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Bible Translation and the Mission of the Church · Reformed Thinking

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Well, welcome to Reformed Thinking.
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We are thrilled you're joining us today.
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Whether you are sitting in the Pew right now benefiting from a
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faithful English Bible or, you know, thinking about global
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missions and how they operate, or perhaps preparing to teach a
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Sunday school class this weekend, understanding how God
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brings his word to his people is, well, it is vital to your
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own faith and practice. Our mission today is to look
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closely at a compelling interview with Bible translation
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consultant Kyle Davis. This interview is featured in
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the book Biblical Missions, Principles, Priorities, and
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Practices. We are setting out to examine
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Davis's advocacy for a specific kind of missionary, and that is
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the pastor translator. This deep dive is going to
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investigate how the work of bringing the Scriptures into a
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new language is not just an academic exercise, it is a
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strictly pastoral task. Yeah, the concept of the Pastor
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translator is a brilliant structural model because it
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bridges the gap between specialized linguistic work and
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the boots on the ground shepherding of a local
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congregation. For decades, the evangelical
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world has often treated linguistics and translation as,
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I mean, almost as an entirely separate discipline from the
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daily life of a local church. You had the scholars in the
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library or the field linguists in the remote village doing the
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translation, and then you had the pastors who had later
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received that finished product to preach.
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But Davis is making the case that this separation creates
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massive problems. A pastor translator is someone
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who marries those two domains. They bring the rigorous academic
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study of syntax, grammar, and vocabulary directly into contact
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with the immediate, visceral needs of a worshipping body of
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believers. This ensures that the resulting
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text is not technically accurate in a sterile, academic sense
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alone, but that it is accessible, clear and ready to
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be preached, prayed and sung by the church.
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OK, let's unpack this by starting with the historical
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background, taking us right into the concept of reclaiming the
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Reformation heritage. Davis offers a highly specific
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definition of the pastor translator.
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He describes this person as a qualified pastor or teacher
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working at the intersection of Bible translation and church
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planting or church strengthening.
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The text outlines A staggering list of specific tasks this
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individual takes on. We are talking about drafting,
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testing, reviewing, checking, approving, distributing, and
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using the translated scritures. When you hear that list, you
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realize this is an astronomical undertaking.
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It goes far beyond knowing greep and Hebrew.
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It requires a shepherd's heart to know how a specific phrase
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will well, how it will actually land on the years of the
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suffering St. in the congregation.
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Right, spot on. Taking those tasks 1 by 1
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reveals why pastoral gifts and not linguistic skills alone are
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strictly required. Consider the act of drafting.
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When a translator drafts a text, they are making constant
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theological choices. If you are translating the Greek
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word decaya scene, you are not finding a local word for
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righteousness in a vacuum. You are laying the groundwork
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for how that local church will understand the doctrine of
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justification by faith. That requires the mind of a
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theologian. Then look at testing and
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reviewing. How do you test a translation?
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You read it to the congregation. You see if the local believers
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understand it. A linguist who does not function
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as a pastor might lack the relational capital or the
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ecclesiological framework to properly test the text among the
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flock. And I think we have to talk
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about checking and approving, too, because those are
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inherently ecclesiastical functions.
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Ensuring a text is free from subtle heresies or confusing
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phrasing is the duty of an elder.
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Protecting the sheep. Distributing and using the text
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is the final goal. The translated word is meant to
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be opened in the pulpit, read in the liturgy, and applied in
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counseling. A man who already operates as a
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shepherd is uniquely positioned to handle every single step of
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that process because he knows precisely what the flock
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requires to be fed. Absolutely.
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The text points out that this idea of the pastor translator
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has historical roots that go way back.
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In recent years we have seen a recovery of terms like pastor
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theologians, generalists, and pastor scholars.
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The Reformers themselves were the ultimate generalists.
