Septem ber 7, 2007, Manad oNorth Sulaw esi, Ind onesia

W h at w ould your life b e lik e w ith out th e KJV of 1611? W h at

if th e only translations available to you w e re th e RSV and Good Ne w s For Mode rn Man? W h at if "Eloh im ," "Th e os," and "Je h ovah " w e re trans-late d as "Baal." W h at if Joh n 3:16 in your Bible re ad, “For Baal so love d th e w orld...”? H ow could you stay close to God, re ading such transla-tions for your daily de votions? H ow could you pre pare se rm ons? H ow could you w rite spiritual tracts and book s? H ow w ould you le ad pe ople to Ch rist? All of th e se im portant Ch risti-an activitie s w ould be e xce e dingly m ore difficult. W ith out th e truth s so cle arly se e n in th e KJV, your life w ould be dark e r w ith m uch le ss h ope .

Such a te rrible situation is pre se ntly pre vailing in Indone sia,

Malaysia, and Brune i. It is not th e in i-tials “KJV” th at are so im portant but th e corre ct translation from th e Di-vine ly pe rse rve d Bible te xt th at th ose in itials re pre se nt th at is im portant. W e w h o are so ble sse d as to h ave th e KJV sh ould de sire th at all oth e r coun-trie s h ave th e sam e vital be ne fit in th e ir language s.

W h y a translation of th e Bible in -to th e Indone sian language ? Be -

cause th re e countrie s— Indone sia, Malaysia, and Brune i— , w ith a com -b ine d population of ove r 250 m illion souls spe ak th is language , and th e re is pre se ntly no accurate translation of th e Bible into th is language . In-done sia h as th e fourth large st popula-tion in th e w orld, ye t is still in dark ne ss, b e cause th e tw o Bible s pub -lish e d by th e Le m baga Alk itab Indone -sia (Indone sian Bible Socie ty) are probably th e m ost corrupt and pe rve r-te d translations e ve r m ade in any lan-guage , and th e re fore do not provide a

sound spiritual foundation upon w h ich to build. Th e situation is th e sam e in Malaysia and Brune i.

Th e re are ove r 200 tribal lan-guage s spok e n in Indone sia. But

w h e n Indone sia de clare d itse lf an in -de pe nde nt country in 19 45, its ne w le ade rs w ise ly ch ose Malay as its na-tional language , re nam ing it Bah asa Indone sia (m e aning th e language of Indone sia). Th is w as a natural de -cision to m ak e , since Malay h as b e e n spok e n as a trade language in Indone -sia for m any h undre ds of ye ars, and th e re fore gre atly h e lps to unify th e country. All gove rnm e nt functions are conducte d in Bah asa Indone sia. All TV ne w s broadcasts are in Ba-h asa Indone sia. All ne w spape rs are w ritte n in Bah asa Indone sia. All of In-done sia's ch ildre n le arn Bah asa In-done sia in sch ool, and th e vast m ajority of th e te xt book s are w ritte n in Bah asa Indone sia. So, Bah asa In-done sia is e ve n m ore use d and unde r-

stood th rough out Indone sia th an b e fore . Most of th e ch urch e s in In-done sia conduct th e ir se rvice s in Ba-

A Sh arp Tw o- E dged Sw ord For Indones ia

Dr. Louis A. Turk at h is m ulti-lingual w ork station. Th e com puter look s lik e any oth er, but is actually very pow erful. Note th e tw o m onitors. Note also th e UPS and tw o large truck batterie s in th e low er righ t back ground .

19 51 reprint of Klink ert's 1879 translation of th e Old Testam ent w ith th e old spelling.

2 A Sh arp Tw o- E dged Sw ord For Indones ia

h asa Indone sia. No tribal language e ve n com e s close to be ing as h igh ly de -ve lope d or unive rsally use d. I h ave trave le d from one e nd of Indone sia to th e oth e r, and h ave found Bah asa In-done sia in use e ve ryw h e re . Eve n in th e m ost prim itive are as th e re are al-w ays pe ople w h o spe ak Bah asa In-done sia. Th is cannot be said of any oth e r language . So, Bah asa Indone sia is de fin ite ly th e m ost im portant lan-guage in Indone sia, and h aving a good translation of th e Bible in Ba-h asa Indone sia is e sse ntial to e vange l-iz ation e fforts. By far, th e b igge st pre se nt h indrance to th e e vange liz a-tion of Indone sia is th e lack of a good translation of th e Bible into Bah asa Indone sia.

1629 Ruylb Gos pe l of Matth e w1651 Van H as e l & H e urnius b Mark -Acts1668 Brouw e rius b Ne w Te s tam e nt1677 Vale ntynb W h ole Bible1733 Le ijde ck e rb W h ole Bible1821 Th om s e nb Re vis ion of Le ijde ck e r1835 Em de b Ne w Te s tam e nt Surabaya Malay1852 K e as be rryb Ne w Te s tam e nt1863 Klink e rtb Ne w Te s tam e nt in Low Malay1877 Ros k ottb Am bon Malay1879 Klink e rtb W h ole Bible H igh Malay

Sadly, none of th e se Bible s are now in print, and since th e Malay/In-

done sian language h as e xpe rie nce d dram atic ch ange s in spe lling, vocabu-lary, and se nte nce structure since th e y w e re m ade , th e ave rage Indone -sian can ne ith e r re ad nor unde rstand th e m . H ow e ve r, e ve n if th e se Bible s w e re in print and able to be re ad and unde rstood by Indone sians today, all but th e Brouw e rius translation of th e Ne w Te stam e nt are de e ply flaw e d by th e use of th e Islam ic prope r nam e "Al-lah " to re place th e com m on nam e s "Eloh im " and "Th e os." And Brouw e ri-us' translation contains m any Por-tugue se w ords th at are not unde rstood by Indone sians today.

[Note: Th e W estcott and H ort text cor-rupted even furth er b ecam e th e Nestle Gree k text, th en th e Nestle-Aland Gree k text, and th en th e United Bible

Societie s Gree k text. Th is is b ecause th e se m od ernist th eologians reject th e Bible verse s w h ich prom ise Devine pre -servation of God 's w ord , claim ing in -stead th at th e New Testam ent text is b e ing red iscovered after b e ing lost for m any h und red s of years.]

19 12 Sh e llabe arb W h ole Bible19 13 Babab Ne w Te s tam e nt19 38 Bode b Ne w Te s tam e nt19 58 Te rje m ah an Lam ab W h ole Bible19 68 Ende b W h ole Bible (Cath olic)19 74 Te rje m ah an Barub W h ole Bible19 85 Alk itab Kabar Baik [BIS]b W h ole Bible19 87 Today's Malay Ve rs ion19 89 Firm an Allah Yang H idupb W h ole Bible2000 K itab Suci Injilb W h ole Bible2002 K itab Suci Kom unitas Kris tianib W h ole Bible (Cath olic)

As you can e asily se e , all of th e translations m ade in th e 20th

and 21st ce nturie s are from th e cor-rupt W e stcott and H ort te xt.

O ne of th e m ost alarm ing th ings one notice s w h e n e xam ining th e

late st Indone sian translations of th e Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia, is th e in -appropriate use of Islam ic te rm s. By th is I do not m e an Arabic w ords, for th e re are m any Arabic w ords w h ich h ave b e com e part of th e Indone sian language , and as long as th e se w ords are use d prope rly th e re is no prob-le m . Rath e r, w h at is alarm ing is th e use of "Islam ic" te rm s in such a w rong w ay as to m ak e one suspe ct th at Muslim s w e re som e h ow involve d in th e translations. Th e re is one w ord w h ich is of particular conce rn: "Allah ." In th e m ode rn transla-tions Qeo.j ~yh il{a translate d as "Allah ." Most Indone sians (88 pe rce nt) are Muslim s— Indone sia h as, in fact, th e large st Muslim popu-lation in th e w orld. Th e re m ainde r of th e population is: Prote st-ant 5%, Rom an Cath -olic 3%, H indu 2%, Buddh ist 1%, oth e r 1% (as of 19 9 8). So

w h at a w ord m e ans to th e Muslim s h e re is im portant— w h e n th e y re ad an Islam ic te rm in th e Bible , th e y are going to th ink it m e ans w h at it com -m only m e ans to th e vast m ajority of th e population. Th is is e spe cially true for th e w ord "Allah ." It is w rong for a translator to try to m ak e a w ord m e an som e th ing diffe re nt th an w h at th at w ord m e ans to 88 pe rce nt of th e population. Most pre vious translat-ors h ave trie d to force "Allah " to m e an "God" w h e n it doe s not m e an God to th e pre dom inate ly Muslim population. Allah is th e nam e of Is-lam 's god; th e Arabic w ord for God is Ilah , not Allah . For 88 pe rce nt of th e population of Indone sia, Allah doe s not m e an God, and th e re fore th e w ord “Allah ” sh ould not be found in th e Bible .

