“Blasphemizing”
the Bible
by Sandy
Simpson, Apologetics Coordination Team,
July 2006
PREFACE
I am going to go over an article I wrote back in
2006 in preparation for the book I wrote with Mike Oppenheimer called “Idolatry
in Their Hearts”. This book is an
apologetic against the false teachings of the World Christian Gathering on
Indigenous People movement, the Emerging Church and the New Apostolic
Reformation which got their ideas from the book “Eternity in Their Hearts” by
Don Richardson. At the time that book
came out no one really saw the dangerous ideas Richardson was promoting. All they would have had to do was look at the
two subtitles of that book to understand the implications. The first subtitle in the 1981 edition read:
The Untold Story of Christianity among Folk Religions of
Ancient People. Those who read this book found some interesting
cross-cultural ideas but apparently missed the false premise of the book
starting with the subtitle. How could Christianity be “among
folk religions” where the Gospel had not been preached (Rom.
10:14-15)? At that time Christians who read the book were apparently satisfied
that, though there was some questionable material present, it made for an
interesting discussion on how to do cross-cultural ministry. The subtitle it has today, which was first
published in 1984, is as follows: Startling Evidence of Belief in the One
True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the World. This should have been a red flag for many
Christians but then, who reads subtitles?
But how could the “One True God” be known
to Gentiles who, the Bible states, did “not know God”.
1 Cor. 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of
God, the world through wisdom DID NOT KNOW GOD, it pleased God through the
foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
Gal. 4:8 But
then, indeed, when you (speaking to the Galatian
Gentiles) DID NOT KNOW GOD, you served those which by nature are not gods.
1 Thes. 4:5 not
in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who DO NOT KNOW GOD;
1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the
Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore
the world does not know us, because it DID NOT KNOW HIM.
2 Thes. 1:8-9 He
will punish those who DO NOT KNOW GOD and do not obey the gospel of our Lord
Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the
presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.
Eph. 2:11-12 Therefore, remember that
formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called "uncircumcised" by
those who call themselves "the circumcision" (that done in the body
by the hands of men)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ,
excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the
promise, WITHOUT HOPE AND WITHOUT GOD IN THE WORLD.
Richardson,
ignoring the Biblical facts, tried to make the case that the further you go
back in history the more monotheistic the cultures of the world. But that
evidence is lacking in anthropological, historical and biblical records. This
is why I used the following subtitle of “Idolatry in Their Hearts”: Startling
Evidence of Idolatry and the Worship of False Gods in Every Culture throughout
the History of the World. That is what the Bible teaches.
Following this wandering course set by people like
Richardson, most Bible societies have tried to dumb down the Scriptures to
appease other religions. I will go
through the history of these new “translation techniques” but I need to let you
know that this is still happening. Just
recently SIL, partner of Wycliffe, announced they would be taking out certain
references to “Father” and “Son” in the New Testament because they were
allegedly “confusing” in Arabic and Turkish translations of the Bible. I immediately wrote to some friends of mine
in Wycliffe and asked for clarification.
They simply reaffirmed they believe in the Trinity and their translation
experts knew what they were doing. But
then I asked them why they had previously stated that in doing new translations
their practice is to find out the name of the “supreme being” of a culture then
put that name in place of El or Elohim or YHWH in
that translation. I also pointed out
that many Arabic translations already use Allah in place of a more generic name
for God and many former Muslims who are now Christians do not like it. I got no answer from them on these
issues. Last I heard they were allegedly
backing off on retranslating “Father” and “Son” in those Bibles but they have
still not answered my question as to (1) why they would not simply do a word
for word translation in the first place and (2) why they were making those
changes in Bibles in Muslim countries.
So my original article still stands.
INTRODUCTION
Okay. I realize that “blasphemizing”
is not a proper English word. But it is the only way I could express what
has been happening in recent years with regard to the translation of the Bible
into many languages around the world, substituting the names of “supreme being”
gods from many cultures in place of the name of God, YHWH.
In my research into the World Christian Gathering on Indigenous
People (WCGIP) events or the movement which Richard Twiss
has termed the “First Nations” movement, I began to realize that a number of
Bible translation societies, some of which endorse the WCGIP events, have begun
to substitute other gods’ names for YHWH, the “I AM”, in Bibles all over the
world.
Endorsers of the 3rd WCGIP Event were as follows:
“AD 2000 & Beyond Movement
American Bible Society
Canadian Bible Society
Evangelical Fellowship of Canada
First Nations Alliance Churches (C&MA) Canada
Global Harvest Ministry (NAR)
International Reconciliation Coalition (IRC)
Lutheran Association of Missionaries & Pilots
Mission America
Sacred Assembly - Canada
World Vision Canada
Wycliffe Bible Translators
Youth for Christ - Canada”1
“Twiss is touted for having “worked
with International Bible Society [and] Promise Keepers...[and]
is a consultant on racial reconciliation for Promise Keepers.”2
All
this is to show that many Bible societies are following the same agenda as the
WCGIP and the New Apostolic Reformation which is headed by C. Peter Wagner of
the International Coalition of Apostles, Global Harvest Ministries and Mission
America.
