Part 3 -

What do we do when two different people come to the table with conflicting translations of the same idea or word? Is there an objective test to determine which translation is the best available?

First of all, the word "objective" is a bit scary, especially when it's dealing with language. Language is an art. It's not easily quantifiable. It's fluid, in motion, changing, dancing, evolving. That's why Shakespeare can be such a daunting task... the words he said aren't the words we would say.

So when it comes to defining words and ideas for the purpose of translation there's no getting around the dilemma of occasionally deciding between two or more conflicting and even contradictory definitions or responses to a certain word or idea. So how do we choose?

...Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them... Matthew 7:20

Jesus equates the legitimacy of false prophet's message with fruit, saying that a good tree can't bear bad fruit and vice versa. For purposes of translation, the measure of a words worth, relevance, importance should be the fruit that the idea or concept will bear when applied. When talking about words or ideas that relate to God the translation that produces the best fruit (result, situation) for the greatest number of people for the greatest amount of time should be accepted as the best translation for a word or idea.

Therefore the greatest definition of grace is not the definition which allows me the freedom to chose my own destruction through my actions, but the definition which takes into consideration the self-destructive choices that I make, and turns those choices into positive results... or good fruit.

The words that we use have immediate implications for every life because before they ever have the opportunity to be translated, they must first be rooted in something "real." If we LIVE a definition that falls short of Christ, we portray a broken and faulty image of the one we follow. The consequence for those outside the church are dire, but the consequences for we who hold those definitions are possibly more dire, because we will face the charge of not being good stewards of what we have been given... a faithful portrayal of Truth in the person of Christ and a Divine Helper in the Holy Spirit.

The point is... what we say matters very much, especially in matters of faith and practice.

As the Church we have been entrusted with the Hope of the world. We have been given the keys to the Kingdom, and we have a resonsibility and a charge to take those keys an unlock every door that stands in the way of people getting to Christ. Paul asks the question, "how will they believe if they do not hear?" The rhetorical answer is that they won't. We're always saying something and what we are saying affects what people are believing. We're always communicating. We believe something about Christ and grace and truth and life, and what we believe is manifested every day of our lives. Christ came and translated God for us in images and stories that fit His time and His culture. His goal was to make God accessible to us. If He didn't speak the language of the people He was trying to reach, His mission would have been a failure. But His message wasn't limited to the words, "greater love has no man than laying his life down for his friends," His message was the fulfillment of that love. In a sense, the words He said were signposts so we would recognize the God He was trying to show us.

I've taken a long time to say that it doesn't matter if we have the most dictionary faithful verbal definition of Christ and the Church and matters of faith if our lives are devoid of the context to process them. The important work of translating what we say (salvation, grace, hope, sanctification, prayer, etc.) is meaningless futility if we don't live the Truth at a level beyond what we say. It must first be in us, before it will ever be intelligible coming from us.

So what are the words that you say that don't have meaning or context in your life, and what translation does that give for the passers by in your life?

Part 4 - Culturally speaking...