Reading Tyndale in Juba

William Tyndale was a 16th century scholar who translated much of the Bible from its original languages into colloquial English before dying at age 42.  The "Tyndale Bible," which was not the first English version, but the first to be translated directly from Greek and Hebrew, is actually a series of portions of the Bible published beginning in 1525.  Being an English-speaking Christian, I find this pretty sweet.  And teaching church history to a group of students in the Anglican Communion, I find it pretty relevant. 

Still, it's unnerving to talk about Tyndale from behind the misty cloud of my students' 3/4 comprehension of their third or fourth or fifth language. Not everyone in my class speaks the same native language, but when they speak, they definitely prefer some variety of Arabic to English.  There are, of course, Arabic, Dinka, Nuer, and many other translations of the Bible and of the Book of Common Prayer, which is nice. But there aren't a ton of good textbooks or teachers.  When I told them that, in the spirit of Tyndale, one day this class may be taught in Arabic, I was only mildly offended that they seemed so excited.

- John