Category Archives: Marketing

Linking Data and SIL’s goal of Sharing what they know…

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I have recently been introduced to Linked Data and to RDF. In my investigation, I have noticed that some have said that Linked Data and RDF is much like a solution without a problem (Defense against the claim).

However, the relationships between datasets and the data created by those data sets have been growing over the past few years.

Linking Open Data cloud diagram

Linking Open Data cloud diagram, by Richard Cyganiak and Anja Jentzsch. http://lod-cloud.net/ CC-BY-SA

I am being convinced that at some point there will be enough open data out there that there will be a tipping point where if your data is not shared in this method that app producers will not process your data (without significant extra charge in home-grown apps, or at all for externally produced data consuming apps). This means that the social significance of open and Linked Data in RDF will be more important than, more labor intensive proprietary data sets.

I was watching this video, where several web app and several mobile apps were developed and competed for a prize. What one can do with this data is incredible.

httpv://vimeo.com/25163082

I particularly like the app which tells you how long it takes someone in London to travel from point A to point B.

So where does this come into play with SIL International? Well, SIL is an NGO. NGO’s need engagement strategies. That is, Non-profits and NGOs operate to affect change. They have a compelling story, they tell the story and the hearers of the story are motivated to do some sort of action.

An engaged employee population is a strategic asset that enables organizations to inspire and mobilize their people to achieve specific business objectives. – http://engagementstrategies.com/

This has been the very nature of the Kony 2012 video and story. Their web presence is not about marketing, it is not about messaging, it is not about branding or color palettes. It is about engaging people to commit a certain set of activities. The Kony campaign’s entire web presence from the scripting of the youtube film to the design of their website is about getting people to commit to do and to carry out those suggested activities.

But how does this relate back to RDF and Linked Data? Well, if web apps and mobile apps are going to present data to users and work thought the presentation challenges of User Experience and User Interface in multiple locations and contexts. Then it becomes in the interest of NGOs as data providers to provide data which will affect users for their cause. Some NGO’s like SIL are very involved in content production. Consider the 40,000 plus items in the SIL bibliography of academic and vernacular works produced over their 75+ year history. These bits of content or resources are describable in RDF for data consumers. The obvious question is “Why”? That answer is simple: so that when others use Linked Data your resources are found and thereby promote awareness of your cause.

Let’s say that the organization, Invisible Children released 100,000 images of children who were carrying AK-47s and shooting their parents and were maimed or raped. Let’s also say that these images were also geo-tagged for the locations they were taken in. And that this metadata and these images were made available as Linked Data. Then, when global leaders in internet mapping technologies like Google, Wikipedia, and Yahoo! create web based applications which display Geo-Spacial content from Linked Data sources who’s content do you think is going to be displayed when someone is looking for pictures of Africa?

Some South Sudanese have already taken up arms against Kony

Image from BBC article about Kony. The BBC caption reads: "Some South Sudanese have already taken up arms against Kony and the LRA"

Read the BBC article here.

World Map Navigation

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For one of the web projects I am working in we have been throwing around the idea of having a world map as a navigation element. Each country would then be clickable. This kind of navigation has been done with hyperlinked bitmaps like the LL-Map project.

LL-Map Bitmap

LL-Map Bitmap

Or with flash like the Joshua project.
Joshua Project Front page with Map

Joshua Project Front page with World Map

I have not seen any implementations in HTML5 canvas or in SVG. It occurs to me that these technologies could be used. I am not deeply familiar with either technology. So I did some googling.
I found some interesting articles on the matter.

  • Performance of SVG vs. Canvas [1] Boris Smus. 19 January 2009. Performance of Canvas versus SVG. http://smus.com/canvas-vs-svg-performance [Link] [Accessed: 4 March 2012]
  • How to Choose Between Canvas and SVG [2] Patrick Dengler. 28 September 2011. How to Choose Between Canvas and SVG. http://www.sitepoint.com/how-to-choose-between-canvas-and-svg/#fbid=6CJz-eeIXxl [Link] [Accessed: 4 March 2012]
  • SVG or Canvas? Сhoosing between the two [3] Mihai Sucan. 4 February 2010. SVG or Canvas? Сhoosing between the two. http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/svg-or-canvas-choosing-between-the-two/. [Link] [Accessed: 4 March 2012]
  • CanVG: Using Canvas to render SVG files [4] 29 March 2010. CanVG: Using Canvas to render SVG files. http://ajaxian.com/archives/canvg-using-canvas-to-render-svg-files [Link] [Accessed: 4 March 2012]

I am not sure that I have any answers but this is my thought towards the problem space.

There is one map of languages I have found which deserves to be mentioned. I am not sure of the technology used but it seems it would be either of these methods. It is the map of the Languages of California hosted at Berkeley.

California Languages Map

California Languages Map

References

References
↑1 Boris Smus. 19 January 2009. Performance of Canvas versus SVG. http://smus.com/canvas-vs-svg-performance [Link] [Accessed: 4 March 2012]
↑2 Patrick Dengler. 28 September 2011. How to Choose Between Canvas and SVG. http://www.sitepoint.com/how-to-choose-between-canvas-and-svg/#fbid=6CJz-eeIXxl [Link] [Accessed: 4 March 2012]
↑3 Mihai Sucan. 4 February 2010. SVG or Canvas? Сhoosing between the two. http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/svg-or-canvas-choosing-between-the-two/. [Link] [Accessed: 4 March 2012]
↑4 29 March 2010. CanVG: Using Canvas to render SVG files. http://ajaxian.com/archives/canvg-using-canvas-to-render-svg-files [Link] [Accessed: 4 March 2012]

Presenting Professionals 2

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Current situation at SIL.org

The question has come around to: How does a company present its employees? This question is interesting in an SIL web context because there are no less than 5 places, and potentially more, where SIL staff are presented on the web.