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We see men who held these dual titles wedding theological
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accuracy with the shepherding gifts required to equip local
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churches. Martin Luther is a prime
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example. He did not write theological
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treatises in isolation. He translated the entire Bible
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into German while actively pastoring, preaching and leading
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a massive reform movement. He was literally hiding in the
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Wartburg Castle, translating Erasmus, his Greek New
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Testament, into the common German tongue while
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simultaneously writing pastoral letters to churches in crisis.
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Yeah, and you look at John Calvin doing similar work with
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the French translation. He was constantly revising and
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refining the text originally done by his cousin Pierre Robier
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Olivten. Fedor Beza, Calvin's successor
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in Geneva, was a towering scholar of the Greek New
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Testament. Yet he was also a pastor who
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cared for the souls of his congregation.
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These men did not see a division between the scholars desk and
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the pulpit. The unity of those roles in the
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Reformation was a direct result of their theological
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convictions. We see this explicitly in their
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dedication to the principles of Sola Scriptura, meaning
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Scripture alone, and Adfontes, which means back to the sources.
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Because they believed that Scripture alone is the sole
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infallible rule of faith and practice, they recognize that
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the Church could not survive without direct access to the
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Word of God. And because they believed in
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going back to the original Hebrew and Greek sources, they
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knew that relying on the Latin Vulgate was insufficient.
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The Westminster Confession of Faith, which we adhere to,
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codifies this beautifully. In chapter 1, Section 8, it
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states that the original languages are to be translated
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into the vulgar or common language of every nation unto
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which they come. I love that section of the
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confession. Why does it mandate that the
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Confession says it is so that the Word of God dwelling
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plentifully in all, they may worship Him in an acceptable
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manner. The Reformed tradition views
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translation as an absolute necessity for acceptable worship
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in a thriving church. The Reformers knew that you
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cannot have a healthy church without a readable, accurate
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Bible, and you cannot produce a useful Bible without men who
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understand the life of the church.
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That brings us to a staggering statistic highlighted in the
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text, and this is something I really want you, the listener,
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to sit with for a moment. Despite the incredible work of
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the Reformation centuries ago, today 90% of the world's
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languages do not have a full Bible translation.
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When you sit with that number, it is truly arresting.
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We have thousands upon thousands of language groups where the
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local believers cannot read the entire Council of God.
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They might have a gospel, or perhaps the New Testament, but
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they lack the Psalms to sing, the prophets to study, and the
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historical books to understand the grand narrative of
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redemption. It is heartbreaking when you
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frame it like that. Imagine trying to understand the
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book of Hebrews without ever having read Leviticus.
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Imagine trying to process corporate grief without the
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Psalms of lament. This modern deficit is a massive
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crisis. That 90% statistic demonstrates
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precisely why the Reformation model is desperately required
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right now. The global church is expanding
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rapidly in the Global South and the East, but without the full
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translated Word of God, these emerging churches are highly
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vulnerable. They are susceptible to
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syncretism, to the prosperity gospel, and to false teaching
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because they lack the objector standard of truth in their own
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hands to correct error. We need a massive resurgence of
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the pastor translator model to address this vulnerability.
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We do not need a few Western linguists flying into a region
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for a short period. We need men who will plant
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themselves in these cultures, learn the language, plant
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churches, and do the painstaking work of translating the Old New
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Testaments while simultaneously raising up local elders.
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That is the sustainable way to close this massive gap and
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ensure these young churches have the theological stability they
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need to survive and thrive in hostile environments.
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This leads us directly into the ecclesiological shift Davis
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calls for. Right.
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Davis is not speaking from an ivory tower here.
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The source details his background, which includes 2
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decades of travel to 30 different countries across
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Central and South America, Asia and Africa.
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He has been on the ground interacting with missionaries,
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agency leaders, local pastors and church planters.
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What is fascinating is what those local church leaders
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actually asked him for. They did not ask for pragmatic
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church growth strategies or smoke machines for their worship
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services. They consistently stressed a
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desire to receive more training in exegesis, theology, and
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biblical languages. The reason local leaders are
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asking for exegesis and biblical languages is that they recognize
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the sheer weight of their pastoral calling.