IN A NUTSHELL
...
The reason for this article is to detail how some of these Bible
societies are mistranslating the Bible, using the names of false gods and
substituting them for the One True God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,
the God of Israel, the “I AM”, YHWH, Jehovah. In doing this they are
following the agenda of the WCGIP Leadership endorsed by Don Richardson and
John Dawson of YWAM, and headed by people like Daniel Kikawa
of Aloha Ke Akua, Richard Twiss of Wiconi International,
Terry LeBlanc of World Vision Canada, and many other indigenous
leaders. To read more about this movement you can go to our WCGIP page on
the Apologetics Coordination Team web site.
“ORALITY”
There is a teaching in the New Apostolic Reformation which is Dominionist and Globalist called “Orality”
which is partially responsible for this shift in Bible translation.
Orality is connected
with the (New Apostolic Reformation) NAR heresy of “contextualization.” Orality permits the Word of God to be “contextualized” to a
pagan culture through images, icons and symbols, thereby retaining the pagan
elements of that culture. Using “redemptive analogies” (another heresy), these
pagan beliefs and practices are claimed to be “redeemable” and are “christianized.” Even the name of God is being changed to
that of pagan deities! 3
I
was shocked to find out that John D. Rockefeller has had a long involvement
with Wycliffe. He is a well known Globalist.
(There is a) landmark book called “Thy Will Be Done” which is about Nelson Rockefeller's involvement with
Wycliffe Bible Translators. Of course he used them for his own Latin
American empire ambitions, and his role as a politician and in
intelligence-gathering operations was also mingled with Wycliffe -- he
funded them and they agreed to his conditions. One point that the authors
(who are liberal leftists with a conscience) make is that Wycliffe was
persuaded to change and alter the Scriptures in their translations so that the
indigent people would be pacified by a neutralized Gospel. There are
some stunning examples. John D. Rockefeller had set up the University of
Chicago to be his own personal think tank in the academic community, and he
commissioned an army of linguists, psychologists and social scientists to come
up with new “theories” about humans which would further this degradation. We
have been horrified in re-reading this book 9 years after our first reading
(and with more understanding now) that the “contextualization” and “syncretism”
and “orality” ideas may have been purposefully
developed in order to accomplish this sinister purpose. We've already tracked
some quasi-secular social scientists and educators who served as “change
agents” to import these ideas into the seminaries, but this is the first time
we have realized the roots -- both in funding and ideology. ...4
To
read more about the New Apostolic Reformation Dominionist/Globalist
agenda called “Orality” go to the following
article: The Newest Heresy of the
NAR: Orality by Discernment Research Group, Herescope, 3/8/2006.5
This “Orality” teaching laid some of the
basis for the current Bible societies’ translation policies. Wycliffe claims
that one of the first steps in translating the Bible is to find out what the
name of the “supreme being” or the “local deity” is in the cultural language
they are translating.
From the outset one has to deal with
identifying the name for the Supreme Being, God. This can be
difficult and potentially divisive. However, each language and culture
appears to have within it a ‘ “homing instinct” for
God – deeply buried by the sin and corruption that affects all cultures, yet
still there’ (Williams, 2004: n.p.). Each
religion has a different understanding of deity that is based upon how the
Supreme Being is defined (Thomas, 2001: 305). The characteristics of the
local deity must be identified so that it can be determined how these will
impact the understanding of God. Is it possible for any language to totally
explain the meaning of God? Or is there a need to add further definition or
explanation? The challenge is to identify what intrinsic capacity exists within
the language that helps provide the meaning of God. 6
I
have to posit the question: when did the early translators of the Bible EVER
try to find out the names of local gods called “supreme beings” when translating
the Bible into Ethiopic, Slavic, Armenian, Syriac,
Greek, Latin or any other languages of the time? Only general terms
meaning “god” were used as in “theos”. Notice that
the Greeks were not given a translation that stated “In the beginning Zeus created
the heavens and the earth.” This Wycliffe method adopted from ideas in
erroneous books like the reprinted Eternity in Their Hearts: Startling
Evidence of Belief in the One True God in Hundreds of Cultures Throughout the
World by Don Richardson, is not only ridiculous, it is blasphemous.
To demonstrate the proper usage of the general term meaning “god”,
all you have to do is look to the majority of Bible translations of the past in
a number of languages around the world. Here is a partial list of translations
where a general word for “god” was used, capitalized as “God” when talking
about YHWH.