  1. Staff is presented in the SIL corporate Bibliography
  2. Senior staff in key leadership positions are presented on a CV page called the Roster
  3. Staff are eligable for personal webspace on sil.org/~/SomeOne'sName
  4. At a special SIL website like SIL-UND staff pages or at some other program where academics are teaching and staff
  5. A personal Website (not on sil.org)
  6. In a professional network like LinkedIn
  7. JAARS Websites
  8. As part of SIL’s Lingua-Links pages
  9. As part of SIL’s NRSI working group.

    10. Continue reading →

Timeline of Communication

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In recent time there has been a lively discussion over several issues in the translation of the Bible between various denominational and church leaders and those conducting the translation. I am not aware of all the issues, nor all the details. However, my financial supporters and friends are very interested in this discussion. Many of them are coming to the conversation late in the discussion. They do not always start to observe the discussion from the beginning of the discussion. They usually get introduced in the middle, and they do not know enough of the context of the discussion to make heads or tails of the discussion.

The Bystanders

The Bystanders

In the end I lose credibility with my supporters if they are confused and their confusion goes unaddressed. So, I have a vested interest in explaining this conversation to my supporters and friends.Here is an example from 15 February 2012 (14:21CST) of the question I have had and the type of response I have given:

Hugh, I recognize you are not a spokesperson for Wycliffe but there is a lot of “buzz” right now of WBT ad SIL creating Bible versions that are less offensive to Muslims by taking out references to Jesus being the Son of God and to God as the Father. Do you know of this and what is your understanding of it?

My Reply:

Yes. I know a little bit about it. The issue has been brewing for the last 6-7 months. But I don’t know very much about the issue because I do not deal with that part of the world. I do work in External Communications. So my boss works with the people who are crafting the responses. There are several issues going on at the same time.

  1. Wycliffe as a corporation, and as a partner of the evangelical church has not been proactive in communicating the challenges in translation to the churches.
  2. The church has had an attitude of “support and forget”: until someone gets offended and then doesn’t know all the facts and comes at the issue with a particular theological (denominational) view.

To complicate the matter. SIL has been dragged into this media firestorm but has traditionally been silent on translation around the world and left that discussion to Wycliffe. But now SIL has had to respond. So this is new and virgin territory. SIL has said more on Bible translation in the last 6 months than it has in the last 15 years.

Neither Wycliffe nor SIL has taken the lead on explaining to onlookers to the discussion, what the whole discussion on a time line looks like or what the facts are. There are two sides in this discussion and both NGOs would do well to present the objections and the replies in a manner where onlookers could get all the facts. I do not even have a good grasp on this. But there is a lot of fear on the part of the NGOs that if they do this that they will reveal too much, because this is not an area of the world that either company publicizes that it works in. I think there are only like 9 translations in question. The only thing I have read about the issue was here: http://www.wycliffe.net/stories/tabid/67/Default.aspx?id=2408

My question has been if you use the analogy that Jesus is socially the “son” of God, rather than being sired through sexual intercourse with (the virgin) Mary, then how is the zygote formed? I have always believed in a virgin birth (No intercourse), but I also believe that the sperm must have been from God and the egg from Mary.

At any rate the controversy has pitted the churches against the Mission and churches are pulling their support for missionaries.

However, I need to do it understanding the issues they can see and read about. I am not a spokesman for any company. But, as this discussion has turned into a media war, it has increasingly become hard to tell what WycliffeUSA has or has not said when. Content at the same URL can change through time. WycliffeUSA, Wycliffe Global Alliance and SIL International do not use two things consistently in their communications strategy which would make communications clearer to viewers. (Examples in footnotes

  • WycliffeUSA
    WycliffeUSA Page without a date published on it.

    WycliffeUSA Page without a date published on it.

  • SIL International
    SIL Uses month and year but no specific day.

    SIL Uses month and year but no specific day.

  • Translations with the same dates but posted later.

    Translations with the same dates but posted later.

  • Wycliffe Global Alliance
    Wycliffe Global Alliance has no date posted, date.

    Wycliffe Global Alliance has no date posted, date.

    Wycliffe Global Alliance has a date someone else posted.

    Wycliffe Global Alliance has a date someone else posted on an item which is republished with permission.

  • Wycliffe Canada does have a date something was published!
    Wycliffe Canada has the date something was published.

    Wycliffe Canada has the date something was published.

). These two issues are:

  • Post Dates

    • and

  • Update Notices with Dates/time stamps.

It is common practice when issuing a statement online to provide a date on which the content was posted. It is also common practice to show when content has been updated or altered and to tell what has been altered, often it is in response to something left in a comment (in the blogging and columnist worlds).
(I do not necessarily espouse the views of the following post but I use them to present visually what is socially a common practice.)

  • An article on Ron Paul. [1]Michael Conrad. 23 December 2011. Against Ron Paul (Obligatory Ron Paul post – Updated). Progressive Blue. http://www.progressiveblue.com/diary/6291/against-ron-paul-obligatory-ron-paul-post … Continue reading
    Ron Paul article update example

    Ron Paul article update example

  • An Article on the iPad2 [2]Matt Peckham. 29 December 2011. Rumor: Two New iPads in January, iPad 2 Price Drop Expected [Updated]. Time: Techland. … Continue reading
    Techland article

    Techland article update example

  • An article about one of Google’s services [3]Amit Singhal. 3 November 2011. Giving you fresher, more recent search results. Google Official Blog. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/giving-you-fresher-more-recent-search.html [Accessed: 5 … Continue reading
    Google Article

    Google Blog post update example

It has been claimed that WycliffeUSA has altered their FAQ [4]Hussein Wario. 25. February 2012 10:22 AM ET. After 7 Weeks of Denial, Wycliffe now Admits it was involved in producing Bengali Bibles. … Continue reading in a manner which would lead current viewers to think this is always been the way the data has been presented, and therefore always the way the story has been told. If there has been some change then this change should be clearly expressed. (And there are functional, well designed, and tactful ways to express this change without spending lots of page space or focus to the reader in the process of doing so.) However, it is this lack of date giving which makes a time oriented anthology of communication so valuable.

