Wycliffe – baptizing them in the name of Allah

By: American Decency Staff

Attacks upon the Word of God are not new.  From Athanasius defending the doctrine of the Trinity against heretical attacks in the 4^th century, to modern day politically-correct efforts to neuter the Bible from male gender references (i.e. the controversial “gender neutralâ€Â TNIV), as well as the New Oxford Annotated Bible giving a pro-â€Âgayâ€Â and feminist re-writing of God’s Holy Word. However, I never would have thought that an attack upon the Bible, upon the very doctrine of the Trinity and the sacrament of baptism, would come from ministries that have been highly esteemed and regarded for decades. Three Christian organizations, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and Frontiers are re-writing God’s Word to make it “Muslim-friendly.â€ÂÂ  They are producing Bibles that change the Trinity – removing references of God as “Fatherâ€Â and deleting references of Jesus as “Sonâ€Â or “Son of Godâ€Â from scripture. For example, these so-called translations change Matthew 28:19, the Great Commission given to us by Christ, from this: “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spiritâ€Â to this: “cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit.â€Â Click here to sign a petition asking Wycliffe, Frontiers and SIL to preserve the terms “Father,â€Â “Son,â€Â and “Son of Godâ€Â in the text of their Bible translations. Biblical Missiology, who is sponsoring the petition, expressed the concern this way:  “By replacing or removing "Father" or "Son" from the text of Scripture, these translations fail to portray God as who he is: the familial, eternal, loving God the Father, Son and Spirit. The deity of Jesus is obscured, and thus the self-sacrifice of God on our behalf.â€Â We strongly urge you to sign the petition today and forward this to friends, family, and circulate within your church. Continue reading below: In attempting to defend this shocking re-write of Scripture, the three organizations in question imply that the concept of the Trinity is offensive to Muslims and is misunderstood by them.  So, instead of believing that the Holy Spirit is able to shed light upon the Truth of God’s Word and bring understanding within unbelievers’ hearts, Wycliffe, SIL, and Frontiers make excuses for God – in essence stating that the nature of God must be changed to comply with the beliefs of a false religion. I wonder how Wycliffe, SIL, and Frontiers translate Matthew 10:33 – “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.â€Â or Revelation 22:18-19 – “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.â€Â Jihad Watch opined: “…This is not making Christianity more palatable. It is de-Christianizing it. It is manufacturing yet another Christian heresy. “Indeed, for many denominations, the validity of baptism depends on the words used: "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."  … “Those who truly believe they are winning souls for Christ would not risk the validity of baptism, and those who are genuinely convinced that they possess the truth will not apologize or worry it is offensive.  … “Clearly, they fail to appreciate the far-reaching ramifications that Christians not only may dare, but are commanded to call on the Creator of the Universe as "Father." That fundamentally re-wires one's relationship with God and describes a unique intimacy and bond of love that ought not be squandered to score short-term points.â€Â So far, Wycliffe, SIL, and Frontiers are stubbornly defending these false translations – even in the midst of outrage from the greater Christian community.  A report on yahoo.com stated:  “Concerned Christian missionaries, Bible translators, pastors, and national church leaders have come together with a public petition to stop these organizations. They claim a public petition is their last recourse because meetings with these organizations' leaders, staff resignations over this issue and criticism and appeals from native national Christians concerned about the translation have failed to ‘persuade these agencies to retain "Father" and "Son" in the text of all their translations.’ “Biblical Missiology, a ministry of Boulder, Colorado-based Horizon International, is sponsoring the petition.â€Â Not only is there outrage within the American Christian community regarding these erroneous and distorted translations, but World Net Daily also reports:  “many of the indigenous Christian leaders from the countries where these translations are being promoted are broadly rejecting the translations. “The indigenous believers see the introduction of these American-made translations with which they so strongly disagree as a form of American cultural imperialism or colonialism. According to Turkish pastor Fikret Böcek, such new translations are, ‘an all-American idea with absolutely no respect for the sacredness of Scripture, or even of the growing Turkish church.’ “According to the testimony of one leader from a church in Bangladesh, one of the most problematic aspects of this development is that it gives fuel to the often-heard Muslim claim that Christians are liars who change their Bibles to deceive Muslims. Once a Bible translation is well established within any country, the introduction of such radically different translations reinforces the Muslim charge and undermines trust in the Christian community.â€Â Dr. Paul M. Elliott, Founder and president of Teaching The Word Ministries and who holds a doctorate in Biblical exegesis, was quoted stating: "The issue first and foremost is that we need to recognize the issue of the Bible as a religious book – it is in fact the Word of God – it is a supernatural book. We do not have the right as human beings to do that kind of manipulation of the text. We need to be faithful and accurate in translating it from the original language. It is not legitimate to do what is in fact not a translation, but an interpretation," Biblical Missiology, who produced the above-mentioned petition, also compiled a highly-informative "fact-check" document that addresses this concern.    I encourage you to read the full document which, in part, states: This must be clearly stated at the outset: the “impressionâ€Â of the reader never justifies replacing or removing “Father,â€Â “Son,â€Â or “Son of Godâ€Â from the text of Scripture, regardless of the reader’s misunderstanding or objections. The nature of the reader’s offense has no bearing on what God actually says and means in his Word. And in the matter of the self-revelation of God, his Word is abundantly clear: “We have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.â€Â (1 John 4:14–15, emphasis added). We are not to take away from his Word (Deut. 4:2). “Fatherâ€Â and “Sonâ€Â are not metaphors. They refer to who God is eternally, in his very being: one God in three persons, Father, Son and Spirit. We cannot change these eternal terms for God. Click here to sign the petition urging Wycliffe, SIL, and Frontiers to return to an accurate translation of God’s Word and keep the names of Father and Son in their Bible translations. ========================================================== To support our efforts please click here or mail your gift to American Decency Association (ADA), PO Box 202, Fremont, MI 49412. American Decency Association is a member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability.

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