Muslim Friendly Bible Translations Present a False Gospel

Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT) are one of the most renowned Bible translation companies in the world. They are continuing the tradition of John Wycliffe, the great pre-Reformation theologian who broke away from the Catholic Church, and translated the first Bible in English risking his life in the process.

To the disappointment of many Christians, WBT are not following in the footsteps of Wycliffe with their most recent attempts at translating the Word of God into certain Arabic and Bengali translations.

I would go further and say that WBT are attempting to “help” God “sell” His Gospel by changing the names of God in order to make them more palatable to Muslims.  Since when does God need us to change his Word in order to win souls for His kingdom?

The changes are not slight.  They are in fact abominable.  They distort the most important doctrines found on the pages of the Bible: the doctrines about God the Father, the doctrine of the Trinity, and Christology.

Muslims do not accept the concept of Trinity, the idea of Son of God, and the divinity of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, and WBT is now changing the Bible to be more fitting with their theology… and therefore more acceptable to them.

Here are some critical changes:

  • “Son of God” replaced with “Messiah of God”
  • “God the Father” replaced with “guardian.”
  • the removal of any references to God as “Father,” to Jesus as the “Son” or “the Son of God.”
  • replacing “Father” with the Muslim name for God, Allah

For example, it changes Matthew 28:19 from: “baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,” to: “cleanse them by water in the name of Allah, his Messiah and his Holy Spirit.”

Allah is NOT the Triune God of the Bible.  Allah is a singular entity in Muslim theology, and the name of this false god should never be used to replace the Triune God revealed in the Bible, especially in a Bible translation!  Such an act amounts to a false Gospel.

Presenting a watered down Gospel via an altered Bible, is no Gospel at all.  How can Muslims ascertain the dramatic difference between our God and their god if the Bible they receive does not present that difference?  We are certainly not aiming to convert Muslims to Chrislam… or are we?

WBT must come back to the foot of the cross and repent because they have made themselves guilty of the terrible sin outlined in Revelation 22:18-19:

“18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”