[Update: 5 March 2012: As the following image shows, it would appear that Wycliffe does have an update notice for each item on their FAQ sheet, but it still remains unclear what the content was updated from, or alternatively if the FAQ element was added at this later date as the FAQ page itself has no date published.]
Wycliffe update Notices

WycliffeUSA Update Notices as of 5 March 2012

2012

  1. Christianity Today blog about the PCA.

    22 June 2012

    Jeremy Weber. 22 June 2012. Stop Supporting Wycliffe’s Current Bible Translations For Muslims, PCA Advises Churches. on ChristianityToday.com [Link]

  2. Assembly Approves Report Condemning Muslim Bible Translations

    21 June 2012

    Travis Hutchinson. 21 June 2012. Assembly Approves Report Condemning Muslim Bible Translations. [Link]

  3. Day 3 of the General Assembly of the PCA

    21 June 2012

    John Wesley White. 21 June 2012. Day 3 of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America. [Link]. A play by play report of the day including on the ad interim study committee on the Insider Movement.

  4. Report to the PCA 40th General Assembly

    14 May 2012

    General Assembly of the PCA. 14 May 2012. A Call to Faithful witness. Part I. Like Father Like Son: Divine familial language in Bible Translation. [PDF]

  5. Chairman of WEA Panel announced

    09 May 2012

    WEA Announces Dr. Robert E. Cooley as Chairman of Wycliffe and SIL Review Panel [Link]

  6. Video by OneBook

    03 May 2012

    Hart Wiens of the Canadian Bible Society and Wayne Johnson of OneBook work through the issues of key terms, particularly God and Allah. [Video on YouTube]

  7. 'Latitude' necessary to avoid misunderstanding

    27 April 2012

    An interview with Bob Creason of Wycliffe USA.

    Charlie Butts. 27 April 2012 4:45:00 AM. Bible translator: ‘Latitude’ necessary to avoid misunderstanding. OneNewsNow. [Link] http://www.onenewsnow.com/Church/Default.aspx?id=1586418

  8. Bible Translator Criticized Over Word Substitution

    26 April 2012

    Tom Breen. 26 April 2012. Bible Translator Criticized Over Word Substitution. Associated Press and others via syndication. [Link to NPR]

  9. Is the Scandal for Muslims the How or the Who?

    23 April 2012

    Rev. Fred Farrokh. 2012. Is the Scandal for Muslims the How or the Who?. St Francis Magazine. Vol. 8:2, pp. 213-224. (April 2012). [PDF]

  10. Daily American

    14 April 2012

    Discusses Jack Van Impe (JVI) Ministries handling of the Son of God discussion. [Link]

    Authored by Judi Mickey, Sumerset.

  11. Christianity Today India

    02 April 2012

    runs an article discussing the WEA panel to review the translation practices of Wycliffe Bible Translators.

    Dibin Samuel. 2 April 2012. WEA panel to review Wycliffe Bible translation. Christianity Today India. [Link]

  12. Don't Tamper!

    02 April 2012

    A news article in the Evangelical Times by Richard Buggs addresses the Son of God Issue. [Link]

  13. World Evangelical Alliance

    27 March 2012

    WEA to Form Independent Review Panel on Wycliffe and SIL Bible Translation. [Link] In the light of certain controversies about Bible translation, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA), as a respected and trusted global evangelical association, has been asked to form a panel to independently review Wycliffe and SIL International’s translation of “God the Father” and the “Son of God.”

  14. Warthogs at Wycliffe

    21 March 2012

    Russ Hersman, Senior Vice President at Wycliffe talks to his alma mater, Multnomah University, about some of the controversy Wycliffe has been involved with.

    Russ Hersman.21 March 2012. Warthogs at Wycliffe. [Link] http://www.multnomah.edu/blog/2012/03/21/warthogs-at-wycliffe

  15. John's solution

    10 March 2012

    WorldMag article by John Piper

    http://www.worldmag.com/articles/19235

  16. SIL Releases translations of statement

    09 March 2012

    SIL International released translations of its statement SIL International Statement of Best Practices for Bible Translation of Divine Familial Terms. But it did so and put the dates of the translations as being the same as the release date in English.

    There are really three different dates:

    • date of statement inaction or acceptance as policy
    • Date of English statement release
    • Date of the release of translations of the statement

  17. Invisible Children Video goes viral

    09 March 2012

    56,647,137 million views of a 1/2 hour video occur in 4 days… is anyone even paying attention to Bible Translation?

  18. World Reformed Fellowship comments on Translation Issues

    06 March 2012

    WRF member Steve Taylor comments on the “SIL International Statement of Best Practices for Bible Translation of Divine Familial Terms.” [Link]

  19. Petition reaches 11,219 signatures

    05 March 2012

    Lost In Translation: Keep “Father” & “Son” in the Bible on change.org reaches 11,219 signatures.

  20. Assemblies of God World Missions

    04 March 2012

    R. Hurst Publishes in the March 4, 2012, Pentecostal Evangel. Chris Green comments on this as early as 17 February 2012.

  21. Vern S. Poythress

    01 March 2012

    A Clarification on Translation of “Son” and “Father”. [Link]

  22. Timeline Goes Live

    01 March 2012

    This Timeline on the Son Of God Discussion goes live.

  23. Hussein Wario publishes about Wycliffe changing story

    25 February 2012

    Publishes: After 7 Weeks of Denial, Wycliffe now Admits it was involved in producing Bengali Bibles.

  24. WorldMag publishes about Bible translation in Asia

    25 February 2012

    The battle for accurate Bible translation in Asia. [Link]

    Emily Belz. 2012. The battle for accurate Bible translation in Asia. World. http://www.worldmag.com/articles/19184.

