Translators Making The Bible More Acceptable To Appease Muslims?

What should Christians do when they find that the gospel of Jesus Christ, or certain aspects of it, may cause offense to those to whom it is preached? One approach is to stick to delivering the Bible message without compromise, knowing that this approach is the only way to ensure a genuine choice between the truth and falsehood.

Another alternative would be to water down the message in order to make it palatable to its audience even at the cost of distorting and misrepresenting central doctrines of the true gospel such as the divine nature of Jesus, His virgin birth, His place in the Holy Trinity and how He was able to become incarnate as both the Son of God and the Son of man.
Such is the dilemma reportedly being faced by some Bible translators today.

Billy Hallowell for theblaze.com recently reported that Wycliffe Associates (WA), a group based in Orlando, Florida has announced that it would not be renewing its affiliation with Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA), an international cohort of more than 100 translators that was formed back in 1991.

Bruce Smith, president of Wycliffe Associates, told staff and the public via a press release that there are a number of reasons why the translator has chosen to split from the group.

The first reason is the ongoing debate over the language used to describe Jesus and God. For Wycliffe Associates, literal translation of Father and Son of God is not negotiable, said Smith.

Hallowell explained that the issue reportedly hinged, more specifically, on the way in which the Biblical Trinity is presented to Muslims. He made reference to a similar Christianity Today report that some translations attempt to “soften” the language describing the relationship between Jesus and God so as to not confuse adherents of Islam who might incorrectly believe as a result of certain phrasing that God and Mary – Jesus mother – had sexual relations.

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