Scripture Engagement

I was recently asked what the main translation theories are at the moment. These are the ones mainly discussed in departments of translation studies in universities around the world: The Code Model. This is the first modern theory of translation, developed by Eugene Nida in the 1960s. It focuses on the meaning of the translation, and suggests translations should have 'dynamic equivalence', that is, the same meaning as the source text. It wants translations to be accurate, clear and natural, often with a focus on naturalness. Skopos Theory. This was developed Hans J. Vermeer and Christine Nord has written a lot on this. This emphasises the purpose of the translation, putting the audience more in the driving seat than the Code Model. With Skopos Theory, the expected change in the audience is more important than fidelity to the source text. Translations do something, they have an affect, and not only on the translator, but on the target audience. An obvious example would be the tr...

What do translation advisors need to know about Scripture engagement (SE), and why? Let's look at the 'why' first: Translation advisors (TAs) are often involved in day-to-day exegesis. They help mother-tongue translators (MTTs) prepare drafts. The MTTs they work with might not know Hebrew or Greek. The TAs then take part in the team check of that draft, which involves other MTTs in the project as well as the TA. Sometimes they are also involved in the coordination of the translation programme. They are very busy people. So why do they need to know about SE? Because: The translation is ultimately for an audience that has felt needs that are not being addressed by the translation programme. Analysing and meeting (or helping to meet) the felt needs of the audience should be the first priority of any mission worker, including TAs. Only about 30% of completed translations are well used. The initial set up of the programme needs to take SE into consideration (it's no good wai...

At a forthcoming workshop, I have the privilege of offering a face-to-face three-day training track about Scripture Engagement (SE), teaching some principles and working together on real life issues you may face in your project or region. There will also be a mini SE training track on SE research. In some Bible translation circles it has been taken for granted that Bible translation on its own, or Bible translation plus literacy, will solve all of a community's Scripture access problems. Unfortunately, this has not always been the case. There are many factors, including illiteracy, multilingualism, fear of persecution by the majority group, lack of knowledge of the background to the Bible, and problems with distribution (or the Bible being distributed in an unhelpful media or format). Specialists in Scripture Engagement help those involved in the wider Bible translation movement such as exegetes and programme managers explore some of the different things that help or hinder people...

I was in an interesting discussion full of anthropologists the other day. They were discussing syncretism. Most of them were of the view that outsiders cannot decide which practices are syncretistic and which are not. It has to be a decision made by local believers. This is because only local people can create indigenous theologies, that is, interpret Scripture according to the local worldview(s).  Not only that, some practices need to be tolerated in the short term, as we trust that new believers will gradually mature, and realise that those practices need to be weaned out of their lives. This can take time, perhaps years. Outsiders can, however, help local believers through the process of deciding for themselves which practices need to be rejected, which can be accepted, and which need to be modified according to (local formed) principles from Scripture. For example, ancestor practices, which my PhD thesis was on, are often continued by people after they have come to faith. They...

A community's worldview is a description of its perspectives on the world (the spectacles through which it views the world), and its underlying beliefs and assumptions behind its cultural practices.^ These are often called presuppositions, as they are held, but rarely stated. One simply way of comparing worldviews of different groups is to ask some basic questions, such as: Who am I? Where am I (what is the world like)? What is the problem? What is the solution? For instance, a secular-materialistic worldview would look something like this: I am the random product of a genetic process that began with the formation of basic forms of life such as amoebas, and continued until human beings came into being via the process called 'evolution'. I am in the world that was formed by the big bang. This possibly occurred as the result of a massive singularity, though there are several other current theories about this. Scientists can trace the big bang back to the first few nanosecond...

 In Luke 10 Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan. The usual (and correct) interpretation of this is to look after others, whoever they are, and take care of their physical needs. But what about their spiritual needs? What if they have suffered trauma, or are struggling with addiction? So, it is broader than physical needs, clearly. Also, in the original story, Samaritans and Judeans (or Galileans) were separate groups of people. There was a tendency to mistrust one another, therefore. The Samaritans were foreigners, and had been for almost eight centuries (the people group came into being after the conquest of the Northern kingdom). So, from a missional perspective, what can we learn from this story? We need to treat those from other nations as we would our nearest and dearest. This impacts several areas of life: Immigrants. We cannot simply follow the current trend to want to preserve our country for our own people (which, in any case, is hard to define ethnically). Rather...

