What is the Arlington Statement on Bible Translation, why is it important, and what does it have to do with the divine name, especially in the NT? And did the NT writers try to make a distinction between Yahweh and Jesus? In this episode linguist, Bible translator, and former Mormon Seth Vitrano-Wilson joins us to talk about those things, offer some perspective on Bible translation in Muslim contexts, and more.

You can read Seth's paper here.

Seth did another interview recently that covers more about the Arlington Statement here.

Here is SIL's response to the Arlington Statement, which is impossible to find if you don't know exactly where to look:

SIL and its partners in the Wycliffe Global Alliance believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. As such, Bible translations must always faithfully reflect the meaning of the Scriptures in a way that communicates clearly without distortion. SIL is committed to translation practices that result in accurate, clear, and natural translations. As a member of the Forum of Bible Agencies International (FOBAI), SIL is committed to the translation standards of FOBAI and the standards based on the guidelines of the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) and has processes in place to ensure that its work adheres to these.

SIL’s concern about the Arlington statement centers around its prescriptive approach. It is more restrictive than the FOBAI and World Evangelical Alliance standards, which maintained a commitment to faithful translations while including carefully crafted language about the movement’s rich diversity. We believe that our current standards and policies enable us to achieve accuracy while appropriately engaging with the different contexts in which we serve.
Therefore SIL is not supportive of the Arlington Statement.

Dick Kroneman, SIL International Translation Coordinator

Pronouncing and Translating the Divine Name part 8 - The Arlington Statement & kurios in the NT with Seth Vitrano-Wilson