Wycliffe and contextualization issue in Bible Translation

Recently I heard about a Wycliffe Bible for Muslims which has been contextualized for Muslims. What an idea! So what did they do? They just changed few things.

For example, these so-called translations change Matthew 28:19, the Great Commission given to us by Christ, from this: “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” 
to this: “cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit.”

Just imagine if this was done with some other religious books. Just imagine if this happens with Koran or Bhagwat Gita. I can't imagine the uproar which it could have caused.


You can read about this from the lings below:-

http://www.americandecency.org/archives/wycliffe-baptizing-them-in-the-name-of-allah/ 
http://biblicalmissiology.org/press-releases/ 
http://www.wycliffe.org/TranslationStandards.aspx
http://www.wycliffe.org/SonofGod/QA.aspx

If you do a search you will get lot of information.

I wish Christ comes before more contextualization comes and there will be Bibles for different religions and may be different other things based on people and language. Don’t want to write more about this since it’s a sad news which people of God should be aware of. It's for readers to read and see if Wycliffe people are justified for the reason they give.


How far will this generation go before judgment comes? 

OT Teachings: Restitution

Numbers 5:5-10

5 Then the LORD said to Moses, 6 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel: If any of the people—men or women—betray the LORD by doing wrong to another person, they are guilty. 7 They must confess their sin and make full restitution for what they have done, adding an additional 20 percent and returning it to the person who was wronged. 8 But if the person who was wronged is dead, and there are no near relatives to whom restitution can be made, the payment belongs to the LORD and must be given to the priest. Those who are guilty must also bring a ram as a sacrifice, and they will be purified and made right with the LORD. 9 All the sacred offerings that the Israelites bring to a priest will belong to him. 10 Each priest may keep all the sacred donations that he receives.” (NLT)

During OT times, saying sorry or confessing to God was not enough. You betray or deceive someone. What should you do?

• Step 1 - Confess the sin.
• Step 2 - Make full restitution + 20%. Example you deceived $100 then its $100+$20=$120/-
• Step 3- Return it to the person

If the person is dead, what to do? - Give to relatives of person who can accept or receive it.

• Step 4- If no one is there then give the money to priest + also bring ram for sacrifice (more expensive). So it goes to God.

So a simple sorry was not enough and restitution was needed.

Few things from NT:-

Luke 19:8
But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”(NIV)

What did Zacchaeus do? For cheating $100, he gave back $100 * 4= $400/-. God asked 20% in OT but he gave 300%.

So what should we do? Just say sorry to God and be assured that Jesus paid it all on cross so I don't need to worry about whom I actually cheated? Is it fine if I give some money to poor or send a check to a third world country as mission support? That's what most people do. Is it enough to receive Christ and take baptism or become a church official while restitution is not made?

Again it’s the issue of restitution when someone is cheating or doing wrong to other people. 

May God help you to think about this in your practical life! 


What is OT Teachings?

What is OT Teachings Series?

OT teaching series is a collection of specific teachings from Old Testament to reflect on the way God dealt with people. Lot of these things has different meaning in the New Testament age but my focus will be to understand how it worked in OT times.

It's not to say that we should do like this now it will give us an insight on how things worked during those times under the Old covenant (I am referring to Old Testament times and not to a convent theologian’s old covenant).

Note:- this is a reference post to many OT Teachings post I will add.

May God Bless You!