In 1612, th e first translation of a portion of th e Bible into th e Malay

language w as fin ish e d and publish e d by Albe rt Corne lisz Ruyl. H e fin ish e d h is translation of Matth e w in 1612, one ye ar afte r th e publication of th e English King Jam e s Ve rsion of 1611. H e late r translate d Mark . One of h is co-w ork e rs, Jan van H ase l, translate d Luk e and Joh n. And th e n a pre ach e r in Batavia, Justus H e urni-us, translate d Acts. Th e se five book s w e re publish e d toge th e r as a single book in 1651.

In 1668, th e first translation of th e e ntire Ne w Te stam e nt into th e

Malay language w as fin ish e d and publish e d by Danie l Brouw e rious. Brouw e rious translate d God as "De os." Th is w as th e last accurate translation of th e w ord "God" m ade by any of th e pre vious translators.

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"De os" is th e Portuge se w ord for God. Unfortunate ly, Brouw e rious also use d m any oth e r fore ign w ords in h is translation, and use d a diffe re nt se n -te nce structure th an standard Malay/Indone sian. Th is m ade h is translation difficult to re ad and unde r-stand.

In 1731, th e first translation of th e e ntire Bible into th e Malay/Indone -

sian language w as m ade by Dr. Me l-ch ior Le ijde ck e r of H olland. Le ijde ck e r die d in 1701 w ith th e translation 9 0 pe rce nt com ple te d (Ge n. 1:1 th rough Eph . 6:6). Pie te r van de r Vorm finish e d th e transla-tion th at sam e ye ar. H ow e ve r, th is translation w as not printe d until 1731 (for th e Ne w Te stam e nt), and 1733 (for th e Old Te stam e nt). Th e cause for th e de lay w as th at anoth e r m an, Francois Vale ntyn, w as also translating th e Bible , and se e m ingly h ad e nough influe nce to cause de lay in th e printing of Le ijde ck e r's transla-tion. H ow e ve r, for various re asons, w h e n Vale ntyn's translation w as fin -

ish e d it w as re je cte d by th e pe ople w ith th e m one y to actually publish it, and so far as I can de te rm ine it is no longe r available for e xam ination. Afte r Vale ntyn's de ath in 1727, a te am com pose d of Pie te r vande r Vorm , Ge orge H e nric W e rndly, Enge l-be rtus Corne lius Ninabe r, Arnoldus Brants, and local Malay spe ak e rs

m ade a re vision of Le ijde ck e r's translation, and th is re vision w as th e first publication of a com ple te Bible in th e Malay/In-donsian language . Le ijde ck e r translate d as "Allah ." Robe rt H utch e ns and J. McGin-nis late r found approxim ate ly 10,000 w ords in Le ijde ck e r's translation th at w e re not in th e standard Malay dictionary of th at day, Kam us Bah asa Malayu; m ost of th e se w ords w e re Arabic and Pe rsian. Th is h uge num be r of fore ign w ords m ade th e Le ijde ck e r transla-tion ve ry h ard for th e ave rage pe rson to unde rstand or e ve n re ad at all.

In 1832 a re vision of Le ijde ck -e r's translation of th e four

gospe ls and th e book of Acts w as m ade by Claudius Th om -se n . Th om se n w as h e lpe d by Robe rt Burns and Abdullah b in Abdul Kadir. You can probably gue ss w h at re ligion Abdullah w as de vote d too w ith out be ing told. Abdullah b in Abdul Kadir, also k now n as Munsyi Abdullah , w as Tom se n's lan-guage te ach e r. At th e e nd, Mun-syi Abdullah w as ve ry critical of Th om se n's w ork as h e did not lik e th e use of various Ch ris-tian te rm s m ixe d w ith Islam ic te rm s. Most lik e ly h e e spe -cially did not lik e Je sus b e ing

calle d Allah 's ch ild. H e w ould h ave dislik e d Je sus b e ing calle d Allah 's Son e ve n m ore . But Je sus is re fe rre d to as a ch ild, not a Son, in both Le ij-de ck e r's translation and Th om se n's re -vision of it. Ne ve rth e le ss, an im portant part of Islam ic th e ology is th at Allah cannot h ave a ch ild, so any Muslim , including Munsyi Abdul-lah , w ould not be ple ase d to re ad e ith e r state m e nt.

In 1852 a re vision of Le ijde ck e r's translation of th e Ne w Te stam e nt

w as fin ish e d and publish e d by Be jam -in Ke asbe rry. Am az ingly, Munsyi Ab-dullah also assiste d in Ke asbe rry's w ork . H ow e ve r, th e pre viously h igh ly critical Munsy Abdullah se e m s not to h ave critiz e d Ke asbe rry's w ork , so w e

can probably safe ly assum e th at Ke asbe rry w as m ore re ce ptive to Munsyi Abdullah 's advise .

In 1863 H ille brandus Corne lius Klink e rt, a Dutch Me nonite m is-

sionary, m ade and publish e d a m uch b e tte r translation of th e Ne w Te sta-m e nt into Low Malay. Unfortu-nate ly, h e follow e d Le ijde ck e r's le ad and also translate d God as "Allah ." In th is ne w translation Klink e rt ch ange d "Ye sus Kristus" to "Isa Al-m asih ." Isa Alm asih is th e false Je -sus of th e Koran. Th e Koran de clare s th at Isa Alm asih w as born of a vir-gin, but th at God is not h is Fath e r. Isa Alm asih is not God's Son. Isa Al-m asih did not die on th e cross (m ost Muslim s b e lie ve th at th e m an w h o die d on th e cross w as Judas Iscariot, not Je sus). Muslim s b e lie ve th at Isa Alm asih w as translate d th at h e sh ould not se e de ath (lik e Enoch ), and so did not die , w as not burie d, and de fin ite ly did not rise from th e de ad. Cle arly, th e re fore , “Isa Al-m asih ” is not th e Je sus of th e Bible .

In 1879 Klink e rt fin ish e d th e com -ple te Old Te stam e nt, and pub -

lish e d it along w ith th e se cond ve rsion of h is Ne w Te stam e nt as th e com ple te Bible . Klink e rt w as th us

th e first pe rson to com ple te ly trans-late th e w h ole Bible into Malay/In-done sian.

In 19 10 an English Me th odist m is-sionary nam e d W illiam Gridle -

stone Sh e llabe ar publish e d h is translation of th e Ne w Te stam e nt. Lik e Le ijde ck e r, Tom se n, and Ke as-b e rry, Sh e llabe ar h ad b e e n influ-e nce d in h is ch oice of w ords by Muslim s, only to a m uch gre ate r e x-te nt. Munsyi Abdullah 's son, Datuk Dalam , w as h is ch ie f language con-sultant. In spite of gre at re sistance from th e Ch ristian com m unity, Sh e llabe ar also insiste d on translat-ing Je sus as "Isa Alm asih ." Also, Sh e llabe ar w as th e first translator to

Joh n 3:16 from Klink ert's 1863 translation of th e New Testam ent.

Th ere are som e very prim itive areas in Ind onesia, but it is a m isconception to th ink th at all of Ind onesia is prim itive. Bah asa Ind onesia is not a tribal language for w h ich an alph abet m ust be m ad e, but is rath er a h igh ly d eveloped and soph isticated language w ith an ad vanced gram m ar and h uge vocabulary, as evid ent from th e se th ick d ictionarie s. Left to righ t above: An Ind onesia-English d ictionary; th e official Governm ent auth oriz ed d ictionary called Kam us Besar Bah asa Ind onesia; and an Engilish -Ind onesian Dictionary. Th e stand ard siz e DVD sh ow s just h ow th ick th e se d ictionarie s are.

4 A Sh arp Tw o- E dged Sw ord For Indones ia

translate from th e corrupt W e stcott and H ort te xt, and th e re fore h un-dre ds of corruptions w e re dire ctly translate d into h is Indone sian trans-lation. Since th at tim e all Indone sian translations h ave b e e n base d on th e W e stcott and H ort te xt.

In 19 13 Sh e llabe ar publish e d h is Malayu Baba translation of th e

Ne w Te stam e nt, in w h ich Mark 1:1 is translate d lik e th is: "Ini-lah pe r-m ula’an injil Isa Alm asih Anak Al-lah ." So, Je sus b e cam e Isa Alm asih , Son be cam e Ch ild, and God be cam e Allah .

