As we continue our whirlwind journey through the history of the Bible in China, we’re going to see how missionary translation efforts culminated in a successful Union Version that achieved unprecedented and unimagined impact, and lasting acceptance and use. We’re going to see more intimate descriptions of what went on behind the scenes, the good, the bad, and the ugly, and see how God made possible what was impossible with man. There’s a lot of interesting stuff in this episode, and you may even want to divide it into two parts because it’s a bit longer. 

You can check out Dr. Zetzsche's book The Bible in China here.

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In the history of Chinese Bible translation the name of one extraordinary man stands out: Joseph Schereschewsky. In this episode we're going to take a look at his life and hopefully learn from him and be inspired by his example of perseverance and sacrifice. Most evangelicals know about the genius of Tyndale, but Schereschewsky has been all but forgotten even though he was at least as brilliant as Tyndale. He could speak 13 languages and read 20. And no man of that day equaled him in idiomatic mastery of spoken Mandarin. He had a command of nearly 10,000 Chinese characters, while the average Chinese at the time could use around 700. He was a master of Hebrew, having studied it since childhood. John Hykes of the American Bible Society called him “The Prince of Bible translators.”

You can check out Dr. Zetzsche's book The Bible in China here.

Muller's biography of Schereschewsky.

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As early missionaries sought to create a Chinese translation that would suit everyone from every denomination, they needed to decide on the right language style to use, as well as overcome obstacles to getting the translation done in a reasonable amount of time. We’re going to look through some interesting windows into the work and its details, and see how the Baptists were still not happy until they created their own version. We’ll also see how haste can hurt a translation’s quality, as well as how messy translation can be when trying to make different denominations cooperate and agree on a committee.

Book mentioned: Spectacular Sins by John Piper (free download available)

You can check out Dr. Zetzsche's book The Bible in China here.

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As we continue our series on China, we’re going to look at an issue that created massive conflict when translators from different backgrounds tried to come together to create a unified translation. This issue was the word for God, and it stands as one of the monoliths of Bible translation debate history. It came to be called the Term Question, and some have said it was the greatest controversy of the Protestant mission in China. We're joined by Dr. Simon Wong from UBS to talk about this issue.

You can check out Dr. Zetzsche's book The Bible in China here.

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There is so much we can learn from history and the ways other people have dealt with translations. In this episode we’re going to continue our conversation with Dr. Jost Zetzsche and talk about some of the strengths of Chinese for translating the Bible, about the richness of its idioms, and more. We’re continuing to lay a foundation for some of the history of Bible translation in China. You can check out Dr. Zetzsche's book here.

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With a population of over a billion people, China is one of the world’s oldest civilizations. It’s massive, it’s diverse, and it has an incredibly rich history. And in all that history I’m interested in exploring the question of how the Bible was first translated in China. What were the different challenges people faced? What can we learn from their mistakes and triumphs? We’re going to talk about this and more across multiple episodes.

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We’ve said before on this podcast that translating bibles can be like making sausages; a peek behind the curtain of the process can reveal some unpleasant realities. But part of my goal with this podcast is to cut through any saccharine veneer that people might have in their minds and help them understand what doesn’t always get talked about. I especially want people interested in serving in Bible translation (BT) to get a clearer picture of what they may face so that they can count the cost. We’ve talked a lot about the joys of BT, and they’re real. But today we’re going to dip into some things that may be disillusioning or disenchanting. Sometimes you might just end up talking about poop, bastards, and testicles for hours as a translation consultant. Find out why in this episode.

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As we continue our discussion of the Tyndale House Greek NT with Dr. Dirk Jongkind, we’re going to tackle some more in-depth questions about early translations of the NT into languages like Latin and Syriac, and how they factor into the textual criticism of the NT. We’re also going to discuss some of the ways NT and OT textual criticism differ, especially in terms of reliance on manuscripts of translated versions as opposed to manuscripts of the original language they were composed in. Finally, we’re going to hear Dr. Jongkind share his biblical theology of the transmission of the text and why God has ordained that textual criticism be necessary.

The Bible Translation Fellowship

If you’d like to enter to win a copy of Dr. Jongkind's new book An Introduction to the Greek New Testament produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge, simply email me at [email protected] by April 17th, and tell me 1) how you discovered this podcast and 2) what one of your favorite episodes has been. Or, if you’re a Mac or iPhone person, another way you can enter is by leaving a review of this podcast on iTunes and sending a screenshot of that review to my email. This is open to people living in any country. 

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As we touched on last time, in Bible translation it’s important to be able to decide what text you’re going to translate before you get to the task of translation. So to do that we need to compare manuscripts and ancient versions, and weigh the evidence, which is called textual criticism. This will be the first part of a conversation with Dr. Dirk Jongkind, the editor of the Tyndale House Greek New Testament. At Tyndale House Dr. Jongkind does research in the transmission of the text of the New Testament and maintains an interest in lexical and grammatical studies. So get ready to learn some new things and stretch your mind.  

Peter Gurry's evaluation of Coherence-Based Genealogical Textual Criticism.

If you’d like to enter to win a copy of Dr. Jongkind's new book An Introduction to the Greek New Testament produced at Tyndale House, Cambridge, simply email me at [email protected] by April 17th, and tell me 1) how you discovered this podcast and 2) what one of your favorite episodes has been. This is open to people living in any country.

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In this episode we’re going to look at some concrete examples of where the knowledge and discipline of textual criticism is important to help us navigate what text we are actually going to translate. Often these are little details that make simple verses turn into more difficult challenges than one might imagine. We’ll focus on the book of 1 Samuel and see how a simple narrative on the surface can turn out to be a complex balancing act underneath.

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