3 - Translations of the Bible and the cultural impulse

Summary

The reception of the Bible in the vernacular sidestepped the controversies that accompanied the circulation of the Bible in early modern Europe. However, unwittingly, it produced the movements of indigenisation and liberation. The stimulus of indigenous theology was often a corollary and consequence of the creation of the vernacular Bible, with the work of field inquiry opening the door to indigenous inquiry and reflection. Bible translation evoked and reinforced the religious substratum of traditional society, with biblical stories opening the way for the recovery of local narrative traditions. With the impetus of the Bible Society of Java, which was founded in 1816, Portuguese gave way to Malay in Bible translation. The religious motive of the missionary vocation often encouraged missionaries to try to produce translations of enduring value. The message of the Bible ended the isolation of tribe and language, slowed the process of neglect and indifference, and allowed translators use obscure languages to produce a simple communication system.