Why is it wrong to proof-text when making an argument?  Proof-texting is when someone simply quotes a verse from the Bible, out of context, to make a point. This can be in a book, a conversation, an essay, or a sermon, to give some examples. I just did a quick read of some other blogs on this topic, and none of them wowed me, so I thought I'd write my own. Then I had an even better idea: why not get you to tell me why proof-texting is problematic? In other words, I want to crowd-source the problem, and get lots of input. Since it is my suggestion, and I already did some research, let me get the ball rolling. Proof-texting is problematic because: It ignores the original context of the verse. There are actually two types of context: The literary context of the verse, that is, the verse is situated in a passage (that might be making an entirely different point) of Scripture that has a certain genre. For instance, the book of Acts is narrative, which means it is descriptive of what hap...

Image by Juanita Mulder from Pixabay In the TV show 'Top Gear' one of my favourite parts of each episode was the 'star in reasonably-priced car' where the Stig would race round the track and a star (e.g. Tom Cruise - good name for a car prog) would try to beat his time (and all the other stars who had recently raced). In Bible translation, according to Hill, Gutt, Unger, Floyd & Hill,* we are often driving the equivalent of a Land Cruiser, rather than a reasonably-priced car. That is, we want to do a full Bible translation (BT) and produce a print Bible, with all the extras, a full audio recording, and several videos (perhaps of the gospels). This is all very well, but what might actually be needed is the reasonably-priced car.  The authors then go onto explain two approaches to Bible translation and Scripture engagement (SE). This approach encourages communities to consider producing products that meet their needs in the short term. This will allow them to focus ...

Recently I was giving input to a team who had worked on Psalms. I noticed that in several places they had included footnotes referring to the New Testament use of those Psalms. One example was a footnote in Ps 34:20 'not one of [his bones] will be broken' that referred to John 19:32, 33, 36 where this prophecy is fulfilled. Now, obviously this is a useful link for readers, but it is better to put it in John's gospel referring back to Psalms. Why? Because the New Testament is (to some extent) a commentary on the Hebrew Bible, whereas the reverse is not true (the Hebrew Bible never refers to the New Testament). There are often two possible ways of reading a Psalm: In its original context, and  As interpreted by the New Testament writers. This is quite important, as the Hebrew Bible belongs to two faith communities, the Jews and the Christians. (Muslims too, to some extent, though they refer to the Torah and the Psalms only). If we translate the Bible in such a way that it onl...

The Spirit of the Lord is on me...  "... because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour." Isa 61.1-2; Luke 4.18-19 The passage in Luke is often given the title: ‘Jesus rejected at Nazareth.’ That is part of it. It reinforces Jesus’ identity as a prophet – just at those before him were rejected (e.g. Elijah, the first prophet, v26), so will Jesus. It ought, perhaps, to be entitled ‘Jesus’ Manifesto’. This has more of a focus on what Jesus actually says (rather than the hometown’s rejection of him). Jesus 'owns' the Isaiah quote by claiming that it is fulfilled today (their today), in a region inhabited by Judeans, in his home town. So what do we notice about Jesus’ manifesto (quote is from Isa 61:1-2)? The Good News Jesus is proclaiming is: A great example of integral mission (ministry to ...

In Ephesians 2:11-22, Paul mentions the dividing wall of hostility, that is the wall that used to divide Jews and Gentiles: 'Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and pe...

Outcome Harvesting is a way to find concrete data on actual changes that have taken place within a community. From a Scripture engagement perspective this might be an investigation of changes that have taken place in peoples' lives (transformation) as the result of a project being in place and/or products being produced and programmes being implemented. So, let's imagine an actual project. There have been two 'wings' to this project. The first is the Bible translation 'wing', producing products like Scripture portions (in both print and audio format, and they have a Bible app too). The second is the Oral Bible Storying 'wing' that has also produced products (audio recordings of stories) but is mainly a programme. The question is, what impact has this project had, overall? The usual procedure is to train local workers to interview people, using participatory methods, to find out how much they have engaged with Scripture as the result of this project. The...

I was just in a presentation,* and the presenter shared a slide about the Scripture engagement (SE) impact chain, which I thought I'd pass onto you fine folks! Here it is: The point is, to have community transformation, you need to have individual transformation. To have individual transformation you need eyes and ears either reading or listening to Scripture. To have eyes and ears reading and listening you need people being reached with those materials in print or audio format (or video, which combines both). To have those materials you need to develop them in the first place. That's the SE impact chain, in a nutshell! Now, the clever amongst you will have spotted that you can't just produce materials, therefore. Neither can you just produce materials and distribute them, as that's only two steps along the SE impact chain. To have community transformation you need to make sure the whole chain is working as it should. As the picture of legs on the side shows, that means...

