Why Do We Need to Translate the Bible into the Vernacular?

Why is it so important to translate the Bible into the vernacular?

Much of the thinness of the modern mission movement comes from a lack of confidence in the power of the word of God. What that means is not seeing that the Bible, scripture is the light God uses to drive out darkness, that the gospel is the power of God for salvation. Having a slim confidence in that and placing greater confidence in our techniques, our own abilities, our own practices, what that means is we're not prepared, very often, to put the work in to good translation efforts. But if we believe that scripture alone is the powerful message that can turn a heart from idolatry and love of darkness to adoration of Christ––not my words, not what I say, not my impressiveness, my ability to communicate, but scripture's message––then we must make that scripture intelligible to people so that they can read it and so that they can study and go deeper.

The way in which scripture proves itself to be this darkness-driving-out light, this lamp to the world, the way in which it proves it is not by little verses thrown out––though they are part of scripture––it proves itself to be divine by the big sweep of its ideas, by the concept of a creator God whose world is fallen, who steps into that world to redeem it, who lays aside His glory and humility to bear the sins of people to redeem them and and so to bring a new creation out of the rubbles of sin. That big picture is what people need to press into. Therefore they need to have the ability to read scripture and to read large chunks of scripture, because the more of scripture that they can have, the more it will prove itself to them to be the heavenly word of God. It will be then more powerful as a light to drive out their darkness.

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