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The text references Second Timothy 2.15, where Paul
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commands Timothy to do his best to present himself to God as one
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approved a worker who has no need to be ashamed.
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Rightly handling the word of truth.
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You cannot rightly handle the word of truth if you do not know
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how to study it, interpret it, and apply it.
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Local leaders in these remote areas want to establish
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healthier churches. They know that robust training
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aids and establishing meaningful church membership, rigorous
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discipleship, biblical correction, and biblical
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counseling. For the more, as referenced in
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Second Timothy 4.1 to 2, pastors are charged in the presence of
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God and of Christ Jesus to preach the Word, to be ready in
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season, out of season, to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with
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complete patience and teaching. To accomplish that monumental
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task, they need the raw materials of exegesis and
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theology, and they need a fully translated Bible to preach from.
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You cannot practice church discipline or guard the
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communion table if you lack the textual authority to define what
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constitutes a faithful Christian life.
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But there is a massive unintended consequence to
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forming out Bible translation to enormous parachurch
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corporations. Yes, Davis points out that while
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these organizations often have good intentions and employ
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brilliant linguists, the fallout from this specialized model is
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severe. Translations can become entirely
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disconnected from the local church when a parachurch group
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operates outside the oversight and organic life of a
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worshipping body. The result is often manufactured
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copies of the Bible that are untrusted, unused, or
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drastically underused by the local local believers.
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The translation might sit in cardboard boxes in a dusty
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warehouse because the local pastors were never integrated
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into the process of creating it, so they feel no ownership over
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it. It's like hiring a Michelin star
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chef from Paris to design A menu for a rural barbecue joint in
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Texas without ever letting him meet the locals.
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The food might be technically brilliant, but no one is going
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to eat it because it was not created within the context of
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the community it was meant to feed.
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This is a critical ecclesiological issue.
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When we look at the Apostolic model cited by Davis, looking at
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passages like Acts 14.2123, Acts 15.41, and Acts 16.5, we see
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that the Great Commission is centrally about planting and
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strengthening churches. Paul and Barnabas appointed
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elders in every church with prayer and fasting.
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It went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the
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churches. The locus of God's activity on
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earth is the local church. The para church organization, by
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definition, exists alongside the church, but it cannot replace
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the church. When translation is farmed out
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to specialists who have no pastoral connection to the
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target audience, the product often lacks the theological
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nuance required for corporate worship and preaching.
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The solution, as Davis outlines, is returning translation to the
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local church. The missionary team needs both
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general practitioners, meaning evangelists, pastors and
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theologians, and specialists like linguists.
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The translation must be tested and approved by competent
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ministers within the local target audience to ensure it
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actually feeds the flock. But that localized, pastoral
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approach to translation actually puts Davis at odds with some
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major players in the modern translation industry.
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Specifically, how do we handle translating for entirely
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unreached, even hostile, audiences?
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Here we encounter a major controversy addressed in the
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text regarding the target audience of Scripture.
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Davis introduces the issue of Muslim Indian translations,
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often referred to as MITS, and the broader translation
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philosophy of Eugene Nita. Let me lay devil's advocate for
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a second because I can hear you, the listener, asking right now.
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Doesn't Eugene Nita have a point?
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His premise was that non Christians have priority over
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Christians when it comes to making translations
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intelligible. That is a very common view in
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mystiology today. The goal under Nina's framework
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is to make the text as immediately understandable to a
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Pagan or a Muslim reader as possible, even if that means
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altering religious idioms or softening certain theological
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terms. The logic asks, our absolute
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first priority should be making sure a non Christian can
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understand the gospel on the very first read.
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Davis flatly calls this premise backward.
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Viewing Davis's counter argument through a Reformed lens provides
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immense clarity on why Nita's approach is actually quite
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detrimental. Davis asserts that the Bible is
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a covenant document for God's covenant people.
