A Doctrine of Translation

Thank you.

 

You could put it that way.

 

Absolutely, and mostly ignored in systematic theology, and even missiology.

 

I believe they completely understood what they were saying. Otherwise, how could they possibly choose the words with the correct meaning to witness to the unbelievers? This was not inspiration, but simply witnessing for Christ with a miraculous tongue.

"Reverse tower of Babel" is an excellent way to put it. But I'm not sure I understand your point that the hearers were doing any interpretation. They said outright that they were hearing the witness in their own languages.

Forgive me for asking, but do you know any foreign language? To me, to speak a foreign language without being able to understand what you yourself are saying is not how language works. I cannot see how God, the Author of language, would work that way, even miraculously.

I like how you put this, and that may have been what happened--trying to repeat the Acts 2 miracle. However, I still hold to the position that they were speaking known, learned languages at Corinth. It was a port city, and such cities always have a myriad of spoken languages as sailors come in from different countries.

And remember, Paul said, "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all" (1 Cor. 14:18). It is plain that he spoke in at least Greek, Hebrew, and Latin, but there may have been even more. Yet there is no place in the whole book of Acts or in any of his epistles that records Paul speaking in a miraculous tongue.

If you have ever actually interpreted for anyone, I don't think you'd be saying this. Interpreting is not superficially different from simply speaking in a language. It's much harder.

I could give many illustrations, but I'll stick with one. I was interpreting in chapel for a seminary prof from the States. This man used an illustration in his sermon about a spittoon. Now, the Japanese do not ever, ever chew tobacco, which is a putrid American custom. There is a word for it, but I had absolutely no idea what that was. Someone told me later that what I interpreted was the Japanese for "a utensil to throw up into." Well, not too far off.

 

I just have time to put up one more of my outlines on the OP.

God Invented Language
John 1:1


INTRODUCTION: In the King James Bible, the word “tongue” meant language in 1611 (Gen. 10:20, Is. 66:18). Ability in language is a gift of God (1 Cor. 12:8-10). However, the theory of “universal grammar” says that all human beings are born with the capacity to learn and understand any language. You have grammar in you. If God has called you to translate, you can do it with His help.


I. God Invented Language (Gen. 1:3)
A. God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit speak among themselves (Gen. 1:26, Is. 6:8).
B. The universe was made with God’s Words.
C. The phrase “and God said” occurs 10 times in Gen. 1, and 30 times in the Old Testament.
D. Adam was made with a grasp of language (Gen. 2:19-20).
E. God invented the differing languages at Babel (Gen. 11:1-9).
F. Words are so important that Jesus is called the “Word” (John 1:1).

II. So, Language Is Important.
A. A. Good communication with the spoken language is vital to God’s work (1 Cor. 14:6-11): witnessing, preaching, Bible teaching, counseling, raising children, marriage.
B. Control of your spoken language is vital to your Christian life (James 3:1-12).
C. Understanding the meaning of Bible words is vital to your belief system.
1. What does “meet” mean in Gen. 2:18? Hint: not that she “met Adam’s needs.”
2. What does “mansion” mean in John 14:1-2? Hint: the King James Bible uses British English.

III. The Idea of a Universal Grammar
A. Here is a definition for language: “A system of communication by sound, i.e., through the organs of speech and hearing, among human beings of a certain group or community, using vocal symbols possessing arbitrary conventional meanings.”[1]
B. Many linguists have theorized about a universal grammar (UG) down through the years. This is the idea that all humans everywhere have in their brains the possibility of learning and speaking languages.
C. One idea is that UG is “A set of mental structures seen…as genetically inherited by all human beings, underlying and explaining the development of language in their childhood.”[2]
D. We are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Ps. 139:14), especially in the area of language. So we should know how we are made in the language part of our soul, especially so we can understand and teach the Bible (Neh. 8:7-8).
E. What does UG have to do with translating the Bible? It means that God created you with a complete ability to understand grammar and meaning. So, if God calls you to translate the Bible, you are completely able to do so effectively and completely.

IV. The Structure of Language. What does this universal grammar include?
A. All languages have nouns.
B. All languages have verbs, though not all have tenses, participles, etc.
C. All languages have adjectives.
D. All languages have syntax: how a sentence is constructed, including sentence order, word endings, phrases, clauses.
E. All languages include semantics, the study of meaning.

CONCLUSION: If God calls you to translate, He has gifted you to do so, and will guide and empower you. His Holy Spirit is the Paraclete, “one called alongside to help.”



[1] Mario Pei and Frank Gaynor, Dictionary of Linguistics (Totowa, NJ: Littlefield, Adams and Co., 1967), 119.

[2] P. H. Matthews, Oxford Concise Dictionary of Linguistics, 2nd ed. (London: Oxford U. Press, 2007), 421-422.

 

Thanks to all who participated, including the dude who calls me a Gnostic and misconstrues what I have written. It's been interesting, and hopefully made us all think.