English - “God” means God, generic
God - Most English translations
French - “Dieu” means God, generic
Dieu - Louis Segond
Dieu - La Bible du Semeur
German - “Gott”
means God, generic
Gott - Deutsch (German) Elberfelder
Gott - Deutsch (German) Luther
Greek - “Theos” means God, generic
Theos - Greek Nestle-Aland
Theos - Greek NT (Scrivener-1894) UTF8
Theos - Greek Septuagint
Theos - Greek Stephanos
Theos - Greek (Transliterated)
Theos - Greek Wescott Hort
Hungarian - “Isten” means God, generic
Isten - Hungarian Károli
Italian - “DIO”
means God, generic
DIO - La Nuova Diodati
Netherlands - “God”
means God, generic
God - Het Boek
Norsk -
“Gud” means God, generic
Gud - Det Norsk Bibelselskap 1930
Portuguese - “Deus”
means God, generic
Deus - O Livro
Deus - João Ferreira de Almeida Atualizada
Romanian - “Dumnezeu” means God, generic
Dumnezeu – Romanian
Dumnezeu - Romanian Cornilescu
Version
Spanish - “Dios”
means God, generic
Dios – Reina-Valera 1960
Dios - Nueva Versión Internacional
Dios - Reina-Valera 1995
Dios - Reina-Valera Antigua
Dios - La Biblia de las Américas 7
At
this point, because of inquiries I have received, I think it would be
educational to look at the generic word “god” or “gott”
and derivatives that have been used in English and other translations. The word
“god” has been a generic word used for either false gods or the One True God
for centuries. By “generic” we mean a word that is referring to a genre, a
type, a category of something. Using “God” as a name for God, rather than a
statement of what He is, can perhaps be compared to calling your best friend
“Human” instead of by their actual name. This definition does break down
when it comes to YHWH because He alone is the True God, all other “gods” being
false gods. Therefore, technically, there is only One Being that belongs to the
true category or genre “God”. But since there are millions of
other beings referred to as “gods”, by human definition, there is a genre
called “god”. In the English and other Bibles the capitalized word “God”
is used wherever the Hebrew word “Elohiym” was used
in the Old Testament to refer to YHWH. The word “Theos”
was used in the New Testament to refer to YHWH. The word “elohiym”
in Hebrew and the word “theos” in Greek are generic
terms for “god” which can be used for false gods or
the One True God, YHWH. In the English and other Bibles, when speaking of the
God of the Bible, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the “I AM”, it
capitalizes the word “god” into “God”. Some people try to argue that the word “gott” was used for false gods in the distant past, thus
attempting to argue that any name for a supreme being can be used to refer to
YHWH. But they miss the point that it was always used as a generic term for
“gods”. It was a generic term that can also be applied to the One True God if
given that designation. Most of the authoritative sources state that “gott”, from which we get “god” in English, has always been
a generic term meaning “a being or object believed to have more than natural
attributes and powers and to require human worship”.7a
Historically, when there was a choice whether to use a word
meaning “god” or “lord” or something equivalent - or - the name of a local
“supreme being” deity in Bible translations, the nearly universal choice
was to use the generic word, which follows the biblical pattern of using “Elohiym” and “Theos”.
I grew up as an MK on a small island group now called the Republic
of Palau. The word “Rubak” was used for “Lord”
in their Bible translations. It means an elder respected leader. This choice,
then, follows the biblical pattern because “rubak” is
a generic term, which when capitalized refers to the “LORD” YHWH (Jehovah) or
“Lord” in the New Testament which is “Kurios”. There
was a “supreme being” in Palau called “Uchelianged”
meaning “beginning of the heavens” or “creator of the heavens” but since that
was a local false “supreme being” and there was no generic term for “god” the
word Dios (a derivative of “Theos”) was grafted in
from Spanish for “God”. This has worked well and was a wise choice to
distinguish YHWH from a false local demonic deity that was clearly not YHWH and
had been the object of pagan worship for centuries.
But let’s look at how a number of Bible societies have changed the
rules of how we use the name of God in the Bible and the Church today. The
Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) state that it:
“supports the
critical investigation of the Bible. Founded in 1880, SBL is a member of the
American Council of Learned Societies. The Society provides conversation
partners and resources for those interested in the religions, history,
literature, and culture of the ancient Near Eastern world. Over 6,000
members from every continent provide a forum to test ideas and advance the
understanding of the Bible's role in the public arena.”8
SBL has partnerships with the following organizations:
Partnerships
American Academy of Religion
American Bible Society
American Council of Learned Societies
American Schools of Oriental Research
International Organization for Masoretic Studies
International Organization for Septuagint & Cognate Studies
National Association of Professors of Hebrew
National Humanities Alliance
Pontifical Biblical Institute
Oriental Institute University of Chicago 9
It
is no wonder, then, that SBL and member American Bible Society are saying much
the same thing as Wycliffe.
The Old Testament names for God are not unambiguous and there
are many different names of God (Mettinger). ...
