In this article originally given in the context of a church sermon in some very conservative churches, I want to consider how the principles underlying Bible Translation can be applied to the way we communicate God's truth.
Consider the similarities between these two passages:
2 Timothy 3:15-17
... from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Matthew 28:19-20
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
To put what Paul says in another way: Scripture brings people to new birth and provides for their lifelong education as believers. Bible Translation must have these things as its aim.
I would suggest that together with worshipping God, these things should also be the aim of believers both as individuals and as churches. God could take believers directly to heaven to worship him forever, but instead he has given them two principal tasks: Making disciples and teaching them to live as God desires.
Because the purpose of scripture and the commission of believers are so close to one another, I think that many of the principles that we apply in Bible translation can be applied to our communication of God’s truth as individuals and as churches.
What in your opinion are the key characteristics of a good translation?
I think a good Bible translation should be:
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ACCURATE. The translation must re-express the meaning of the source language as exactly as possible in the target language.
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CLEAR. The language used in a translation should be readily understandable by everyone who is expected to read it.
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NATURAL. A translation should not sound ‘foreign’. It should not sound like a translation at all, but like someone speaking in the natural, everyday way.
So, how can these same principles be applied to us as we individually and corporately seek to obey God in communicating his truth in Evangelism and in teaching other believers?
Once a translator is sure of the meaning of what he is to translate, then he must re-express that meaning as exactly as possible in the new language. In our communication we must be exact as we convey God’s message, we must not add to it, remove things from it or change it. (2 Corinthians 4:2)
…we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.
Many who claim to bring the word of God in our day have a distorted gospel message. Some fail to mention sin and need for sinners to repent. Others tell people that God will accept them if they do more good than bad. Others teach that Christ needs to be sacrificed again and again in the Mass. We must take heed of Paul’s warning to the elders of the church at Ephesus (Acts 20:29)
29. I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31. So be on your guard!
Thank God if you are in a church where the message of the gospel is the message that we find in God’s word. Acknowledge your sin, repent and trust in Christ alone to save you. May the Lord keep us true to his word.
Clarity
When testing a Bible translation we test it by getting people to read it and then asking them questions to see what they have understood. This often shows where the translation is unclear or ambiguous.
It is true that there are some parts of the Bible that are hard to understand because of the content of the message. Spiritual insight, given by the Holy Spirit, is needed. There are also some parts where further teaching and background knowledge is needed before the message can be fully understood. There should be nothing in the wording of a translation, which makes the passage difficult to understand. Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 4:
On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God
As we aim to communicate God’s truth we must check the clarity of the message we are putting across. Is our message “Come to Christ” or “Come to church”? Are our lives consistent with a message that claims to bring joy and peace and contentment? Do people look at us and see something desirable or do they say “I’m glad I’m not like them!”?
Naturalness
Imagine yourself as a young merchant in the first century. Although you are Jewish, this is your first ever visit to Jerusalem because your family live in Phrygia in the area which we would today call Turkey. You were glad to finally get off the little boat at Caesarea yesterday morning, but the long bumpy ride to Jerusalem in a donkey cart was almost as bad. After an uncomfortable night at a cheap lodging house you have finally set out your wares at the market. Suddenly from other end of the street comes a tremendous whooshing noise. Telling your brother to watch the goods you join the crowd of people rushing to see what’s going on. By the time you get close enough, the noise has stopped but everyone is now listening intently to a group of men standing in front of the house. Listening more closely you are amazed to hear that they are speaking pure unaccented Phrygian, yet everyone else seems to understand them too.
On the day of Pentecost, the apostles could probably have preached in Greek and been understood by most of the people present, but people crowded round to listen to them because they were speaking people’s own local languages. Their preaching did not sound foreign.
In 1 Corinthians 9:20 Paul says:
20. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
Paul is describing how he acted and spoke differently in different contexts for the sake of the gospel. If you compare his messages to different groups of people you will see that he adapted his presentation to suit the context.
1. By preaching in public places. Please note, I did not say ‘by the delivery of sermons to those who are already converted’. I may find myself in hot water for saying this, but for all our emphasis on the importance of preaching, most of what we call preaching today would probably be described by the apostle Paul as teaching (if he could speak English!). When we read of preaching in the New Testament it is public proclamation. Our services may be open to all but if we are honest, they are not particularly public and we are surprised if people come in unless we have invited them. Jesus and his disciples went where people were and used every opportunity to declare the gospel.
Some of you may be objecting that much of the preaching in the New Testament was actually done in public places of worship, that is the temple courts and the Synagogues. Yes that is true but remember that those places were full of unconverted people.
2. By discussion and debate.
Paul debated in Jerusalem Acts 9:26
28. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. 29. He talked and debated with the Grecian Jews, but they tried to kill him. 30. When the brothers learned of this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
Paul argued and discussed at Ephesus (Acts 19:8-9)
8. Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.
