Wycliffe Global Alliance is an alliance of organizations that have objective of

translating Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

into every language. The organisation is named after

John Wycliffe John Wycliffe (; also spelled Wyclif, Wickliffe, and other variants; 1328 – 31 December 1384) was an English scholastic philosopher, theologian, biblical translator, reformer, Catholic priest, and a seminary professor at the University of ...

, who was responsible for the first complete English translation of the whole Bible into

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old Englis ...

. Wycliffe is most often associated with the

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

section of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

. There are currently over 100 Wycliffe member organisations from over 60 countries. Wycliffe Global Alliance is also a member of the Forum of Bible Agencies International. , translations of either portions of the Bible, the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

, or the whole Bible exist in over 3,350 of the 7,350 languages used on Earth, including 245 sign languages.

History

Wycliffe Bible Translators USA was founded in 1942 by

William Cameron Townsend William Cameron Townsend (July 9, 1896 – April 23, 1982) was an American Christian missionary-linguist who founded Wycliffe Bible Translators and the Summer Institute of Linguistics (now SIL International), both of which emphasized transla ...

. When other Wycliffe organisations were founded around the world, they initially operated as its divisions in those countries. A new organisation, Wycliffe Bible Translators International, was started in May 1980 to provide this international leadership. In 1991 Wycliffe International was restructured so that the Wycliffe organisations in each country became fully independent, causing Wycliffe International to become an association of organisations. In February 2011, Wycliffe International took on a new "

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

" name, Wycliffe Global Alliance.

Philosophy and methods

Wycliffe bases its philosophy on Townsend's

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

which regards the intercultural and multilinguistic spread of Christianity as a divine command. The organization adheres to the principle of ''

sola scriptura , meaning by scripture alone, is a Christian theological doctrine held by most Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of aut ...

'' and regards Biblical texts as the authoritative and infallible word of God. Wycliffe states its focus is participating with and encouraging Christian churches to minister to minority languages, so that every language community can have access to the Bible. Wycliffe Global Alliance emphasizes its international nature. It describes itself as "multicultural, multinational, creative and facilitative." Wycliffe Global Alliance has its headquarters in Singapore. The Global Leadership Team is a virtual team and is spread across Africa, the Americas, Asia, Australia, and Europe.

Associated organisations

* Finland: * Germany: Allianz-Mission, * Ghana: GILLBT * Indonesia: Kartidaya,

Gereja Protestan Indonesia Donggala The Indonesian Protestant Church in Donggala is a Protestant church in the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. It has more than 40,000 members and is part of the Protestant Church in Indonesia The Protestant Church in Indonesia is a Reformed church; it ...

Protestant Church of Maluku The Protestant Church of Maluku is a Reformed church in Indonesia. It is known locally as: Gereja Protestan Maluku or simply GPM. It was formed on September 6, 1935 when it was separated from the Protestant Church in Indonesia. The Protestant C ...

* Netherlands: * Norway: * United Kingdom:

Wycliffe Bible Translators (UK & Ireland) Wycliffe Bible Translators is a Christian mission agency with a primary focus on Bible translation for people worldwide. It is the UK's largest Bible translation organisation. It is part of the Wycliffe Global Alliance. History Wycliffe Bibl ...

* United States: Wycliffe Bible Translators USA, Seed Company,

Faith Comes By Hearing Faith Comes By Hearing is an international 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that records and freely provides the Bible in the languages of the world. It provides Audio Bibles in 1,759 languages. The organization is a member of the Forum of Bibl ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Bible societies Christian missions Christian organizations established in 1980 Bible translators International Christian organizations

History

Philosophy and methods

Associated organisations

See also

References

External links