Editorial: Using Mama’s language to read Abba’s words
Translated by Lydia Ma
In the past few centuries, whenever missionaries were sent to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to people from different cultures and languages, the most important task was usually translating the Bible so that God’s words could be read and engrained in people’s hearts.
With this in mind, a Bible Society was established in 1804 in London to facilitate the work of translating the Bible in several languages.
It was also around that time that missionaries began sharing the gospel in Thailand. After many twists and turns, they were finally able to find a Thai Buddhist monk and high official who’d studied at Cambridge University and was well versed in Thai history and classics to translate the Bible for them.
It’s not surprising that such an arrangement soon led to many problems – until the day when this monk stumbled upon Luke 23 and read Jesus’ words as he was hanging from the cross.
That moment changed his life because he realized that he was a sinner in need of God’s forgiveness. Because of this monk and his story, the most widely-used Bible version in Thailand today is the “Monk Version”.
In Taiwan, Thomas Barclay arrived at the end of the 19th century and popularized the use of Romanized Taiwanese for people who found Chinese characters too difficult to learn.
In the first issue of Taiwan Church News, Barclay emphasized that as long as people could read Romanized Taiwanese, they could read the Bible too. He also worked hard translating the whole Bible into Romanized Taiwanese so that people could read God’s words in their own mother language – Taiwanese.
The Bible was written to be understood and it was written for people to grasp the grace of God. It was never intended to be merely a piece of literature – albeit a great one.
Today, we rejoice that every Sunday, PCT churches across Taiwan use 18 different languages to worship God. We rejoice that several Aborigine language Bibles have been translated through Taiwan Bible Society.
As we approach Bible Sunday on December 2, we must remember once again that the Bible is the cornerstone of the church and the proof of the gospel we preach. It’s no small feat to be able to read and enjoy our Abba’s words in our mother languages.
