Veneration, Heresy, and the Acceptability of Vernacular Language Bible Translations

Acceptability is a more recent addition to measures of quality in Bible translation; it has been variously framed as authenticity, acceptability, or appropriateness (Anderson 1998; Chemorian 2009; Daams 2015; Dye 2009; Gross 2003; Larsen 2001; Mudge 1997). These various lenses have appropriately focused on community agency, the skopos of translation programs, and other elements that influence acceptability of Bible translations. Multiple theological issues are also interwoven within the dimension of acceptability. It is essential to take into consideration a host community’s theology of the Bible, theology of translation, theology of language, and intertextual issues (i.e. comparative theologies of sacred texts).
In almost every context, there is one or more pre-existing sacred texts to which a new vernacular Bible translation will be compared, whether that text is an LWC Bible translation, a sacred text from another religion, or a religious oral tradition. Host communities make comparisons of style, purpose, use, and conceptualizations with these previous sacred texts which influence their theological categorization of vernacular Bible translations. It is also instructive to compare the way other major world religions understand the parameters of acceptability of translations of their sacred texts. These understandings are important prerequisites to the essential task of noting how the host community's theological views overlap with or conflict with those of Bible agencies and personnel and how best to respond to these frequent, significant divergences of perspectives.