In 19 29 W e rne r August Bode w as m ade th e h e ad of a translation com -

m itte e to m ak e a ne w translation of th e Ne w Te stam e nt to re place th e Le ijde ck e r, Klink e rt, and Sh e llabe ar translations. Unfortunate ly, also on th e com m itte e w as a m an nam e d Ab-dul Gani (note th at first nam e ). Is-lam le aning W illiam Gridle stone Sh e llabe ar w as also on th e transla-tion com m itte . Sh e llabe ar gave Bode lots of trouble , insisting th at Je sus Ch rist b e translate d as "Isa Al-m asih ." Ne ve rth e le ss, Bode re siste d Sh e llabe ar and use d Je sus. [Bah asa Indone sia h as b e e n th rough se ve ral m ajor spe lling syste m s. W h e n Bode w as translating "j" w as pronounce d "y." Today "y" is pronounce "y," and "j" is pronounce "j"; m uch sim ple r.] H ow e ve r, h e continue d to translate God as "Allah ." H e also continue d to base th e w ork of h is com m itte e on th e corrupt W e stcott and H ort te xt. Th e Bode translation of th e Ne w Te st-am e nt w as fin ish e d in 19 35, but w as not publish e d until 19 38. Bode also translate d m uch of th e Old Te sta-m e nt, but on Janurary 18, 19 42, dur-ing W orld W ar II, a sh ip Bode w as on w as bom be d by th e Japane se . Bode and h is Old Te stam e nt m anuscripts w e nt to th e bottom of th e oce an. Bode 's w ife h ad copie s of 10 book s, but th e re st w e re lost.

In 19 41 a re print w as m ade of Klink e rt's first translation of th e

Ne w Te stam e nt. Th is appe ars at

first to be a ne w transla-tion m ade by N.V. Druk -k e rij and J.D. De Boe r, as th e ir nam e s are include d in th e title page . H ow e ve r, a com parison of th e te xts sh ow th is to be Klink e rt's translation of 1863. Ye ars ago w e m ade a long trip th rough out th e island of Java ask ing e ve ryw h e re for old

Bible s. W e w e re of course look ing for a usable translation of th e Bible w h ich w e could re print. W e found noth ing, e xce pt th at in one sm all tow n a fam ily gave us th e ir copy of th is re print. Alth ough , as pre viously m e ntione d, Klink e rt translate d from th e Te xtus Re ce ptus, w e w e re ve ry disappointe d w ith th is Ne w Te sta-m e nt, as Klink e rt w as obviously of a ve ry libe ral m ind se t, and it sh ow e d up in m any place s th rough out th is translation (and w as e ve n m ore glar-ing in h is se cond translation). Also, Klink e rt's use of th e language is quite diffe re nt th an m ode rn Bah asa Indone sia, and m ost Indone sians to w h om I sh ow e d it could not re ad it. Care ful e xam ination of th is transla-tion w as one of th e final factors in our de cision to be gin pre paring to m ak e an accurate translation of th e Bible ourse lve s. W ith out an accurate translation th e m issionary is force d to e ith e r te ach th e e rrors in th e trans-lation as truth , or e lse corre ct th e m as h e pre ach e s and te ach e s, th e re -fore b e com ing th e final auth ority in th e e ye s of th e pe ople .

O n August 17, 19 45 Soe k arno and H atta de clare d Indone sia to be

an inde pe nde nt nation. Th is re sulte d in a b itte r w ar w ith th e Dutch w h ich laste d until De c. 27, 19 49 , w h e n th e Dutch form ally surre nde re d sove r-e ignty to Indone sia. As Indone sia's first pre side nt, Soe k arno de clare d Ba-h asa Indone sia to be th e national lan-guage . As a re sult, Bah asa Indone sia w e nt th rough a pe riod of ve ry rapid de ve lopm e nt. Th is in turn re sulte d in m any ch ange s th at gre atly sim pli-fie d and im prove d th e Indone sian lan-guage , but also m ade th e gram m ar of th e old translations com ple te ly obsol-e te .

In 19 52 Ne th e rlands Bible Socie ty b e gan a ne w translation of th e

Ne w Te stam e nt base d on th e W e st-cott and H ort te xt.

O n Fe burary 9 , 19 54 th e Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia (Indone sia

Joh n 3:16 from Bod e's New Testam ent as found in th e Terjem ah an Lam a.

More Ind onesian d ictionarie s w e use w h ile translating— several of th em w ell w orn from m uch use. Th ere are m any oth er d ictionarie s available, evid ence of th e d evelopm ent of Bah asa Ind onesia.

Cath olic ed ition of th e Lem baga Alk itab Ind onesia New Translation (Terjem ah an Baru) of 19 74, containing th e Apocryph a. Except for th e Apocryph a th is is th e exact sam e W estcott and H ort based translation as used by th e Protestants.

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Bible Socie ty) w as e stablish e d. By th is tim e th e Indone sian language h ad drastically ch ange d, and a com -ple te ly ne w translation w as alre ady in th e m ak ing, h aving be e n starte d by th e Ne th e rlands Bible Socie ty. H ow e ve r, th e de m and for Bible s w as ve ry gre at, so it w as de cide d th at an e m e rge ncy Bible w ould be publish e d im m e diate ly as th e ne w translation w as b e ing m ade .

In 19 58 Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia publish e d its first Bible w h ich is

now calle d Te rje m ah an Lam a (Old Translation). It consiste d of Klink e rt's 1879 translation of th e Old Te stam e nt, and Bode 's 19 38 transla-tion of th e Ne w Te stam e nt. It w as calle d an e m e rge ncy Bible to be use d te m porarily until th e ne w translation be gun by th e Ne th e rlands Bible Soci-e ty could be fin ish e d.

In 19 59 th e translation proje ct w h ich h ad b e e n b e gun by th e Ne th -

e rlands Bible Socie ty se ve n ye ars b e fore (in 19 52) w as turne d ove r to th e Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia. Dr. J.L. Abine no took control of th e pro-je ct, and w as assiste d by Drs. C.D. Grijns, P.S. Naipospos, Dr. Ch r. F. Barth , E.I. Suk arso, Dr. R. Soe -darm o, M.H . Sim anungk alit, O.E.Ch . W oe w oe ngan, Dr. Lie m Kh ie m Yang, J.P. Siboroe torop, Dr. A. de Kuipe r, J. Kope r, Drs. Rik in -Bijle ve ld, and oth e rs.

In 19 64 th e Rom an Cath olic Ch urch publish e d a Ne w Te sta-

m e nt translation m ade by a Rom an Cath olic prie st nam e d J. Boum a, SVD. Th is translation is calle d th e ENDE translation (probably be cause it w as printe d in th e city of Ende on th e island of Flore s), and w as late r re -vise d, and th e re vision publish e d in 19 68. Boum a corre ctly calle d Je sus a Son, inste ad of just a ch ild, but contin-ue d to call God “Allah .” Th e Cath olics w e re also w ork ing on a translation of th e Old Te stam e nt unde r th e supe rvi-sion of Pate r Cle tus Groe ne n .

In 19 68 Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia h e ld a spe cial e cum e nical m e e ting

in th e city of Cipayung in a succe ss-ful e ffort to pe rsuade th e Rom an Cath -olic Ch urch to stop its ow n translation proje ct and join w ith th e Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia to pro-duce a ne w e cum e nical translation w h ich both Prote stants and Cath olics could agre e to use . H aving m ade w h ate ve r conce ssions ne ce ssary to e n -

list Cath olic h e lp, th e y proce e de d on to translate an e cum e nical Bible .

In 19 71 Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia publish e d its first e cum e nical Ne w

Te stam e nt. It h ad tak e n 19 ye ars to com ple te .

In 19 74 Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia fin ish e d translating th e Old Te sta-

m e nt, and a com ple te e cum e nical Bible w as publish e d. It is calle d Te r-je m ah an Baru (m e aning, Ne w Trans-lation).

Th e translators of th e Le m baga Al-k itab Indone sia do not be lie ve in

th e Divine pre se rvation of th e Scrip-ture s, b e lie ving inste ad th at th e ori-ginal te xt of th e Scripture s w as lost and is gradually be ing re discove re d. Th e re fore as th e corrupt W e stcott and H ort te xt continue s to be ch ange d (corrupte d e ve n m ore ), so th e translation base d upon it m ust be ch ange d. So, in 19 9 7 a re vision of th e Ne w Te stam e nt w as fin ish e d, and a ne w e dition of th is Bible publish e d, containing e ve n m ore corrupte d Scrip-ture passage s th an b e fore .

In 19 76, Le m baga Alk itab Indone -sia publish e d a spe cial e dition of

th e 19 74 translation for th e Cath ol-ics. Th is e dition contains th e Apo-cryph a (th e Apocryph a are book s of unk now n auth orsh ip; not auth e ntic, spurious; uncanonical) as translate d by th e Le m baga Biblik a Indone sia (a Cath olic organiz ation).

In 19 77 Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia publish e d Pe rjanjian Baru Bah asa

Indone sia Se h ari-h ari (Th e Ne w Te st-am e nt in Eve ryday Language ), w h ich is its ve rsion of Good Ne w s For Mod-e rn Man, base d on th e W e st-cott and H ort te xt, and using th e Dynam ic Equivilancy m e th od of translation. In 19 85 th e Old Te stam e nt w as fin ish e d, and th e w h ole Bible w as publish e d w ith th e nam e Alk itab Kabar Baik Untuk Masa Kini (Th e Good Ne w s Bible For Th is Age ).

