Starved of God's Word

One evening several months ago, I was reading an article on traditional African religious views and how their influence has affected the growth and impact of Christianity. I was deeply struck by one particular paragraph in the book which clearly shows why Bible translation is such a huge need in Africa:

"The African Christian often finds it difficult to identify with the Scriptural view of the spirit world. It does not seem to match the worldview that he absorbed from earliest childhood. Most African Christians do not have access to a translation of the Scriptures in their own languages, so they read in a second language or, for the most part, learn about it through interpreters. This not only limits access by the believers to the Scriptures which is the only sure foundation for a biblical faith, but it virtually makes it impossible for the truth of the Bible to become alive in the cultures of these people." *

The author goes on to say that not only do most African people lack adequate access to the Scriptures, they are also frequently not taught clear, sound biblical doctrine in matters that are especially important to their culture and worldview. For example, the Scriptural teachings on demons and angels are not clearly compared and contrasted with the traditional African view of the spirit world, and the result is often a general confusion and lack of understanding of the truth. And since most of them cannot read the Bible in a language they understand well, they cannot, as the Bereans did, "search the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so" (Acts 17:11) and learn the truth for themselves.

Oh, that there were more people who would give their lives to helping to meet the great need for the Word of God for the people of Africa!

* Karl Grebe 1997, "African Traditional Religions", page 22. Extracted from an electronic file in LinguaLinks Library 5.0.