Wycliffe Translators and Associates

Binaca Chugger

Binaca Chugger

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Does anybody have experience working with these folks or know much about their work?  Coming from Hyper-Fundy Land, any translation in any language other than the KJV was bad.  So, I know very little about their work to make a serious comment.  I am looking for information about the group as a whole, along with the accuracy of their methods.

Thanks!
 
Well, from what I've heard, they use the wrong text to base their translations on.  (Let the hate begin!)
 
IFB X-Files said:
Well, from what I've heard, they use the wrong text to base their translations on.  (Let the hate begin!)
Click to expand...
Please share.  As I understand it, they have or are translating or using translations from 50 gateway languages and then using those as a springboard to others.
 
If they ain't using the Authorized King James Holy Bible as their source text, then they must be using some Catholic perversion.  Everyone knows the Catholics went back and edited the Greek and Hebrew MSS, too. 

 
"Which version of the Authorized King James Holy Bible?"

"There is only one version of the super-duper Authorized King James Holy Bible!"

"But I've seen copies of the Authorized King James Holy Bible that have some pretty obvious differences."

"Those are not differences. Those are enhancements. The super-duper Authorized King James Holy Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Haymen!"
 
Okay, okay, okay.

So what is the deal with this group?
 
This concerns me:

An article which appeared in a Lima, Peru, newspaper quotes Cameron Townsend, the founder and director of Wycliffe, as saying about the Catholic missionaries: ‘We are happy to be of service to these heroic missionaries of the jungle--one of our airplanes spent three days carrying various persons to the dedication of the new church of the Dominican Mission El Rosario [of the Rosary]. Among the distinguished passengers were two Catholic priests and a bishop. No charge was made for the transportation of these missionaries. It is an honor to serve them.’
 
This concerns me:

Another example of Wycliffe’s dynamic equivalency error was reported in 2012. It was reported that they were promoting “Muslim-friendly” Bibles that change references to God as the Father and to Jesus as the Son of God. These terms, of course are anathema to Muslims. In an Arabic version of the Gospel of Matthew produced by Frontiers mission with input from the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Matthew 28:19 is changed from “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” to “cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit.” Not only does this vile “translation” blasphemously corrupt the names of the Trinitarian God, it perverts the doctrine of baptism into a saving sacrament. Of the roughly 200 translation projects Wycliffe/SIL have undertaken in Muslim contexts, 30-40 remove the terms Father and Son (”New Bible,” WorldNetDaily, Jan. 30, 2012).
 
Since THE Wycliffe translated The Vulgate into Middle English,  I wonder what you thought this society would be doing differently.


Haklo

 
Binaca Chugger said:
This concerns me:   
Click to expand...

Mr. Binaca, where is all this going?  All your "concerns" are well documented and well known.  In all my years I've only seen 1 church support a Wycliffe missionary and they were going to drop her. 
 
IFB X-Files said:
Binaca Chugger said:
This concerns me:   
Click to expand...

Mr. Binaca, where is all this going?  All your "concerns" are well documented and well known.  In all my years I've only seen 1 church support a Wycliffe missionary and they were going to drop her.
Click to expand...

We discuss translations here an awful lot.  Many people here have done some substantial research on versions, methods and original texts.  We have many different opinions here.  I was looking for more information on this group from all points of view.  I know almost nothing about them.  I have recently spoken with people in this group who are asking for help.  Do others have a high view of their work?
 
Binaca Chugger said:
IFB X-Files said:
Binaca Chugger said:
This concerns me:   
Click to expand...

Mr. Binaca, where is all this going?  All your "concerns" are well documented and well known.  In all my years I've only seen 1 church support a Wycliffe missionary and they were going to drop her.
Click to expand...

We discuss translations here an awful lot.  Many people here have done some substantial research on versions, methods and original texts.  We have many different opinions here.  I was looking for more information on this group from all points of view.  I know almost nothing about them.  I have recently spoken with people in this group who are asking for help.  Do others have a high view of their work?
Click to expand...