In view of multi-religious and multi-textual traditions where there are long
literary histories of God and orally transmitted articulations of the divine,
naming the biblical God in indigenous languages is far more profound than just
a linguistic-translational issue. It entails the notion of translatability and
is understood as “the transposition of a concept from one language and cultural
context into another. This involves the question whether the concept should
remain the same in the receptor language or whether it changes and if so, how”
(Eber, 199)? Existing terms for God involve the
cultural milieu and thus the complicated, tangled web of local religious belief
systems. ... There is an unwarranted skepticism towards the heathens'
possession, if at all, of a very limited and low knowledge of the divine from
the so-called “natural/native religion.” The adoption of a local name for the
universal God will facilitate mutual transformation of both Christianity and
the native religion and culture. 10
When
has this method of “facilitated mutual transformation” spread the
Gospel? If not, why would Christians want that? Another word for “mutual
transformation” is simply—syncretism.
Following
are some examples, among many, from various Bible societies of where the name
of YHWH is being substituted by the names of false gods.
ALLAH
(Surawak, Malaysia Bible and many Arabic Bibles -
various Bible translators)
A religious controversy came and went here in Sarawak
before I even heard about it. The Bup Kudus, the
translation of the Holy Bible into the Iban language,
was banned two weeks ago, and dis-banned today. The
Sarawak Tribune I picked up was so information-poor, I could not discern from
it why they banned it, when they banned it, or why they had lifted the ban. I
found a partial explanation here: The secretary-general of the Malaysia
National Evangelical Christian Fellowship, the Rev. Wong Kim Kong, said from
Kuala Lumpur there had for some time been difficulties over the fact that some
words used in Islam were also used in Christian publications. Some Muslim
leaders thought this could perplex Muslims who picked up such books. Among the
words that cause concern is “Allah.” It's the word Muslims use for the deity
they worship, but the Arabic word pre-dated Islam and is also used by Christian
Arabs when referring to God - despite the considerable differences in the
Judeo-Christian and Islamic conceptions of God. The Iban
translation of the Bible uses the term “Allah Taala”
for God, while the other banned Christian books, in Bahasa
Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia, also use “Allah” for
God. This is thought likely to be one of the problem areas for the Home
Ministry. I think the Home Ministry made the right move by lifting the ban. But
the language issue is an interesting one. Allah is used interchangeably with
Tuhan to mean God in Bahasa
Malaysia, but Tuhan is the original Malay word. When
my son learns the meaning of an Arabic dua in school,
Allahumma (Oh God) is still translated as Ya Tuhan.
I don't speak any Iban at all, but I would be very
surprised if Allah is the original or preferred word for God, what to speak of
Allah Taala (Almighty God), which is rarely heard
even among Malays outside of Islamic religious sermons. So why would the Bup Kudus translators go with that translation? It is
reminiscent, as Anak_Alam pointed out, of the
uproar over Arabic Bibles that began with the Bismillah
(that's it in the upper right of the white column on my page), a distinctly
Islamic invocation whether it has an intelligible meaning to non-muslim Arabs or not. 11
Yet
the deity known as “Allah” to Muslims is not YHWH. Read the article called
Is Allah The Same As YHWH? by Sandy Simpson, 9/16/01.12
The
false god “Allah” is not the same as the One True God eternally existing in
Three Persons Who is YHWH, “I AM”. Allah has no son.
“Allah is the name of the only God in
Islam. Allah is a pre-Islamic name coming from the compound Arabic word Al-ilah which means the God, which is derived from al (the) ilah (deity). It was formerly the name of the chief god
among the numerous idols (360) in the Kaaba in Mecca
before Mohammed made them into monotheists. Today a Muslim is one who submits
to the God Allah.”13
Read
the entire article mentioned above to understand that Allah is not YHWH.
Therefore the substitution of Allah for the name of God in the Bible is a
sacrilege, a blasphemy. As seen above, Allah has been substituted for the
name of God in many Arabic Bibles by many Bible societies.
Allah ... is traditionally used by Muslims as the Arabic
word for “God” (not “God's personal name”, but the equivalent of the Hebrew
word El as opposed to YHWH). The word Allah is not specific to Islam; Arab
Christians and Arab Jews also use it to refer to the monotheist deity. Arabic
translations of the Bible also employ it, as do the Catholics of Malta who
pronounce it as “Alla” in Maltese, a language derived
from and most closely related to Arabic, as well as Christians in Indonesia,
who pronounce it “Allah Bapa” (Allah the Father).
14
HANANIM
(Korean Bible, International Bible Society)
Hananim in Korean allegedly means “The
God”. But it was actually an ancient god of Korea.
Hananim = The supreme god of ancient Korea. As the
master of the universe he moves the stars. Hananim
punishes the wicked, and rewards the good.15
Even
the name of Hananim is debatable as to its origin in
Korean religion.