 I have heard many objections to the hard work of Bible translation over the years. Here are some of them: Just teach everyone English and give them an English Bible to read (underlying assumption: most people in the world either speak English or want to learn it) It's all been done already (this is just based on a lack of knowledge of how many languages there are) Translate the ‘original’ King James (assumption: the King James is the first ever Bible) Work only in cities (assumption: this is the strategy Paul adopted, and if it's good enough for Paul it's good enough for us) Languages are dying out anyway (assumption: by the time you translate the Bible into a given language, there won't be any speakers of that language left) It's all too much effort, the funds could better be spent improving people's lives (assumption: people don't need the Bible as much as they need sanitation etc.) Ethnos in Revelation 7:9 refers to Gentiles, not people groups We shouldn...

This is a response to some recent posts about the importance of Bible translation in fulfilling the Great Commission. Yes, there is much truth in that, but more is needed. It really helps to have Scripture impact (or 'engagement') the top priority, the 'car' as it were, with translation the engine that sits beneath the bonnet. Not all drivers need to know all the details of the engine, but they need to be able to control the vehicle. The most important thing is to be able to get from A to B (see point 2), rather than knowing how the engine works. These are the ten reasons to make Scripture impact a priority: To help people flourish in their communities. There are all kinds of needs that need to be met for people to flourish. One is clean water. Another is good sanitation. Peace (lack of war), and freedom of religion. Access to education etc. etc. For a community to truly flourish they also need access to the Scriptures in a language (or languages) that they understand a...

In the field of missiology much has been written on the topic of contextualisation. Paul Hiebert has used the phrase 'critical contextualisation' for the kind of contextualisation that works. He also criticises lack of contextualisation and uncritical contextualisation for causing syncretism. The reason for the latter is obvious. The reason for the former less so: if people are carrying out a practice that they have done since they were young, and been told is essential for their well being, they will continue to carry it out until they have been convinced that the teaching of Scripture has something which replaces the effect of that practice (in terms of their well being). It takes time for people to change their worldview, and they need much support from other members of their community as they do so. One good powerful question to ask is, 'What would happen if you didn't (do such and such a ritual)?' Also, what people believe is often reinforced by community stori...

Many of you will have heard of asset-based community development (ABCD). How can Bible translation programmes be asset based, rather than deficit based? The best way to look at this is a comparison table: Deficit based Asset based Driven by outsiders Driven by the community Outside funding Community funded Done to meet a need Done to help the community grow Quality control done by a consultant Community checked and approved Control from outside-in Lead by stepping back Products not accepted? Products are accepted Little engagement Engagement with products Scientific Organic Not sustainable Sustainable Of course many translation programmes these days are neither one nor t'other, they are somewhere between these two extremes. Nevertheless, this illustrates a point, and shows that the current ...

The tetragrammaton יהוה (YHWH in Roman script) is most likely to have been pronounced 'Yahweh', not 'Jehovah' by the Hebrews.* It's meaning is explained in Exod 3 - it means 'he who is'. It might also mean 'he who causes [things] to be' i.e. the creator. Because of the second commandment the scribes, when reading from Scripture, avoided pronouncing the divine name, and substituted either ha shem 'the name' or adonai 'lord'. In the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible, the word used to translate YHWH was kyrios 'lord'. This usage carried on into the New Testament, so when believers said 'Jesus is Lord' they were equating Jesus with the YHWH of the Old Testament, as well as threatening the political  status quo where, in the Roman empire, Caesar was given the title 'Lord'. The usage of YHWH is interesting. In the Old Testament it frequently used with the sense 'God ...

The prosperity gospel is widely practised throughout the world, and hugely popular in Africa. It has also gained a foothold in Europe via certain modern movements that emphasise the 'health' aspect of 'health and wealth' teaching i.e. the idea that God doesn't want anyone to suffer, but for all to be healed. We are probably all familiar with TV evangelists who ask us to give, and God will reward us by giving back. The proof that it works is the large house they themselves live in, and the executive car they drive. The trouble with this teaching is that it does not line up with the overall message of Scripture. The so-called proof texts used by prosperity teachers are often taken from the Old Testament (nothing in and of itself bad about that), turning descriptive teaching (a description of what God did then) into prescriptive ideas (God wants that to happen to everybody). "God made Abraham prosperous. He wants to make us prosperous too!" Now, there are a l...