Upvote:1
Because word of God is living and active, it cuts between soul and spirit, it discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart says author of Hebrews. St. John tells us that Jesus is word of God and he tabernacles in our midst. We are not Muslims where only Arabic is valid. No. Jesus spoke Hebrew/Aramaic which gets translated to Greek and Old Testament Masoretic text likely has been corrupted so Greek translation (LXX) is best. All we have is translation, because we do not worship a book, but a living God who is our Word.
Upvote:4
Mark 16:15 (NIV) He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.
Matthew 28:19 (NIV) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
God wants all nations and languages to know Jesus Christ.
Acts 1:8 (NIV) But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
As per the words of Jesus Christ, the Gospel was first preached in Judea. After that, Philip preached the Gospel in Samaria. Latter, Paul became the main person to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles, travelling as far as he could and end up in Rome, the center of the world at that time. The first century Christians spoke Aramaic and Greek, hence the New Testament was written mostly in Greek.
After 300 years, after persecuting the Christians for a long time, Rome finally became a Christian empire. Latin was the language of ancient Rome and hence was used for the language of sacred scripture. Till the 11th century, Christianity flourished mostly around Rome and Europe only and Latin was considered the sacred language. From the 15th century on wards, we see a great change. Reformations took place and many missionaries are sent to many parts of the world. This Missionary movement results in translation of Bible into different languages.
It is the will of God that the whole world should know Jesus Christ. The Gospel was already preached in Judea and Samaria. Now, it is our duty to fulfill the will of Jesus Christ that the Gospel should reach the ends of the world. Hence, translation of Bible in all languages is a necessity. For this reason, Christians tolerate translation of the Scripture unlike other religions.