The perils of translating the Bible
KNOWING as we do the international controversies and deadly threats that ensue when some types of literature offend certain religions, it should not surprise us if many Catholics and other Christians take umbrage over the publication of the new Pinoy translation of the New Testament of the Holy Bible.
The volume was launched last week at the Manila International Book Fair in the Mall of Asia.
The perils of a reckless translation or interpretation of what certain religions consider their holy bible call to mind the explosion of anger that attended the publication of Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, with former Iran leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issuing a fatwa in 1989 for Muslims to kill Rushdie. This was replicated when riots broke out over the Danish newspaper cartoon that depicted Mohammed as a pig, and a mullah in Pakistan offered $1 million and a car as a reward for anyone who would end the life of the cartoonist.
We do not expect the reaction to this Pinoy bible to be as heated and violent. The translators and publisher need not fear for their lives. What they have produced is a demonstration of the publisher’s craft and freedom.
But this translation takes liberties with the New Testament, danger of trivializing the complexity and depth of the gospels.
It takes liberties, secondly, with the use of Filipino in the translation. It claims to use a heterogeneous language, combining Tagalog and English and colloquial speech. The avowed objective of the translation is to reach young people ages 15 to 30 all over the country, so they can relate better to the story of Jesus and the Christian faith.
Ironically, this bible is an official/ authorized translation commissioned by the Ecumenical Philippine Bible Society ( PBS), which obtained tax perks from the National Book Development Board to sell a paperback version at just P85 per copy.
The volume surprisingly has the imprimatur of Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes, the former Divine Word missionary who headed the biblical commission of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
This latest Pinoy translation of the New Testament also carries the endorsement of Manila Auxiliary Bishop Roderick Pabilio, who doubles as a PBS vice president. Serious objections have been raised against this version. One editor of a Catholic book publishing company probably describes best the feeling which the reading of the literature evoked: “While reading it, I could not help but hear it being narrated in my head by the voice of Vice Ganda.”
One Catholic educator says that translating the Scriptures into colloquial language underestimates the ability of our young people to grow in deep spirituality through traditional means of reading the Holy Scriptures. “This kind of material looks down on the ability of the young to speak and understand the international language which most schools are teaching, and confuse them more on their knowledge of the native language.”
More of such translations are expected to come. The PBS plans to release a Pinoy version of the Book of Psalms and Book of Proverbs from the Old Testament next year.
Normally, a major work of literature or document is translated into a particular language so as to make it more accessible and understandable to people. Let’s hope this Pinoy version does not achieve the opposite – making it more alien and incomprehensible to Filipinos.
It is reported that in the United States, Catholicism is the faith that is losing the most number of regular members and believers.
If our Catholic leaders and educators in the CBCP do not put their spiritually guided heads together in the translation of the Catholic version, we may not hold much longer the distinction of having the biggest Catholic community in Asia.