Pastoral Bible (Chinese)
Encyclopedia
The Chinese Pastoral Bible ( or ; pinyin
: mùlíng shèngjīng; jyutping
: muk6 ling4 sing3 ging1) is the Chinese
edition of the Christian Community Bible
. Work on the translation began in 1991, took 5 years to finish, and the completed translation was published in 1999. This translation is available in both traditional and simplified Chinese.
Due to its criticisms, some regard this translation as being a poor translation unsuitable for lay people
without extensive prior theological
training; at the same time, there are also people who recommend this translation to lay people.
format; a browsable HTML
version is also available.
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: mùlíng shèngjīng; jyutping
Jyutping
Jyutping is a romanization system for Cantonese developed by the Linguistic Society of Hong Kong in 1993. Its formal name is The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong Cantonese Romanization Scheme...
: muk6 ling4 sing3 ging1) is the Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
edition of the Christian Community Bible
Christian Community Bible
The Christian Community Bible refers to a family of translations of the Christian Bible intended to be more accessible to ordinary readers, particularly those in Third World countries...
. Work on the translation began in 1991, took 5 years to finish, and the completed translation was published in 1999. This translation is available in both traditional and simplified Chinese.
Format
Based on existing versions of the Christian Community Bible, the Pastoral Bible:- uses easy-to-understand language
- includes extensive annotations
- has culturally appropriate and pastorally relevant annotations
Criticisms
Since its publication, this translation has been in the center of some controversy due to:- being edited by a team of non-experts with no formal training in bible translation
- being translated not from the original languages (recommended by joint Catholic-Protestant guidelines laid out in Hong Kong in 1987), but instead from the English and other editions of the Christian Community Bible
- containing noted errors
- containing commentaries which may not agree with official church teaching
- using a transliteration scheme that matches neither the Studium Biblicum VersionStudium Biblicum VersionThe Studium Biblicum Version is the predominant Chinese language translation of the Bible used by Chinese Catholics. It is considered by many to be the Chinese Catholic Bible....
nor the Chinese Union VersionChinese Union VersionThe Chinese Union Version is the predominant Chinese language translation of the Bible used by Chinese Protestants. It is considered by many to be the Chinese Protestant’s Bible....
.
Due to its criticisms, some regard this translation as being a poor translation unsuitable for lay people
Laity
In religious organizations, the laity comprises all people who are not in the clergy. A person who is a member of a religious order who is not ordained legitimate clergy is considered as a member of the laity, even though they are members of a religious order .In the past in Christian cultures, the...
without extensive prior theological
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
training; at the same time, there are also people who recommend this translation to lay people.
Typography
The Pastoral Bible uses modern typographical conventions and is typeset horizontally from left to right. It distinguishes between passages the editors feel to be more important and those felt to be less important, and the less important passages are typeset in a smaller font. This treatment allows the bible to stay within a reasonable thickness despite its extensive annotations, which often take up as much as half of the page.Online versions
The Pastoral Bible is copyrighted, but the publisher has chosen to allow it to be accessed and downloaded online from their web site free of charge. The downloadable version is in Microsoft WordMicrosoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
format; a browsable HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
version is also available.
See also
- Chinese Bible TranslationsChinese Bible TranslationsChinese Bible translations mean all works on translating whole or parts of the Bible into the many dialects of Chinese language. The creation of Chinese Bible Translations began in the nineteenth century, but availability only became widespread in the early twentieth century.-Catholic translation...
- Christian Community BibleChristian Community BibleThe Christian Community Bible refers to a family of translations of the Christian Bible intended to be more accessible to ordinary readers, particularly those in Third World countries...
- Chinese Union VersionChinese Union VersionThe Chinese Union Version is the predominant Chinese language translation of the Bible used by Chinese Protestants. It is considered by many to be the Chinese Protestant’s Bible....
- Studium Biblicum VersionStudium Biblicum VersionThe Studium Biblicum Version is the predominant Chinese language translation of the Bible used by Chinese Catholics. It is considered by many to be the Chinese Catholic Bible....