Tag Archives: communication

Eugene Nida – with grateful thanks

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The father of dynamic equivalence

Back in 2002, I was researching a Masters dissertation on: ‘the preacher as translator: a model for preaching in the 21st Century. At the time, Eugene Nida was my constant companion. Last week, in a hospital in Brussels, he died. If you read the Bible in your own language, in a modern and accessible translation, he has probably been your companion too, even without you knowing it.  Nida’s concern in Bible translation began from a mission perspective, wanting to put into the hands of cross-cultural missionaries a Bible which would ‘do the job’. In order to do this he honed the translation technique known as ‘dynamic’ or ‘functional’ equivalence.

Dynamic equivalence seeks to assess what the source text did in its source culture, and then to reproduce that same effect by the target text on the target culture. In other words, it is less concerned about reproducing a word for word equivalence, and more concerned about reproducing a blow for blow impact. Nida himself said that the aim in all this was that the reader of the eventual translation would be ‘transformed by its [the Bible’s] message.’ This technique led to some spectacular translations, for example:

  • ‘No-one puts old opossum fur onto new opossum fur’ (Mark 2 v. 21, Aboriginal Bible)
  • ‘Place your light on a grain bin’ (Mark 4 v. 21 Korku New Testament)
  • ‘Your sins shall be made as white as the snow of a seal pup'(Isaiah 1 v.18 Inukitut Bible)
The latter comes from a translation for the Inuits which took 24 years to complete. Using the principles of dynamic equivalence, the word ‘snow’ could not be used – since snow is like the dirt under your feet for those who walk on it all day long. Hence the use of ‘seal pup’ to demonstrate purity instead.
Closer to home, the work of Eugene Nida had a huge impact on the Good News Bible, which has now sold over 218 million copies worldwide.
When I teach students about these principles of translation, I tend to talk about the ‘tale of two Eugenes’, using the image below.The man on the left is the one people are far more likely to recognise: Eugene Peterson, translator of ‘The Message’. When Peterson first wrote down his translation of Galatians, and then was persuaded to write down the rest of the New Testament as well, he expressed his surprise about the request. So far as he was concerned he was just writing down what he had been doing in the pulpit for years- expressing the truths of Scripture in the ‘language of the parking lot’.  In so doing, whether consciously or not, he was embracing the principles which another Eugene had laid down before him.
Today I thank God for the life and work of Eugene Nida.

Who Needs Words – excerpt III

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From July until October  I shall be releasing one small excerpt of my new book, Who Needs Words, on the first day of each month until publication. In the excerpt below,consideration is given to the idea of the prophetic voice.

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A fortress mentality which sets Christians against the wicked world ‘out there’ leads to a kind of communication which breeds fear and misunderstanding. Those who fear they will be misunderstood often end up fulfilling their own prophecy, because their message comes out in a garbled mixture of jargon and arrogance which alienates their listener straight away. If I am convinced that you will reject what I am going to say anyway, then it can make me very careless in the way I communicate it. Equally, if I think that you are so spiritually dull, or so antagonistic to my beliefs that you are bound not to understand them, then I will make little effort to help you understand them when I speak. If I have convinced myself that you are fundamentally opposed to the beliefs which I hold dear, then the communication space between us becomes so infused with hostility and fear that any reasonable communication becomes impossible. It is true that many Western European nations have moved away from their former Christian heritage. This certainly requires great care in crossing the communication gap. However, if Christians simply shout louder to guarantee a hearing, people on the other side will just turn away and go in search of more peaceful conversation elsewhere.

In such a context, those who call themselves prophets may actually court controversy and relish opposition as proof of their spiritual authenticity. Accusations of bigotry, arrogance and intransigence bounce off them like pebbles thrown at the armour plating of a tank. Like the tank they advance remorselessly, crushing everything before them, and leaving many things flattened in their wake. This does not mean that there is no place for the prophetic voice. What is needed is the ability to express prophetic insight in such a way that others will feel inclined to listen to it.

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Who Needs Words can be pre-ordered through the Saint Andrew Press.

There’s a TED in my pulpit

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Ideas worth sharing?

