Because of the time lag, the order of the two articles below was somewhat reversed, but it is my hope that the readers will pay more attention to the second report from the Harvard campus.
Especially, Prof. Hugh Goddard's view is to be critically considered for all of us. If you are interested in the directors of this programme, please visit my another English blog "Lily's Room (Part 2)" (http://pub.ne.jp/itunalily/) dated 10 November 2011.
As for Prof. Hugh Goddard, please refer to my previous postings dated 25 June 2008 (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20080625) and 13 November 2011 (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily2/20111113) as well as my Japanese blog dated 29 January 2012 (http://d.hatena.ne.jp/itunalily/20120129) respectively. (Lily)
1. National Review (http://www.nationalreview.com)
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Bibles that Translate “The Father” as “Allah”, 14 February 2012
by Nina Shea
The most astonishing example of the global inroads being made by Muslim blasphemy codes may well be found in a deepening controversy over the Bible translations for many Muslim cultures by Wycliffe, the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL), and some other Bible translators.
Ostensibly to placate Muslim sensibilities, they removed the words “Father,” “Son,” and “Son of God” to describe the Trinitarian nature of God in the New Testament, using instead, at least for the Arabic and Turkish copies, the terms “Allah,” and “Messiah.”
The Christian Post provides an example from Matthew 28:19: “Instead of ‘baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,’ [the text] becomes ‘Cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit.’”
This is not a new controversy among scholars of Christian missionary work (Christianity Today wrote a cover story, “The Son and the Crescent,” about it a year ago) but, over the past few weeks, it has inspired mounting protests on Christian websites and a petition to the translators is now posted for signatures by a consortium of Christian missionaries and leaders.
Wycliffe, an interdenominational Protestant organization dedicated to translating the Bible into all living languages, posted a response on its website on February 7 that is less than reassuring. An excerpt of which states:
Wycliffe USA is grateful to all those who have expressed their questions and concerns regarding reports that we have been removing “Father” and “Son” from certain Bible translations, particularly in Muslim cultures. . . . While we have never intentionally sponsored a translation that neglects to properly communicate the divine familial terms, some observers have raised concerns about whether our methodology has consistently met our goal. We are listening to those concerns and are seeking God’s guidance as we re-evaluate our methodology and investigate to ensure that our commitment to accurate and clear translation is being reflected in every project. We are engaged in meaningful conversations with partner organizations, constituents, and church leaders to evaluate our standards, and expect to be prepared to issue a more complete statement soon.
Hopefully, some of those who have commented from the Muslim world itself will be among those Wycliffe and the others listen to.
A former Muslim writes: “Such terms were equally offensive and problematic for Jews in the 1st Century were they not? And yet Jesus used them anyway and God inspired His apostles to do so. And still there was explosive church growth amidst the Jews in the 1st Century. Why should Muslims of today be any different? Indeed, the very fact that God is Jesus’ Father, Jesus is God the Son, and God can be called our Father is what is so attractive about the Gospel.”
A Turkish pastor argues: “Already Muslims in my country believe that the Bible is changed by men and these mission agencies are making it harder for us!”
Another pastor in Turkey makes a common-sense proposal: “Rather than changing the meaning of the Biblical terms and give reason to those Muslims who accuse Christians of adulterating the Scriptures, why not simply put a footnote to clarify that ‘Father’ does not refer to a biological father and ‘Son’ does not refer to a biological son?”
He then goes on to reveal another very disturbing fact about some translations: “But for me the worst thing in this translation is that this ‘Matthew’ started with a quote of the Koran and that the translation is full of footnotes with quotes of the Koran, as if it was the highest authority to decide what is true and what false.”
Since it was founded in the 1940s, Wycliffe has done extraordinary work in making the Bibles and New Testament accessible in hundreds of the world’s tongues, in many places bringing for the first time the Good News of the Gospels, and in the process promoting literacy. Translating sacred texts is often an art as much as a science and scholars have continuously debated the fine points of theology inherent in the translating process throughout Christian history. But, with these Arabic, Turkish, and other Bible translations tailored for Muslim cultures, one wonders, who is converting whom?
・Nina Shea is director of the Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom and co-author, with Paul Marshall, of Silenced: How Apostasy and Blasphemy Codes are Choking Freedoms Worldwide (Oxford University Press, November 2011).
2．Harvard Gazette（http://news.harvard.edu/gazette）
Fostering global understanding
Scholars ponder how to improve relations between Mideast and West, 21 February 2012
by Peter Reuell, Harvard Staff Writer
(photo) Jon Chase/Harvard Staff Photographer
A panel of scholars made up of the directors of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centers from around the world gathered at Harvard for the centers' annual meeting. The group included (from left) Magda Shahin, American University in Cairo; Hugh Goddard, University of Edinburgh; Yasir Suleiman, University of Cambridge; Prince Alwaleed; Ali Asani, Harvard University; John L. Esposito, Georgetown University; and Alexander Lubin, American University of Beirut
Following months of upheaval marked by revolutions, the Middle East and the West find themselves at a rare crossroads. The opportunity now exists for the two regions to build bridges that can foster new levels of cultural, religious, and political understanding and mutual respect through education.
