Monday, January 30, 2012
Major Bible Translators Replacing Bible's names of God with Islamic Names

Bible translators Wycliffe, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and Frontiers reportedly have begun replacing the names of God to Islamic terms such as allah. On January 4th, Biblical Missiology, an organization dedicated to presenting the Bible truthfully in missions, weighed into the debate by issuing a petition asking the three translators to "commit in writing to preserve the terms "Father," "Son," and "Son of God" in the text of their Bible translations." Biblical Missiology said it is "particularly concerned about new initiatives called "Insider Movements" (IM) and "Muslim Idiom Translations" (MIT) that present a distorted and incomplete portrayal of the person and work of Jesus Christ, the Son of God."

The petition stated: "Western missions agencies Wycliffe, Frontiers and SIL are producing Bibles that remove Father, Son and Son of God because these terms are offensive to Muslims." Biblical Missiology reports that Wycliffe responded in writing, saying, "The titles are not removed, but are translated more accurately to the inspired Greek. The issue is not that the Greek term is offensive to Muslims, rather that traditional translations of it are so inaccurate that they communicate the wrong meaning, appearing to say God has sex with women, and give readers the impression the translation is corrupt." There is no mention of this anywhere on the Wycliffe or SIL websites, so we are dependent on Biblical Missiology as a reputable source.

Notwithstanding, Wycliffe's response should be unacceptable to every Christian. Changing the translation of the Bible to avoid the appearance that the translation is corrupt is in itself corrupt. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Converts from Islam to Christianity often site the power of the gospel, that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son to die on the cross for the remission of our sins, for accepting Christ. The choice becomes clear: death cult of Islam or everlasting life of Christianity.

This is truly a sign of the times. There have been many movements afoot in Christianity to make God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit what man wants them to be rather than what the WORD OF GOD says they are. Now even Bible translators, once considered very reputable, are changing the translations so as to not be offensive to man. If they are changing Christ into their own image, what Christ are we following? The true Christ or the man-made Christ? I will tell you this: if you are depending on your pastor or television set to answer that question for you, you are in troubled waters. Even your pastor will say to study the Bible and check what he says. Arm yourself with a traditional translation, a Greek and Hebrew concordance, and see for yourself who is teaching truth or error. You will be amazed.

Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
Bill Wilson