To a large extent, problems involved in the relationship of
the term Hananim and related forms to ancient
Korean religious concepts are not resolvable. Against the widespread view
that there was such a concept and a word for it going back to the very
beginnings of Korean religious thought, the fact is that we have no textual
attestation of such a word until the 1880s or at most a few years earlier.
16
Regardless,
the use of the name Hananim in the Bible and Korean
Christianity was clearly a way to syncretize and
thereby make Christianity more inviting and palatable to the Koreans who were
and still are deeply rooted in shamanism.
In an attempt to redress this imbalance, this study offers
an analysis of the affinity between Korean religious culture and Protestantism
in order to bring into relief various points of contact that strengthened the
appeal of the imported faith in the host society. It is argued here that the
dramatic progress of Protestantism in South Korea during the 1960s, 70s, and
80s [1] was due in part to the way the imported faith converged with certain
concepts and practices of Korean religious tradition. [2] It is also argued
that Korean clergy, in an effort to make Protestantism more acceptable to
potential converts, accentuated certain messages and doctrines, particularly
those pertaining to shamanistic worldview. Examples of convergence between
Korean religious tradition and Protestantism abound, but the following themes
stand out as the most important: an emphasis on this-worldly life; the
concept of Hananim; the image of God as the
savior; the primacy of faith-heating; and the centrality of ethics and family
values.17
That
Hananim is part of a pantheon of Korean gods is
beyond question.
As a polytheistic religion, Korean Shamanism
does worship large numbers of spirits, but the supreme God in its pantheon is Hananim. In Korean Shamanism, Hananim
is believed to govern the universe and control the lives of the people through
the powers entrusted to lesser gods, ranked according to their functions (Jo
1983: 94-103). Following Hananim in the ranking and
power are other heavenly gods, including the sun, the moon, and the stars. Next
in the ranking are gods of the earth, the river, and the mountain, while the
spirits of the underground world are at the lowest rank.18
This
brings into question whether or not most Korean Christians even know Who God is
today. They may have the biggest churches in the world, but what “god” are
they worshipping? Hananim may have been a
supreme being of Korea, but that does not make Hananim
YHWH. The “I AM” revealed Himself exclusively to Moses and Israel, not to
the Gentile nations.
To see the corruption of the Korean Bible, we need look no further
than Genesis 1:1. Translated from Korean it is stated this way: “The God (Hananim) creates heaven and earth in Tae candle.”19
This is quite obviously a syncretization
of original Korean shamanistic teachings and Christianity. The
International Bible Society translated the Korean New Testament. There is
a PDF at IBS that explains their translation ethic.20 If you read through this document you
will begin to understand the departure from literal translation procedures of
the past into “meaning-based” translation of the present, opening the door wide
to misinterpretation of the Bible. A good case in point is the current
“Message Bible” in English. It is not really a Bible at all but a bad
commentary on the Bible from a man who has an agenda.
The IBS is also the distributor of the TNIV. IBS is partnered
with Wycliffe. To date, IBS has translated and published Scripture—directly and
in partnership with Wycliffe Bible Translators—into more than 600 languages.
IBS is currently translating God's Word in 48 languages that need
understandable Scriptures.21 IBS Africa is partnered with the
following organizations:
Compassion International
World Vision
Samaritan's Purse
Seventh Day Adventist Church
Scripture Union
United Bible Societies
Presbyterian Churches
Association of Evangelicals in Africa (AEA)
Christian Learning Materials CENTRE (CLMC)
Bible League 22
World Vision is working as a front-line communicator, along with
YWAM, of the doctrines and practices of the New Apostolic Reformation and their
false apostles and false prophets. Notice that IBS partners with a cult,
namely the Seventh Day Adventists. The AEA is working hand in hand with
AD2000 (a C. Peter Wagner/Ralph Winter’s brainchild)
and World Vision.
Please see the attached report from Wayne McGee on the
recent Bassam 2000 Consultation attended by 350 key
leaders from 30 nations, a joint effort of the Association of
Evangelicals in Africa (AEA), Interdev, AD2000 & Beyond Movement and World
Vision International. I was there and what a privilege it was, in so many
ways! Praise God!23
AFRICAN
SUPREME BEINGS
It is clear that many translations of the Bible into African
languages have been corrupted with the names of “supreme being” false gods of
various African tribes.
African supreme beings are spiritual beings or divinities
who are as varied as the peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, the world's second
largest continent after Asia. Belief in a supreme being is universal among
most of the over sixty peoples of Africa. Supreme beings carry a distinct and
unique quality in African cosmology as creators with all other supreme attributes
in the theocentric universe. The nature, characters,
and attributes of the African supreme being reflect indigenous religious
orthodoxy prior to the introduction of, and in spite of, the influence of
Christianity and Islam, and these qualities reflect the continuing diversity of
the African peoples' traditional sociopolitical structures and languages within
the current modern nation-states. The African supreme
being is usually associated symbolically with the varieties of
indigenous cultures of the peoples. The indigenous concepts and conceptions
of most African supreme beings have been retained by the adherents of the
religions that were introduced into Africa in the ritual practices and the
translations of the sacred texts (Bible and Quran) of those
religious traditions.24
So,
though these various “supreme beings” of Africa represent “indigenous religious
orthodoxy” they were nonetheless used in translations of the Bible as a
substitute for the name of God, YHWH.
