Quote:
Originally Posted by sovereigngrace
Thanks. I understand your point. However, I think that if the church is to be obedient to our Lord's command in Mark 16:15-16, those whom He calls to take the Gospel message to foreign lands must be prepared to learn their languages and translate, or provide a translation of, the Word of God into those languages. It seems to me that if God calls a man to proclaim the Gospel to those whose native language is not English, He will also equip him to provide an equivalent translation of the Word of God that they can read and understand in their native language. I suppose the answer to my question must be that a sovereign God who is in absolute control of His creation, "who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Ephes. 1:11), will call out His elect from "all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues" (Rev. 7:9), and in order to do that, He will equip His people with the ability to accurately translate and proclaim His Word to them! It will not be the KJV, but it will be an equivalent translation into their language. Is not this the goal of the Trinitarian Bible Society, which is a faithful supporter of the KJV?
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The Trinitarian Bible Society does not stand for the King James Bible, but rather the so called 'originals' which of course we don't have (nor do we have a difinitive; "look here, finally the argument is over, I have the the faithful copies of the originals", copy of said originals) and therefore they do not believe in Biblical preservation. Here is a quote from wikipedia on the TBS:
Some, owing to the Trinitarian Bible Society’s support of the King James Version of the Bible, have assumed that the Society is a part of the King-James-Only Movement. However, as the Society has publicly stated,
‘The Trinitarian Bible Society does not believe the Authorised Version to be a perfect translation, only that it is the best available translation in the English language’.[4]
Indeed, unlike those in the King James Only movement, it is the firm belief of the Society that ‘The supernatural power involved in the process of inspiration, and in the result of inspiration, was exerted only in the original production of the sixty-six Canonical books of the Bible (2 Peter 1:20-21; 2 Peter 3:15-16).’
‘Translations from the original languages are likewise to be considered the written Word of God in so far as these translations are accurate as to the form and content of the Original.’
‘Translations made since New Testament times must use words chosen by uninspired men to translate God’s words. For this reason no translation of the Word of God can have an absolute or definitive status. The final appeal must always be to the original languages, in the Traditional Hebrew and Greek texts’.
We who do believe God and His promise to preserve His Word have heard this garbage before and do not stand with those that spread this sort of nonsense.
So back to the original subject; I do think it is good to translate vital portions of the KJB when going to foreign lands (namely Pauls epistles). But you've got to realize that this takes tremendous work, and in comparison to teaching people to read english, it just doesn't seem to be a good investment of time, considering how much less time it takes to teach people to read English. Thank the Lord, that the gospel isn't complicated, and can be preached with a minimal understanding of another language. So it is my belief that the missionary should focus on preaching the simlicity that is in Christ Jesus, and then work on seeing people learning English in order to read God's Word.
Peace and Love,
Stephen