Issues@Hand

AFA initiatives, Christian activism, news briefs

May 2016 – Wycliffe Associates discontinued affiliation with Wycliffe Global Alliance, an umbrella organization for Bible translators. The decision, effective March 1, 2016, arose out of several years of controversy over ambiguous Bible translations.

“A few years ago, we learned that some of the alliance partners were using alternative terminology for ‘Father’ and ‘Son of God’ in their translations,” CEO Bruce Smith explained. “At the time, we took a strong public stand to say we would not support any Bible translations that do not use common language literal terminology for ‘Father’ and ‘Son of God.’”

In 2012, CEO Bob Creson of Wycliffe Bible Translators, another separate organization, admitted that its translators used “latitude” in translations for Muslims.

Creson said, “[In] Islam, there is sometimes misunderstanding when you use the common term ‘Son of God’ that God the Father actually had a sexual relationship with Mary to produce His son Jesus.”

At the time, Wycliffe Bible Translators submitted to review by the World Evangelical Alliance, saying it would temporarily halt translation in cultures where confusion existed.

onenewsnow.com, 3/3/16; 4/26/12