KUALA LUMPUR: A ‘bible’ in Indonesian Malay but without the word “Allah” used in it was promoted during the International Book Fair held recently at the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur. The promoters had the book on display among other Islamic books on the first days of the Book Fair.
They also had leaflets for the whole period of the same Book Fair from April 17 – 26, among other Islamic leaflets, announcing that the “KITAB SUCI” has been printed.
Though they did not have any ‘Kitab Suci’ for sale, they instead suggested that the book be purchased on an online order using the website address they provided We are reminded of an earlier incident when a “Gospel of Barnabas” was on sale in a number of Muslim bookshops but not in any Christian bookshop. That ‘Gospel’, we know, is a false ‘gospel’ written by a Muslim.
On hearing of the publication — “Kitab Suci”, we wrote to the publishers in Indonesia to enquire if this edition of the “Kitab Suci” was approved by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference or the Bible Society of Indonesia (BSI). Our email returned with the tag ‘delivery failure’.
We then wrote to the two Authorities that approve the publication of the Bible in Indonesia. Their reply was in the negative. We were informed by a member of the Indonesian Bible Society that this “Kitab Suci” was done on the basis of J.P. Green’s literal translation. He wrote that “to some extent it differs from the earlier plagiaristic (sic) version.”
What this means is that there was an earlier version in which the word “Allah”, or God, was replaced with “Elohim” and “Tuhan” , or “Lord”, with “Yahweh” in the K. This is crass plagiarism! Faced with this situation, we read the first chapter of the Gospel of St John in English, and took note that there were only two words, namely GOD and LORD used in this chapter.
Then we turned to the ORIGINAL VERSION IN GREEK of the same first chapter of the Gospel according to John and we found that the terms “Elohim” and “Yahweh” were NOT used but instead “Theos” for God and “Kurios” for Lord.
Therefore, how can the publishers of “Kitab Suci” mention in the flyer distributed at PWTC that “it was not to make a new translation, nor yet to make of a bad one a good one but to make a good one better”? It is obvious that the original Greek version did not have ELOHIM and YAHWEH. Are these publishers, who have no authority to publish the Bible, saying that the original Greek version is wrong? What is their evidence for such an assumption?
What is certain, however, is that the publishers have cheated in the first instance by their manipulation of the words ELOHIM and YAHWEH, had second thoughts about their plagiarized version, and therefore have amended the current version of their “Kitab Suci”. This version varies from the earlier plagiaristic version. But the BSI pointed out to us that “anybody familiar with the Indonesian Standard Version (Alkitab Terjemahan Baru, 1974) would be able to detect their more covert plagiarism of the publishers of the “Kitab Suci.”
We as Christians are naturally disturbed by the fact that such a publication has been allowed to be promoted in Malaysia — one which does not have the approval of the authorities that give recognition to the credibility and trustworthiness of the translation of a bible. Are we, through this publication, condoning the stealing of another’s intellectual property without any qualms about this theft? This is outrageous, to say the least.
Originally published in The Herald on 23 April 2009 by Fr. Lawrence Andrew, SJ. Republished with permission.
The Micah Mandate is a Christian-based public interest advocacy ministry that seeks a transformation of our nation through justice, mercy and humility.
May 1st, 2009 at 11:38 am
Dakyah or Taqqiyah?
Very interesting to see the other literature that was photographed together with the copy of the Kitab Suci, ie. (Yahweh) Name Tuhan Yang Harus Diingat Kembali.
May 1st, 2009 at 12:05 pm
One thing is for sure, this isn’t dakwah. I think the answer to your question is “both”; it is both dakyah and taqqiyah.
There’s nothing that surprises me today: from the very absurd and laughable self-proclaimed “former Catholic priest” from Sabah who says Christians believe Mary is part of the Trinity on TV1 (government machinery) to articles like this in Utusan (http://www.utusan.com.my/utusan/info.asp?y=2008&dt=1209&pub=Utusan_Malaysia&sec=Bicara_Agama&pg=ba_01.htm) with inflammatory words like “menanamkan permusuhan” and “dakyah” itself, etc.
