-themed condoms debuted on Wednesday (Feb. 14) when volunteers handed out an estimated 150,000 free samples to people during their morning commute. The packaging mimicked the distinctive designs of the New York subway system.

Cardinal Edward Egan, head of the Archdiocese of New York, and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn said in a joint statement: “Our political leaders fail to protect the moral tone of our community when they encourage inappropriate sexual activity by blanketing our neighborhoods with condoms.”

The two bishops said the cost of the distribution could have been better spent fostering “what is true and what is decent.”

The city has promoted the condoms with new marketing slogans “New York City: We’ve got you covered” and “NYC condoms. Get some.” In an effort to increase condom use in the city, the campaign will supply the condoms free of charge at subways, phone booths and other public places.

New York City’s Health Commissioner, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, said, “Condoms can prevent HIV, other sexually transmitted diseases, and unintended pregnancies.”

He said while “abstinence is fail-safe,” for sexually active people, “using a condom is key to staying healthy.”

DiMarzio and Egan added that the only way to protect against these diseases is through abstinence before marriage and fidelity between married couples. They called the city’s plan to encourage condom use “tragic and misguided.”

_ Melissa Stee

Report Says Episcopal Church Has Answered Anglicans on Some Issues

(RNS) The Episcopal Church has appeased a top Anglican panel by halting the election of gay bishops and apologizing for any rifts it caused, according to a report released at a key meeting of Anglican leaders in Tanzania.

And though the American church has not officially condoned same-sex unions, it has not taken any action to forbid them, making it difficult “to discern exactly where the Episcopal Church stands on this issue,” the report says.

As primates _ or head bishops _ of the Anglican Communion’s 38 national and regional provinces gather in Africa through Feb. 19, the report seemed to offer hope that the world’s third-largest Christian body can stave off schism.

Still, tensions in Africa run high. On Friday (Feb. 16), a conservative conclave of seven bishops from the so-called “Global South” said they refuse to receive Communion with the head of the Episcopal Church, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Calls for schism have been growing ever louder since the Episcopal Church, the U.S. branch of Anglicanism, consecrated an openly gay bishop in 2003. Nigerian Archbishop Peter J. Akinola called the push for acceptance of homosexuality a “satanic attack” on the church.

The report, issued Thursday by a panel that included Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the leader of global Anglicanism, is part of an attempt to reconcile theological differences in the Anglican Communion.

The Episcopal Church has essentially decided to stop consecrating gay bishops and apologized for creating strains between Anglicans, the report says. “This represents a significant shift from the position which applied in 2003,” according to the report.

But Episcopalians were also asked to block the blessing of same-sex unions,something the Episcopal Church has yet to do, the report states. The report has angered some conservatives, who were hoping it would chastise the Episcopal Church, or even remove it from the Anglican Communion.

The Rev. David Anderson, who is part of a conservative movement to discredit the Episcopal Church, said the report “misses the mark entirely.”

“Furthermore, the report does not indicate an understanding that the issues surrounding human sexuality are only the tip of the iceberg,” Anderson said in a statement.

_ Daniel Burke

Town, Church Shocked by Sexual Abuse Case Against Woman, 84

THE DALLES, Ore. (RNS) A rosy-cheeked 84-year-old church volunteer with a penchant for gardening and a reputation for kindness pleaded guilty Thursday (Feb. 15) to charges of having sexual intercourse with an 11-year-old boy in her care.

Georgie Audean Buoy was arrested almost a year ago. Buoy, who was 82 at the time of the offense, was sentenced to three years in prison, and the district attorney felt compelled to offer proof to the doubters.

“We have a taped confession,” said Wasco County District Attorney Eric Nisley. “Anyone who wants can ask me for a copy of it.”

Leslie Wolf, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case, said Buoy serves as a reminder that the identities of sex offenders often surprise people once they become known.

“Most sex offenders don’t have any criminal record at all,” she said, “and that’s why we trust them.”

David Clear, pastor of the Covenant Christian Community Church where Buoy has been a member for more than 20 years, said she greeted parishioners on Sundays and opened her house to anyone who needed a place to stay.

“We are obviously supportive, but this is not the Audean that we have known for the last couple of decades,” he said. “It completely deviates from the person that we have known.”

Buoy told detectives when she was arrested last February that she took in as many as 30 foster children for temporary stays, usually less than a month, over a two-year period.

Officials at the Oregon Department of Human Services said Buoy was not a foster parent for the agency. It’s not clear why or under what circumstances the child was placed in Buoy’s care.

In the summer of 2004, she took in the 11-year-old boy for three months. She told detectives that she heard the boy had been abandoned as a baby. Buoy described the boy as very mature, saying he seemed more like 15 or 16.

At the time, Buoy was living alone with her husband of nearly 45 years. Elmer “Ed” Buoy, whose health problems forced him to sleep in a different bedroom. Audean Buoy acknowledged that she was lonely.

She and the boy would stay up late watching TV in her sewing room. Buoy said hugs led to kisses and eventually to sexual contact when he would crawl into her bed.

During an interview with detectives from the Wasco County Sheriff’s Office and the Oregon State Police, Buoy confessed to one encounter of sexual intercourse. The boy, who told a counselor about the sexual contact after he left the home, said there were more encounters.

Buoy pleaded guilty Thursday to first-degree attempted sexual abuse as part of a plea agreement that spared the now 14-year-old victim from testifying. She could have faced a maximum sentence of 200 months.

Buoy must turn herself on Feb. 29 to begin serving her sentence. Hoeing weeds in her garden on Thursday, she had little to say. “I feel fine,” she said. “There’s nothing else I can share.”

_ Aimee Green, Robin Franzen and Kathleen Blythe

Quote of the Day: Minister and Lawyer Oliver `Buzz’ Thomas

(RNS) “If God is on anyone’s side in this mess, he’s on everyone’s side.”

_ Oliver “Buzz” Thomas, minister and lawyer, commenting on the strife in the Middle East in a commentary in USA Today.

KRE/LF END RNS