  25. Clarity On Wycliffe/SIL’s Involvement In The Bengali Injil Sharif

    24 February 2012

    Scott Seaton Publishes on Biblical Missiology about the The Bengali Injil Sharif translation.

  26. VCY America Host Wario

    22 February 2012

    Vic Eliason of VCY America, and the show Crosstalk, host Wario and discusses the “translation controversy” [Link]

  27. Bible Translation Controversy: The Problem of English

    19 February 2012

    Blog post by Eddie Arthur Presenting some analysis of the controversy from a UK perspective.

  28. “SON OF GOD” TRANSLATION CONTROVERSY

    18 February 2012

    An expository of the issue by Dave James.

    [Link]

  29. WycliffeUSA Response to “Son of God” Questions

    15 February 2012

    Press Release applauding SIL International’s Hold decision and saying that Wycilffe and SIL have agreed to submit to a review of these specific Bible translation practices.

  30. WycliffeUSA publishes FAQs

    15 February 2012

    According to Scott Seaton WycliffeUSA Publishes its FAQs on February 15th. [Link to Scott’s claim]

  31. Bibles that Translate “The Father” as “Allah”

    14 February 2012

    National Review Publishes on Family terms by Nina Shea.

  32. WYCLIFFE-GATE CONTINUED: WORDS MEAN THINGS

    12 February 2012

    Rob Willmann posts and it seems like every Pastor with a blog has something to say [Link]

  33. Wycliffe, SIL and the 340-Million Problem

    10 February 2012

    Hussein Wario publishes saying

    Wycliffe USA Senior Vice President Russ Hersman admitted to the World Magazine last October there were about 30 to 40 translations that “”employ some alternate renderings” for the divine familial terms.

    and

    Wycliffe and SIL need to marshal and use their resources wisely. Wycliffe USA claims on its website, “Today about 340 million people do not have any Scripture in their language. Wycliffe’s vision is to see the Bible accessible to all people in the language they understand best.” This statement reveals two problems about the present crisis. First, modern translations of the Bible are already available in both Turkish and Arabic. Why are Wycliffe and SIL even bothering with these languages? Second, Wycliffe and SIL translations contain so many mistranslations about divine filial terms that the indigenous church in Turkey doesn’t want them. The same is true for Arab Christians. Why are these organizations wasting their resources on them and now defending them? Have they lost sight of their 340-million problem?

    [Link]

  34. The Son of God and Ministry to Muslims

    08 February 2012

    Ed Stetzer from the LifeWay Research Blog posts a response to Rick Brown’s article.

  35. WycliffeUSA Response

    07 February 2012

    WyciffeUSA responds to the objection about sponsoring faulty translations.

  36. Wycliffe Bible Translators accused of downgrading Jesus ‘for Muslim sensitivities’

    07 February 2012

    Archbishop Cranmer from the UK weighs in on the Translation debate… [Link] http://archbishop-cranmer.blogspot.com/2012/02/wycliffe-bible-translators-accused-of.html

  37. Wycliffe UK Responds

    07 February 2012

    Accusations regarding what is a translation of the Biblical term rendered in English as “the Son of God” [Link to PDF]

  38. Scripture Publication on Hold

    06 February 2012

    SIL International put on hold our approval of publication of translated Scripture around which this criticism is focused. [Announcement]

  39. CHURCH & MINISTRIES

    04 February 2012

    Publishes on Bible Translators Deny Removal of Familial Terms From Arabic Translations
    stating:

    Campaigns of misinformation can be damaging if left unchallenged, so SIL encourages readers to take time to investigate the erroneous information that has been written elsewhere.

  40. WND Betrayed Bible Translators

    03 February 2012

    A letter to the editors at World Net Daily. Replying that they do not present the issue with balance. [Link]

  41. Wycliffe Defends Changing Titles for God

    02 February 2012

    Michael Carl of World Net Daily Published a piece on Wycliffe.
    Claiming “Critics say substituting ‘Father,’ ‘Son’ references appeases Muslims”

    Michael Carl. 02 February 2012. Wycliffe Defends Changing Titles for God. World Net Daily. [Link]

  42. Wycliffe, SIL & Frontiers Controversy In the Media

    01 February 2012

    Biblical Missiology Publishes a related materials page [Link] Which it updates but interestingly none of Wycliffe’s or SIL’s Responses are presented in the list of resources as of 10 March 2012.

  43. Hussein Wario is Grieved

    01 February 2012

    Publishes: Wycliffe/SIL’s Gamble with Integrity Grieves Me he complains about web pages and statements changing, and While it is likely, he doesn’t prove it with screen shots. And he is challenged on several points by commenters.

  44. WycliffeUSA denies removing familial terms.

    31 January 2012

    WycliffeUSA states:

    Wycliffe remains committed to the same objectives we’ve held sacred for 80 years: accurate and clear translation of Scripture.

  45. Wycliffe Canada

    30 January 2012

    Wycliffe Canada’s Position on Translating “Father” and “Son of God” is published with a date on it.

  46. SIL responds to false accusations

    30 January 2012

    Is it true that SIL supports removing “Son of God” and “God the Father” in Scripture translations? No. More….

  47. Joshua Lingel calls for defunding of translation projects

    30 January 2012

    World Net Daily, prints a quote from Lingel saying:

    According to reports, of the roughly 200 translation projects Wycliffe/SIL linguists have undertaken in Muslim contexts, about 30 or 40 remove the terms father and son with reference to God and Jesus.

    Lingel’s response is quite direct, “These projects need to be defunded.”

    World Net Daily. 30 January 2012. NEW BIBLE YANKS ‘FATHER,’ JESUS AS ‘SON OF GOD’. [Link]

  48. New Bible Versions Remove

    30 January 2012

    ‘FATHER’ and ‘SON OF GOD’ Because it offends Muslims.

