THE latest Annual Report of the Trinitarian Bible Society presents yet another encouraging picture. The General Secretary’s Report states that during the past year over 8,500,000 portions of the Word of God were distributed in 39 languages among the peoples of 122 countries. This figure includes more than 621,000 Bibles, (191,000 of which were in the English) more than 5,450,000 New Testaments and more than 1,048,000 Golden Thoughts and Words of Life Calendars.
As well as the many copies that were supplied at realistic prices, large quantities were supplied at subsidised prices, and Scriptures to the value of over £333,000, including the costs of distribution, were supplied free of charge mostly to those who would be unable to afford to purchase copies.
The Society has been encouraged by the increase in the number of copies of the Bible that have been distributed in the English language. Copies of the Authorised Version have been supplied not only in the United Kingdom but throughout the world where the English language is spoken. Although the number of new versions continues to escalate, it is interesting to note that a recent poll in the USA indicated that the Authorised Version was still the Bible which was most read on a daily basis. More people appear to be questioning both the textual basis and the translation techniques underlying many of the modern versions. It is pleasing to note that during 1995 the Society distributed over 5,500 copies of its edition of the Received Text – the Greek text underlying the New Testament of the Authorised Version.
In Brazil the Society’s edition of the Portuguese Bible has been widely accepted. Elsewhere in South America, in Central America and other parts of the world where the Spanish language is spoken, large quantities of the Society’s edition of the Spanish Bible have been distributed. A new edition of the Spanish Bible is being prepared which will adhere more closely to the Received Text of the New Testament.
With regard to membership of its General Committee, the Society has suffered a sad loss in the passing away of Mr. A.J. Levell. He joined the Committee in 1976 and in the years that followed ably held office as Honorary Treasurer, Chairman, and President. New members of the Committee are the Rev. B.W. Garrard, Winchester, the Rev. K.M. Watkins,
London, and Mr. I.G. Carvell, formerly Principal of the Law Society School of Law in London. The Report adds, “Your prayers for the blessing of the Lord to attend the meetings of the General Committee will be valued. Many, and often difficult, are the decisions that have to be made as they, on behalf of all the Society’s members and supporters throughout the world, attend to the affairs of the Society.”
A substantial operating deficit arose in 1995. As a result, it has been necessary that the Society restrict its budget for 1996 in certain areas of its work. This action has been taken in the interests of prudence and we hope, as the Society itself does, that it will be only a temporary restriction.
Wherever the Society is able to be of assistance in providing the Scriptures among the nations, whether in those with a major language or a minor language, it is happy to seize these opportunities. It is conscious of the fact that in such a vast field, its contribution in supplying the pure Word of God is comparatively small, but it prays “that the Lord may be pleased graciously to bless our endeavours to circulate the Word of God among all nations’.”
The Editorial Manager’s Report states that the demand for Bibles in foreign languages is increasing, and that, for example, people inside and outside China have indicated an interest in providing a faithful translation for the one billion people in that spiritually dark country.
The Editorial Manager notes that in the field of Bible translation today, the principle of political correctness has found its way into new Bibles. This move to make language “inoffensive” to all readers is best seen in the use of gender-inclusive language. Another more recent principle, Functional Reading Deficiency (FRD), popularly known as “dumbing down”, was used in the Contemporary English Version and in the New International Readers New Testament (published in the USA). “Dumbing down” is concerned with people not being able to read and understand the Bible, for whatever reason, and goes far beyond simple “dynamic equivalence”. The result is a translation which lacks faithfulness to the original language texts of the Bible, and takes general Bible translation another step lower than before.
The Secretary says in conclusion that the Society looks to the future with the consciousness that in all things it is wholly dependent upon the goodness and blessing of the Lord. “The Lord is not dependent upon the Society and therefore only as the work and witness of the Society is found in the path of His will can we expect that the Lord will continue to use it as an instrument in His hands for the furtherance of His Kingdom… We have the wonderful assurance that the Word of the Lord will not return unto Him void.
“The millions of people who have no access to the Word of God in their own languages, who are living under the cruelty of heathen darkness, who are enslaved by the curse of Islam, who are engulfed by the miserable deceits of Popery, who are ensnared by the deceptions of the cults, or who have been brought up in the sterility of ‘post-Christian’ societies, need the Word of God and the liberating and life-giving power of the Holy Spirit” – and all in order “that those to whom the Almighty will yet, in His eternal purposes of grace, show mercy, might have revealed to them the glory and divine perfection of His beloved Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
“May the Lord, therefore, be pleased to use the Society in the coming days to the glory of His name through the circulation of Protestant and uncorrupted versions of the Holy Scriptures among all nations.
“Brethren, pray for us!”