TRANSLATING the First Nations NT with Terry Wildman (ep. 12)

On this episode of the podcast, we talk with Terry Wildman, founder of Rain ministries and head of the translation team for the First Nations Version, an indigenous translation of the New Testament that involved a council of 12 and over 50 representatives from the native peoples of North America.

See the website here: https://firstnationsversion.com/

Order from IVP: https://www.ivpress.com/first-nations-version 

My co-host for this episode is Dr. Gayle Doornbos, professor of theology at Dordt. Together we discuss:

• The story behind this indigenous translation of the New Testament and the many contributing scholars
• The history of colonialism and how the translation team handled English words with negative connotations for native peoples (e.g., sin, kingdom)
• The unique practice of translating names by what they mean, so that Jerusalem is rendered "Village of Peace" and Paul is "Small Man". 
• What it might mean for the larger body of Christ to receive this new translation as a gift from the native peoples of North America.

Terry also reads a beautiful passage of Scripture for us (from Hebrews 1).

Here is my written reflection on the translation (which I use in part to introduce the episode): https://inallthings.org/gained-in-translation-a-review-of-the-first-nations-version/