But will there be folks on their side who will listen or are they still held in captivity within the confines like the proverbial “katak bawah tempurung” by their religious and political masters?
Unfortunately, no matter how many times Christians who bother to take the time to explain for e.g. that no one Christian believes that Mary is part of the Trinity, there will always be the suspicion that we’re lying.
Sometimes I wonder whether it is really worth is to try to explain when all they want to do, is to run you down, convert your children (beware Christian bumiputeras of Sabah and Sarawak) covertly and deviously.
I weep for Muslims all over who remain blinded either by choice or by force.
June 17th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
Yth. FR LAWRENCE ANDREW, ST. Salam sejahtera di dalam Tuhan Yang Mahaesa, Tuhan yang disembah oleh Abraham, Ishak dan Yakub … yang datang ke dalam dunia, menjadi manusia, yaitu YESUS Kristus, yang mati di atas kayu salib demi menebus dosa umat manusia, yang bangkit dari antara orang mati, dan naik ke surga … yang berjanji akan datang kembali menjemput setiap orang yang percaya kepada-Nya. Kiranya Roh Kudus memberi kita pencerahan, agar kita dapat mengerti kehendak-Nya.
Menanggapi artikel yang ditulis di http://www.heraldmalaysia.com oleh FR LAWRENCE ANDREW, ST. Kami adalah penerbit Kitab Suci Indonesian Literal Translation, yaitu Yayasan Lentera Bangsa, dan kami memang hadir di Malaysia pada acara Pesta Buku Antar Bangsa (Malaysian Book Fair) April 17-26 di PWTC. Kami ingin informasikan, bahwa KAMI ADALAH PENGIKUT YESUS KRISTUS, dan KAMI KRISTEN. Jadi jangan samakan kami dengan penerbit/penulis Gospel of Barnabas (Injil Barnabas).
Saat di PWTC, memang kami hanya mendisplay KS-ILT (Kitab Suci Indonesian Literal Translation) pada hari pertama, karena kami tidak diizinkan mendisplay terus di hari berikutnya, karena di Malaysia, Alkitab/Kitab Suci Kristen tidak boleh dijual secara umum (menurut seorang Petugas dari Kementrian Dalam Negeri Kerajaan Malaysia, .. saat itu dia memperkenalkan diri bernama Bpk. Zainal dan Zulkifli).
Di Indonesia, Kitab Suci Indonesian Literal Translation telah digunakan oleh banyak Gereja Tuhan, dan banyak Pendeta-pendeta seperti: Pdt. Daniel Alexander, Pdt. KAM Yusuf Rony, Pdt. Benjamin Obadjah, Pdt. Yuda Maiool (Yehuda Gospel Ministry), Pdt. Stephen Dji, Pdt. Yakub Sulistyo, dan gereja-gereja mereka. Dan masih banyak gereja-gereja di Indonesia sudah memakainya. Kitab Suci Indonesian Literal Translation BUKAN JIPLAKAN, karena dikerjakan oleh sebuah team penerjemahan di bawah lembaga/yayasan yang legal (legalitas dari Pemerintah Indonesia lengkap), dan dari sumber yang bisa dipertanggungjawabkan yaitu The Interlinear (Jay. P Green, Sr.) dengan MoU! The Interlinear memakai naskah sumber Masoretic Text (naskah sumber berbahasa Ibrani untuk Perjanjian Lama) dan Textus Receptus (naskah sumber berbahasa Yunani untuk Perjanjian Baru). Akan halnya Perjanjian Baru Kitab Suci ini memuat juga nama YAHWEH, hal itu oleh karena kami juga mengambil HNT (Hewbrew New Testament) sebagai rujukan. Kitab Suci Indonesian Literal Translation diterjemahkan mendekati literal, dengan mempertahankan bentuk kata/kalimat, feminim/maskulin, aktif/fasif, dan berusaha mempertahankan setiap kata dalam text bahasa sumber dan menerjemahkannya apa adanya. Oleh karena itu, di dalamnya terdapat nama YAHWEH, karena ada sekitar 7000 kali nama itu disebut. Di dalamnya juga digunakan sebutan/generic name Elohim — karena kata/nama generik itu terlalu sulit mencari padanannya di dalam bahasa Indonesia (itu sangat jelas menunjukan bahwa Tuhan kita itu Tri Tunggal, Esa! Karena kata tersebut adalah kata yang plural namun diperlakukan sebagai single — untuk menyebut/sebagai sebutan bagi Tuhan).