In sum m ary, th e tw o m ain translations of th e Le m -

baga Alk itab Indone sia are both base d on th e W e stcott and H ort te xt e spouse d by th e Unite d Bible Socitie s, use th e Dynam ic Equive lancy m e th od of translation (w h ich

is m ore of a paraph rase th an a re al translation), are ge nde r ne utral, and h ave subtracte d from , adde d to, or ch ange d God's w ord in th ousands of place s. Th e y are also e cum e nical, h aving full approval of th e Rom an Cath olic Ch urch . Th e re sult is tw o translations w h ich do not conve y th e truth s taugh t in God's w ord, but rath e r cause gre at m isunde rstand-ing, confusion and unre st.

In 19 89 (19 76 for th e Ne w Te sta-m e nt) Kalam H idup pubish e d “Fir-

m an Allah Yang H idup,” w h ich is th e ir translation of Ke nne th N. Taylor's so-calle d “Living Bible .” Th is is m e re ly a paraph rase of a paraph rase , and is one of th e ve ry w orst of th e w orst Bible s available in Indone sia. Unbe lie vably bad in just about e ve ry w ay. So bad th at e ve n th e libe rals don't w ant to be associ-ate d w ith it.

In 2002 Le m baga Alk itab Indone -sia printe d “Kitab Suci Kom unitas

Kristiani” for th e Rom an Cath olic Ch urch . Th is translation w as m ade by Be rnardo H urault. Surprisingly, th is translation is th e b e st pre se ntly in print. It is at le ast an atte m pt to actually translate th e W e stcott and H ort te xt, inste ad of trying to re w ord e ve ry ve rse as is done in th e oth e r translations, including th ose of th e Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia. Al-th ough base d on th e corrupt W e st-cott and H ort te xt, and th e re fore containing all of th at te xt's m any e r-rors, H urault translate d Son as “Putra” (Son), and h e translite rate d God's nam e as “Yah w e h ” inste ad of as Allah . Also, in Joh n 3:16, h e trans-late d “e k h o” (h ave ) as “m e m punyai” (h ave ) inste ad of as “b e role h ” (m e an-ing to obtain or purch ase som e th ing

Ind onesia gram m ar book s w e h ave stud ied over th e years and still refer to as ne ed ed .

6 A Sh arp Tw o- E dged Sw ord For Indones iaby one 's ow n e ffort or w ork ). Of course , h ow e ve r, th is Bible contains a m ultitude of footnote s te ach ing all th e Cath olic doctrine s. Also, th is Bible continue s th e practice of trans-lating “Eloh im ” and “Th e os” as “Al-lah .”

As far as translating th e Bible into Bah asa Indone sia is conce rne d,

Bah asa Indone sia h as a m ajor lack th at cause s a translation proble m : it use s th e sam e w ord for both "Lord" and "God." Th at w ord is Tuh an. In Ba-h asa Indone sia "Tuh an" m e ans "Lord" and "Tuh an" also m e ans "God." So, th e b ig proble m is, H ow do you translate "Lord God." Translat-ing it Tuh an Tuh an w ill not do, b e -cause saying a w ord tw ice in Bah asa Indone sia m ak e s it plural; "Tuh an Tuh an" m e ans both "Lords" and "Gods." H ow e ve r, th e dom inate m e an-ing of Tuh an is "Lord." All transla-tions of th e Bible to date h ave translate d "Lord" as "Tuh an," and th is is th e corre ct and b e st transla-tion of th at w ord. But a diffe re nt w ord h as to be found for "God" w h e n translating th e Bible , and th is is w h e re th e proble m be gins. Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia "solve d" th is prob-le m by translating "God" as "Allah ," th us cre ating anoth e r m ajor proble m .

As you h ave se e n above , one of th e

m ajor e rrors m ade by th e e arly translators of th e Bible into Malay/Indone sian w as to com prom ise w ith Muslim s by using Is-lam ic te rm s in th e ir translations in an at-te m pt to w in Muslim s to Ch ristianity. Be -cause of th is e cum e nic-al spirit, "Eloh im " and "Th e os" and e ve n "Yah -w e h " w e re translate d as "Allah ." Th at w as (and re m ains) a m ajor trans-lation e rror. Som e m ay argue th at "Al-lah " is th e Arabic w ord for "God," but th at is not true . Th e Arabic w ord for God is Ilah not Allah . Muslim Arabs say, Th e re is no Ilah but Allah ; th e y do not say, Th e re is no Allah but Al-lah . At le ast one translation of th e Koran into Indone sian use s "Ilah " for "God," and "Allah " only for th e nam e of Islam 's god. Anoth e r Indone sian ve rsion of th e Koran translate s God as "Tuh an," but "Allah " still only as th e ir god's nam e . To re pe at, Allah doe s not m e an God, but is th e nam e of th e Islam ic god. Th is m istransla-tion of th e w ord for God and of th e nam e of God h as h ad dire con-se que nce s. If your nam e is Joh n and you discove re d love le tte rs in your

w ife 's dre sse r w ritte n by h e r to Bob, you w ould not be h appy, and h e r te lling you th at Bob actually m e ans Joh n w ould not be ve ry convincing. In lik e m an-ne r, Allah is not Yah -w e h . If it is w rong for a Ch ristian to w orsh ip in th e nam e of Mole ch or in th e nam e of Baal, th e n it is also w rong for a Ch ristian to w orsh ip in th e nam e of Allah . Al-lah is th e Muslim god w h o h as no son and is not a Trinity. Allah is th e god of Muslim s, not th e God of Ch ristians. "Yah w e h " is th e nam e of th e Ch ristian God. As e ve ryone w h o h as look e d up th e nam e Je -sus in Strong's Concord-ance k now s, Je sus m e ans "Je h ovah is Sal-vation." In H e bre w and Indone sian, Je sus is pro-nounce d Ye sus, and Je -h ovah is pronounce d "Yah w e h ."

M any Indone sians say th at th e Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia

translations are one of th e m ajor cause s of th e m assacre of th ousands of Ch ristians in th e Maluk u Islands and on th e island of Sulaw e si during 19 9 8-2001, and continuing to a le sse r e xte nt dow n to th is day, b e cause th e Muslim s w e re (and still are ) offe nde d by th e Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia Bible s saying th at Allah h as a Son. Th e fact is, Allah doe s not h ave a son, but Je h ovah (Yah w e h ) doe s!

Se ve ral ye ars ago, a group of ch urch e s ch ange d th e w ord "Al-

lah " to "Yah w e h " th rough out th e w h ole Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia Bible , and h ad it printe d. W e le arne d re ce ntly th at th e Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia took th e se ch urch e s to court (probably for copyrigh t infringe -m e nt), w on th e ir case , and th e In-done sian police th e n e nte re d th e se ch urch e s and confiscate d all th ose Bible s. Th is incide nt brings tw o im -portant facts to ligh t: (1) W e are not th e only Ch ristians th at re aliz e th at th e use of "Allah " in th e Le m baga Al-k itab Indone sia Bible is w rong. Many Ch ristians h e re re aliz e th is fact; and (2) Just ch anging a fe w w ords in an e xisting translation is not going to w ork . Due to radical ch ange s in th e language since th e olde r transla-tions, and due to copyrigh t law s for th e ne w e r translations (to say noth -ing about th e far w orse issue of th e use of corrupt unde rlying te xts) an original translation th at is in no w ay a copy of oth e r's w ork is e sse ntial.

In Isaiah 14:7, Je sus is pre dicte d to be born of a "pe re m puan m uda"

(young w om an) inste ad of a virgin . In

A Bah asa Ind onesia th e sarus and a stack of special purpose d ictionarie s. W e are sh ow ing all th ese pictures th at you m igh t realise th at w e are truly w ell qualified in every w ay and h ave th e tools to m ak e th is translation. W h at th is project is a little sh ort on is financial support, and th at is w h ere you and your ch urch can m ak e a d ifference in th is great and vital project.

Joh n 3:16 in th e Cath olic Kitab Suci Kom unitas Kristiani Bible. In th is Bible "u io.n" (Son) h as b e en correctly translated "Putra" (Son), not "Anak " (Ch ild ) as in m ost of th e oth er Ind onesian translations. Also, e;ch (h ave) h as b e en correctly translated as "m em punyai" (h ave), not as "beroleh " (to purch ase or obtain by w ork ing for." H ow ever, Qeo.j h as b e en incorrectly translated as "Allah ."