Over the months there have been many different creatures in the pulpit on this blog – including a fish, a magpie, a heffalump and others. Today it is the turn of the TED. I’m referring not to a cuddly toy, but to Technology, Entertainment and Design, home of the TEDtalks. A TED talk is an 18-minute presentation by an expert who feels passionately about their subject, and believes that they have an ‘idea worth sharing’.

I have come late to the TED party, having been directed there earlier today by Phil Prior’s excellent blog post. In that post Phil asks the question as to why there are not more preachers and theologians  represented amongst TED’s ranks. There could be many reasons  for that, some of which I list below:

  • Our expertise is of interest to Christian ‘consumers’ but not to others
  • Accustomed as we are to communicating in a non-competitive environment, we have lost our creative communicative edge
  • We would struggle to fill 18 minutes in a compelling way
  • We would struggle to restrict ourselves to 18 minutes in a focused way
  • Assuming our audience’s good will, we presume too much on their tolerance
I believe that whilst some of those things may be partially true, none of them are wholly true.  Preachers should be amongst the most motivated, focused and dedicated communicators in the world. Not only that, but the church has now garnered over twenty centuries of experience in communicating across racial, generational and cultural divides. We do have something to say.
There are many description of our fundamental message as Christian communicators, but “an idea worth sharing” isn’t a bad place to start.

Image: images4.cpcache.com

Juggling elephants

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Holiday Club celebration service

All this week I have found myself in a somewhat different guise to usual. (See below) It has been my privilege, once again, to take a leading role in the church’s annual holiday club. During this week we have welcomed over 150 children into the church to hear the stories of Jesus, sing along with the band, enjoy the puppets, and take home craft work which reflects our biblical theme of curiosity and discovery.

When the club first began over 10 years ago, it was themed around the circus, and the Big Top name has been with us ever since, even through the changing themes. Today, I feel rather like the ringmaster of that Big Top, as I step into the ring to conduct the annual celebration service which concludes the holiday club. The children will be excited, their parents will be intrigued, and the rest of the church will be …there.  If preaching always contains an element of juggling, and especially at an all-age service, then today it feels rather like juggling with elephants!

Behind the children gathered at the front will be people with all the kind of needs which usually come into church on a Sunday. Some will be bereaved, some will be worried about friends and relations in the path of America’s hurricane, some will be anxious about their job security, and others will feel in need of spiritual clarity. Occasionally, above the waving arms of the children during their action songs, I will catch their eye and find myself reminded of all this.

On such an occasion, with so many competing needs, the preacher’s greatest resource is the Word of God itself. Dress it up how you will, surround it with crafts and action songs and dancing puppets if you will, but the Word of God retains its own spiritual weight and dignity. The Gospel message, which has underlined all our activities for 3- 11 year olds this week, is not a children’s story. It is God’s story for every man, woman and child. At such a time as this, longing to meet the needs of holiday club children, staff and parents, yet aware of the needs of those whose lives have taken them elsewhere all week, my heart’s desire is to ‘correctly handle the Word of truth’. (2 Timothy 2 v. 15) Correctly handled, the Word will meet each need, and settle at the right level in every heart.

Image: Teddingtonbaptist.org

Stone of hope

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A new memorial graces Washington DC

Today (hurricane Irene permitting) 48 years after he delivered his momentous ‘I have a dream’ speech, a memorial to Martin Luther King Jnr will be officially unveiled overlooking a peaceful stretch of water in Washington DC. The statue will stand in a direct line between the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, overlooking the Tidal Basin. The location, of course, is deliberate.  It represents Martin Luther King’s key place in the development of America’s self-understanding.

The memorial stands higher than either of those flanking it, at a massive 30 feet high.  As if pushed forward from the rough stone either side, King himself emerges from the ‘mountain of despair’.  To ensure that visitors understand the connection his own words from his most famous speech are etched on the stone:with this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.

 

Image: history.com

There is no doubt at all that the memorial is both deserved and impressive. However, as a wordsmith constantly in awe of Dr King’s ability to instruct, inspire and challenge through words alone I can’t help but feel that it is a somewhat  pale imitation. The lines etched by his words on many a heart will outlast those etched by any stonemason, surely?