That's reasonable.  IMO, IFB type churches do not support them because of their liberal associations.  Then others don't support them because of their translation practices.  However, I'm sure they're loved on the BIOLA and Fuller Seminary forums.

But the REAL question is this:  Is it better to have a translation based on corrupt manuscripts for a people who have no scripture in their language, or is it better to have no translation at all?

I would opt for a bad translation as to no translation at all.  I'm sure some of my brethren would consider me a heretic for that.
 
Binaca Chugger said:
IFB X-Files said:
Binaca Chugger said:
Okay, okay, okay.

So what is the deal with this group?
Click to expand...

This might help:  http://www.wayoflife.org/database/wycliffe_bible_translators_warning.php
Click to expand...

This concerns me:
In the biography Uncle Cam, Townsend is quoted as saying: “Since we are non-sectarian and non-ecclesiastical, we get help from Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Moslems, Buddhists and even atheists” (James Hefley, Uncle Cam, 1974, p. 204).
Click to expand...

Yes they are much like the AV1611 translators who used hundreds of readings from the Rheims as well as a manuscript made by, gasp, unsaved Jews.
 
Binaca Chugger said:
This concerns me:

Another example of Wycliffe’s dynamic equivalency error was reported in 2012. It was reported that they were promoting “Muslim-friendly” Bibles that change references to God as the Father and to Jesus as the Son of God. These terms, of course are anathema to Muslims. In an Arabic version of the Gospel of Matthew produced by Frontiers mission with input from the Summer Institute of Linguistics, Matthew 28:19 is changed from “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” to “cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit.” Not only does this vile “translation” blasphemously corrupt the names of the Trinitarian God, it perverts the doctrine of baptism into a saving sacrament. Of the roughly 200 translation projects Wycliffe/SIL have undertaken in Muslim contexts, 30-40 remove the terms Father and Son (”New Bible,” WorldNetDaily, Jan. 30, 2012).
Click to expand...

I personally contacted Wycliffe in 2012 when the above mentioned story was reported with the following question on their website's contact form:

"There is an article at http://www.wnd.com/2012/01/new-bible-yanks-father-jesus-as-son-of-god/ which claims that Wycliffe is part of a project that is producing Bible translations altering words that are deemed offensive to Muslims.
  Is this true?  Are you producing Muslim friendly Sriptures? 
  If so, how is this being true to your published doctrinal statement that you believe in God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit?  And how does this reconcile with your doctrinal statement that Jesus Christ is the way of salvation?
  If this article is not true, I urge you to publish a very clear statement expressing your position on the Word of God, and requesting a correction from WND.
  For the sake of the eternal souls of those who need the saving words of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I sincerely hope this report is untrue.  For the sake of the Wycliffe missionaries our church has supported for the past 30 years, I sincerely hope this report is untrue.
  I await your response."

When no one responded to me after three weeks, I then called them directly, and asked to speak to someone who could address my concern.  The young lady who answered the phone read to me verbatim a statement on the Wycliffe website (which has since been removed) confirming the information.

Based on that information, we contacted the three Wycliffe missionaries we supported, and informed them that 3 months after their return to the States on their next furlough we would be discontinuing our support (which we believe to be the ethical way to treat a missionary who went to the field based on commitments from churches and individuals).

However, shortly after that, Wycliffe announced a reversal of that policy.  With the assistance of one of their partner organizations (Summer Institute of Linguistics www.SIL.org), a policy of keeping familial references in Scripture translation was reestablished. 

To read specifics about the policy, here is an SIL article on translation process relating to familial terms:  http://www.sil.org/translation/sil-standards-translation-divine-familial-terms

(By the way, one of the above-mentioned missionaries has retired, one resigned from Wycliffe during this controversy, and we re-established support of the third.)
 
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