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Technical
Terms A
technical term is word or phrase that has a very
specialized meaning in addition to a more common meaning.
In theological circles a technical term may have a different
theological meanings to different religious groups.
As an example, let's consider the technical term baptize. In the Gospels we read about John baptizing
his fellow Jews, so it must be something that is found in the Jewish
culture. However, many of
us were not familiar with the Jewish culture. Some
are aware of infant baptism in the Roman Catholic
Church; therefore baptism can be something that is done to a baby.
I was raised in a Southern Baptist Church in which only
adults were eligible for baptism.
So for those from the same background as me, baptism is something
done to adults. In modern Orthodox
Judaism women are baptized every month after their
monthly period; therefore, for them, baptism is something that adult
women do. The Roman
Catholic Church doesn't require women to be baptized every month after
their period. Neither my
Southern Baptist Church nor Orthodox Judaism would allow infants to be
baptized. In
addition to the above differences, in my Southern Baptist Church
the person being baptized was dunked under water by a minister who held
them. But at the Methodist Church the minister sprinkled
water over the person's head and called it "baptism."
In the case of an Orthodox Jewish woman, the woman
immerses herself completely under the water without anyone holding her.
Are
you beginning to get the picture? Depending
on your religious background and personal experiences, the mental image
that you get when you encounter the word "baptism" may be very
different from what someone else sees.
Many years ago, I remember reading the story about John the
Baptist and I pictured him baptizing all those people just like my
minister baptized me -- holding them and dunking them under water one by
one. It never occurred to
me that he might have done it differently.
Later, after becoming a minister and baptizing people myself, I
wondered how he had the strength to hold and dunk hundreds of people
under the water without collapsing.
The word baptism is both a technical term and a transliteration. We will learn more about transliterations later, but I will give you a quick preview now. When a translator is working with a Greek or Hebrew text he has several options. Usually, he will translate it, which means he will determine the meaning of the word and then use that meaning in his English translation. However, in some cases, the translator simply substitutes English letters that are the equivalents of the foreign letters instead of providing a meaning. This is called transliterating the word. Below is a table that shows how how we get the English word baptism from Greek.
The complete transliteration is BAPTIZON. Translators drop the case ending and the English word becomes "baptize." Since
the word baptism is both a technical term
and a transliteration, it should immediately raise two red
flags. First, we must ask which
bundle of associations would the author have meant for us to understand?
Next we should ask why the translator chose to not
translate the Greek word? Don't
be surprised if you discover that an accurate translation creates a
conflict with an establish church doctrine or ritual.
This, of course, would create problems for the institution and
that institution may be the one funding the translation project.
We
have also discovered that commercial publishers may be more concerned
with selling books that providing accuracy.
If a translation strays too far from the traditional path,
publishers may not be interested in risking the funds that are required
to publish it. I do not
hold them responsible because they are in the business of publishing
books. The institutions and scholars providing the translations are
a different matter. |
