Bible Translations Save Cultures, Spark Koran Translations in Post-Soviet (fwd link)

[Slavomír Čéplö]

Bill,

you're right, I have overreacted, my apologies to both you and
Richard. The article describes a workshop held by the Institute of
Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences which, as far as I
know, has nothing to do with SIL and is quite likely to be staffed by
atheists or Orthodox Christians. Hence my insistence on explaining the
obvious to make sure no one is painting all Christians with the same
brush. I did get that the Darwin joke was aimed at the KJV-first
crowd, but I still think that the proper way to piss off a fundie is
actually read the Bible to them. Especially those bits they seem to
miss.

Getting back to the article and speaking of bible-thumpers, I found
the following passage quite ironic:

As any student of Western civilization knows, the translation of the
Bible from the Latin into German and English helped spark the
Reformation because once people could read the sacred text directly
rather than having it mediated through priests, they were in a
position to make choices that changed the faith fundamentally. It is
thus entirely possible that translations of the Koran will have the
same effect, and it will be one of the true ironies of history if
translations of the Bible ... prompt translations of the Koran that in
turn could open the way for the reformation of Islam.

But the fact that people can read the sacred text directly has
ultimately led to heresies like dispensationalism (John Nelson Darby's
translation and the Scofield Reference Bible) which is the source of
most present-day crazy-ass evangelical doctrines. I am not filled with
optimism in the case of the Quran, especially considering how most
translations of the Quran (at least in Europe) are financed by Saudi
waqfs.

bulbul


On Sat, Sep 27, 2008 at 4:39 AM, William J Poser <wjposer at ldc.upenn.edu> wrote:
> Bulbul,
>
> I am well aware that Christianity is compatible with evolution.
> The Catholic Church, after all, has no problem with evolution,
> nor do most "mainline" Protestants. I'm not sure why my comment
> would be interpreted as suggesting this. My humorous goal was
> simply to suggest a counterpoint to the translation of religious
> texts. "The Origin of Species" seems apropos because, although Christians
> in general have no problem with evolution, the evangelicals who comprise
> the great majority of SIL people, do not accept evolution.
>
> Bill
>