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1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture

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1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture
Directed bySharon Roggio
Written by
  • Jena Serbu
  • Jill Woodward
Produced by
  • Sharon Roggio
  • Jena Serbu
Starring
  • Kathy Baldock
  • Ed Oxford
Cinematography
  • Tyler Eichorst
  • Collier Landry
  • Samuel Emerson Morgan
Edited byJill Woodward
Music byMary Lambert
Production
companies
  • ACOWSAY
  • Quest for Biblical Truth
  • Sweetbreadstudios
  • ZUM Communications
Distributed byACOWSAY
Release date
  • 2022 (2022)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryUnited States

1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture is a 2022 documentary film about a mistranslation during the 1946 creation of the Revised Standard Version of the Christian Bible, and how the misinterpretation of Ancient Greek led to prevailing cultural and religious perceptions of LGBTQ people in the United States.

Summary

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Following two Christian researchers, heterosexual Kathy Baldock and homosexual Ed Oxford,[1] the documentary's premise is that the Christian Bible was mistranslated in 1946, misaligning religious and cultural perceptions of LGBTQ people in the US.[2]

In 1946, the National Council of Churches brought together biblical scholars and prominent institutions (including Yale Divinity School) to modernize the Bible for contemporary readers.[2] The film says that for the creation of this Revised Standard Version (RSV), two rare and poorly-understood Greek words—arsenokoitai and malakoi,[1] which respectively refer to abusive behaviors and exploitative relationships—were mistranslated to encompass consenting same-sex relationships. The word homosexual is alleged to have been used to instead reflect contemporary biases instead of history or linguistics.[2] It was the first time it appeared in any translation of the Bible.[3]

The film has interviews with biblical scholars, linguists, religious leaders,[4] theologians,[3] and David Fearon:[1] a man who had successfully challenged the translation as a seminary student in 1959, but was told by scholars then that while it was possibly inaccurate, "the damage had already been done." The RSV became widely adopted across the United States, influencing culture, public policy, and theology.[2] Further translations, such as the 1970s' New International Version, kept using homosexual, with "damning effect".[3]

Production

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Filmmaker Sharon "Rocky" Roggio[2] was a homosexual Christian. Her father was a pastor whose belief in biblical literalism led him to estrange his daughter from her family when she was forceably outed. She met Baldock at a Hollywood United Methodist Church seminar where she learned of their research into the RSV mistranslation and met Fearon. Roggio was inspired to make 1946 to "encourage more conversation and help stop the weaponization of God and scripture and free the LGBTQ+ community from religious oppression." Roggio's father features prominently in the film.[4][1]

The 92-minute, crowdfunded, documentary film[5] was produced in the United States and directed by Roggio.[6] She and Jena Serbu produced the film, with Serbu and Jill Woodward serving as screenwriters. Mary Lambert composed the original music for the film.[7] Cinematography was done by Tyler Eichorst, Collier Landry, and Samuel Emerson Morgan. Jill Woodward served as editor.[5]

ACOWSAY, Quest for Biblical Truth, Sweetbreadstudios, and ZUM Communications were the production companies for 1946, while ACOWSAY distributed it.[7]

Release

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1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture premiered in 2022 at Doc NYC, where it won the audience award.[5] With over US$150,000 (equivalent to about $155,000 in 2024) raised at GoFundMe,[4] 1946 began a limited theatrical release on December 1, 2023.[7]

Reception

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In January 2023, Screen Daily's Nikki Baughan spoke well of 1946, calling it a fascinating documentary that has potential to reach audiences outside of the Christian faithful and LGBTQ community—however unlikely it is to change the minds of the Christian right.[5] By that December, the film had won 23 festival awards.[4] In mid-2024, while referring to one such in Tacoma, Washington, Roggio told The News Tribune that selling out screenings of 1946 was typical.[3]

Prior to its premiere, Roggio said that her documentary received significant criticism from conservative media trying to debunk its claims, sometimes without having seen the film.[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Bromberger, Brian (April 10, 2024). "'1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture' Tries to Shed Light on the Bible". Religion Unplugged. Archived from the original on May 29, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e "New Documentary | 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture". Yale LGBTQ Center. Yale University. January 30, 2025. Archived from the original on April 5, 2025. Retrieved May 2, 2025. A documentary that follows the story of tireless researchers who trace the origins of the anti-gay movement among Christians to a grave mistranslation of the Bible in 1946.
  3. ^ a b c d Sailor, Craig (July 28, 2024). Pedersen, Stephanie (ed.). "Film on Bible, gay people sells out Tacoma theaters". The News Tribune. Vol. 142, no. 57. pp. 1A, 4A. ISSN 1073-5860.
  4. ^ a b c d e Ho, Vivian (December 1, 2023). "Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible?". The Guardian. ISSN 1756-3224. OCLC 60623878. Archived from the original on April 27, 2025. Retrieved May 3, 2025. A new documentary challenges an alleged 1946 mistranslation that helped lead to a justification for Christian anti-gayness
  5. ^ a b c d Baughan, Nikki (January 11, 2023). "'1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture': Review". Screen Daily. ISSN 0307-4617. Archived from the original on November 29, 2024. Retrieved May 3, 2025. Documentary interrogates the use of the word homosexual in the modern American Bible
  6. ^ "1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture". JustWatch. Archived from the original on March 15, 2025. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
  7. ^ a b c "1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on June 4, 2024. Retrieved May 2, 2025.
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