Sebagai informasi, bahwa Kitab Suci Indonesian Literal Translation ini sedang dalam kajian akademis di banyak Sekolah Tinggi Teologia (kami sudah mengirimkan surat dan sample ke lebih dari 100 STT di Indonesia), dan kami juga mengirimkan lebih dari 150 sample seluruh sinode gereja di Indonesia. Kami berharap, setiap orang Kristen dapat mengerti bahwa kita memiliki Tuhan Yang Maha Cemburuan, dan Tuhan ingin kita mengingat nama-Nya yang mulia dan suci itu! Akhirnya, kami bersedia mengirimkan sample Kitab Suci Indonesian Literal Translation tersebut bagi Bapak FR LAWRENCE ANDREW, ST., dan juga HERALD. Mohon replay email ini dengan memberikan alamat pos yang lengkap, agar kami bisa mengirimkannya kepada Bapak.
Demikian kami sampaikan, kami bersedia memberi penjelasan lebih lanjut jika Bapak memerlukannya. Tuhan YESUS memberkati.
Cuplikan kitab ada di link ini … klik saja! http://books.google.co.id/books?id=xOnpRGpkFFcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=YLB&ei=vMaKSfOKDp-4lATYpJTJBQ
Salam dan hormat,
Samuel
YAYASAN LENTERA BANGSA
Ruko Cempaka Mas Blok K-31 Jakarta Pusat 10640 Indonesia
Telp. 021-42889058, 42886275;
Fax. 021-42889085
Website: http://www.yalensa.org
Email: ks-ilt@yalensa.org;
Dapat juga email ke sahabatilahi@gmail.com
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Apa kata Pdt. Daniel Alexander tentang pemulihan Nama Tuhan??
Silakan lihat klip berikut, Gbu.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zsl2A_KfHgc
October 19th, 2009 at 9:00 am
Greetings in the name of YaHWeH (Psalm83:18 the name in the Hebrew text)
YaHWeH (YHWH) in Hebrew letters is the original proper name of God used in the O.T. 6825+ times. God is (Elohim) in Hebrew and not Allah.
Since the Muslems claim the proper name of their deity as, “Allah”. Let them have it, use it, and worship it, as it was not in the original Hebrew that way anyway. And as Islam claims their god to have NO SON… Hence Allah, can NOT be the God of the Christians. For true christians acknowledge and worship the son of God as God.
The same is the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob (Israel) who’s God’s proper name is rightly YaHWeH and is also the God of the Christians. Proverbs30:4 Many places where the O.T. is quoted in the N.T. proves YaHWeH belongs in the N.T. also. Likewise many Christian scholars today believe much of the N.T. was original wrote in Hebrew, not Greek. Proverbs 30:4 1Timothy3:16 Isaiah 9:6 John 10:30
As the Apostles were all Jews (Hebrews) but the Greeks become the primary church AFTER that first generation. The oldest manuscripts fragmates dating only back to the time of the Greek church, around 200 A.D. These were copies, not the original signatures of the Apostles.
The PROTESTANT reformation was all started over the FREE translation and printing of the scritpures in the people’s common tongue instead of letting them be controlled by the LATIN language (Catholics) or secular government which was the practice then.
The devil only fights against the truth.
NO PERSON or group holds a copyright on “God’s word”, the bible. Therefore all men, all translators are copying God. Because God is the author of the Word of God, therefore let whosoever translate that wills, and let them defend their translations as has been done in English since the reformation.
Revelation 1:2 & 1:9; 6:9, 20:4
God’s blessing upon all that worship the true and living God, YaHWeH Elohim, Messiah Yahweshua; and stand for the Word of God.
Mark 4:9 And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Yours for the truth of the scritpures,
Leo