Holding translators accountable

Religion | Wycliffe Bible Translators agrees to new standards in debate over contextualizing Scripture for Muslim settings | Emily Belz

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In the basement of a hotel in Istanbul, 30 people from around the world met in August to talk about how to translate the phrase "Son of God" and "God the Father" in Muslim contexts.

Wycliffe Bible Translators and a close partner, Dallas-based SIL International, called the private gathering, which included its own translation staff as well as outside scholars. The issue on the table—translation of the familial titles for God and Jesus Christ—was one that has divided Wycliffe members and alarmed supporting churches and missions agencies—leading a few Wycliffe members to leave the organization and some churches to consider withdrawing their support.

The controversy is defining for Wycliffe, the largest Bible translation organization in the world, whose nearly 70 years of work have made it the gold standard for all Bible translation projects. Wycliffe and its translation partner SIL work in more than 90 countries, and Wycliffe's goal is to have a Bible translation program for every world language by 2025.