OTHER
WORDS FOR GOD USED IN BIBLE TRANSLATIONS
Other
names of the Christian God that have a history of pagan meanings include Slavic
Bog, Finnish Jumala, Japanese Kami and in Arabic Allah which is
generally thought to be solely a word which describes the Islamic God.25
“BOG”
Translation
of Slavic Bibles was done by many organizations including Russian Bible Society
and The British and Foreign Bible Society.25b Yet the word “Bog” is
not the true God at all, but an ancient god of Slavic nations.
Slavic words describing success, destiny, or fortune are all connected with the ancient Slavic word
for God - “bog”. Although used to denote the God of Christianity, the word is
of pagan origin and quite ancient. It originates from the
Proto-Indo-European root *bhag (meaning fortune), being
cognate to Avestic baga and
Sanskrit bhagah (epithets of deities).26
Our Puck is the Welsh Boucca, which
derives either directly from the Slavic Bog “God” or from the same root. The
word Bog is a good example of the fall of the High God to a lower estate, for
it becomes our own Bogey and the Scotch Bogle, both
being diminutives of the original word connoting a small and therefore evil
god.27
“JUMALA”
Some
of the translations of Finnish Bibles are The New Testament in Finnish, Old
Church Bible, Year 1776 Bible, Year 1938 Church Bible, New Church Bible.27b
These use the name Jumala in place of God. Yet Jumala is an ancient deity of Finland who was the subject
of idol worship.
According to John Martin Crawford, (see the Preface to his
translation of the Kalevala): “The Finnish
deities, like the ancient gods of Italy, Greece, Egypt, Vedic India or any
ancient cosmogony, are generally represented in pairs, and all the gods are
probably wedded. They have their individual abodes and are surrounded by
their respective families. ... The heavens themselves were thought divine. Then
a personal deity of the heavens, coupled with the name of his abode, was the
next conception; finally this sky-god was chosen to represent the supreme
Ruler. To the sky, the sky-god, and the supreme God, the term Jumala (thunder-home) was given.” ... However, when Christianity
came to dominate Finnish religious life in the Middle Ages and the old gods
were ousted or consolidated away from the pantheon, Jumala
became the Finnish name for the Christian God.28
JUMALA: Supremo Sky God who
is as shapeless and abstract as the sky itself. JUMALA is so abstract that
he barely exists at all. The name is the old Finnish word for 'God' - and this
could be applied to any deity who fancied a boost. Particularly UKKO.29
Jumala, Jumal, Jumali or
Ibmel is thought to have been a sky god of the
ancient Finnic-speaking peoples. The name means
“god”. Jumal- In
Estonia, Jumal was the name of the god of the sky. He
was believed to make the earth fertile through the rains of the summer's
thunderstorms. Among the south Estonians, he was represented by a wooden
statue in the homes. Jumala - In
Finland, Jumala was the name of two of the
Finns' sky gods, or one of two names for the sky god (cf. Ilmarinen).30
“KAMI”
The
Japanese have a whole system or pantheon of gods collectively and individually
called “kami”. This presents a bit of a problem
for Bible translation. Shinto and other religions in Japan use the word “kami” for their pantheon of gods. Yet Bible
translators chose to use “kami” as their word for
God.
The idea that kami
are the same as God stems in part from the use of the word kami to translate the word ‘God’ in some 19th century
translations of the Bible into Japanese.31
Here is what the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) has to say
about the use of “kami” in the Japanese Bible.
In some cases, the impact of naming the biblical God in
an Asian language results in the gradual Christianizing of the name, causing it
to lose its original religious content. The proper name Shangdi in Chinese Classics and popular religions and the
genetic name Shen, referring to deity in general, are
now mostly monopolized by Christians to refer to the biblical God. The
same applies to the use of Kami in the Japanese
Christian community. 32
Yet
today we see no “Christianitzation” of the word “kami” in the false religious system of Japan.
All Japanese Deities are called “Kami”. Another name for Shinto: “Kami-no-Michi, Way of the Gods”. Izanagi,
sky-father creator deity. Izanami, earth-mother creator deity. Amaterasu,
Goddess of the Sun (VERY important). Hachiman, God
of War.33
Notice
that the actual “supreme beings” of Japan are a couple, Izanumi
and Izanagi. Daniel Kikawa
proposed that Amenomenakanushi is the “supreme being”
of Japan and in fact is YHWH, a Trinity. Yet when we study Japanese pagan
worship carefully we find that Amenomenakanushi is
further down on the chain of gods. The word “kami”
is still used to worship false gods and is a complete part of Japanese culture.
