Talking About Translation
The always-irenic Wayne Leman at Better Bibles Blog links to a back-and-forth on Bible translation theory that manages to generate more light than heat. Translation issues don't get much play here, where the focus is on design and binding, partly because I follow Augustine's advice that it's best to have a variety of translations and compare, and partly because I'd quickly exhaust my little fund of expertise. (If you really want to know my thoughts, I share them in a Radio Worldview podcast called "Bible Translations" which is linked under the Features headline at right.)One thing I wonder is how the conversation on translation would change if the focus were more on how to translate particular texts than on theory in the abstract. In aesthetics, I know it's possible to build elaborate theories that aren't really borne out in the work of the artists who espouse them, and it seems to me a similar phenomenon happens with translation. We could probably all think of particular renderings that set our teeth on edge -- but is it because of the theory behind the entire endeavor, or the choices made in translating a particular line?
J. Mark Bertrand is a novelist and pastor whose writing on Bible design has helped spark a publishing revolution. Mark is the author of Rethinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World (Crossway, 2007), as well as the novels Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide—described as a “series worth getting attached to” (Christianity Today) by “a major crime fiction talent” (Weekly Standard) in the vein of Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, and Henning Mankell.
Mark has a BA in English Literature from Union University, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston, and an M.Div. from Heidelberg Theological Seminary. Through his influential Bible Design Blog, Mark has championed a new generation of readable Bibles. He is a founding member of the steering committee of the Society of Bible Craftsmanship, and chairs the Society’s Award Committee. His work was featured in the November 2021 issue of FaithLife’s Bible Study Magazine.
Mark also serves on the board of Worldview Academy, where he has been a member of the faculty of theology since 2003. Since 2017, he has been an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife Laurie life in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.