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Exactly. The foremost addresses of God's
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Word are believers and churches. The text cites Romans 15.4 which
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says that whatever was written in former days was written for
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our instruction. That through endurance and
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through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
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Notice the pronoun our It is written for the church. 1st
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Corinthians 10.11 says the events of the Old Testament were
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written down for our instruction on whom the end of the ages has
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come. Second Timothy 3.16 to 17
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declares that all Scripture is breathed out by God and
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profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for
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training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete,
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equipped for every good work. The primary intended audience of
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the Holy Scriptures is the gathered body of Christ.
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When translators prioritize the unregenerate mind over the
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regenerate church, they inevitably dilute the
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theological precision of the text.
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They compromise the covenantal terminology that God
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intentionally chose to communicate his redemptive plan
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to his bride. If you alter the text to appease
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the cultural sensibilities of someone who hates the gospel,
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you robbed the local Church of the precise language they need
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to understand their own salvation.
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This is a highly surprising point for many to hear.
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The primary goal of a Bible translation is not evangelistic.
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We are so accustomed to thinking of the Bible as a tool for
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outreach that we forget its primary function is the
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nourishment of the Saints. The Bible is not attract a hand
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to an unbeliever with the expectation that they will
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understand it alone in a vacuum. The text cites First Corinthians
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2.14 which states that the natural person does not accept
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the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him and he
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is not able to understand them because they're spiritually
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discerned. If a person is dead in their
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trespasses and sins, reading a simplified, watered down
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translation will not bypass their spiritual deadness.
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That requires us to radically rethink how evangelism actually
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happens according to the biblical model.
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The text points us to Romans 10.13 to 17, which asks how they
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are to believe in Him of whom they have never heard, and how
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they are to hear without someone preaching.
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Faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of
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Christ. Evangelism requires faithful
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Christians opening their mouths. Ephesians 6.19 shows Paul asking
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for prayer that words may be given to him and opening his
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mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
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The biblical method is that unbelievers hear the scripture,
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they hear the explanation of that scripture from the church,
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and they observe the holy, distinct lives of the believers.
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You do not need a culturally accommodated Bible to reach the
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lost. You need a highly accurate Bible
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to build up the Saints who then take the gospel to the lost
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through verbal proclamation and faithful living.
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The Church is the Embassy of Heaven and the Bible is the
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constitution of that embassy. The Constitution is written for
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the citizens, who then explain its demands to foreigners.
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If you rewrite the Constitution to make it sound like the laws
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of the foreign land, the embassy loses its distinct identity.
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That is a fantastic analogy, and here is where it gets really
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interesting, especially when we start looking at the sensory
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experience of interacting with the Bible throughout history.
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Davis makes a fascinating historical observation regarding
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the ordinary means of grace in translation practice.
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He notes that throughout church history, the Bible has traveled
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much more frequently through the pulpit than through private
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study. For the vast majority of human
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history, people were illiterate or books were prohibitively
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expensive. You did not read the Bible in a
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cozy armchair with a cup of coffee.
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You stood in a crowded room and heard it shouted over the noise
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of the congregation. Therefore, the Bible is a
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document that is heard more often than it is read.
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Translators must keep the pulpit in mind.
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The translation has to have rhythm.
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It has to have a cadence that works for the human ear when
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read aloud in the corporate gathering.
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This connects directly to the reformed understanding of the
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ordinary means of grace. We believe that God works
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through specific ordained channels to impart grace to His
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people, primarily the public reading and preaching of the
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Word, the administration of the sacraments, and prayer.
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Right. And we see that clearly in
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Ephesians 4.11 to 12, which tells us that Christ gave the
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apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and
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teachers to equip the Saints for the work of ministry, for
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building up the body of Christ. Titus 1 commands the appointment
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of elders who must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught,
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so that they may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine
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and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
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First Timothy 4.13 explicitly commands the public reading of
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Scripture, exhortation, and teaching.
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A pastor translator understands this reality intuitively.
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He knows that his translation will be the primary instrument
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used in the ordinary means of grace.
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Therefore, it must possess A cadence suitable for public
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reading and a precision suitable for expository preaching.