Shintoism is the native
religion of Japan. It is rooted in animism (belief that non-living
objects have spirits). Its many gods or spirits are known as kami. Buddhism was introduced to Japan in the sixth
century. Today, most Japanese claim to be both Shintoist
and Buddhist. Traditions of Shintoism, Buddhism,
Confucianism, and Taoism have all contributed to Japanese religious principles:
ancestor worship; a belief in religious continuity of the family; a
close tie between the nation and religion; a free exchange of ideas among
religious systems; and religious practices centered on the use of prayer
meditation, amulets, and purification. 34
Here
is one of many examples of pagan “kami” rituals that
continue in Japan.
First, a person can attach a piece of board to the
ceiling right above the altar. Thus the board under the real ceiling creates a
new “ceiling” for the altar, separating it from the world above and protecting
the kami from being stepped on. Second, a person
can place on the altar a piece of white paper with the character for “cloud”
drawn on it in India ink. This creates a “sky with clouds” under the ceiling -
an alternative for the real sky.35
Can
YHWH be “stepped on”? If not, why are Christians substituting the name “kami” for YHWH in Japanese Bible translations? The
story of Hadad, the “supreme being” of the Arameans, is an appropriate reminder at this point of the
fact that YHWH is the only “supreme being”, not Kami,
not Bog, not Jumala, not Allah.
1 Kings 20:28 The man of God came
up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the LORD says: ’Because the Arameans think the LORD (Hadad)
is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast
army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.’”
All
the false “supreme beings” of the nations are like Hadad
who was limited—just a “god of the valleys”.
CONCLUSION
This is a widespread problem that ought to make concerned
Christians sit up and take notice. But instead, many churches are going
along with this program and that of the WCGIP in using the names of false gods
in worship and in God's Word. Those who are translating the Scriptures
this way are “blasphemizing” the Bible, God's Holy
Word, which is sure to bring a curse down on their heads.
Deut. 4:2 Do not
add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of
the LORD your God that I give you.
Deut. 12:32 See that you do all I command you; do not add to it or take
away from it.
Rev. 22:18-19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this
book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues
described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of
prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the
holy city, which are described in this book.
Other important articles to read linked from the ACT web site and
related to this subject are as follows:
The
Newest Heresy of the NAR: Orality
by Discernment Research Group, Herescope, 3/8/2006
PSEUDO-MISSION:
Creating A “Social Ethic” Worldview by Herescope,
Discernment Research Group, 08/02/06
PSEUDO-MISSION:
How the Camel Got Its Nose Under the Tent
by Herescope, Discernment Research Group, 08/01/06
PSEUDO-MISSION:
Blasphemizing and Social Sciencizing
by Herescope, Discernment Research Group, 08/02/06
I also highly recommend that you obtain a copy of our “The First Nations
Movement —Deceiving The Nations” 2-DVD series.
Endnotes
1—http://www.chazm.com/wcgip
2—Joseph
Epes Brown, The
Sacred Pipe. Black Elk's Account of the Seven Rites of the Oglala Sioux (University
of Oklahoma Press, 1989), 7,45. (Native
American Gospel? Q&A - Berean Call -
January, 1998, http://a-voice.org/discern/native.htm)
3—The Newest Heresy of the NAR: Orality
by Discernment Research Group, Herescope,
3/8/2006
4—Email
from Sarah Leslie, 7/20/06
5—The Newest Heresy of the NAR: Orality
by Discernment Research Group, Herescope,
3/8/2006
6—Theological
and Cultural issues in Bible Translation, A lay person's guide to a basic
understanding of what is important, Article by Kirk Franklin, Executive
Director Wycliffe Australia,
http://www.wycliffe.org.au/html/missiological_articles/missiological_article007.htm
7—SOURCE:
http://www.biblegateway.com/
7a—Definitions
of the words “god” and “gott” as well as derivatives:
Gott, Got: der
Gott means God. See also God-, Godd-, Goth, Gote/Gothe, etc. (The Free Dictionary, http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/GOTT)
The English word God originated from an old Anglo-Saxon word which
itself was derived from the Germanic word Gott
which was used to refer to all sorts of "gods," not necessarily the
True God (just as "god" still is). In English-language
translations of The Holy Bible (the Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew,
while the New Testament mostly in Greek) "God" is used to translate a
number of actual Divine Names, specific to the True God, as recorded in the
Scriptures. Using "God" as a name for God rather than a statement
of what He is can perhaps be compared to calling your best friend
"Human" instead of by their actual name. (http://www.keyway.ca/htm2003/20030125.htm)
O.E. god "supreme being, deity," from P.Gmc. *guthan (cf. Du. god,
Ger. Gott, O.N. guð, Goth. guþ),
from PIE *ghut- "that which is
invoked" (cf. Skt. huta-
"invoked," an epithet of Indra), from root *gheu(e)-
"to call, invoke." But some trace it to PIE *ghu-to-
"poured," from root *gheu- "to
pour, pour a libation" (source of Gk. khein
"to pour," khoane "funnel"
and khymos "juice;" also in the
phrase khute gaia "poured earth," referring to a
burial mound). "Given the Greek facts, the Germanic form may have referred
in the first instance to the spirit immanent in a burial mound" [Watkins].