A Sh arpTw o- E dged Sw ord for Indones ia 7

Eph . 5:26 "Th at h e m igh t sanctify and cle anse it w ith th e w ash ing of w ate r by th e w ord" h as b e e n ch ange d to re ad "to m ak e it h oly by w ate r baptism " — th us sal-vation by b e ing baptiz e d. In Colossi-ans 1:14, "th rough h is blood" is de le te d, m ak -ing it appe ar th at re -de m ption and forgive ne ss of sins can be obtaine d w ith out th e sh e dding of Ch rist's blood. In 1 Tim oth y 3:16, "God" is ch ange d to "dia" (h e ), th us e lim inating one of th e proofs th at Je -sus is God. In Acts 20:28, "th e ch urch of God, w h ich h e h ath purch ase d w ith h is ow n blood" (“h is” in th is ve rse re fe rs to God h im se lf) h as b e e n ch ange d to "je m aat Al-lah " (Allah 's unive rsal group) w h ich h e “dipe role h ” (Note th is w ord! It m e ans to obtain or purch ase som e th ing by one 's ow n e ffort or w ork ) w ith th e blood of h is ow n "Anak " (ch ild, ge nde r ne utral). Th us anoth e r de n ial th at Je sus is God. Joh n 3:16 re ads lik e th is: "Kare na be -gitu be sar k asih Allah ak an dunia in i" (Allah h ad such b ig love for th is w orld), "se h ingga Ia te lah m e ngar-uniak an Anak -Nya yang tunggal" (th at h e gave h is only ch ild; note th at be gotte n is de le te d, and Son ch ange d to Ch ild), "supaya se tiap orang yang pe rcaya k e pada-Nya tidak b inasa," (so th at e ve ry pe rson th at be lie ve s in

h im w ould not pe rish ,) "m e laink an b e role h h idup yang k e k al" (but in -ste ad "be role h " e ve rlasting life ). "Be r-ole h " is anoth e r form of th e w ord “dipe role h ” m e ntione d above , and m e ans to obtain or purch ase som e th ing by one 's ow n e ffort or w ork . So, according to th e Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia translators, w h o-e ve r b e lie ve s in Allah 's ch ild w ill ob-tain or purch ase e te rnal life by w ork ing for it! Is th at th e w ay you be -lie ve pe ople ge t save d? I h ope not! H ow w ould you lik e to h ave no oth e r Bible but one lik e th at to use to le ad som e one to Ch rist?! Th e re are m any h undre ds of oth e r e xam ple s w h e re Le m baga Alk itab Indone sia translat-

ors ch ange d th e m e anings of im portant ve rse s. In Re ve la-tion 22:19 , "And if any m an sh all tak e aw ay from th e w ords of th e book of th is proph -e cy, God sh all tak e aw ay h is part out of th e book of life , and out of th e h oly city, and from th e th ings w h ich are w rit-te n in th is book ," th e Le m -baga Alk itab Indone sia translators ch ange d "God sh all tak e aw ay h is part out of th e book of life " to "Allah ak an m e ngam bil bagiannya dari po-h on k e h idupan" (Allah w ill tak e h is part from th e tre e of life ---“God” is ch ange d to “Al-lah ,” and “book ” is ch ange d to “tre e ”). Isn't th at both tak ing from and adding to God's w ord in th e ve ry ve rse th at

place s a curse on any pe r-son th at doe s so?!!!

Som e of th e m ost prim -itive trib e s le ft on

e arth are in Indone sia, but Bah asa Indone sia is not a prim itive tribal lan-guage for w h ich an alph a-b e t m ust be de ve lope d, but is rath e r a h igh ly de -ve lope d language w h ich h as a soph isticate d gram -m ar and th ick dictionar-ie s. Th e spe lling w as gre atly sim plifie d and standardiz e d th rough out Indone sia by law in 19 72. A large gove rnm e nt sponsore d dictionary, Kam us Be sar Bah asa In-done sia, w as first pub -lish e d in 19 88, and h as

since b e e n e xpande d to include m any m ore w ords. Th is dictionary is now in th e sixte e nth h uge printing of its th ird e dition, and contains 1382 page s of sm all print. Th is dictionary h as h ad a gre at stabiliz ing e ffe ct on th e language . Alth ough all language s

Diplom as Dr. Turk earned from th e Ind onesia Departm ent of Ed ucation and Culture for h is stud y of Bah asa Ind onesia.

Dr. Turk felt it im portant to earn a d octorate to give as m uch cred ib ility as possible to h is translation w ork . Ind onesians ne ed to h ave confid ence th at h e is a m an of learning capable of accurately translating God 's W ord .

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8 A Sh arp Tw o- E dged Sw ord For Indones ia

are in som e de gre e of flux, Ba-h asa Indone sia is now a re lat-ive ly stable language . Th e se facts m e an th at th is is an ide al tim e for th e first truly corre ct and accurate transla-tion of th e Bible into th e In-done sian language to be m ade — m uch lik e th e English language during th e tim e th e KJV of 1611 w as b e ing trans-late d.

o first produce a form al translation of

th e Ne w Te stam e nt from th e Te xtus Re ce ptus Gre e k te xt (using also th e KJV of 1611) into gram m atically corre ct and natural sounding Bah asa Indone sia, and th e n to m ak e a form al translation of th e Old Te stam e nt. Th e te rm "God" is b e ing translite rate d (translate d in th e Ne w Te sta-m e nt) as "Eloh im ." God's nam e is b e ing translite rate d as “Yah w e h .” Yah w e h is alre ady in th e Indone sian dic-tionary as part of th e lan-guage . Th e translation w ill not be ge nde r ne utral. Th e so-

calle d Dynam ic Equivale ncy m e th od of translation is not be ing use d, but rath e r “e xact” e quivale ncy is b e ing use d. Oth e r th an “Eloh im ,” virtually no fore ign w ords are b e ing use d. Th e re sulting translation is a b e autiful, e asy to re ad form al/ve rbal transla-tion. Th e Ne w Te stam e nt re ads ide ntical to th e Te xtus Re ce ptus and KJV of 1611, e xce pt, of course , b e ing in th e curre nt Bah asa Indone sia lan-guage . And th e Old Te stam e nt w ill also re ad ide ntical to th e KJV.

Actually, nine ty pe rce nt of th is proje ct is pre paration w h ich h as

m ostly alre ady b e e n fin ish e d (w e say "m ostly" only be cause w e ne ve r stop le arning). W e h ave b e e n consciously pre paring ourse lve s e ducationally and in e ve ry oth e r w ay to translate th e Bible into th e Indone sian lan-guage since 19 76. H ow e ve r, m y form -al Indone sian language instruction actually be gan in 19 73 w h e n I b e gan “total im m e rsion” Indone sian lan-guage instruction (Indone sia lan-guage only all day long e ach day for tw o w e e k s) in Kansas City unde r th e te ach ing of a Batak Indone sian nam e d Pak Sibarani flow n in from th e Be rlitz language sch ool in Ne w York City. Th is e nable d m e to le arn a good num be r of e ve ryday w ords

Th e Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM h as proved to be of trem end eous value to th is project. Th e OED gives th e d ates w h en d efinations first began to be used for certain w ord s. Th is h elps us to better und erstand h ow th e h igh ly ed ucated sch olors w h o prod uced th e KJV translated specific Gree k or H ebrew w ord s.

Stack s of sch ool book s in Tok o Buk u Gram ed ia (Gram ed ia Book Store) in d ow ntow n Manad o. All of th e se sch ool book s are in Bah asa Ind onesia. I ask ed if th ey h ad any book s in any of th e tribal languages, and th ey h ad not even a single book except for som e d ictionarie s. Virtually every book you se e in th e rack s on th e w alls are also w ritten in Bah asa Ind onesia, except for a sm all section of book s for learning fore ign languages (w ritten in both Ind onesian and th e fore ign language): English , Mand arin, Arabic, Dutch , Germ an, etc. Th ere is also a sm all section of English only book s (not sh ow n in th e ph oto). Bah asa Ind onesia d om inates th rough out th e th ousand s of island s th at m ak e up Ind onesia m uch lik e Gree k once d id in th e Mid d le East, and is a b eautiful, h igh ly d eveloped language.

A Sh arpTw o- E dged Sw ord for Indones ia 9

fast. Th e n for tw o m onth s b e fore le av-ing for Indone sia, I studie d unde r Paul Tan, a Ch ine se Indone sian w h o w as at th at tim e song le ade r in a Baptist Ch urch in Ft. W orth . Afte r ar-riving in Indone sia on th e se cond of Fe bruary 19 74, I h ad se ve ral lan-guage instructors, but tw o in particu-lar: Pak Tjok roaadiw ik rom o, a Javane se Indone sian in Bandung, W e st Java, w h o taugh t m e until I w as able to study totally in Bah asa In-done sia (I e arne d th re e diplom as from th e Indone sia De partm e nt of Education and Culture unde r th is m an's tutorage ). W h e n Pak Tjok -roaadiw ik rom o h ad tak e n m e as far as h e could, h e introduce d m e to Pro-fe ssor Much tar of Unive rsitas Paja-jaran in Bandung, W e st Java, a m an w h o taugh t Bah asa Indone sia to In-done sians aspiring to be te ach e rs of Bah asa Indone sia. Profe ssor Much tar took m e th rough a com ple te colle ge curriculum in Bah asa Indone -sia. W ith all of th e se te ach e rs th e in -struction w as one on one for se ve ral h ours e ach day, and so I w as able to advance rapidly. Since th e n I h ave ne ve r ce ase d studying Bah asa Indone -sia.