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It must be crafted not just for the client study, but for the
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corporate assembly. If the sentence structure is so
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convoluted that Pastor stumbles over it every Sunday, the
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translation has failed its primary purpose, no matter how
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technically accurate the vocabulary might be.
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This leads to some incredibly practical translation decisions
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discussed by Davis. For instance, he advises that
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translator should not hesitate to coin new words when necessary
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for accuracy. Sometimes a target language
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simply does not have a word for justification or propitiation.
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The pragmatist might try to find a cultural equivalent that
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slightly misses the mark, maybe using a word that means being a
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good person or appeasing an angry spirit.
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But Davis says you must coin the word.
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Do not water down the theology. Why?
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Because the pastors will be there to explain it.
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You do not have to rely on the text to be completely
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self-explanatory to someone with no background knowledge, because
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the church is the context in which the text is delivered.
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That is precisely the point, and this also applies to the use of
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pair textual material, which refers to the technical
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footnote, alternate renderings, and cross references often found
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in the margins of a Bible. A lot of modern translation
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theory argues against footnotes, claiming they distract the
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reader or make the text seem too academic.
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But if the primary audience is the pastor in the church, those
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footnotes are absolute gold mines.
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They help the pastor preach more accurately.
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Davis makes a brilliant suggestion here regarding
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distribution. You can produce the identical
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translation of the actual biblical text, but print it with
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different sets of footnotes depending on the physical
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distribution. One edition has footnotes aimed
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at helping the church and the pastor with exegesis detailing
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grammatical nuances in the Greek.
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Another edition of that identical translated text can be
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printed with footnotes specifically modified to explain
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historical concepts to unbelievers who are reading it
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for the first time. This maintains the absolute
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integrity of the translation itself while using the
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peritextual space to handle the differing needs of the audience.
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It is a highly elegant solution that refuses to compromise the
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sacred text. One of the most beautiful and
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immediate practical applications Davis brings up is the
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translation of the Psalms. He argues for translating the
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Psalms and putting them to music as early as possible in the life
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of a church plant. This allows the congregation to
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immediately begin singing and praying the scriptures together
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even before the entire Bible is finished.
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The necessity of this cannot be overstated.
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Singing aids believers in learning to read, interpret,
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pray, and meditate on truth. We see that principle in
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Deuteronomy some 1.22, which records Moses writing down a
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song and teaching it to the people of Israel so that the
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song would be a witness for God. Ephesians 5.19 commands
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believers to address one another in psalms and hymns and
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spiritual songs. In the Reformed tradition, we
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have a massive historical emphasis on psalmody.
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John Calvin hired musicians like Louis Bourgeois to set the
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French metric Psalms to music so the congregation in Geneva could
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sing them. When you are planting a church
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and a linguistic group that has never had the Bible, giving them
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the psalms to sing does multiple things at once.
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It teaches them theology, unites their voices in corporate
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worship, it assists in memorizing the text, and it
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provides a highly emotional and spiritual connection to the Word
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of God. It is a brilliant, immediate
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application of the translation work that bypasses the need for
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full literacy. You can have an illiterate
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congregation singing robust, perfectly translated Reformed
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theology from memory simply because the pastor translator
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took the time to set the psalms to a local melody.
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OK, let's unpack this a bit more.
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So what does this all mean for the people actually doing the
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work? We need to look at the
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implementation for missionaries and the people in the pews.
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We will start with the average missionary on the field.
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Davis lays out very actionable steps for these individuals.
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He urges them to keep developing their skills in the original
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languages of Greek and Hebrew. He tells them to study
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systematic, biblical and historical theology continually.
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Furthermore, he advises them to compile their exegetical notes
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from their weekly sermon preparation.
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Over years, those notes can eventually be utilized to create
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study Bibles or commentaries in the local language.
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The standard for the missionary must be exceedingly high.
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They cannot be content with surface level pragmatic
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strategies if they're going to establish a church that lasts
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for generations. They must be theologians.
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Even if a missionary is not the primary linguist, Davis offers
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highly collaborative advice. A church planter can ask the
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existing translation teams in the region how to help.
