‘1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture’ Tries To Shed Light On The Bible
(ANALYSIS) The title, “1946: The Mistranslation that Shifted Culture,” summarizes well this feature documentary, which argues how the misuse of a single word forever changed the course of history.
The film follows two researchers named Kathy Baldock, a straight Christian and Ed Oxford, a gay Christian man from San Francisco suffering from depression as he tries to reconcile his sexuality with his spirituality. They trace the origins of the anti-gay movement to a grave mistranslation of the Bible in 1946 when the Revised Standard Version committee (composed of white, presumably straight, males) decided that two poorly understood and rarely-used Greek words — arsenokoitai and malakoi — would be combined and translated as homosexual.
This alteration was the first time the word homosexual (not coined until 1868) was added to the Bible. There was now a scriptural foundation to justify homophobia, enabling conservative politicians to push an anti-LGBTQ+ agenda. Subsequent biblical translations used the very well-respected RSV as source material, not questioning that translation.
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Director and producer Sharon Roggio is the daughter of a Christian pastor who believes in the literal word of God — so for him, homosexuality is a sin. He seeks to save her from a perverse lifestyle. These beliefs, a variant of “love the sinner, hate the sin,” she said, engendered fear and anxiety in Roggio. When she was outed against her will to her family, the result was estrangement and sadness because their connection seemed permanently severed.
Asked how Roggio learned about the events of 1946, she told Religion Unplugged: “I attended a Kathy Baldock seminar at the First United Methodist Church in Hollywood. I was already on my own exploration seeking answers, through scripture, working to affirm my identity with my non-affirming parents, recognizing that a strong way to communicate with them is through the Bible. Along with Ed Oxford, they were the first to ask the questions, who put the word “homosexual” in the Bible and why? These questions led them to Yale University, examining the archives, containing the editorial notes of the 1946/1952 Revised Standard Version, the first Bible to include that word.”
However, they unearthed a series of letters that answered their questions and then nine months later they found the man, David Fearon, who wrote the letter to the translation committee in 1959. He challenged them on their translation — ultimately leading to the committee revising their mistake in 1971. Being an LGBTQ+ Christian myself, I know the importance of this historic discovery. This is a tangible mistake that we can trace. We hope this finding will encourage more conversation and help stop the weaponization of God and scripture and free the LGBTQ+ community from religious oppression.”
Fearon was a retired United Church of Canada minister. At the time, he was a 21-year-old seminary student who spent months researching his material before sending his letter — well ahead of its time — to the RSV committee, claiming that the text didn’t condemn homosexuality. Roggio was able to interview David, hear his story and feature him in her film, before he died.
Why did Roggio feature her father in the film?
“Having my father participate in the film was pivotal but also, for me, wonderful,” she said. “Our story affords the audience an opportunity to see a real-life conflict surrounding this issue, but most importantly how we are able to stay in relationship, even though we disagree. So, the lesson there would be love your family, do the best you can, show up, but stand firm on your convictions. Another reason we wanted to get my dad in the film was so we could showcase that point of view, to give him the opportunity to express his voice and stance on the issue.”
Despite their differences, by film’s end, there’s a reconciliation of sorts.
Prior to 1946, those two Greek words were translated in the King James Version as effeminate, abusers of themselves with mankind. The film with help from biblical scholars says the context for the two words are rape, sexual abuse, excessive lust and exploitative relationships, perhaps pederasty, but not homosexuality. Subsequent translations have been the New International Version’s sexual perverts, which is also how the RSV corrected their mistake in 1971, though the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition in 2022, translates it as male prostitutes/men who engage in illicit sex.
Roggio likes Eugene Peterson’s Message Bible translation, “those who use and abuse sex and those who use and abuse others.”
The latter two “lean more to the cultural and historical context of abuse or exploitation, not leaving us with a blanket statement like a “pervert” or a “prostitute” or a “homosexual,” with a footnote stating the Greek is unclear.”
For Roggio, the film is less a biblical seminar than showing how this mistake helped some weaponize the Bible against the LGBTQ+ community.
“In regard to the reaction of LGBTQ+ people, it’s mixed,” Roggio said. “Most people are encouraged by the film and can relate to the story. There have been some people in the LGBTQ+ community who are angry that we are engaging with non-affirming communities of faith. That tells us how hurt they are by religion. Of course, they have every right to be upset. Their hurt is valid, and we absorbed all the comments and listened, with the hope of making a better film for everyone. We hope they give us a chance and see the film.”
She added: “From conservative audiences, we’ve had some positive feedback, especially from those who lean more towards affirming. They want to learn more so that can love people better. However, most of the conservative audiences have either not seen the film and/or will not budge on their position. Even when they see the film, they either bully and attack Ed, bully and attack the film, but mostly they misrepresent our argument. A lot of the pushback confirms we’re doing the right thing in my mind. I hope people will see the movie and make their own decision.”
Is Roggio hoping her film will actually change the minds of fundamentalists concerning the gay community?
“We know the film will not change everybody’s mind,” Roggio said. “People will remain stuck and or hold onto their own reasons why they are unable to allow data, context, history, and reason triumph over dogma. But we know there are enough people, who once provided the right tools, will be able to recognize this information and move with us, away from fundamental ideologies that misuse scripture which leads to unimaginable harm.”
Roggio doesn’t reject the Bible, even with the other six verses that talk about same-sex sexuality in a negative way.
“But there are hundreds of texts that talk about heterosexuality in a negative way,” Roggio said. “I feel if anybody wants to find a biblical basis to support their argument they’ll be able to proof text their way to whatever conclusion they want. That is again how people are misusing the Bible as a weapon, taking God’s name and hurting other people.”
For Roggio, how to interpret these texts is an institution problem.
“It’s not hard to see how the church is able to marginalize texts, calling them historical and saying they don’t apply today if that verse does not support their power structure,” she said. “And they amplify texts that uphold their positions of control and dominance. You can’t follow the Bible literally. It’s not meant to be read that way. Biblical inerrancy is a modern invention and anyone who claims the Bible is inerrant, they are not being honest with scripture.”
Has working on her film redefined for Roggio the relationship between sexuality and spirituality?
“For me being gay and Christian is part of my identity,” she said. “The film is not out to evangelize or pull people away from Christianity. It is a ‘journey’ film about a real mistranslation of the Bible that was discovered by Christians, exposed by Christians, but unfortunately ignited by Christians. The Bible is the most published book in the world, so regardless of one’s faith, this issue affects us all. It is important to get it right. We should hold people accountable who use this mistranslation to do harm. We need help from within the Christian community, as well as outside the Christian community, to right this wrong.”
Still, there are schisms occurring in major denominations such as in Methodism and among Anglicans. Even in Catholicism, there has been much resistance to Pope Francis’s decision allowing blessings of same-sex couples.
To some extent, the film has developed into a new kind of ministry for Roggio.
“Being a part of 1946 has consumed my everyday life now going on six years. It is a lot of work to maintain and manage,” she said. “The challenges are constant but the rewards are many. So, yes, this is now a full-on mission. We are doing more than providing the film to churches, colleges, discussion groups, community centers, etc. for educational purposes, but we are also working on a workbook/ discussion guide to correspond with the film, which will answer top questions that we were unable to answer in a 90-minute film presentation. We want to provide a more precise tool for people to engage in dialogue, rather than debate, around this topic.”
The film is currently available via streaming through Eventive. You can find that link on the film’s website www.1946themovie.com.
Brian Bromberger is a freelance writer/journalist who works as a staff reporter and arts critic for The Bay Area Reporter weekly newspaper in San Francisco.