Acade m ically, I h ave e arne d a Bach e lor of Arts de gre e in Biblic-

al Studie s, a Maste r of Divinity de -gre e in Missions Ministry, and a Doctor of Ph ilosoph y de gre e in Multi-cultural Education. I am also an ac-com plish e d com pute r program m e r, w h ich h as alre ady prove n to be of im -m e nse value to th is proje ct.

Include d in pre paration for th is pro-je ct h as b e e n m any long and e xte n-

de d conve rsations w ith Indone sians (both Ch ristians and Muslim s) con-ce rning th e m ost appropriate transla-tion of k e y w ords. W e are far past th e stage of trying to de cide w h ich k e y w ords to use , h aving long ago e x-plore d all th e possib ilitie s.

I h ave spe nt ove r 30 ye ars of m y life pre paring for th is proje ct, so

th is proje ct is not som e th ing h astily th ough t up, but is th e final ste ps of a w e ll th ough t out plan. W e h ave e xpe ri-e nce d m any h indrance s and de lays, and h ave not le t th e m stop us. W e h ave b e e n a targe t of th e w rath , con-te m pt, and fie rce opposition of th ose w h o h ate th e Te xtus Re ce ptus and translations th e re of (such as th e au-th oriz e d KJV of 1611), and by God's m arve lous grace w e h ave survive d th e w ounds, and care fully e xam ine d th e ir argum e nts and found th e m

w rong and th e ir ide as dange rous and distructive . Our confide nce in God's w ord is absolute , and our com m it-m e nt to th is proje ct is total.

Be ing in th e inform ation age , w e are w ith out doubt e quippe d w ith

b e tte r tools to use w h ile translating th e Bible into Indone sian th an any of th e pre vious translators. God h as re -ce ntly ble sse d us w ith a ve ry fast and pow e rful com pute r e quippe d w ith 600 GB of h ard drive space , 4 GB of RAM, tw o 19 " m onitors, and m ultiple back up syste m s. Our w ork is autom at-ically back e d up to a 750 GB e xte rnal h ard drive e ve ry 30 m inute s. Our w ork is also autom atically back e d up ove r th e Inte rne t to a se rve r in th e Unite d State s e ve ry 10 m inute s (w h e n our Inte rne t conne ction w ork s) by softw are I cre ate d. Th is com pute r is conne cte d to a spe cial uninte rrupt-able pow e r supply, w h ich in turn is conne cte d to tw o truck batte rie s, so th at w e can k e e p w ork ing e ve n w h e n th e e le ctricity goe s out (w h ich h ap-pe ns alm ost e ve ry day h e re ). W e use Bible W ork s softw are to m ak e Gre e k and H e bre w w ord studie s, and to ch e ck h ow w ords w e re translate d in th e KJV. W e h ave 14 pre vious Malay/Indone sian translations on our h ard drive for e xam ination (w h ich is w h y w e k now th e m any e rrors th e y contain). W e h ave a 1736 page English to Indone sian Diction-ary w h ich h as only be e n available since th e ye ar 2000. W e h ave a 1326 page Indone sian to English diction-ary w h ich h as only be e n available since 19 9 7. Th e se tw o dictionarie s are am az ingly accurate , e xh austive , and de taile d w ork s w ith lots of e x-am ple s. W e also h ave th e official In-done sian dictionary publish e d by th e Indone sian gove rnm e nt, th e 1382 page Kam us Be sar Bah sas Indone sia (th ird e dition) publish e d in 2002. W e h ave , and constantly use , th e Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM, w h ich in printe d form is com pose d of 20 h uge volum e s de fin ing ove r 500,000 w ords and giving ove r 2.5 m il-lion illustrative quotations. One e spe -cially im portant fe ature of th e Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM is th at it give s th e date s w h e n e ach de fin ition first be gan to be use d for a ce rtain w ord. So, w e can e asily asce r-tain w h at a ce rtain w ord m e ant w h e n th e KJV w as b e ing m ade . An-oth e r ve ry h e lpful tool is th e W orld W ide W e b, w h ich m ak e s it possible for us to se arch th rough m illions of In-done sian docum e nts on-line to se e

h ow Indone sian w ords are pre se ntly be ing use d. In case s w h e re th e re are tw o or th re e w ords w ith th e sam e m e aning, w e are able to use th e W e b to de te rm ine w h ich w ord is m ost com -m only use d; w e th e n use th e m ost com m on w ord and th e m ost com m on spe lling in our translation. I h ave cre -ate d softw are to find and re place w ords in all th e file s for th e w h ole translation proje ct; th is softw are can proce sse s all th e file s for th e w h ole Bible in le ss th an a se cond. I've also cre ate d oth e r such softw are tools. In addition to th e just m e ntione d tools, w e h ave m any oth e r Indone sian dic-tionarie s, Indone sian gram m ar book s, e tc. For e xam ple w e h ave se p-arate spe cializ e d dictionarie s for e ach of th e follow ing subje cts: law , b iology, accounting, e conom y, th e o-logy, farm ing, dom e stic anim als, m ath e m atics, e tc. W e also h ave a 715 page Indone sia th e saurus, se ve r-al idiom dictionarie s, and m any oth -e r m isce llane ous tools. None of th e se tools w e re available to any of th e pre -vious translators (e xce pt pe rh aps H urault), and give us a distinct ad-vantage . W e h ave m ade ve ry se rious pre paration, and purch ase d or cre -ate d ve ry se rious tools for a ve ry se ri-ous proje ct.

M any th ings could h appe n to h inde r th is proje ct. Muslim s

could once again attack Ch ristians on th is island. A natural disaste r could strik e ---Indone sia is ve ry prone to e arth quak e s. As th e se w ords are b e ing type d ash is falling on our h ouse from a volcano e rrupting som e -w h e re ; w e h ave not ye t re ce ive d w ord as to w h e re . Th e gove rnm e nt could ch ange h ands h e re , and all th e rule s ch ange ove rnigh t. Anoth e r tsunam i could h it. For prote ction from such risk s w e ne e d your daily praye rs. H ow e ve r, th e se th ings are not th e gre ate st risk . Th e gre ate st risk is de lay. Most m e n w h o atte m p-te d to translate th e Bible into Indone -sian die d b e fore fin ish ing th e job. I am in e xce lle nt h e alth . Ne ve rth e le ss, only God k now s h ow long th is w ill continue to be true . It is e sse ntial th at w e b e able to de vote ourse lve s to th e task w ith out distraction now . If w e h ave to spe nd m ost of our tim e trying to raise funds or doing th ings a long h ard w ay for lack of funds, w e m ay run out of tim e (die ) b e fore com -ple ting th e task . W ith ove r 30 ye ars and m ultiplie d th ousands of inde -pe nde nt Baptist dollars alre ady in -ve ste d in pre paration and tools for

10 A Sh arp Tw o- E dged Sw ord For Indones iath is proje ct, a lot w ill be lost if th e pro-je ct is not fin ish e d. Th e b igge st loss, h ow e ve r, w ill be to th e m illions of In-done sians w h o w ill not h ave th e b e ne -fits of an accurate translation of God's W ord. De lay is ce rtainly not th e only risk , but it is by far th e b igge st th re at to th is proje ct. So, w e b e se e ch you to se riously pray for th e rapid progre ss and succe ss of th is pro-je ct. W e pray God le ads you to sup-port th is proje ct. Ple ase do not de lay in follow ing God's le ade rsh ip.

So far 15 book s h ave b e e n trans-late d. Th e follow ing 5 book s w e re

translate d b e fore w e re turne d to In-done sia: I, II, and III Joh n, Titus, and Eph e sians. Th e re m aining 10 book s h ave b e e n translate d since w e re turne d to Indone sia one ye ar ago: Ge ne sis, Galatians, Ph ilippians, Colos-sians, I & II Th e ssalonians, I & II Tim oth y, Ph ile m on, and Jude . Th is is good progre ss, e spe cially conside ring th at Ge ne sis is a ve ry long book , and th at 3 m onth s out of th e past 12 w e re spe nt trying to find h ousing in th is fast grow ing are a, and re m e m be ring th at w e w e re stuck in th e Ph ilippine s for tw o w e e k s during Fe bruary, and th at w e w e re in a rath e r prim itive h ousing situation for six m onth s b e -fore m oving to Manado, and th at our pre se nt h ouse h ad to h ave a num be r of re pairs and e le ctricity installe d in th e upstairs room w h e re w e do all our w ork . Our pre se nt h ouse is now ve ry e fficie nt (for Indone sia), is in a ve ry conve nie nt location close to dow n-tow n Manado w h e re w e buy all our supplie s, and is also off th e m ain road in a quie t and pe ace ful location, ve ry conducive to translating. So, ove rall progre ss h as b e e n ve ry good, and th e prospe ct for e ve n faste r pro-gre ss during th e re m ainde r of th is ye ar se e m s ve ry brigh t. Ple ase pray for God to prote ct th is proje ct by sur-rounding it w ith le gions of prote cting ange ls.