    Congressman Tod Tancredo reposts an Essay [Link] first published on Atlas Shrugged [Link] by Pamela Geller the day before. This work criticizes christians as being hypocritical for “changing the scriptures”.

  49. ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ Ousted from the Trinity in New Bible Translations

    27 January 2012

    Hussein Wario Publishes on Yahoo! News (which gets some really insightful comments from some more informed people then he.) and also 2 days later on his blog.

  50. Petition reaches 100 signatures

    05 January 2012

    Lost In Translation: Keep “Father” & “Son” in the Bible on change.org reaches 100 signatures.

  51. The Terms of Translation A New Look at Translating Familial Biblical Terms

    03 January 2012

    Rick Brown, Leith Gray, and Andrea Gray publish The Terms of Translation A New Look at Translating Familial Biblical Terms in International Journal of Frontier Missiology. Dated fall 2011 but it is not type set till 3 January 2012. (I am not sure when the exact release data is.) [Link to published PDF version] [Link to whole Journal]

2011

  1. David Irvine Claims that SIL is favorable to the insider movement.

    13 December 2011

    Upon my retirement we joined Wycliffe USA and spent a year and a half training and preparing to go to West Asia to run an SIL NGO. We learned that SIL Eurasia had adopted the Insider Movement and resulting Muslim Idiom Translation style for the region and resigned 3 weeks prior to our departure. We are now with Horizons International.

    Link to full article: Jumping from the Sinking Wycliffe Ship: Why Theology Matters

  2. reformation21.org (PCA)

    17 November 2011

    Publishes In Pursuit of a Faithful Witness By Scott Seaton

  3. The Presbyterian Church In America

    16 November 2011

    Publishes Towards a Faithful Witness A Response To Wycliffe/SIL’s Considering Overture 9 By Scott Seaton [Link]

  4. Mission Frontiers posts about Familial Terms

    20 October 2011

    Translating Familial Biblical Terms: An Overview of the Issue is posted on Mission Frontiers website. [PDF] RICK BROWN, ANDREA GRAY AND LEITH GRAY. 2012. TRANSLATING FAMILIAL BIBLICAL TERMS: AN OVERVIEW OF THE ISSUE. Mission Frontiers. January-February issue. pages 26-30.

    The full version of this article is not type set till January 2012 and is published under the fall issue for 2011. [Link to published PDF version] [Link to whole Journal]

    Wycliffe International posts this same text without giving a date for when they released the text on their website. [Link to published version]

  5. Christianity Today Article

    13 October 2011

    Christianity Today Posted an article On Wycliffe, SIL Issue Guidelines on Translating ‘Son of God’ Among Muslims

  6. World Article Holding translators accountable

    08 October 2011

    Wycliffe Bible Translators agrees to new standards in debate over contextualizing Scripture for Muslim settings by Emily Belz [Link]

  7. Matthew Carlton Publishes

    14 August 2011

    Jesus, the Son of God: Biblical Meaning, Muslim Understanding, and Implications for translation and Bible Literacy

    Matthew Carlton. 2011. Jesus, the Son of God: Biblical Meaning, Muslim Understanding, and Implications for translation and Bible Literacy.St Francis Magazine Vol 7:3. 1-30. [Link]

    (Note: Some have suggested that this publication was released on August 1st, prior to the Istanbul conference, but the metadata in the PDF suggests that this version of the PDF was created on the 12th and modified on 14th of August.)

  8. SIL International Statement for Best Practices for Bible Translation of Devine Familial terms

    01 August 2011

    Some sort of draft of SIL’s statement is made. Steve Taylor will later publish this on World Reformed Fellowship. [PDF]

  9. Istanbul Summit

    01 August 2011

    World Magizine reports later that:

    In the basement of a hotel in Istanbul, 30 people from around the world met in August to talk about how to translate the phrase “Son of God” and “God the Father” in Muslim contexts.

    (I do not know the exact date of the Istanbul Summit. It is marked here as 1 August 2011.)

  10. An Historic Consultation on Contextualizing the Gospel to Muslims

    04 July 2011

    Warren Larson. 4 July 2011. An Historic Consultation on Contextualizing the Gospel to Muslims. Blog entry: [Link]

  11. Muslim Churches? Another C5 Perspective

    01 July 2011

    “Muslim Churches? Another C5 Perspective” Evangelical Missions Quarterly, Vol. 47, No. 3, July, 2011

  12. World Article Inside out

    07 May 2011

    Missions, agencies and churches wrestle with controversial Muslim friendly translations of the Bible and fallout from ‘insider movement’ tactics By Emily Belz [Link]

  13. Overture 9 Starts (PCA)

    31 March 2011

    Potomac Presbyter Authors Overture 9 “A Call To Faithful Witness” [PDF]

  14. Critique of the Christianity Today’s article entitled: ‘The Son and the Crescent’

    09 March 2011

    Jay Smith Critiques the article in Christianity today on the website Biblical Missiology.

  15. Bible Translations for Muslim Readers

    07 February 2011

    Mission Frontiers Publishes Bible Translations for Muslim Readers by Vern Sheridan Poythress [PDF] [Also on Vern’s Website]

  16. Christianity Today Article

    04 February 2011

    Christianity Today publishes the article: The Son and the Crescent
    Bible translations that avoid the phrase “Son of God” are bearing dramatic fruit among Muslims. But that translation has some missionaries and scholars dismayed. Hussein Wario is the first commenter.

  17. Subbing "The Son of God": A Response to Christianity Today (Part 1)

    04 February 2011

    Brian Branam responds to Christianity Today.

