Bible Translation and World Christianity: Implications for Translation Practice in the 21st Century

Dr. Michel Kenmonge - SIL International

In 2007, Lamin Sanneh gave a conference on Bible Translation and the birth of Christianity as a world religion. Contrasting the significance of the impact of Bible translation with the missionary expansion of Islam, he stated: “Well, Christians take this business for granted but have they thought about the implication of what they are doing”? His abundant scholarly body of work has allowed everyone to appraise Bible translation beyond its nuts and bolts in order to discern its fundamental meaning and value. Indeed, translation remains a vulnerable activity with high risks when considered from the viewpoint of the process of the faithful transmission of the message from one language and culture to another. However, Bible translation preserves the essence of Christianity as a religion without a fixed language, culture or location. It empowers and yet relativizes all languages and cultures, thereby furthering an equality in dignity among the speakers of all the languages of the world. As such, it is the “primary critical, leavening, or catalytic action in the spread of the Christian faith”. In other words, Bible translation enables the advance of what Sanneh calls a World Christianity. By this, he refers to the interdisciplinary field that cultivates “...insight into processes of conversion, transmission, and translation, appropriation and reception of Christianity all over the world”. In this conference, we seek to consider the impact of Bible translation and question our assumptions, strategies and practices. In line with Lamin Sanneh’s main contribution relative to the processes of the reception of the Gospel, I’d like us to consider this question: To what extent does our current and blossoming Bible translation movement contribute to the advent of a World Christianity? To approach this question, I will use Walls and Sanneh’s framework, which claims that the process of the transmission and reception of Christianity is multi-generational, involving at least three stages. I will aim to discern the stage at which the current BT Movement operates in the 21st Century, identify some of the critical issues that affect the reception of the Gospel and suggest implications for the Bible translation practice that would effectively further the rise of a World Christianity.

1 Conference given on 14.06.2007 at the Scripture Engagement Conference, Horsleys Green, UK. p.1

2 The following three books are of special interest: Translating the Message (1989), Disciples of all Nations (2009) and Whose Religion is Christianity (2003).

3 Giatu, p.3

4  Wanjiru M. Gitau: The Lamin Sanneh Legacy; Lausanne Global Analysis; May 2020 Volume 9/Issue 3