A controversy is brewing over three reputable Christian organizations, which are based in North America, whose efforts have ousted the words “Father” and “Son” from new Bibles. Wycliffe Bible Translators, Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) and Frontiers are under fire for “producing Bibles that remove “Father,” “Son” and “Son of God” because these terms are offensive to Muslims.”
Concerned Christian missionaries, Bible translators, pastors, and national church leaders have come together with a public petition to stop these organizations. They claim a public petition is their last recourse because meetings with these organizations’ leaders, staff resignations over this issue and criticism and appeals from native national Christians concerned about the translations “have failed to persuade these agencies to retain “Father” and “Son” in the text of all their translations.”
Biblical Missiology, a ministry of Boulder, Colorado-based Horizon International, is sponsoring the petition.
The main issues of this controversy surround new Arabic and Turkish translations. Here are three examples native speakers give:
First, Wycliffe and SIL have produced Stories of the Prophets, an Arabic Bible that uses an Arabic equivalent of “Lord” instead of “Father” and “Messiah” instead of “Son.”
Second, Frontiers and SIL have produced Meaning of the Gospel of Christ , an Arabic translation which removes “Father” in reference to God and replaces it with “Allah,” and removes or redefines “Son.” For example, the verse which Christians use to justify going all over the world to make disciples, thus fulfilling the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19) reads, “Cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit” instead of “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Rev. Bassam Madany, an Arab American who runs Middle East Resources, terms these organization’s efforts as “a western imperialistic attempt that’s inspired by cultural anthropology, and not by biblical theology.”
Third, Frontiers and SIL have produced a new Turkish translation of the Gospel of Matthew that uses Turkish equivalents of “guardian” for “Father” and “representative” or “proxy” for “Son.” To Turkish church leader Rev. Fikret Böcek, “This translation is ‘an all-American idea’ with absolutely no respect for the ‘sacredness’ of Scripture, or even of the growing Turkish church.”
SIL has issued a public response stating “all personnel subscribe to a statement of faith which affirms the Trinity, Christ’s deity, and the inspiration of Scripture.” However, in the same statement, which is similar to Wycliffe’s, it claims “word-for-word translation of these titles would communicate an incorrect meaning (i.e. that God had physical, sexual relationships with Mary) [sic],” thus justifying substituting “Father” and “Son” in new translations. Calls and emails to Wycliffe and SIL to clarify their positions were not returned. Frontiers responded to calls with articles that critics have already dismissed as skirting omissions of “Father” and “Son” in new Bible translations.
True Discernment 
Excuse me. But who cares if Muslums are offended by certain terminology in the Bible. The Bible is not their Holy Book, the Koran is. They need to stick to their Allah, which is a false god, in any case. It’s bad enough that over the years God’s name, Jehovah, has been taken out of the holy scriptures. What cowards. The scriptures spell out very plainly that cowards will have eternal death in Gehenna. This is just one more step by those who fear man instead of the creator. In the end it won’t go well with any of them.
That is one of the most blasphemous things I have ever heard. To change the word Father in scripture for “allah” a devil god is spiritual depravity at it’s worst.
allah is a demon god, just one of the many masks satan wears.
I despise “allah” as being an evil devil god of muslim idolators.
I could care less if muslims are offended by truth, they are always offended at true Christianity because they are in darkness and dead in their tresspasses and sins.
Donna: Amen to your response. Say how it is, girl friend!
The bible says that justification by faith is offensive to the Jews, and foolishness to the Gentiles, so are they going to take it out next? Thank you for keeping us aware of the signs of the times, but don’t be surprised by them………just be ready for them.
God bless.
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. (Rev 22:18-19)
Here is Wycliffe’s response. You will find some big holes here…
http://www.wycliffe.net/resources/missiology/Bibletranslationandmission/tabid/96/Default.aspx?id=2213
You would think these organizations could just use the exact biblical wording with an asterisk followed by a page reference that explains that the wording does not imply anything that compares to human biology. That the terminology illustrates that the creator is a far more complex than his human creations with three distinct parts/persons but joined in one actual living and spiritual being. That the full nature of God is something that is beyond human intellect or understanding which is quite acceptable in our limited intellectual ability to understand an all powerful, knowing and transcendent God who created everything we know and see in the physical Universe.
Their explanation has quite a few major holes in it! And sadly their explanation says the same thing as the above article.
Muslims do find the term “Son of God” blasphemous because they refuse to accept the fact that God the Father could have a Son! And it is not because of the shallow reasoning that Wycliffe try’s to use!
When you are in a pagan and Anti-Christ false religion there is a satanic element to it that blinds people to the truth. What Wycliffe seemingly do not grasp is that it takes intercessory prayer to ask God to loose this blindness!
Matthew 17:19-20:
“Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”
And since they do not understand this, they try to come up with humanistic explanations for butchering the word of God to try to make it acceptable to people in false religions!
Today Dr. Jack Van Impe aired a national TV and radio show rebuking and exposing Wycliffe.
It is at:
[audio src="http://podcast.jvim.com/audio/1207.mp3" /]
I had to laugh. The woman speaking reminded me of Glenda the good witch in the Wizard of Oz. I mean no disrespect, just a funny observation.