    Brian Branam. 4 February 2011. Subbing “The Son of God”: A Response to Christianity Today (Part 1). [Link]

2010

  1. Jesus is the Eternal Son of God

    24 March 2010

    Article in by David Abernathy in St Francis Magazine 6:2 (April 2010). Pages 327-394. [PDF]

  2. David Abernathy Publishes

    25 January 2010

    Translating “Son of God” in Missionary Bible Translation: A Critique of “Muslim-Idiom Bible Translations: Claims and Facts” , By Rick Brown, John Penny, and Leith Gray from 2009.

    This is published in St Francis Magazine 6:1 (February 2010) Pages 176-203. [PDF]

2009

  1. Muslim-Idiom Bible Translations: Claims and Facts

    30 November 2009

    Rick Brown, John Penny, and Leith Gray Publish Muslim-Idiom Bible Translations: Claims and Facts in St Francis Magazine 5:6 (December 2009) pages 87-105 [PDF]

  2. Moving on from the C1-C6 Spectrum

    23 July 2009

    Asking some deep questions about how Christians think about evangelism to Muslims including Bible Translation.

    Roger L. Dixon. 2009. Moving on from the C1-C6 Spectrum. St Francis Magazine 5:4 (August 2009) pp. 3-19 [PDF]

2007

  1. Thomas Cosmades Letter

    10 December 2007

    An Analysis of the Paraphrased New Testament by FRONTIERS [Link]

  2. Rick Brown Publishes Biblical Muslims

    24 July 2007

    Insider Movements: The Conversation Continues

    Rick Brown. 2007. Biblical Muslims – Insider Movements: The Conversation Continues Biblical Muslims. International Journal of Frontier Missiology. 24:2 Summer 2007. 65-71. [Link]

  3. Why Muslims are Repelled by the term

    01 January 2007

    Rick Brown Publishes this article in 2007 in Evangelical Missions Quarterly. (the exact date is unknown, marked here as 1 January 2007)

    Rick Brown. 2007. Why Muslims are Repelled by the term . Evangelical Missions Quarterly. Volume 43. No.4. pp. ??

2006

  1. Who is Allah?

    07 July 2006

    Rick Brown Publishes Who is Allah? in International Journal of Frontier Missions 23:2 Summer 2006. pages 79-82 [PDF]

  2. SIL International Publishes Exegetical summary of Romans

    03 June 2006

    David Abernathy is listed as the author. An exegetical summary of Romans 1-8. Exegetical Summary Series. Dallas, Texas: SIL International. 599 pages [Link] This book is released as a second edition in 2008 [Link].

2004

  1. "God has spoken through His Son":

    01 August 2004

    the theology of Sonship in Hebrews 1

    David Abernathy Publishes an article in 2004 in DavarLogos 3.1: 23-35.
    (exact date of publication not know, but is prior to August 11th.)

2001

  1. What Must One Believe about Jesus for Salvation?

    07 November 2001

    Rick Brown. 2001. What Must One Believe about Jesus for Salvation?. International Journal of Frontier Missions, Vol. 17:4, Winter. [Link to PDF Pre-Print]

  2. The “Son of God” Understanding the Messianic Titles of Jesus

    26 October 2001

    Rick Brown. 2000. The “Son of God” Understanding the Messianic Titles of Jesus. International Journal of Frontier Missions, Vol. 17:1 Spring. [Link to Pre-Print PDF]

    But Metadata in the Accessed PDF says that the PDF currently available was not created until 26th October 2001.

  3. Rick Brown becomes Associate Area Director of SIL-Eurasia

    01 January 2001

    According to Rick Brown’s CV on sil.org, he starts serving as the Associate Area Director of SIL-Eurasia some time during 2001. (marked on this time line as 1 January but the date is not explicitly declared.)

2000

  1. The “Son of God”: Understanding the Messianic Titles of Jesus

    11 April 2000

    Rick brown. 2000. The “Son of God”: Understanding the Messianic Titles of Jesus. The International Journal of Frontier Missions. Vol. 17:1, January–March 2000. pp 41-52 [PDF]

1994

  1. Explaining the Trinity to Muslims

    01 January 1994

    Carlos Madrigal. 1994. Explaining the Trinity to Muslims. William Carey Library. [Link]

    I have only seen the 2011 version and pages 21-45 are helpfully relevant.

0381

  1. The First Church Council of Constantinople

    01 January 0381

    The Trinity had been recognized at the Council of Nicea, but debate about exactly what it meant continued. A rival to the more common belief that Jesus Christ had two natures was monophysitism (“one nature”), the doctrine that Christ had only one nature. Apollinarism and Eutychianism were two forms of monophysitism. Apollinaris’ rejection of Christ having a human mind was considered an over-reaction to Arianism and its teaching that Christ was not divine. [From Wikipedia]

0359

  1. First Council of Constantinople

    01 January 0359

    Acacius of Caesarea declared that the Son was like the Father “according to the scriptures,” as in the majority decision at Ariminum and close to the minority at Seleucia. Basil of Ancyra, Eustathius of Sebaste, and their party declared that the Son was of similar substance to the Father, as in the majority decision at Seleucia. [From Wikipedia]

0325

  1. First Council of Nicaea

    01 January 0325

    The Council declared that the Father and the Son are of the same substance and are co-eternal, basing the declaration in the claim that this was a formulation of traditional Christian belief handed down from the Apostles. Under Constantine’s influence, this belief was expressed by the bishops in what would be known thereafter as the Nicene Creed. (From Wikipedia Article on the First Council of Nicaea)

If you know of another Publicly available and verifiable resources, event or discussion with a date relevant to the Son of God discussion leave a note in the comments and I will consider adding it to the time line. After I add it to the time line I will delete the comment. The timeline created is Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Another timeline format is also in the works and is appearing here.

If you do not want your comment shared under this license then please do not submit it. – Comments may be edited before appearing.

