involving students in Bible Translation,short term missions and internships
Why do we need Bibles in every language? Why don't we just teach people to read English?
When you hear your onw name spoken across a room, don't your ears perk up? If you are surrounded by the sound of another language or hear one on the radio don't you easily, even without effort, hear any word you do know as if it jumps out of the noise? The language that we learn as children within our families is what we call the language of the heart. We think in this language, it reaches the deepest places of our mind.
The Bible was not originally written in English. Even we read a translation of the original.
Can someone hear God speak to them in a language other than their heart language enough to know Him intimately? What do you think?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Emily Hancock on -
I think people need to read the Bible in thier own language to know God intimately because if someone were to learn from a Bible in another language it would be harder to understand and grow. I have a chinese new testament, (with pinyin) if I were to learn chinese and read it I might understand it. But their grammer is really different than ours which would make it harder.
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Permalink Reply by Dagney Stone on -
I have Da Jesus Book and I thought it would be fun to use it to do my devotions every day. I lived in Hawaii, I thought, no problem! wrong! Even though I could get the meaning of it, basically, the deeper parts of the meanings were escaping me. I was spending more thought time, trying to figure out what it "really" meant to me than actually dwelling on the meaning in my spirit.
Emily Hancock said:I think people need to read the Bible in thier own language to know God intimately because if someone were to learn from a Bible in another language it would be harder to understand and grow. I have a chinese new testament, (with pinyin) if I were to learn chinese and read it I might understand it. But their grammer is really different than ours which would make it harder.
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Permalink Reply by Dunc Pfantz on -
If I say something in a language that is not your own language, but you understand the language it has to work it's way through you brain slowly to reach your heart. But I f I say something in your own language it goes through your brain and to your heart almost instantly.
Emily Hancock said:I think people need to read the Bible in thier own language to know God intimately because if someone were to learn from a Bible in another language it would be harder to understand and grow. I have a chinese new testament, (with pinyin) if I were to learn chinese and read it I might understand it. But their grammer is really different than ours which would make it harder.
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Permalink Reply by moriah heinicke on -
I think people need the Bible in there language, because if they didn't they would think " If this God is all powerfull and the one true God, then why doesn't he speek my language? Does he only like the people who speek that lauguage?" Also the Bible was originaly in Hebrew. So we wouldn't understand the bible eather. Thats what i think. ;)
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Permalink Reply by Andrew Scott Hodge on -
Take a Bibleless language group of about one thousand members and consider the total sum of hours it would take for each member of that language group to learn English. Though this number may still amount to less than the amount it takes for a couple of foreign Bible translators to translate the Scriptures into their language, one must still consider the ongoing language learning task of all future members of that language group. Certainly timewise, it is very practical for the Bible to be translated into their language rather than requiring the language group to learn a foreign language in order to understand God’s word.
But then, how important is it that people have the Scriptures at all? Might the simple hearing of the gospel’s message be sufficient? Well what does God require of a man in order to grant him salvation? God requires repentance and belief in Him (see Mark 1:15, Acts 16:31 etc.). In order to repent, one must be aware of their sin against God. In order to be aware of their sin, they must also have the law–or at least a partial understanding of it. For if there is no law, there is nothing to transgress and we wouldn’t need a savior. Although it is true that the moral laws of God are written in the hearts of all people (see Romans 2:14-15), it is also true that those people who don’t have the Bible do not know whose law it is that is in their hearts nor how significant, necessary, or important it is that they follow that law. Therefore it is necessary that people have an understanding of God’s law and only the Scriptures reveal God’s law in full.
Also Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, is the Word made flesh. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3). All things were made by means of the Word of God, and without God’s Word nothing was made that was made. “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth” (Psalm 33:6). God’s Word, Jesus Christ, is the way, the truth, and the life. If you refuse a people group access to the written Word, it is very possible, and even likely, that you are refusing them access to knowledge of their creator and the true way of eternal life.
© 2012 Created by Dagney Stone.
