1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture

2022 documentary film about Bible mistranslation December 2025 December 2025 Sharon Roggio Jena Serbu Jill Woodward Sharon Roggio Jena Serbu Kathy Baldock Ed Oxford Tyler Eichorst Collier Landry Samuel Emerson Morgan Jill Woodward Mary Lambert ACOWSAY Quest for Biblical Truth Sweetbreadstudios ZUM Communications ACOWSAY 2022 92 minutes United States 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture is a 2022 documentary film about the translation of two Koine Greek words in the New Testament—grc arsenokoitai none and grc malakoi none—during the creation of the Revised Standard Version of the Christian Bible in 1946, and how it has contributed to anti-LGBT rhetoric. Summary Following two Christian researchers, Kathy Baldock and Ed Oxford, the documentary's premise is that the Christian Bible was allegedly mistranslated in 1946, misaligning religious and cultural perceptions of LGBTQ people in the United States and anti-LGBT rhetoric around the world. 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. The film argues that for the creation of this Revised Standard Version (RSV), two rare Koine Greek words—grc arsenokoitai none and grc malakoi none, which the researchers believe refer to abusive behaviors and exploitative relationships respectively—were allegedly mistranslated to encompass consenting same-sex relationships, in 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10. The word homosexual is alleged to have been used to reflect contemporary biases instead of history or linguistics. It was the first time it appeared in any translation of the Bible. The film contains interviews with biblical scholars, linguists, religious leaders, theologians, and David Fearon: a man who had 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. Further translations, such as the 1970s' New International Version, kept using homosexual, with "damning effect". Production Filmmaker Sharon "Rocky" Roggio was a lesbian 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 translation of grc arsenokoitai none and grc malakoi none, 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. The 92-minute, crowdfunded, documentary film was produced in the United States and directed by Roggio. She and Jena Serbu produced the film, with Serbu and Jill Woodward serving as screenwriters. Mary Lambert composed the original music for the film. Cinematography was done by Tyler Eichorst, Collier Landry, and Samuel Emerson Morgan. Jill Woodward also served as editor. ACOWSAY, Quest for Biblical Truth, Sweetbreadstudios, and ZUM Communications were the production companies for 1946, while ACOWSAY distributed it. Release 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture premiered in 2022 at Doc NYC, where it won the audience award. With over 150000 2023 yes -3 raised on GoFundMe, 1946 began a limited theatrical release on December 1, 2023. Reception In January 2023, Screen Daily Nikki Baughan spoke well of 1946, calling it "fascinating" and "thought-provoking" yet "unlikely to alter the beliefs of the conservative religious right." By that December, the film had won 23 festival awards. In mid-2024, while referring to one such in Tacoma, Washington, Roggio told The News Tribune that selling out screenings of 1946 was "typical". 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. Prior to the film's release, Alan Shlemon, writing for the Protestant apologetical organisation Stand to Reason, described the film's central claim as "irrelevant", citing other instances in the Old and New Testaments where homosexuality is mentioned in a negative light, as well as stating the film contains fallacies which are "easy to spot".The Claim about Homosexuality in the Film 1946 Is Irrelevant https://www.str.org/w/the-claim-about-homosexuality-in-the-film-1946-is-irrelevant 2026-01-14 Stand to Reason en-US Awards and nominations Award Date of ceremony Recipients Result Cleveland International Film Festival 2023 Dream Maker Cleveland International Film Festival 2023 Roxanne T. Mueller Audience Choice Award for Best Film Palm Springs International Film Festival 2023 Best of Fest Outfest 2023 Best Documentary Feature Out on Film 2023 Best Documentary Doc NYC 2022 Audience Award References Baughan Nikki 2023-01-11 '1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture': Review https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/1946-the-mistranslation-that-shifted-culture-review/5177927.article Screen Daily en 0307-4617 live https://web.archive.org/web/20241129141647/https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/1946-the-mistranslation-that-shifted-culture-review/5177927.article 2024-11-29 2025-05-03 Documentary interrogates the use of the word homosexual in the modern American Bible Ho Vivian Vivian Ho (journalist) 2023-12-01 Did Christian homophobia come from a mistranslation of the Bible? https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/01/christian-homophobia-bible-mistranslation-1946-documentary The Guardian en 1756-3224 60623878 live https://web.archive.org/web/20250427235508/https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/dec/01/christian-homophobia-bible-mistranslation-1946-documentary 2025-04-27 2025-05-03 A new documentary challenges an alleged 1946 mistranslation that helped lead to a justification for Christian anti-gayness Bromberger Brian 2024-04-10 '1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture' Tries to Shed Light on the Bible https://religionunplugged.com/news/2024/3/15/1946-the-mistranslation-that-shifted-culture-the-documentary-that-tries-to-shed-light-on-the-bible Religion Unplugged en live https://web.archive.org/web/20240529090903/https://religionunplugged.com/news/2024/3/15/1946-the-mistranslation-that-shifted-culture-the-documentary-that-tries-to-shed-light-on-the-bible 2024-05-29 2025-05-02 Sailor Craig 2024-07-28 Pedersen Stephanie Film on Bible, gay people sells out Tacoma theaters The News Tribune en 142 57 1A, 4A 1073-5860 2025-01-30 New Documentary 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture https://lgbtq.yale.edu/posts/2025-01-30-new-documentary-1946-the-mistranslation-that-shifted-culture Yale LGBTQ Center en Yale University live https://web.archive.org/web/20250405185442/https://lgbtq.yale.edu/posts/2025-01-30-new-documentary-1946-the-mistranslation-that-shifted-culture 2025-04-05 2025-05-02 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. 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/1946-the-mistranslation-that-shifted-culture en JustWatch live https://web.archive.org/web/20250315114552/https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/1946-the-mistranslation-that-shifted-culture 2025-03-15 2025-05-02 https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1946_the_mistranslation_that_shifted_culture 1946: The Mistranslation That Shifted Culture Rotten Tomatoes en 2025-05-02 live https://web.archive.org/web/20240604064623/https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1946_the_mistranslation_that_shifted_culture 2024-06-04 External links https://www.1946themovie.com 10389180 Category:2022 American films Category:2022 documentary films Category:2022 LGBTQ-related films Category:American documentary films Category:Documentary films about Christianity in the United States Category:Documentary films about LGBTQ and Christianity Category:Documentary films about LGBTQ culture Category:Documentary films about the Bible Category:English-language documentary films Category:Films shot in the United States Category:Mistranslation