Apollos was involved in public debates (Acts18:28)
28 Apollos vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
3. By literature. The gospels were written to tell people about Jesus. They were then copied by hand and distributed throughout the ancient world. In time there were hundreds of copies in circulation. There were no printing machines, no photocopiers, no laser printers, no web sites, but men and women who loved God were willing to spend painstaking hours to make copies that were as near perfect as they could possibly manage.
Likewise the other books of the New Testament were copied and distributed. People were so committed to getting the word of God out, that today centuries later there are more manuscripts of the New Testament in existence than of any other writings of that age.
4. By personal contact. Think of how Jesus explained the gospel to an immoral Samaritan woman when she came to draw water. It was a normal everyday situation, but the contact was extra-ordinary. The gospel is for all irrespective of their race, social-status or outward morality. We must beware of selective evangelism
How were believers taught in New Testament times?
There was an article entitled “How are we to learn?” by Richard Chester in the May 2002 issue of
Evangelicals Now. I will give you the opening lines from a few of his points. Decide for yourselves whether you agree with what he says:
1. New Testament preaching is heralding the gospel to the lost.
2. The gift of teaching is very important and much needed today. Elders in the church must be able to teach’ but nowhere are they told how they are to do this. The New Testament stresses the importance of truth but leaves the elders and church free to adopt those teaching methods appropriate for the local situation.
3. Though there is no example in the NT of teaching by monologue in the context of a church service, this is one option and has some obvious advantages – the teaching of Jesus might be seen as a precedent for it. But we should note that most of Jesus teaching was initiated by, or in response to, questions.
4. The encouragement to Christians to teach one another and the emphasis on participation in church gatherings suggests that much of the edification in the early church was achieved through sharing together.
If you agree with these statements, then you may be led to some radical conclusions. Personally I feel that we are given great liberty in this area and we should use it.
So how can we make our communication natural in our context?
Yes we should preach the gospel in public. Yes we should discuss and debate to help people understand the truth. Yes we should distribute scripture and good Christian literature. But our message must not sound foreign. Within the boundaries of God’s law “To the 21st century Englishman we must become 21st century Englishmen.” We now have many new means of communication at our disposal. We are not to imitate the deceptive methods of our modern world, but many new media can be and should be used perfectly legitimately. The apostle Paul did not use an overhead projector to help people follow the track of his message but does that mean we cannot use one to help people follow the track of our teaching. He couldn’t photocopy handouts for people to take home and review the content of his messages but we can. I don’t believe people today are incapable of listening to a 30 minute monologue, but that is not the way they are used to learning so it is perhaps not always the best way of teaching. If you have to make a presentation at work today you will be expected to use whatever media are available to you as effectively as possible. This is not gimmickry or deception, it is common sense. Of course the medium must not obscure the message and we must depend primarily on the work of God by his Spirit to teach the truth to men’s hearts, but that is not justification for not using the legitimate means which God has given us.
Conclusion
We must communicate by all legitimate means at our disposal. We must not change the content of the message, but we must present it in such a way that people can understand it.
We must take the gospel to places where people will hear it. Romans 10.14 says
14. How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15. And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”
I am not talking just about going to other countries! How can the people of this city hear? We must take the message to the places where they are.
On the subject of language, let me express my personal convictions. In our evangelism, teaching and worship, I am convinced that we should use plain modern everyday English:
* Technical terms can be useful as shorthand for theologians, but most people today are not theologians so if we use them we must explain them.
* In New Testament times people spoke many different languages, but many people also spoke and used Greek. But this was not the technically complex and by then archaic language of Homer and Plato but a simpler modern language. This is the language used by the writers of the New Testament. They used that language because it communicated most clearly to the largest number of people, they also used a Greek translation of the Old Testament.
* I know that many people love the Authorized Version and that God has and still does use it to speak to people’s hearts. However, we must recognise that our English language has changed in the last 400 years. As a result the Authorized Version often fails to communicate the Word of God with the clarity which it did when it was first translated particularly to those who have not been brought up using it. I know that this is a controversial issue and I have no desire to create controversy among God’s people, but I would not be honest and open if I avoided saying what I think is important. I pray that saying this will not cause division and contention, but that all who love God’s word would want it to communicate as clearly as possible to whoever reads it or hears it read.
* We should also consider the language we use in singing and praying. Archaic language in our hymn books may be familiar to us, but if we do not actually understand what we are singing, then we might as well not sing it. Our hymns are a tremendous heritage. They help us in praising God and fixing truth in our minds, but in our singing we need to keep the message clear.
Let us translate God’s message to the world as Christ did. All our actions and our words should be accurate, clear and natural. The results ultimately depend on our sovereign God but we must be faithful in our proclamation of the gospel and use all legitimate means to teach the truth as God has revealed it to us.
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