bible translation

Jenna Barnett 4-30-2021

Photo by Jared Verdi on Unsplash

Waiting for the "baptizer to appear in the wasteland."

Magaly Garcia 5-17-2016

Image via  / Shutterstock.com

I keep finding myself repeating “it’s 2016” to my friends and family, on social media, and in my head. We read about all these things in history books that actually didn’t even happen that long ago like women “winning” the right to vote, schools being desegregated, or the first president of the United States having some melanin.

Michael Middaugh 10-31-2012
via Wikimedia Commons

Martin Luther statue image, By Heidas (please use this link to discuss) (Own work) or CC-BY-SA-3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Today is the day we remember the Protestant Reformation. On Oct. 31, 1517 Martin Luther, my denomination’s namesake, nailed his 95 Theses on the church door in Wittenburg. It was the beginning of a new movement that brought many changes to the Christian church. Perhaps the change I am most thankful for (other than a new awareness of justification by faith alone, simul iustus et peccator, and imputed righteousness of course) is that the Reformation paved the way for the Bible to be placed in the hands of the people. Before Luther’s German translation was completed in 1534, which happily coincided with advancements in the printing press, it was virtually impossible for any non-clergy Christians to get ahold of, much less read, the book we take for granted.

Individual faith and the ability to study this book for ourselves is a benefit we don’t even stop to consider. I grew up with more Bibles in my home than we could ever use and have countless different versions now in my office. And yes, there are still some places where access to information and printed text is hard to come by, but at least here, God’s Word is always at our fingertips, if we want it to be.

Ron Csillag 5-03-2012
RNS photo by Ron Csillag

Inuktitut Bible translators flank director of scripture translation for the Canadian Bible Society. RNS photo by Ron Csillag

The Bible is by far the most translated book in history. Portions of the Old and New Testaments have been translated into more than 2,500 languages. According to United Bible Societies, the complete Bible has been rendered into 469 tongues as of 2010.

   
Add Inuktitut to that list. 

Later this spring, an entire Bible in Inuktitut, the language of Inuit people and the most widely spoken aboriginal tongue in Canada's Arctic, will be dedicated at an igloo-shaped church in Nunavut, an autonomous region carved out of the Northwest Territories in 1999.

Christian Piatt 4-25-2012
The Voice Bible, via Thomas Nelson Bibles

The Voice Bible, via Thomas Nelson Bibles

A new translation of the Bible called “The Voice” (no, Cee-Lo makes no appearances in this one), published by Thomas Nelson, has created quite a buzz. The discussion is not so much around what is in the newest version, but rather what’s left out.

According to a recent article on the Huffington Post, the words “Jesus Christ” do not appear anywhere in the New Testament. And for some, this is tantamount to heresy. The publishers point out, however, that “Christ” was not, in fact, Jesus’ last name.

Jack Palmer 12-01-2011

The Defining Issue Of The 2012 Presidential Race?; We've Got Christmas Wrong, Think Tank Reveals; Interracial Couple Banned From Kentucky Church; In Pictures: How Many Adults Believe In God?; Why Has Inequality Gone Up So Much?; New Bible Includes the Word "Immigrant," Brings Moral Clarity; Sacrifice Yourself To The Golden Calf Of Capitalism.

Julie Clawson 5-18-2010
Last week at her blog, Rachel Held Evans proposed the question "What is the Gospel?" She received some interesting responses, dem
Ryan Rodrick Beiler 10-09-2009
Some fun for your Friday: Stephen Colbert, "a huge fan of the Bible," offers a conservative update of Matthew 5:5,

Mimi Haddad 9-15-2009
Have you ever noticed how every day language is used to manipulate and shape rather than describe reality? Here is one example.