That was the message delivered by a panel of scholars made up of the directors of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centers during a discussion held Feb. 8 as part of the centers’ annual meeting. The international network of academic centers — in addition to the one at Harvard, others have been founded at Georgetown University, the American University in Cairo, the American University of Beirut, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Edinburgh; were created to promote better mutual understanding through informed education about Islam and America.
Moderated by R. Nicholas Burns, professor of the practice of diplomacy and international politics at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, the discussion drew a standing-room-only audience of more than 100 to Loeb House, and focused on three central issues: How will the revolutions of the so-called Arab Spring affect the rest of the Middle East? How can the West combat the rising tide of Islamophobia? And, finally, what can be done to ease anti-American sentiments in the Mideast?
“It is very clear that what took place in some countries in the Arab world is an earthquake to the region,” Prince Alwaleed, whose 2005 gift created the Harvard program, said in describing the Arab Spring. “Those nations that did not receive the earthquake — I hope they have received message. No matter how much social change you create in your country, no matter how many financial or economic benefits you give your people, you need to have some political change whereby the people feel they are involved and can participate in the political system.”
In examining the fallout from the Arab Spring revolutions, John L. Esposito, founding director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University, emphasized that new leaders in countries like Libya and Egypt must respect democratic institutions as a first step toward nurturing their fledgling democracies.
“The Islamists who have won, they have to demonstrate that they will walk the way they talk on issues like political pluralism, human rights, and inclusiveness,” he said. “The challenge for the EU and the U.S. is to realize that the old narrative –— that somehow support for authoritarian regimes ensures security and stability — is a failed narrative. The challenge on the other side is that those who come into power have to recognize what the democratic process is like, and to come to appreciate the notion of a loyal opposition.”
For Professor Yasir Suleiman, director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies at Cambridge University, the revolutions of the Arab Spring were about more than emerging democracies, but represented the beginning of the transformation for millions from subject to citizen.
“There is now a debunking of the idea of Arab exceptionalism, or that Arabs don’t want democracy,” he said. “They have demonstrated in a very serious way, paying for it with their blood, that they do want a change. When you think about it, it’s not just a question of freedom and dignity, it’s about something far more important: it’s about emancipation.”
While the Arab Spring offers hope for the future for millions living in the Middle East, many Arabs and Muslims living in the U.S. and Europe continue to face discrimination simply because of their background or religion. The answer, said Professor Ali Asani, director of Harvard’s the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, is better education, on both sides.
“I think what we are witnessing today is an inability to accept difference,” said Asani. “People talk about a clash of civilizations, but I like to talk about a clash of ignorances. I think at the heart of these phobias, whether it’s anti-Americanism or Islamophobia, is a profound cultural and religious illiteracy.
Referring to current political discourses in America that cast doubt on the loyalty and patriotism of American Muslims, he remarked, “We have entered into a culture of fear … and democracy cannot function if we are afraid of our neighbors, and our neighbors are Muslim. Yes, we should be concerned about democracy in other parts of the world, but what about democracy here?”
Islamophobia, however, is not a problem that is limited to the U.S., as Professor Hugh Goddard, director of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Contemporary World at the University of Edinburgh, explained, citing the case of Anders Breivik, whose attack in Norway was sparked by what he believed was political support for Muslims.
“One feature I think we should mention is the insidious influence of the Internet,” Goddard said. “In his manifesto, Breivik cited a number of American figures as a way of legitimizing his views, so it is clear that this is an international problem.
“With respect to what to do about it, education does seem to be the key, and this is very much the business of our four centers in the U.S. and Europe. We are working to address this question, of the severe ignorance that exists of Islam as a religion, and Islam as a culture.”
Concerns over Islamophobia are only one-half of the problem, the center directors said. Arab nations must also address the continuing anti-American sentiment held by many of their citizens.
In part, however, the issue is one of marketing, said Magda Shahin, director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American Studies at the American University in Cairo.
“I think the problem of anti-Americanism is a problem of marketing,” Shahin said. “The U.S. either does not know, or does not care, as a superpower, to market itself. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has spent millions to repair sewage systems, telephones ,and electricity in Egypt, but today the Cairo Opera House, which was rebuilt with the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, is more visible.”
“Many average citizens in the Middle East only encounter the U.S. through fast-food chains or other corporate ventures or through military force,” said Alexander Lubin, director of the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Center for American Studies and Research at American University of Beirut. “These encounters are often overbearing, often violent, and sometimes condescending.”
Just as with Islamophobia, Lubin said, the solution lies in education, and with centers like the six established by Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
“I think we combat anti-Americanism by educating people in the U.S. and the Arab world about their interdependence,” he said, “and by showing the rich history of Islam in the United States as well as the role America can play in the Arab world. I think the kind of dialogue that takes place at each of our centers is one way we can combat this.”
(End)
