THE WYCLIFFE GLOBAL ALLIANCE – from a U.S. BASED INTERNATIONAL MISSION to a GLOBAL MOVEMENT for BIBLE TRANSLATION by Kirk Jame
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THE WYCLIFFE GLOBAL ALLIANCE – FROM A U.S. BASED INTERNATIONAL MISSION TO A GLOBAL MOVEMENT FOR BIBLE TRANSLATION by Kirk James Franklin Submitted in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree MA (THEOLOGY) in the Department of Science of Religion and Missiology Faculty of Theology University of Pretoria September 2012 Supervisor: Prof CJP (Nelus) Niemandt © University of Pretoria SUMMARY This thesis deals with the complex question of how global Christian mission organizations must learn to function, especially the Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA). I summarize how the Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) began in 1942 as the resourcing organization for the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now called SIL International) and how their mutual founder, American William Cameron Townsend, was influenced by Western mission strategy and conservative evangelical theology. The changing global context is impacting how the missio Dei takes place and this is influencing how mission agencies interact with each other and the church worldwide. This is leading to new paradigms of how mission is conceptualized around the world. The thesis outlines how the changing global context has forced Wycliffe to re- evaluate its place in the world because, half a century after its formation, the church has new homes in the global South and East. It follows that as a Western mission, Western resources have decreased and this has shaped how Wycliffe Bible Translators (International) has now become Wycliffe Global Alliance (WGA). However, this goes beyond a mere change of name and has resulted in a type of structure that enables it to better engage with the church worldwide. The thesis also examines the complexity of contextualization in the global environment, noting how different languages and cultures are involved, each with its own rules and subtleties. I show how the shift of the centre of gravity of the church to the global South and East presents new theological challenges for the Bible translation effort and these directly impact WGA. There are many missiological implications for WGA that come from influences in church history regarding the importance of language, the translatability of the gospel, the history of Bible translation and how missional reflection is necessary in various situations. These merge together to provide new implications which are influenced by globalization for mission agencies such as WGA. The thesis also emphasises that WGA is a global mission movement, so I have identified methods of leadership development and structure, all of which are critical to WGA’s effectiveness and involvement in the missio Dei. I show that forming global mission leaders is unique and complex, and how the leaders must embrace a wide variety of qualities, skills and capabilities, especially in responding to greater cultural diversity. Since most leadership principles are culturally bound, this creates obstacles in cross-cultural situations. Therefore, I emphasize that a successful iii © University of Pretoria multicultural organization like WGA must learn to focus on both worldwide and local objectives. The thesis outlines how theological, missiological, cultural, contextual and leadership values converge and therefore reshape a mission movement like WGA. My conclusion is that none of these influences can be ignored – all are relevant. Each must be reflected upon in order to provide directions for WGA as it seeks to be faithful to its vision and serve the global church. iv © University of Pretoria ABBREVIATIONS CWME: Commission of World Mission and Evangelism LCWE: Lausanne Congress for World Evangelization WBT: Wycliffe Bible Translators WBTI: Wycliffe Bible Translators International WGA: Wycliffe Global Alliance WCC: World Council of Churches v © University of Pretoria TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 5 1 PURPOSE ........................................................................................................ 5 1.1 Clarifying terminology in this research ....................................................... 5 2 GOAL ............................................................................................................... 6 3 OUTLINE .......................................................................................................... 8 4 MY MOTIVATION AND POSITION AS RESEARCHER ................................. 10 5 RESEARCH METHODS ................................................................................. 10 6 BACKGROUND .............................................................................................. 11 6.1 Dr John Watters, 1999 ............................................................................. 11 6.2 Mr Steve Sheldon, 1999 .......................................................................... 13 6.3 ICON 1999 declaration ............................................................................ 13 6.4 Mr William Cameron Townsend, 1934 ..................................................... 14 6.5 SIL International and WBTI ...................................................................... 15 7 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 16 CHAPTER 2 – BEGINNING OF A MOVEMENT ..................................................... 17 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 17 2 THE BEGINNING – 1914-1933 ...................................................................... 17 3 ATTEMPTS AT A NEW STRATEGY – 1934-1941 ......................................... 20 4 WYCLIFFE BIBLE TRANSLATORS IS BORN – 1942-1944 .......................... 21 5 BRANCHING OUT – 1945-1970s .................................................................. 23 6 NATIONAL BIBLE TRANSLATION ORGANIZATIONS – 1973-1980s ........... 24 7 PREPARING FOR WYCLIFFE INTERNATIONAL – 1980s-1990 .................. 26 8 WYCLIFFE INTERNATIONAL IS RESTRUCTURED – 1991-1992 ................ 27 9 WYCLIFFE INTERNATIONAL’S ROLE IN THE WORLD – 1992-2005 .......... 28 10 FINDING WYCLIFFE’S MISSIOLOGICAL VOICE – 2006-2008 .................... 31 11 A NEW STRUCTURE FOR A RENEWED VISION – 2008-2012 ................... 32 12 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 35 CHAPTER 3 – THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS .................................................... 37 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 37 2 CONTEXTUALIZATION ISSUES IN BIBLE TRANSLATION ......................... 37 2.1 Theological contextualization and translation .......................................... 37 2.2 Examples of challenging Bible translation issues .................................... 40 2.3 Effects of Bible translation on an audience’s understanding of the text ... 44 1 © University of Pretoria 2.4 Models of theological contextualization .................................................... 45 3 THE USE OF TRANSLATED SCRIPTURE ENABLES THEOLOGIZING ...... 51 3.1 Regional issues of contextualization and translation ................................ 51 4 ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE VERNACULAR BIBLE ................................... 53 4.1 How the Bible gets used .......................................................................... 53 4.2 How the Bible has affected decolonization .............................................. 55 4.3 How the Bible is read in the global South and East ................................. 56 4.4 Changes in how translations are done ..................................................... 57 4.5 A theology of language and culture.......................................................... 58 5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................... 59 CHAPTER 4 – MISSIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS ................................................. 61 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 61 2 MISSION ACCORDING TO JESUS ............................................................... 61 2.1 Theological influences on WGA ............................................................... 61 2.2 Five statements of Jesus ......................................................................... 63 2.3 Implications of Jesus’ statements ............................................................ 64 3 MISSION TO THE SAMARITANS AS A MOTIF ............................................. 67 3.1 How the Jews viewed the Samaritans ..................................................... 67 3.2 Jesus’ view of the Samaritans ................................................................. 67 3.3 Jesus and the marginalized ..................................................................... 68 4 THE DAY OF PENTECOST ........................................................................... 69 4.1 The importance of language .................................................................... 69 5 THE APOSTLE PAUL’S MISSION STRATEGY ............................................. 69 5.1 An entry point – the Jewish synagogue ................................................... 70 5.2 Using the Septuagint scriptures ............................................................... 70 5.3 First contact – the Jewish Diaspora ......................................................... 71 5.4 Centres of influence ................................................................................