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Understandable or Acceptable?
- Fred Farrokh
- Apr 17
- 4 min read
Anyone who has raised children will have given them some instructions, with the closing, “... do you understand?” Perhaps those instructions included some consequences, which definitely need to be understood!
Teachers, similarly, give homework or exam instructions. Commonly, they will ask if the students have understood the instructions and if they have any questions. Sometimes the teacher also gives the grading criteria for the paper or the grading scale for the test. The students need to understand those criteria as well as accept them to prepare their assignments.
In most cases, parents, teachers, coaches, etc., are speaking in a language their children, students, and players can understand very well. Many people have had the experience of learning from instructors speaking in a second language. Others have undertaken studies in a second language. This can create problems with comprehension. And .... we won’t get into the challenges of hearing and understanding as we get a bit older!
The Challenge Facing Bible Translators
Bible translators have two goals. First, they want their readers to understand the original message God gave through the 66 books of Holy Scripture. Second, especially if they are missionary-translators, they desire and pray their audience will accept, embrace, and obey the message of the gospel.
But how can translators make the Scriptures understandable to people whose languages lack words or concepts found in the Bible? For instance, not all societies have sheep. How then should they translate the phrase “Lamb of God”?
Fortunately, missionary-translators have been able to translate the Bible into hundreds of languages over the past 2,000 years. They have overcome these obstacles to communication. Typically, teaching would accompany the translated texts.
Enter Muslim-Idiom Bible Translations
Islam contains many teachings that oppose the gospel and central Christian teachings. For example, the Qur’an rejects the Trinity and salvation by grace, though both constitute indispensable components of the gospel. Likewise, Islam rejects God as Father or Son. Traditional orthodox Muslims do not accept these biblical teachings since they contradict what they have been taught as Muslims.
Some missionary translators have argued that Muslims are not actually rejecting biblical truth but caricatures or misrepresentations of those truths. For instance, even though Islam and Christianity teach that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, missionary translators have suggested that the problem regarding “Son of God” is not that Muslims do not accept the teaching, but that they misunderstand it. Rick Brown of Wycliffe’s Summer Institute of Linguistics offers this rationale:
If Muslims are given a Bible or booklet to read and accidentally read aloud the phrase ‘son of God’, they can become quite angry. Some of them fear that they have blasphemed God and endangered their souls. ... The biological meaning of this phrase and its blasphemous connotations are so deeply entrenched in the minds of most Muslims that it is impossible simply to erase it from their minds and hearts.[i]
Brown’s evaluation overlooks the fact that the Qur’an and the Bible both teach that Jesus came into the world without any male biological activity. Muslims are also familiar with figurative language; even Muhammad dubbed his unbelieving uncle “the Father of Flame” (Abu Lahab).
Indeed, Islam has caused many challenges for Christian missionaries. These include persecution, a rival missionary message, as well as this understandable or acceptable tension.
The Oil Spill
Against the wishes of many national churches, as well as the protests of Muslim-background Christians, various agencies have continued to alter the terms for “Father” and “Son” in Bibles translated for Muslim societies. These translations have become known as “Muslim-Idiom Translations” (MITs). They have been translated, published, and distributed in Muslim contexts. In many cases, those who have distributed MITs were not familiar with the issues stated above. More recently, digital and online versions of MITs have proliferated. Such MITs have created problems, somewhat like an oil spill, that are difficult to clean up after the fact.
MITs pose a continual challenge for missionaries who wonder, “Which Bibles should be give or recommend to Muslims, Muslim inquirers, or Muslim background believers?” “Is the problem for Muslims that they don’t understand the gospel message, or that they don’t accept it?” “If they don’t accept it, can we make it more acceptable?”
Bible translators need much prayer as they work on their important task. Cross-cultural international workers also need prayer as they minister to Muslim souls.
During the Summer Institute of Islamic Studies, we will explore questions such as those raised in this article. Check out the quality training opportunity available at the Assemblies of God Theological Seminary in July 2025.
AT THE ASSEMBLIES OF GOD THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Dates: June 30 - July 7, 2025 (Held annually the first two weeks of July)
All courses available in-person or online!
Courses:
Engaging Islam: An Introduction
Church Planting in Muslim Contexts
Contemporary Issues: ministry to Muslims
Ministry to Muslims in Urban US Contexts
All course can be taken as a seminar or for credit at bachelor's, master's, or doctoral levels.
For credit or audit registration must be completed by May 5, 2025
Seminar-only registration closes on June 23, 2025.
To register or for more information:
417-865-2815, ext. 8857
[i] Rick Brown, “Explaining the Biblical Term ‘Son(s) of God’ in Muslim Contexts,” Part One (IJFM 22:3, July–Sept. 2005), p. 92. https://ijfm.dreamhosters.com/PDFs_IJFM/22_3_PDFs/91-96Brown_SOG.pdf
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