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Culture and Contextualisation
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How the Bible can be Relevant in all Languages and Cultures
Authors: Harriet Hill, Margaret Hill
Published by: Piquant
"Clear, simple and readable - very practical, fully supported with further reading ... exactly the kind of thing that is needed."
Chris Wright, Langham Partnership
A tried and tested resource that encourages meaningful Bible use in multi-lingual contexts through both written and oral media. [more...]
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Authors: Karl Grebe, Wilfred Fon
We soon found that even the most experienced Christian leaders were not always sure how to relate the cultural phenomena to the biblical picture. On the whole, the church had bypassed the task of interpreting the cultural picture from the biblical perspective, leaving Christians to determine for themselves how to relate to the various traditions of their culture.
This 58-page booklet, available for download in both English and French, describes the key elements of an African Traditional Religion (ATR) worldview and interprets them in relation to Scripture:
- The Worldview of African Traditional Religion
- Christianity and the African Worldview
- The Biblical View of Spiritual Realities
- Interpreting ATR in View of Scripture
The authors conclude with implications for Christian communication and counseling in such contexts. [more...]
A Case Study in the Role of the Translation Organization
Author: John L Ommani
When the Bible remains silent about certain cultural features, the Church... should assist the Christians to think through their traditions by digging deeper.
In the Tharaka society of Kenya, female circumcision has held a prominent place. In recent years Christian Tharaka people have questioned whether the rite should continue. The Bible Translation and Literacy agency has had a part in helping the society look at this rite from a biblical perspective. This article chronicles the history of the rite, including both its positive elements and problems, and some alternatives are presented. [more...]
Authors: Amy West, Jo Shetler
"Tensions naturally are high in a crisis, but when a person becomes a follower of Christ, some of those practices clash with Scripture, creating new and sometimes intense tensions."
This workshop focused on equipping believers to resist those pressures toward practices that conflict with their allegiance to God, and to overcome the internal tensions created so they might respond in ways that are scripturally grounded while still being culturally meaningful. [more...]
Author: Eunice Pike
...to ensure the Mazatecs understood a bit of doctrine, we needed to put it in a hymn.
The concept of “limited good” means there is only so much good (including knowledge and love) to go around, so someone’s advantage implies someone else’s disadvantage.
The Mazatecs of Mexico hold this belief. One result is that they are reluctant to teach people directly for fear they will lose their own knowledge, so all teaching is indirect. This article looks at how this affects the spread of Christianity, and the important role missionaries, hymns, gospel recordings and mother-tongue Scriptures have in spreading the gospel. It also outlines Scriptures that speak of God’s unlimited goodness and kindness. [more...]
Author: Glenn Stallsmith
The changes necessary for worldview transformation can only be undertaken in culturally appropriate ways if the Christian community itself is in charge of the change process.
This article reports on a Worldview Scripture Use Workshop held in the Philippines which aimed to work out real-life problems found in the cultures of the participants. The workshop followed an approach of discovering rather than telling, in which participants evaluated their own culture in light of biblical truth. [more...]
A case study from the Paez of Columbia
Author: Marianna Slocum
We have found that these three factors—the credibility factor, the comprehension factor, and the prestige factor—are all-important components in promoting the use of a newly introduced vernacular translation in a newly written language.
This case history of the Paez, a minority language group in the Andean highlands of Colombia, South America, shows how the credibility and comprehension of the mother-tongue Scriptures and the prestige of the mother tongue affect the acceptance of the Scriptures. It considers how these factors can be addressed, noting the importance of using translators that are respected by the community, the production of high quality linguistic materials (e.g. dictionary and grammar books) and the value of producing a diglot glossary of key terms. [more...]
Author: Harriet Hill
Published by: International Bulletin of Missionary Research, 30:2 (Apr 2006)
Bible translators realized that translated Scriptures sitting in warehouses fell short of their goal. Their real goal was that receptors use these Scriptures to draw closer to God. UBS refers to this goal as Scripture engagement; SIL and Wycliffe refer to it as Scripture use. Global sociolinguistic factors in fact militate against vernacular languages, making the use of mother-tongue Scriptures the premier challenge for Bible translation in the twenty-first century.
Harriet Hill provides a historical overview of progress in Bible translation, focusing especially on the challenges faced by translators in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The article covers topics such as how methods have improved over the years, the effects of colonisation and modernisation on vernacular languages, and the spread of Christianity by diffusion or incarnation. [more...]
Enjeux et défis pour l'Afrique francophone
Author: Michel Kenmogne
Published by: Editions CLE, Yaoundé / Wycliffe International, Nairobi (2009)
This book - 'Bible Translation and the Church: Issues and challenges for Francophone Africa' - was written as part of the Francophone Initiative in collaboration with CITAF (Conseil des Institutions Théologiques d’Afrique Francophone) - a consortium of evangelical theological institutions in Africa.
The aim is to introduce into the programme of every theological college a course on the importance of Bible translation and the role of local languages in the mission of the church.
The chapters are divided into five main sections:
- Pourquoi traduire la Bible dans les langues locales? (Why translate the Bible into local languages?)
- L'histoire de la traduction de la Bible depuis Néhémie jusqu'à nos jours (The history of Bible translation from Nehemiah to today)
- Théologie et traduction de la Bible (Theology and Bible translation)
- Traduction de la Bible: contexte, structures et méthodes (Bible translation: context, structures and methods)
- Bible et héritage colonial francophone (The Bible and the colonial heritage)
How the mother-tongue Scriptures shed light on an age-old rite of passage among the Tharaka people of Kenya
Authors: Monica Finifrock, Albert Kathenya
The impact is great since the truth they learn from the Tharaka New Testament sets them free. The truth is being revealed even to women who were the main victims of the myth of Kirimo. It is obvious that the New Testament has made a great change among the people. People are able to read for themselves the passages that speak against lies and are able to get the message straight.
The initiation rite for boys among the Tharaka of Kenya includes "swallowing," which involves submitting to a spirit. This article shows how church leaders are standing up against this rite. Scriptures useful in countering harmful ritual practices that contradict Jesus Christ are listed, and the role mother-tongue Scriptures play is emphasized. [more...]
