Language Learning and Translating the Bible

It was almost 2000 years ago that our Lord Jesus sent out his apostles with the great commission to “make disciples of all the nations”. How were they to accomplish such an immense task? On the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit gave them a sign. For a brief moment, he gave them the ability to speak to a great crowd of people who had come to Jerusalem from a number of different countries in their native languages. Over the centuries, the spead of the Gospel has required overcoming geographical barriers to reach all the people of the earth and also language barriers to speak to them in the language which speaks to their heart. Today, geographical barriers have been largely overcome by modern transportation. There has also been a great advance in overcoming language
barriers in our time. Most of the 2500 languages which now have at least one book of the Bible were only reached in the last 100 years. There are still about 2000 languages where there is a need for Bible translation. A massive effort is underway to get started in every one of them by about the year 2025. It takes much training and
many years to translate the Bible, but the Lord is raising up people in every language to do the work. What they need is training and the latest computer technology to speed up the work.

Jonathan Burmeister, a member of Wycliffe Bible Translators, will be speaking to students at Naperville Christian Academy on Thursday, February 10, about how they can be part of this effort. On a recent visit to the school, he saw how students are getting instruction in ancient Greek and Latin. That is a solid foundation for not only Biblical studies but also for learning other languages spoken today. He studied Latin in high school and Greek and Hebrew in college and seminary, but the best time to get started on learning other languages is much earlier.

We who speak English have more translations of the Bible than any other language. Since most Americans have not learned ancient Hebrew, Aramaic or Greek, the orginal languages of the Bible, we should be very thankful for all those who have translated the Bible for us and encourage those who are helping other language groups to get the Bible in their native tongues.

Please RSVP to office@ncaclassical.org and join us on February 10th from 1:00-1:45 to hear Mr. Burmeister speak!