The founding of Wycliffe Bible Translators (1934) is a major turning point in Church History according to Mark Noll, author of "Turning Points".

1. Bible Translation
Further Turning Points (20th Century)
Decisive Moments in the History of Christianity
Brian M. Sandifer 1

2. Turning Points
in Christian History
1. Fall of Jerusalem (70) 8. English Act of Supremacy
2. Council of Nicaea (325) (1534)
3. Council of Chalcedon (451) 9. Founding of Jesuits (1540)
4. Benedict’s Rule (530) 10. Conversion of Wesleys
5. Coronation of Charlemagne (1738)
(800) 11. French Revolution (1789)
6. Great Schism (1054) 12. Edinburgh Missionary
Conference (1910)
7. Diet of Worms (1521)
13. Further Turning Points
(1900s)
2

3. Historically Significant
Bible Translations
 In the 20th century there have been 6 major English
translations published (and ~88 minor translations!)
 ASV (1901); RSV (1952); NASB (1971); NIV (1978); NKJV
(1982); NRSV (1990)
 But English-speaking Christians already had many
Bibles in their language for centuries
 GNV (1599); KJV (1611); YLT (1862); DBY (1884); ERV (1885);
DRA (1899)
 Many (most?) cultures did not have access to the Bible
in their vernacular tongue
 Based on this fact, from a worldwide perspective of
God’s Kingdom, the publication of the first Bible
translation in a language is therefore historically
significant compared to a new translation for a language
“already covered”. 3

4. Christianity’s
Southern Shift
 One of the crucial developments of the 20 th
century has been the shift of Christianity’s
center of gravity from the Northern to the
Southern hemisphere
 Although the percentage of Christians in
the global south has been slowly rising
since 1500, percentage growth since 1900
has been precipitous 4

5. 5

6. Worldwide Christian Demographics
 Worldwide pop. growth (1900-2000): 3.6x
 Worldwide Christian pop. growth (1900-
2000)
 Europe: 1.4x
 North America: 3.4x
 Pacific Islands: 5.0x
 Asia: 15.0x
 Africa: 34.4x
6

7. 7

8. World Christian
Demographics: Trends
 Africa
 1900. 9 million identifiable Christians
 2000. 310 million Christians
 2030. Number of Christians 3x number in
North America
 2030. Number of Christians more than
number in Europe
 Asia
 2030. Number of Christians more than
number in Europe
8

9. 2010 data 9

10. The Turning Point?
William Townsend’s
Moment of Crisis
 Mission trip to Guatemala
 In 1917 Christian missionary William Cameron
Townsend traveled to Guatemala to distribute
Spanish-language Bibles
 A native Guatemalan, upon being handed a Spanish
Bible, asked Townsend, “If your God is so smart, why
doesn’t he speak Cakchiquel?”
 Townsend eventually settled in a Cakchiquel-
speaking community for 14 years, learning the
language so as to translate the Bible in
Cakchiquel 10

11. Symbolic Turning Point: Spread
of Bible Translations
 1934. Founding of Wycliffe Bible
Translators (WBT)
 Founded by William Townsend (1896-1982)
after he returned to USA from Guatemala
 WBT is the most vigorous promoter of foreign
Bible translation and distribution
 Draws most of its workers from North
American & Europe
11

12. Significance of a Vernacular
Bible for a Culture
 Western Europe
 Jerome’s Bible translation into Latin immensely
impacted the Middle Ages
 Luther’s Bible translation shaped German language
and literature
 KJV and other English Bible translations shaped the
faith and life of Britain in its colonies
 Vernacular Bible translations in other European
countries significantly shaped the culture
12

13. What Does the Future Hold?
 In the 20th century, the Bible has been
translated into the vernacular for these
language groups (among others):
 isiZulu (Africa)
 Hausa (Africa)
 KingyaRwanda (Africa)
 Tibetan (Asia)
 Vietnamese (Asia)
 Tagalog (Philippines)
 Various languages (China) 13

14. Magnitude of Translation Efforts
 Full vernacular translations of the Bible
 As of 1989. There were 289 separate languages with
a version. Of these, 170 (59%) were published in the
20th century.
 Partial vernacular translations of the Bible
 1900. Portions of the Bible were available in
approximately 537 different languages.
 1980. Portions of the Bible were available in
approximately 1811 different languages.
 Far more individual language groups, and the
cultures that these languages define, have
received the Bible during the 20th century than in
the preceding 1900 years of church history!
14

15. 15

16. Implications of Massive
Bible Translation Efforts
 The message of Christ (the gospel) that
missionaries brought is eclipsed by the message
they left (the vernacular Bible)
 The drama of Pentecost and Church History
continues
 As at Pentecost, people are hearing the message of
the Bible in their own tongues
 The gospel message of the universality of salvation
becomes more real when it arises from within a
culture rather than outside a culture
 The possession of the Bible in the vernacular
language often begins to effect a process of
Christianization of the culture 16

17. Importance of Vernacular
Scriptures
There is a radical pluralism implied in
vernacular translation wherein all
languages and cultures are, in principle,
equal in expressing the word of God…Two
general ideas stem from this analysis.
First is the inclusive principle whereby no
culture is excluded from the Christian
dispensation or even judged solely or
ultimately by Western cultural criteria.
(cont’d)
17

18. Importance of Vernacular
Scriptures
Second is the ethical principle of change as
a check to cultural self-absolutization.
Both of these ideas are rooted in what
missionaries understood by God’s
universal truth as this was revealed in
Jesus Christ, with the need and duty to
work out this fact in the vernacular
medium rather than in the uniform
framework of cultural homogeneity.
* Gambian mission historian Lamin Sanneh 18

19. William C.
Townsend
19

20. Questions for Discussion
 What factors would contribute to worldwide
distribution of vernacular Bible translations
becoming a significant turning point in church
history? What factors would be hindrances?
 The USA is increasingly becoming less culturally
homogeneous due (among other things) to
immigration of non-English speakers. How
might vernacular Bible versions foster unity in
America? How might they encourage
multicultural fragmentation?
20

21. Application for Today’s
Church
 How ought the church use vernacular
Bible versions in ministry to speakers of
other languages?
 Discuss some inherent dangers in the
process of translating and distributing the
Bible into vernacular languages.
 Discuss strategies to overcome these
dangers.
21

22. Seeking Converts in
“Christian” America
Pastor Daniel Ajayi-Adeniran leads a prayer service at the Chapel of
Restoration in the Bronx, NYC, a branch of the Redeemed Christian
Church of God, which is based in Nigeria. In addition to his spiritual duties,
Pastor Ajayi-Adeniran coordinates the church’s missionary activities in
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North America.