By: David R. Parsons, ICEJ VP & Senior Spokesman

In April, Christians in Denmark raised the alarm about a new translation of the Bible published by the Danish Bible Society which omitted or replaced hundreds of references to “Israel” in both the Old and New Testaments. In response, the ICEJ launched a global online petition urging the Danish Bible Society to recall the new Contemporary Danish Bible 2020 and return to using “Israel” in all places where it appears in Scripture. The petition read:

“We are Christians from around the world who commend the United Bible Societies for their noble mission to make the Word of God available to all peoples. But we also must express our deep disapproval of the Bibel2020 edition recently published by the Danish Bible Society, which omits or replaces hundreds of references to “Israel” in both the Old and New Testaments. The Word of God is unchanging and we must safeguard its integrity and eternal truths, including the central, enduring role the Bible gives to Israel in God’s redemptive plan for the world. We urge you to demonstrate respect for the Holy Scriptures by withdrawing this seriously flawed Bible translation from circulation.”

We can now report that more than 100,447 Christians from some 130 nations signed our online petition and the results have been delivered to the Secretary General and board members of the Danish Bible Society. We also are pleased to report that the Danish Bible Society recently announced on their website that they had decided to restore all references to Israel in the New Testament, while a special committee of scholars would be convened to approve the same changes in the Old Testament. It appears this decision was made due to our ongoing petition, as well as because of the efforts of other national Bible Societies and individual Christian scholars who engaged in detailed discussions with the Danish Bible Society in regards to their mishandling of the Word of God.