Global Hermeneutics? - International Voices in Biblical Studies ...

MOJOLA 61
ability to express themselves in it does bear on the general quality of the
translation.
Missionary translations—for example, on the African continent (my context)—
were certainly indispensable in the transmission and appropriation of the faith in
the diverse languages and cultures in their areas of missionary outreach. One would
have expected these translations to faithfully convey missionary interpretations of
the faith but, strangely, indigenous or mother-tongue speakers of these translations
did not always derive the same intended readings or interpretations from these
translations—occasionally resulting in readings or interpretations that ran counter
to missionary dogma. Sanneh has observed that the “missionary adoption of the
vernacular, therefore, was tantamount to adopting indigenous cultural criteria for
the message, a piece of radical indigenisation far greater than the standard portrayal
of mission as Western cultural imperialism”. 8 It is therefore not surprising that
some of these tended to be subversive of the received missionary confessional or
denominational creeds. This may have been the cause of much conflict and even
schism. The rise of the African independent churches is often linked to this reality.
Translation opened up a Pandora’s box. The notion of one authoritative official
reading of the biblical text was no longer tenable. The Sacred Word was in a
common tongue—of which the mother-tongue speakers were the final arbiters, and
every speaker trusted his own reading and interpretation. The missionary could no
longer have the final word, since God speaks directly to every reader of the Word
in their own language. Translation thus empowered and liberated the local reader,
even those without adequate preparation and understanding of biblical
backgrounds. Translation made possible the rise of a distinctive form of African
Christianity steeped in African culture and traditions. Elizabeth Isichei notes that
this phenomenon and the independent churches inspired by it has “enriched not
only African Christianity, but Christendom as a whole by the richness and
creativity of their liturgies, and by their exploration of an insight that the West has
often lost sight of but is now rediscovering: the unity of health of mind and body”. 9
The complexity of translating the Bible in the global context which has
become obvious from the discussion above will now be illustrated with reference to
two case studies.
8 Sanneh, Translating the Message, 3.
9 E. Isichei, A History of Christianity in Africa (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans,
1995), 253.