Wycliffe review panel misfires on Allah as a name of God

Reblogged from - Bill Wilson - www.dailyjot.com

From January through March 2012, Bible translators Wycliffe, SIL International, and Frontiers were embroiled in a controversy where some translators were interchanging the familial names of God with the local names for god. In particular, using Allah for God (YHVH), Allah's Messiah for Jesus (Yeshua Ha Mashiach), and Allah's Holy Spirit for the Holy Spirit (Rauch Ha Kodesh). To attempt to correct the problem of misuse and mistranslation of the familial names of God, and quite frankly, to get itself out of a tremendous reputation-threatening public relations problem, Wycliffe appointed an independent review panel to study the issues and make recommendations. The recommendations are made, but not much is changed.

Wycliffe asked the World Evangelical Alliance to conduct a review and make recommendations. The 33 page review was finalized April 26 with six recommendations. Recommendation 2 addresses the Allah question: "The Panel recognizes that there is significant potential for misunderstanding of the words for "father" and "son" when applied to God, and that in languages shaped by Islamic cultures, the potential is especially acute and the misunderstandings likely to prove especially harmful to the reader's comprehension of the gospel.

"Therefore, in case of difficulties, the Panel recommends that translators consider the addition of qualifying words and/or phrases (explanatory adjectives, relative clauses, prepositional phrases, or similar modifiers) to the directly-translated words for "father" and "son," in order to avoid misunderstanding. For example, as the biblical context allows, the word for "father" might be rendered with the equivalent of "heavenly Father" when referring to God, and the word for "son" might be rendered with the equivalent of "divine Son," "eternal Son," or "heavenly Son" when referring to Jesus. The Panel also encourages translators to use paratextual material to clarify and avoid misunderstanding in these cases."

The use of "paratextual" material to clarify and avoid misunderstanding is a great solution if it is applied properly. Notwithstanding, there is no god other than YHVH God and his name is not Allah. The Koran specifically states with emphatic clarity that Allah has no son in particular reference to Jesus. In Islamic eschatology, the Islamic Jesus (Isa) is the prophet of the Islamic Messiah--the Mahdi--who rules the earth with the peace of Islam for seven years. The Islamic Jesus returns, pledges allegiance to the Mahdi and Allah, then forces Christians and Jews to accept Islam or die. There is absolutely no familial connection between Allah and Jesus. Check the Koran if you have doubts.

On February 3, 2012, The Daily Jot reported: "2 Peter 2:1 says, "But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction." Multiple independent sources confirm that Wycliffe leadership believes it knows best about how to translate the Bible and how to treat the Muslim issue regarding the Holy Scriptures. Even some missionaries are convinced that using Allah for YHVH is the right thing to do. There has been a tremendous compromise of the Word of God."

How Wycliffe implements the panel's recommendations will determine if the word of God will be further compromised.

Read the Review and Recommendations here: http://www.worldea.org/images/wimg/files/2013_0429-Final%20Report%20of%20the%20WEA%20Independent%20Bible%20Translation%20Review%20Panel.pdf