Not related to good. Originally neut. in Gmc., the gender shifted to
masc. after the coming of Christianity. O.E. god was probably
closer in sense to L. numen. A better
word to translate deus
might have been P.Gmc. *ansuz,
but this was only used of the highest deities in the Gmc.
religion, and not of foreign gods, and it was never used of the Christian God.
It survives in Eng. mainly in the personal names beginning in Os-.
(Online Etymology Dictionary,
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=god&searchmode=none) Main
Entry: 1god. Pronunciation: 'gäd also
'god. Function: noun Etymology: Middle English, from Old English; akin
to Old High German got god 1 capitalized : the supreme or
ultimate reality: as a : the Being perfect in power, wisdom, and goodness who
is worshipped as creator and ruler of the universe b Christian Science :
the incorporeal divine Principle ruling over all as eternal Spirit : infinite
Mind 2 : a being or object believed to have more than natural attributes and
powers and to require human worship; specifically : one
controlling a particular aspect or part of reality 3 : a person or thing of
supreme value 4 : a powerful ruler (Merriam-Webster Online,
http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/god) 1. God a. A being conceived as the perfect, omnipotent, omniscient originator
and ruler of the universe, the principal object of faith and worship in
monotheistic religions. b. The force, effect, or a manifestation or
aspect of this being. 2. A being of supernatural powers or attributes, believed in
and worshiped by a people, especially a male deity thought to control some part
of nature or reality. 3. An
image of a supernatural being; an idol. 4. One that is worshiped, idealized, or
followed: Money was their god. 5. A very handsome man. 6. A powerful
ruler or despot. (YourDictionary.com,
http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/g/g0172100.html; also Middle English, from
Old English; see gheu()- in Indo-European roots, The Free Dictionary,
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/god)
8—http://www.sbl-site.org/aboutus.aspx
9—Ibid.
10—God's
Asian Names: Rendering the Biblical God in Chinese, Archie C. C. Lee, SBL
Web Site, http://www.sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleId=456
11—http://www.bingregory.com/archives/2003/04/27-bup_kudus.html
12—http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/allahyhwh.html
13—Is Allah the name of God? by
Mike Oppenheimer, Let Us Reason Ministries, 2006
14—Free
Encyclopedia, http://experts.about.com/e/g/go/God.htm
15—Micha
F. Lindemans, Encyclopedia Mythica,
Article Hananim created on 03 March 1997; last
modified on 17 March 2002 (Revision 2).
http://www.pantheon.org/articles/h/hananim.html
16—Hananim,
Gari Keith Ledyard, gkl1 at columbia.edu, Thu Dec 11
12:17:26 EST 2003,
http://koreaweb.ws/pipermail/koreanstudies_koreaweb.ws/2003-December/004016.html
17—Korean
Religious Culture and its Affinity to Christianity: The
Rise of Protestant Christianity in South Korea, Sociology of Religion,
Summer, 2000, Andrew E. Kim, pg. 3,
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0SOR/is_2_61/ai_63912429/pg_3
18—Ibid., pg. 25
19—http://babelfish.altavista.com/
20—http://www.ibs.org/niv/munger/BibleBabelBabble_en.pdf
21—http://www.ibs.org/aboutibs/index.php
22—http://www.biblesforafrica.com/html/partners.html
23—http://www.ad2000.org/re00605.htm
24—African
Supreme Beings, Religion Study Guide, excerpt,
http://www.bookrags.com/other/religion/african-supreme-beings-eorl-05.html
25—Names
of God, Answers.com, http://www.answers.com/topic/names-of-god
25b—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_translations_of_the_Bible
26—Slavic
mythology, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavic_mythology
27—THE
HORNED GOD, http://www.biblequotes.us/pag/gow/gow01.htm
27b—http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_translation#Finnish
28—Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumala
29—Jumala,
Finnish Mythology,
http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/finnish-mythology.php?deity=JUMALA
30—Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumala
31—http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/shinto/beliefs/beliefs1.shtml
32—SBL,
http://www.sbl-site.org/Article.aspx?ArticleId=456
33—Religions'
Comparisons, http://www.bessel.org/religion.htm
34—Joshua
Project, Japan,
http://www.joshuaproject.net/peopctry.php?rog3=JA&rop3=104189
35—http://blog.simon-cozens.org/tag/view/japan