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Evangelicals and dynamic equivalence
Re the recent discussion on this subject by Sennett, McCartney, et al.:
As an evangelical (a term I prefer to "fundamentalist" since I am not
involved in jihad, polygamy, or snake handling) I have personally observed
the type of folks noted by Sennett and I can relate to McCartney's
concerns about stereotypes. I once observed a Wycliffe translator being
attacked by literalists on the grounds of dynamic eqivalence being contrary
to verbal inspiration. It seems to me that an answer to this difficulty
should involve acknowledging that verbal inspiration infers that not only the
words but also their syntactic structure and idiomatic flavor are inspired.
As a means of revelation, inspired scripture must accommodate to the linguistic
conventions of its audience. Thus inspiration of words AND their arrangements
is not in tension with dynamic equivalence.
On another note, Tyndale House has hired a group of evangelical scholars to
revise the Living Bible. This process has been going on for some time and
the revision is expected to be completed relatively soon. Tyndale House
promises that the lexical and syntactical errors of the old LB will be
eliminated. We'll see....
David L. Turner Office: 616/949-5300 x287
Professor of New Testament Fax: 616/949-4154
Grand Rapids Baptist Seminary E-mail: dturner@grbcs.edu
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