As a Bible translator it almost hurts to type that. But it’s true. Bible translation is a means to an end, and it’s not so that everyone can have a Bible. We translate motivated by an evangelical conviction that everyone should be “free indeed” through Jesus. At the Bible college where I teach New Testament and exegesis to Mozambicans I frequently tell them that a sermon that begins in the Old Testament must end in the New. And the key passage that I make my students memorize is 1 Corinthians 10:11, “These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. ” The Old Testament is backstory to the New Testament. And the New Testament is a reference library centered on the person, words and deeds of Jesus Christ. When BibleGateway counted the most popular verse searches on their site, 84 of the top 100 were in the New Testament.
This is why I think missions like New Tribes, Faith Comes By Hearing and Gospel Recordings are on the right track to focus on the New Testament, and repackage the Bible in specifically Christological terms. Their materials are effective in bringing the essence of Christian belief to many people in a way that simply dropping Bibles on a culture isn’t.
Contrary to what you might think, this leads me to the conclusion that Wycliffe Bible Translators should focus more on Bible translation and not less. Our mission is marked by a tight focus on a single objective. When we start straying into New Tribes’ turf, we become less effective and we do the global church a disservice by not fulfilling our humble role. I’d dearly love to pastor churches, teach discipleship courses, develop Bible study materials and the like. But when I do that, I’m hampering the Church’s efforts by reducing the amount of effort I’m expending on the complex, laborious and time-consuming task of Bible Translation.
Paul told Timothy, “Preach the Word!” What I would say to personnel involved in Bible translation is, “Translate the Word!” It is not an end in itself but it is one humble and blessed effort in the Church’s effort to redeem lost humanity.
Thanks to Eddie for posting some reactions to my previous post I’m madder than a balloon dog in a pen of porcupines:
- What Does Bible Translation Achieve?
- Bible Translation Makes A Difference
- The Bible and British Society
I also found out that Bob C. is reading at least Eddie’s posts so now I’m really in up to my neck. So since I’m hanging myself with my own rope I thought I’d stick my neck out even more and try out this idea on you.
There are the Protestant Bible study programs but not very many Catholic ones. Bible
Accordance has a suite of Catholic resources. A Mac-native program (it can be run on Windows via a free emulator provided by the developer), Accordance is, in my opinion, the best available Bible study program. At least one of the individuals involved in the development of the program and available resources is Catholic.
http://www.accordancebible.com/products/packages/catholic_collection.php
God bless,
Sean
Why do you guys keep telling me about Catholic resources? I don’t get the connection.
Are you sure you want me to keep reading your blog?
Made my day when you linked me.
[...] Be Ker-ful! Don’t miss David Ker’s current (ker-rent?!) blog series on the worldwide Bible translation movement. He writes some things that pinch. Today’s post by David is titled The Gospel Is More Important Than the Bible. [...]
I hope I made another day for you, David. I just linked to you from BBB.
Thanks, David. Good reminder of what is most important and what helps us get there.
I like your line of thought, the gospels feel like the most important part of the bible to me as well, but i could never agree that paul’s letters or that revelation are more important that psalms.
You wrote: We translate motivated by an evangelical conviction that everyone should be “free indeed” through Jesus.
“free indeed” sounds like a liberal conviction to me
[Or I have to surmise that, as we're working for the same organization, your 'we' must have been exclusive rather than inclusive.]
But honestly: Why do you have to harp on the evangelical distinctiveness? Why not write Christian conviction? Or trinitarian conviction (if you must avoid Christian in general)?
Otherwise – great post!
I’m not sure I understand your objection. Our mission was specifically evangelical in origin and the Great Commission continues to be our core motivation. You could argue that Wycliffe transcends Big E Evangelicalism but any little c catholicism in my opinion is peripheral.
The big question is – Which Gospel? Do we focus on Paul’s doctrine of Justification by Faith as understood by Luther? 1 Cor 15? Do we distribute the synoptics? Helpful summaries of the Bible?
I think the answer is not necessarily in “producing Bibles” but in re-telling the story/news Jesus was telling in a way our audience understands. The Bible is not easy to understand even in our mother tongue and it’s far more helpful to retell the story than to give tribes a textbook.
I’ve a feeling Bible translation isn’t so much crucial in bringing revival as in maintaining it. Looking through Church history people have always been converted through the witnesses of love or the miraculous, and even for those people who “pick up a Bible, read it, and get saved” it is very often their pious grandparent’s Bible, or a friends, etc whose source of peace they hope to tap in on.
Rather in the general case Bible translation is crucial in providing wholesome “meat” for mature Christians, and of course preventing leaders from misusing their monopoly on the truth (particularly in remote villages where preachers may sometimes attempt to translate it themselves on the fly from the pulpit).
Therefore a tranlation is unlikely to cause revival on its own. Telling the Good News and showing God’s love is always the first step. But translation shouldn’t be ignored if Missions ever wants the new believers to grow up.
[...] on the vision and purpose of Bible translation. See two contributions by David Ker here and here and a response from Eddie [...]