References

References
↑1 Michael Conrad. 23 December 2011. Against Ron Paul (Obligatory Ron Paul post – Updated). Progressive Blue. http://www.progressiveblue.com/diary/6291/against-ron-paul-obligatory-ron-paul-post [Accessed: 5 March 2012]
↑2 Matt Peckham. 29 December 2011. Rumor: Two New iPads in January, iPad 2 Price Drop Expected [Updated]. Time: Techland. http://techland.time.com/2011/12/29/rumor-two-new-ipads-in-january-ipad-2-price-drop-expected/ [Accessed: 5 March 2012]
↑3 Amit Singhal. 3 November 2011. Giving you fresher, more recent search results. Google Official Blog. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/11/giving-you-fresher-more-recent-search.html [Accessed: 5 March 2012]
↑4 Hussein Wario. 25. February 2012 10:22 AM ET. After 7 Weeks of Denial, Wycliffe now Admits it was involved in producing Bengali Bibles. http://blogs.christianpost.com/cracks-in-the-crescent/2012/02/after-7-weeks-of-denial-wycliffe-now-admits-it-was-involved-in-producing-bengali-bibles-25/ [Accessed: 5 March 2012]

Presenting Research on the Web

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I have been Looking at different ways to make SIL’s digital research content more interactive, findable, and usable. Today I found http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/. It is interesting how they approach the facets of Location, Projects, Publications, and People up in the right hand corner. I think they did a good job. The site feels like it is balanced.

Microsoft Research

Microsoft Research Home Page

Ethnologue: the linguistic straw-man

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The Ethnologue [1] M. Paul Lewis. (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edn. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. as an academic book, is somewhat of a straw man in linguistics. Many people who write grants for language documentation projects (generally on under described or endangered languages) will cite the Ethnologue and some other resources or lack of resources [2] Steven A. Marlett. 2011. Documenting the Me’phaa genus. DEH-NEH fellowship proposal. http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pdf/DEL_NEH_Marlett.pdf. [PDF] [DEL Awards] [Accessed: 15 February 2011] [3] Sadaf Munshi. 2011. Archive of Annotated Burushaski Texts. NSF grant proposal. http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pdf/DEL_NSF_Munshi.pdf. [PDF] [DEL Awards] [Accessed: 15 February 2011] [4]Monica A. Macaulay. 2011. Potawatomi Documentation, Lexical Database, and Dictionary. NEH grant proposal. http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pdf/DEL_NEH_Macaulay.pdf. [PDF] [DEL Awards] [Accessed: … Continue reading . These efforts seeking funding are usually an effort to get more language data. The rationale for this is two fold:

  1. Because so little is known that we do not know if the Ethnologue is correct.
  2. Because there is a conflict between other published sources and the Ethnologue [5]Roger Blench. n.d. Introduction to the Temein languages http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Nilo-Saharan/Eastern%20Sudanic/Temein%20cluster/Blench%20Temein%20language%20NM%20proceedings.pdf [PDF] … Continue reading .

Continue reading →

References

References
↑1 M. Paul Lewis. (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, 16th Edn. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International.
↑2 Steven A. Marlett. 2011. Documenting the Me’phaa genus. DEH-NEH fellowship proposal. http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pdf/DEL_NEH_Marlett.pdf. [PDF] [DEL Awards] [Accessed: 15 February 2011]
↑3 Sadaf Munshi. 2011. Archive of Annotated Burushaski Texts. NSF grant proposal. http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pdf/DEL_NSF_Munshi.pdf. [PDF] [DEL Awards] [Accessed: 15 February 2011]
↑4 Monica A. Macaulay. 2011. Potawatomi Documentation, Lexical Database, and Dictionary. NEH grant proposal. http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/pdf/DEL_NEH_Macaulay.pdf. [PDF] [DEL Awards] [Accessed: 15 February 2011]
↑5 Roger Blench. n.d. Introduction to the Temein languages http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Nilo-Saharan/Eastern%20Sudanic/Temein%20cluster/Blench%20Temein%20language%20NM%20proceedings.pdf [PDF] [Accessed: 15 February 2011]

Switching Themes after 8 years

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Since 2005 I have used K2, a really nice minimalistic theme for WordPress. I especially liked the spacing and the fonts used. But alas I had two people tell me that it was hard to read posts on my blog. I set out to find a new theme which was more reader friendly (especially since I am having a few longer posts). I settled with Twenty Eleven.

The Journeyler moving from K2

So in a last adieu. Good bye K2. It has been good knowing you.

The Job

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Today several people are getting together to have a meeting about my job(s)… So I thought I would post a few diagrams to try and explain my job(s).

Hugh's Life

A digram of different areas of my life

The core Area of my Job

My Core Area of involvement

The Core Things I am involved in

Some of the outside things I am involved in:

The Details

The Detailed Stuff

Too many terms of service

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You might have heard about the recent change in the Google terms of service. I have, several times. I use several Google services. Logistically, this makes a lot of sense. They sent out an email quoted below saying that they were consolidating over 60 terms of service agreements. I have had two thoughts about this

  1. Why is there no blowback or negative PR for Google like there was for FaceBook? [1]Eric Eldon. 11 May 2010. Analysis: Some Facebook Privacy Issues Are Real, Some Are Not. http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/05/11/analysis-some-facebook-privacy-issues-are-real-some-are-not [Link] … Continue reading
  2. This is the sort of scenario I have been warning one of the companies I am working for about creating. We have 3-4 separate online communities currently with separate terms of service with two other major communities about to launch. This is part of the User Experience which should not be over looked.

BTW: I am grateful for the centralization at Google.

Google Terms of service

Google Terms of service

Dear Google Apps administrator for _________,

We’re getting rid of over 60 different privacy policies across Google and replacing them with one that’s a lot shorter and easier to read. Our new policy covers multiple products and features, reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience for your users across Google products.

As always, Google will maintain your data in strict compliance with the confidentiality and security obligations provided to your domain.