Th e 15 book s alre ady translate d are pre se ntly going th rough

se cond drafts and are b e ing proofe d by Indone sians. I Pe te r and th e Gos-pe l of Joh n are pre se ntly be ing trans-late d.

W e praise God for supplying our e ve ry ne e d during th is past

ye ar. W e th ank God for our faith ful supporte rs, w h o se nd in support on a

re gular basis. W e also re ce ive d num e r-ous large spe cial offe rings th at e n -able d us to le ase h ousing and to buy e sse ntial com pute r e quipm e nt. Most of th e se spe cial offe rings cam e from our re gular supporte rs. W e cannot re alistically e xpe ct our re gular sup-porte rs to continue to also se nd in such large spe cial offe rings.

O ur gre ate st ne e d is for ne w sup-porting ch urch e s. One re ason

ne w supporting ch urch e s are ne e de d is b e cause th e e xch ange rate h as re -duce d th e value of th e dollar te n pe r-ce nt ove r th e past ye ar. Se ve ral ne w supporte rs are ne e de d im m e diate ly just to re place th is lost buying pow e r.

Anoth e r re ason ne w supporting ch urch e s are ne e de d is b e cause

th e translation proje ct h as e nte re d a ne w ph ase , in w h ich native Indone -sian language e xpe rts are ne e de d to proof th e translation of e ach book to find any spe lling or gram m ar e rrors, and to m ak e sure th at th e transla-tion sounds sm ooth and natural to th e native Indone sian e ar. Pe ople w ith th e e ducation and w illingne ss ne -ce ssary to do th is prope rly are ve ry h ard to find. W e pre se ntly h ave se ve r-al Indone sians w h o are doing th is for us in th e ir spare tim e for fre e . H ow e ve r, since th e y can only do th is w ork in th e ir spare tim e , it is tak ing far too long. To ge t m ore done th e y m ust be able to spe nd m ore tim e at th e task . It w ould not be righ t to ask th e se pe ople to w ork such long h ours w ith out pay; Indone sians also m ust e at. W e w ould lik e to be able to pay th e se pe ople so th at th e y can afford to de vote m ore tim e to th e task . Th is is a ve ry urge nt ne e d.

Anoth e r re ason ne w supporting ch urch e s are ne e de d is b e cause

w e h ave pe rsonal ne e ds w h ich ne e d to be m e t. W e live ve ry frugal live s. W e e at m ostly local foods. W e do not h ave a ve h icle ; w e use local trans-portation. W e are not w aste ful, and w e don't m isuse m one y on bad h ab its. But w e do h ave pe rsonal ne e ds just lik e you, and if th ose ne e ds are not m e t it slow s us dow n, and indire ctly slow s dow n th e trans-lation proje ct.

Tw o m ore com pute rs are ne e de d so oth e rs can assist w ith various

aspe cts of th e translation proje ct. Th e se com pute rs do not ne e d to be e xpe nsive one s. W e can purch ase th e m locally for approxim ate ly US$550.00 e ach .

O ne of th e conditions of th e le ase of our h ouse is th at w e spe nd al-

m ost $800.00 on re pairs and to buy som e badly ne e de d furniture . W e h ave not ye t purch ase d th is fur-n iture or m ade th e se re pairs, and ne e d to do so soon, to k e e p our land-

Th e greatest benefit of h aving an accurate translation of th e Bible is b e ing able to use it to sh ow people th e good new s of God 's plan of salvation th rough th e Lord Jesus Ch rist. Th is young lad y is read ing th e Gospel of Joh n ch apter th re e in our translaton— th e very verse s w e used to lead h er to Ch rist! Th e Gospel of Joh n h as only be en translated to ch apter seven, and alread y it is sh ow ing itself "quick , and pow erful, and sh arper th an any tw oed ged sw ord " able to m ak e one w ise unto salvation!

H annah Elizabeth Turk , our late st granddaugh te r!

A Sh arpTw o- E dged Sw ord for Indones ia 11

lady h appy (and b e cause w e ne e d th e furniture ).

Th e re is noth ing m ore im portant for th e e vange liz ation of Indone -

sia th an an accurate translation of th e Bible . W ith out a good Bible it is im possible to pre pare good se rm ons, or to w rite good tracts or book s. W ith out a good Bible th e re is no firm foundation upon w h ich to build. Your ch urch w ould be gre atly ble sse d by h aving a part in th is gre at proje ct.

Ple ase give th e m e m be rs of your ch urch copie s of th is re -

port, and ask th e m to pray about supporting th is proje ct.

O ur m issionary son Sam ue l and h is fam ily are pre se ntly in Ok -

lah om a w h e re h is w ife , Kiy, gave b irth to th e ir se cond baby on August th e 6th . (H e r nam e is H annah , and sh e is 20 inch e s long, w e igh s 8 lbs. 3 oz ., and h as brow n h air and brow n e ye s. Sh e is b e autiful!) Sam ue l is now planning to visit a fe w ch urch e s to try to raise funds for th e Bible translation proje ct. Sam ue l is an e xce l-le nt proofre ade r, and e ve n th ough h e is in th e State s, w e use th e Inte rne t to se nd h im all our w ork to

proofre ad. H is doing th is h as gre atly h e lpe d th e translation proje ct. H e h as b e e n, and still is, a gre at e ncour-agm e nt, and prom ote s th is proje ct w ith all h is h e art, unde rstanding th e Bible void in Indone sia, and th e ur-ge nt ne e d to fill th at void. H e h as also be e n tak ing care of m any task s for m e in th e US, w h ich h as tak e n up a lot of h is tim e . Th e Bible transla-tion proje ct w ould not e ve n b e close to w h e re it is righ t now w e re it not for Sam ue l's e fforts th e re in th e USA, doing th ings th at h ad to be done . Ne v-e rth e le ss, w e ne e d h im back in Indone -sia as soon as possible , so ple ase contact h im im m e diate ly, if you w ould lik e h im to visit your ch urch .

spe nd

Ple ase re m e m be r th at Sam ue l is also badly ne e ding funds

for h is ow n m inistry. H e w ill be com ing back to Indone sia w ith an-oth e r m outh to fe e d. W ith tw o ba-bie s h is fam ily w ill also ne e d a ve h icle . And unle ss th ings ch ange , h e w ill also be suffe ring from th e low e r buying pow e r of th e dollar.

Pastor or ch urch m e m be r, th ank you ve ry m uch for tak ing tim e to

re ad th is long re port. If you h ave re ad th is far, you are ve ry lik e ly a true love r of God's w ord and h ave a ge nuine love for souls lost in dark -ne ss. May God ble ss you and your m inistry is our praye r.

Miss ionary Sam ue l Turk

Ce ll Ph one : (9 40 ) 232-60 88

E-m ail addre ss : sam ue lturk @yah oo.com

Pastor Te rry Z e lle r, Bible -W ay Miss ionary Baptist Ch urch

Office : (513) 863-69 38

H om e : (513) 868-2523

W h ere To Send Regu lar Su pport or Special Offering Ch eck s :

Mak e you r ch eck ou t TO: Bible-W ay Missionary Baptist Ch u rch

Mak e you r ch eck ou t FOR: Missionary Lou is A. Tu rk

Mail you r ch eck to: Bible-W ay Missionary Baptist Ch u rchP.O. Box 1 30 9 3H am ilton, O H 450 13-0 0 9 3

12 A Sh arp Tw o- E dged Sw ord For Indones ia

Since "Allah " w as use d to m e an "God" in all of th e translations use d by today's Indone sians, m ost

Indone sian Ch ristians since re ly be lie ve th at Allah m e ans God. But th e y only be lie ve th at be cause th e y are afraid to talk about God w ith Muslim s. It is against th e law to try to conve rt a Muslim to Ch ristianity in Indone sia, so m ost Ch ristians sim ply confine th e ir e vange lism e fforts to oth e r Ch ristian groups; th e y do not k now h ow Muslim s use re ligious te rm s b e cause th e y ne ve r talk to th e m to find out. About 10 ye ars ago I w as on an Indone sian Ch ristian e -m ail list of approxim ate ly 600 pe ople , m ost of th e m Prote stant pastors and oth e r ch urch le ade rs. I told th e m th at Muslim s w e re te lling m e th at Allah doe s not m e an God, but is rath e r th e nam e of th e ir God. Most of th e m said th at I w as m istak e n . So, I ch alle nge d th e m to visit th e ir Muslim ne igh bors th at e ve ning, ask th e m if Allah m e ant God, and th e n re port back . Many of th e m did so, and w ith out e xce ption th e y re porte d, "W e are am az e d! You are righ t. All of our Muslim ne igh bors said th at Allah is th e 'nam e ' of th e ir God." Th is re ve lation cause d gre at soul se arch ing am ong th e m e m be rs of th at e -m ail list.