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They can offer to act as an exegetical advisor.
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If the linguistic experts know the local dialect perfectly but
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lack theological depth, the pastor missionary can supply
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that depth. They can offer to teach Greek
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and Hebrew to the local translation team.
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They can help with back translation, which is the
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process of translating the local draft back into English to check
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for accuracy. They can even assist with donor
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development to fund the project. The point is that the pastor and
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the translator must function as a unified team, integrating
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their distinct skills for the health of the church.
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The missionary is not a Lone Ranger.
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They are a vital piece of a highly integrated ecclesiastical
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machine aimed at producing a faithful Bible.
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Let's turn the focus entirely on to you, the listener, and your
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local church. How can healthy churches support
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this monumental effort globally? Davis details a specific mandate
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for the sending church, focusing on identifying, affirming,
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sending and supporting missionaries.
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Your local church is the engine for this entire enterprise.
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The para church organization cannot ordain a man, cannot
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exercise church discipline over a man, and cannot properly
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assess his pastoral qualifications.
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Only the local church can do that.
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The responsibility rests squarely on the shoulders of
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local congregations and their elderships.
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Churches must actively look for men in their midst who possess
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both the intellectual rigor to handle languages and the
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pastoral heart to shepherd people.
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Once identified, the church must affirm those gifts, train the
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men, send them out with full financial and spiritual backing,
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and support them continually. This requires a long term
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vision. Producing a pastor translator
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takes years of seminary training, and translating a
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Bible takes decades of Labor on the field.
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The sending church must be patient and resolute in
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supporting that slow, methodical work.
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Furthermore, the text stresses the absolute necessity of public
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prayer. Pastors should pray publicly in
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corporate gatherings for specific translation projects,
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2nd Thessalonians 3.1 says. Finally, brothers, pray for us.
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The Word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored as happened
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among you. When the congregation hears the
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pastor praying for the translation of the Bible into a
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specific language in a remote part of the world, it shapes the
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congregation's understanding of the Great Commission.
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It teaches them that missions is not about Building Schools or
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digging wells, as good as those things are, but about the
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primary task of giving the nation's the Word of God.
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The public prayer of the church fuels the private labor of the
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translator. As we transition into our outro,
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let's summarize the core thesis we have examined today.
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The concept of the Pastor translator perfectly integrates
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exegetical training with pastoral ministry.
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This model ensures that the Bible is accessible to the
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people, highly accurate to the original languages, and tied
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directly to the life, worship, and government of the local
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church. The Reformation showed us the
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incredible fruit of this model, and the vast number of languages
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without a Bible today demands that we return to it with vigor.
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If we connect this to the bigger picture, I want to leave you
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with a final consideration that builds on everything we have
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discussed. We have talked entirely about
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taking the English Bible or the original Greek and Hebrew and
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moving it into foreign languages, but here is something
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to chew on as we close. As the epicenter of global
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Christianity shifts heavily to the global S, how long will it
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be before those pastor translators, steeped in the
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original languages and ministering in the trenches,
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start writing brilliant, robust theological works in their
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native tongues? The day is rapidly approaching
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when we will desperately need those works translated back into
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English to revive our own faltering churches in the West.
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If 90% of the world's languages lack a full Bible, and if the
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absolute healthiest translations come from within a robust
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worshipping local church context, how might your own
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local church need to adjust its global missions budget or its
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corporate prayer life? We often prioritize sending
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short term teams or rapid evangelism models, but perhaps
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your church needs to prioritize the slow, painstaking multi
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decade work of sending well trained, language equipped
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pastor theologians. Are we satisfied with leaving
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behind a few converts who lack the scriptures?
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Or do we want to leave behind a fully equipped church with the
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complete counsel of God in their own tongue?
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We want to thank you for joining us on this rigorous
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investigation of the source material.
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It is our hope that this discussion has sharpened your
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understanding of biblical missions and the vital necessity
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of translation of the life of the church.
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Thank you for listening to Reformed Thinking and we will
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catch you on the next deep dive.