The Lockman Foundation - Translator of the NASB, Amplified, LBLA, and NBLH Bibles

About The Lockman Foundation

The Lockman Foundation is a nonprofit, interdenominational ministry dedicated to the translation, publication, and distribution of the New American Standard Bible, Amplified Bible, La Biblia de las Américas, Nueva Biblia Latinoamericana de Hoy, and other Biblical resources.

Mission Statement

The primary purpose of The Lockman Foundation is to foster and promote Christian charitable and educational enterprises.
This organization is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry dedicated to the translation and distribution of the Scriptures.
The Foundation enlists the assistance of educators from recognized evangelical institutions and pastors from mainstream conservative denominations in the implementation of these translation projects.
The Lockman Foundation strictly adheres to the fourfold aim that guides all of its translation work:

1. These publications shall be true to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.
2. They shall be grammatically correct.
3. They shall be understandable.
4. They shall give the Lord Jesus Christ His proper place, the place which the Word gives Him; therefore, no work will ever be personalized.

Doctrinal Statement

We believe that the entire Bible is the inspired and inerrant word of God; the only infallible rule of faith and practice.
We believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only Begotten Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
We believe in the sacrificial and vicarious death of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross and that He thereby made perfect substitutionary atonement for the sin of the world. We believe in His literal physical resurrection from the dead,
We believe in the literal, bodily, physical, and Premillenial return of Jesus Christ.
We believe that all men are sinners and in an eternally lost condition apart from the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We believe that acceptance into the family of God and eternal salvation can only be secured by believing in and by faith accepting and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Sin–bearer, Lord and Savior.

How It All Began

The Lockman Foundation began in 1942 when F. Dewey Lockman and his wife Minna put their hearts, minds, and financial resources to the task of promoting Christian evangelism and education. Their first project was the development of a Bible study program for servicemen at El Toro Marine Base in Southern California.

The Lockmans were also concerned about the needs of the children in the community. They established summer Bible schools at many Orange County churches and Released Time Christian Education in local public schools.

An emphasis on development of Christian literature followed and by 1958, the Amplified New Testament was produced by The Lockman Foundation. This Bible takes key words and shows the many facets and shades of meaning from the original Greek word within the body of the text.

Many opportunities to spread the gospel through the work of The Lockman Foundation were now evident. Dewey Lockman saw the need for a translation of the Bible that would be clearly readable in current English language, but without sacrificing ANY accuracy in the translation from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. To this end, he organized a group of scholars and pastors in 1959, who would, by 1971, complete the translation from the original languages into the New American Standard Bible, modeled after the scholarship and accuracy of the American Standard Version published in 1901.

After a few years of preparation and a few months of preliminary work, Dewey formed a committee of four to begin the work. The committee, composed of two Bible scholars to insure accuracy and two pastors to insure communicative effectiveness, launched their work in 1960. Three more members were added in 1961. Subsequently, others joined the work with the result that more than forty-five pastors and scholars had helped in the work by the time the New American Standard Bible, as it came to be called, was completed.

Dewey Lockman's vision began to become a reality with the publication of the NASB New Testament in 1963 and was fully realized with the complete Bible in 1971. He viewed the work as a "symphony," that is, the result of the combined efforts of many, and not as a solo.

The Lockman Foundation did not slow its pace after the NASB was finished. It was determined that an exhaustive concordance to the NASB was needed. Since a Bible concordance is an alphabetical listing of words found in the Bible, together with references to verses in which they occur, it is useful for pastors, students, and lay-readers who want to study the Bible in depth. Having already begun work on the concordance in 1970, The Foundation increased its staff, and the efforts of many people brought about publication of the New American Standard Exhaustive Concordance in early 1981.

Although Dewey and Minna Lockman passed away in the early 1970s, their legacy continues. Dewey Lockman's dream was that the whole world have access to God's Word in its original form, though translated into many languages. Many of these translation works initiated by the Lockmans have been completed, and others begun. These projects include the translation of the New American Standard Bible into Japanese, Mandarin Chinese, mainland Chinese, Hindi, and Korean.

Other projects followed. The New Standard for Living read-through-the-Bible reading guide was begun to encourage people to read through the New American Standard Bible in one year. The New Standard for Living radio program was initially hosted by Dr. Charles Swindoll, and later, by Dr. Charles Feinberg, as Bible teacher.

In addition, other long-range projects are in process or in the preliminary stages of development.

The Lockman Foundation maintains its offices in Mr. Lockman's former homestead in La Habra, California. Dr. Robert G. Lambeth is president.

Dr. Robert G. Lambeth
President (1979-present)

BIOGRAPHY

Since accepting Christ at the age of 11, Dr. Robert Lambeth has been actively dedicated to the Christian community and has been a faithful servant in many various capacities.

Succeeding Dr. Sutherland as President of The Lockman Foundation, Lambeth has been part of The Lockman Foundation since the late 1950s when he first met founder, Dewey Lockman and his wife, Minna, at the First Baptist Church in Anaheim, California where they shared membership.

He attended the University of Southern California on a football scholarship, and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. After graduation, Bob became a Certified Public Accountant. He used his management skills to further the work of Lockman Bible Ministries while he was also developing his own CPA and business management firm in Anaheim. Elected to the Board of Directors in 1975, he later assumed the duties of president in 1979.

Under Mr. Lambeth's leadership, guidance, and supervision, The Lockman Foundation continues to promote the vision of Dewey Lockman: to translate, publish, and distribute the Bible throughout the world.