FACT: "Man" and "God" are com m on nam e s . "Joe " and "Yah w e h " are prope r (pe rs onal) nam e s . If I as k Joe Jone s w h at h is nam e is , h e doe s not ans w e r, "m an" or "h um an." Rath e r, h e s ays "Joe " or "Jone s ." God is not God's prope r nam e . God is w h at Yah w e h is . Yah w e h is th e true God's prope r nam e .

FACT: Th e w ord Allah is us e d in th e Koran as a prope r nam e .

Koran Sh ak ir trans lation: 3.2 Allah , (th e re is ) no god but H e ... [If "Allah " m e ant "God" th an Sh ak ir w ould h ave trans late d th is ve rs e "Allah , (th e re is ) no Allah but H e ."]

Koran Sh ak ir trans lation: 5.3 Forbidde n to you is th at w h ich die s of its e lf, and blood, and fle s h of s w ine , and th at on w h ich any oth e r nam e th an th at of Allah h as be e n invok e d,

Koran Sh ak ir trans lation: 16.115 H e h as only forbidde n you w h at die s of its e lf and blood and fle s h of s w ine and th at ove r w h ich any oth e r nam e th an th at of Allah h as be e n invok e d,

Yus ufali in h is trans lation of th e Koran is ve ry de ce ptive . Since h e is trying to conve rt Englis h -s pe ak ing Ch ris tians to Is lam , H e m is -trans late s th e tw o ve rs e s of th e Koran th e y are m os t lik e ly to re ad firs t:

Koran Yus ufali Trans lation: 1.1 In th e nam e of God, Mos t Gracious , Mos t Me rciful.Koran Yus ufali Trans lation: 3.2 God! Th e re is no god but H e ,-th e Living, th e Se lf-Subs is ting, Ete rnal.

But in s urah s 5 and 16 h e cannot re s is t trans lating corre ctly. Is Allah a nam e ? Study th e s e ve rs e s from Yus ufali's trans lation care fully for th e ans w e r:

Koran Yus ufali Trans lation: 5.3. Forbidde n to you (for food) are : de ad m e at, blood, th e fle s h of s w ine , and th at on w h ich h ath be e n invok e d th e nam e of oth e r th an Allah . [So, Mus lim s are forbidde n to e at food ble s s e d in th e nam e of Yah w e h or any oth e r nam e be s ide s Allah .]

Koran Yus ufali Trans lation: 16.3. Forbidde n to you (for food) are : de ad m e at, blood, th e fle s h of s w ine , and th at on w h ich h ath be e n invok e d th e nam e of oth e r th an Allah ....16.4. Th e y as k th e e w h at is law ful to th e m (as food). Say: law ful unto you are (all) th ings good and pure : and w h at ye h ave taugh t your traine d h unting anim als (to catch ) in th e m anne r dire cte d to you by Allah . e at w h at th e y catch for you, but pronounce th e nam e of Allah ove r it: and fe ar Allah . for Allah is s w ift in tak ing account.

From th e above Koran ve rs e s only one conclus ion can be draw n: Allah is a prope r nam e . Allah doe s not m e an God, but is rath e r th e nam e of th e God of Is lam . Allah is not th e s am e God as Yah w e h . As th e follow ing ve rs e s prove , th e nam e of th e God of Ch ris tians is "Yah w e h ," not "Allah ." Yah w e h in Englis h is pronounce d "Je h ovah ." It is th e s am e nam e only pronoune d s ligh tly diffe re nt in Englis h . "Allah is a com ple te ly diffe re nt nam e from "Yah w e h ." Allah is not jus t a diffe re nt pronunciation; it is a diffe re nt nam e . Allah is th e nam e of a diffe re nt God.

KJV Exodus 6:3 And I appe are d unto Abrah am , unto Is aac, and unto Jacob, by th e nam e of God Alm igh ty, but by m y nam e JEH OVAH w as I not k now n to th e m .

KJV Ps alm 83:18 Th at m e n m ay k now th at th ou, w h os e nam e alone is JEH OVAH , art th e m os t h igh ove r all th e e arth .

H e re is w h at various dictionarie s s ay Allah m e ans :

"Allah : Th e nam e of th e De ity am ong Mus lim s " (Oxford Englis h Dictionary).

"Allah : Nam a Tuh an dl bah as a Arab" [th e nam e of God in Arabic] (Kam us Be s ar Bah as a Indone s ia, w h ich is th e official gove rnm e nt dictionary).

"Allah : K e be radaan Te rtinggi dalam agam a Is lam " [Th e H igh e s t Be ing in th e Is lam ic re ligion] (Kam us Te ologi Inggris -Indone s ia by H e nk te n Nape l).

"Allah : tuh an bagi um at is lam " [th e god for th e pe ople of Is lam ] (Kam us Le ngk ap Inggris -Indone s ia/Indone s ia-Inggris Plus Idiom ).

"Allah : nam a tuh an orang m us lim " [th e nam e of th e m us lim 's god] (Kam us Inggris s -Indone s ia/Indone s ia-Inggris )

CONCLUSION: "Allah " is not a com m on nam e , and doe s not m e an "God." Inste ad, "Allah " is a prope r

(pe rsonal) nam e for Islam 's god. Allah is not th e sam e God as Yah w e h . Allah is not th e God of Ch ristianity, and th e w ord "Allah " sh ould not be found in a translation of th e Bible . Bible s th at include th e nam e "Allah " are not suitable for use in Bible -b e lie ving ch urch e s. Th is is ce rtainly not th e only re ason Indone sia ne e ds a b e tte r translation of th e Bible , but it is a ve ry m ajor re ason.

More Proofs Th at "Allah " Doesn't M ean "God"

SURAT KEDUADari Rasul

YOHANES

63:1:1 ¶Penatua kepada nyonya yang ter-pilih dan anak-anaknya, yang kukasihidalam kebenaran; dan bukan aku saja,tetapi juga semua orang yang telah menge-tahui kebenaran;63:1:2 demi kebenaran, yang berdiam didalam kita, dan akan ada bersama kita un-tuk selama-lamanya.63:1:3 Semoga kasih karunia menyertaimu,dan belas kasihan, dan damai, dari ElohimBapa, dan dari Tuhan Yesus Kristus, PutraBapa, dalam kebenaran dan kasih.63:1:4 ¶Aku sangat bersukacita bahwa akumendapati dari anak-anak engkau yang ber-jalan dalam kebenaran, sebagaimana telahkita terima sebuah perintah dari Bapa.63:1:5 Dan sekarang aku memohon kepadaengkau, nyonya, bukan seolah-olah akumenulis sebuah perintah baru kepada eng-kau, tetapi yang sudah kita punyai darisemula, bahwa kita saling mengasihi se-orang akan yang lain.63:1:6 Dan ini adalah kasih, bahwa kita ber-jalan menurut perintah-perintahNya. Ini-lah perintah itu, Bahwa, sebagaimana kamumendengar dari permulaan, demikianlahkamu berjalan di dalamnya.63:1:7 Sebab banyak penipu sudah ma-suk ke dalam dunia, yang tidak mengakui

bahwa Yesus Kristus telah datang dalamdaging. Ini adalah seorang penipu dan se-orang antikristus.63:1:8 Lihatlah pada dirimu, sehingga jang-anlah kita kehilangan hal-hal yang telahkita kerjakan, tetapi bahwa kita menerimasuatu ganjaran yang penuh.63:1:9 Barangsiapa yang melanggar, dantidak berdiam dalam ajaran Kristus, belummempunyai Elohim. Orang yang berdiamdalam ajaran Kristus, ia mempunyai baikBapa maupun Putra.63:1:10 Jikalau seseorang datangkepadamu, dan tidak membawa ajaranini, janganlah menerimanya ke dalamrumahmu, dan janganlah mengatakan, Se-lamat, kepadanya:63:1:11 sebab ia yang mengatakan, Selamat,kepadanya mengikutsertakan pekerjaan-pekerjaannya yang jahat.63:1:12 ¶Dengan mempunyai banyak halyang perlu kutulis kepadamu, aku tidakmau menulis dengan kertas dan tinta;tetapi aku berharap datang kepadamu,dan berbicara berhadapan muka, supayasukacita kita dapat penuh.63:1:13 Anak-anak saudarimu yang ter-pilih menyampaikan salam kepada engkau.Amin.

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