If you permit your users to access optional additional Google services for your domain, your users may separately receive notifications communicating the new Privacy Policy. You can visit your Google Apps control panel at any time if you’d like to review the additional services accessible to your users.

We’re excited about the improvements we are making across our products and appreciate your support. You can view the new privacy policy at http://www.google.com/policies. These changes will take effect on March 1, 2012.

Please do not reply to this email. Mail sent to this address cannot be answered. Also, never enter your Google Account password after following a link in an email or chat to an untrusted site. Instead, go directly to the site, such as mail.google.com or www.google.com/accounts. Google will never email you to ask for your password or other sensitive information.

References

References
↑1 Eric Eldon. 11 May 2010. Analysis: Some Facebook Privacy Issues Are Real, Some Are Not. http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/05/11/analysis-some-facebook-privacy-issues-are-real-some-are-not [Link] [Accessed: 10 February 2012]

hResume for Academics

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For a couple of months I have been looking into options for presenting academics' CVs on the web in semantic xHtml. Of the options out there hResume rises to the surface. There are several reasons for this:
  1. Popularity of hResume in presenting CV's and Resumes.
  2. Microformats are about the interoperability of data through semantic markup - Academics generally want people to cite them, and resume publishers usually hope to have resume users and readers.
  3. Semantic markup of content allows for the semantic styling of content.
The largest challenge in implementing academic CVs in hResueme versus business resumes in hResume format is citations from publications and presentations along with that is the semantic markup of citations with standards like COinS (though COinS might not be true Semantic Markup). However, there are other challenges too. For instance how to categorize the sections of a CV. I work mostly with linguists and with the CV sections that linguists use. Therefore, I may be missing some crucial section of a CV as used by another academic discipline.CVs like resumes are unique to each individual so these categories are an abstraction and not all sections will be in every CV. These abstractions are included the following chart along with a mapping of how these sections are (in my opinion) best expressed in the hResume microformat. hResume builds on other microformats, like hCalendar and hCard. So I have also mapped the elements of an hResume back to the building block microformat (per this list on microformat's website). These dependency formats are also presented. In the last column I have presented some remarks specific to that section.
Sections of a Linguist's CVSections in hResumeinclusion in hResumeBuilding blockMicroformat statusOutstanding issue or question
Contact infoContact infoObligatorymust use hCard; should use <address> + hCardhCard is a Recommendationhow does the adr and the geo relate to the contact info or hCard?
Personal Info
Not designatedWhat would fit into this section which would not fit into the Contact info section? (married status) But that might be able to be expressed through XFN, unless the spouse is unnamed.
Photo
Not designatedShould hmedia be used for this photo?
SummarySummaryOptionalNone - No building block indicated.None
EducationEducationOptionalOne or more hcalendar events with the class name 'education', with an embedded hCard indicating the name of school, address of school etc.hCalendar is a Recommendation
Education Abroad (Could be considered a sub-category of "Education")Education One or more hcalendar events with the class name 'education', with an embedded hCard indicating the name of school, address of school etc.hCalendar is a Recommendation
Research interests
Not designated.One could argue that this might be related to "skills", or marked with the rel-tag format.
Positions Held
ExperienceOptionalOne or more hcalendar events with the class name 'experience', with an embedded hCard indicating the job title, name of company, address of company etc.hCalendar and hCardThe [hResume] draft should describe a way to handle a series of assignments at various employers within the context of one job working for a contracting, consulting, or temporary firm/agency. per mfreeman (2009)
Field Work
ExperienceOptionalOne or more hcalendar events with the class name 'experience', with an embedded hCard indicating the job title, name of company, address of company etc.hCalendar and hCard, (my recommendation is to also consider using hGeo)Field Work often has a Geo-Location and a language involved so I am not sure if it shouldn't also be marked up with hGeo and some rel-tag to the language.
Language Proficiency
SkillsOptionalrel-tagrel-tag is a Recommendation Often skills have an indication of the level of attainment - hResume does not have this. per ntoll (2007)
Computer Skills
SkillsOptionalrel-tagrel-tag is a Recommendation
Teaching Experience
ExperienceOptionalhCalendar and hCardEmbedding hCard for job title leads to ambiguities. per TobyInk (2010)
Awards & Honors
Not DesignatedSupport for Awards and for Service sections are not currently implemented. per jeffmcneill (2007)
Grants Received
Not DesignatedThis might be considered simular to Awards and Honors. But in most CVs I have seen it is given its own section level.
Publications
publicationsOptionalA lot of work has gone into description or a hCite type of format. But nothing has evolved yet. To this end I have resolved myself to using CoinS. Although the official recomendation is to use the <cite> tag.
Peer Reviewed
publicationsOptional
Articles (PR)
publicationsOptional
Chapters (PR)
publicationsOptional
Books (PR)
publicationsOptional
Monographs (PR)
publicationsOptional
Edited Volumes (PR)publicationsOptional
Not Peer ReviewedpublicationsOptional
Articles (NPR)
publicationsOptional
Chapters (NPR)
publicationsOptional
Books (NPR)
publicationsOptional
Papers (NPR)
publicationsOptional
Presentations
Not DesignatedGenerally these are cited like a publication but put in their own section.
Invited Talks
Not DesignatedGenerally these are cited like a publication but put in their own section.
Dissertations and Thesis supervised.Not designated (but possibly like publications)Generally these should be treated like publications.
Professional Associations
AffiliationsOptionalThe class name affiliation along with an hcard of the organization. hCard is a Recommendation
Professional ContactsNot DesignatedhCard and XFN should be used.hCard is a Recommendation
XFN is a Recommendation		I am not clear on how XFN can be used in this context. But it seems that this is the sort of thing that XFN was created for. There is also still the same objection as mentioned by TobyInk (2010) because there is no way to tell who the primary hCard on the page referes to.
[table-info field “abbreviations_used” not found in table “11” /]