wfn.org | The Woman's Bible Commentary Released in Chinese

[Worldwide Faith News <wfn@wfn.org>]

Taiwan Church News 2582 (26th August, 2001)
Reported by Uidy Kao, Written by David Alexander

    A group of 17 translators have completed work on the New Testament
portion of the Woman's Bible Commentary and it has been released for
publication.  The Rev. Ms. Lin Ni-ling, women's work secretary at the
General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan (PCT), says that
the volumes will be helpful to churches in promoting gender justice and
overcoming the anti- woman orientation of much traditional biblical
interpretation in Taiwan.
      During a human resources training conference held for women of the
PCT earlier this year Rev. Lin promoted a "woman focused" angle for the
denomination's "Reading the Bible with New Eyes" movement.  Such a focus
renews the understanding of the Bible's message and enables women to
stand on a biblical foundation when opposing the patriarchial nature of
Taiwan's society and culture.  Cultural patriarchy has influenced the
way the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been presented and lived among
Taiwan's Christians.  The New Eyes movement promotes the kinds of
experiences that lead to truth, liberation and vision.
      The Rev. Ms. Wu Fu-ya of Ta-kuang Presbyterian Church in Tainan
says, "The distinctiveness of the Woman's Bible Commentary is not just
in how it shows us the conditions of women in the New Testament times.
It is oriented towards the concerns of women, and reveals to us
understandings that have been overlooked because of the viewpoints of
traditional commentators.  These traditional viewpoints have not been
helpful for the understanding of the women in the bible story or for
understanding modern women based on the bible.
    The commentary was originally published in English in 1992.  A team
of 21 prominent women bible scholars worked together to produce it.  Six
years ago the women's work committee of the PCT received permission to
translate the work into Chinese.  Now the New Testament portion has been
finished, and it is expected that the Old Testament portion will follow
in a year's time.  The local team of translator includes men and women,
plains and aboriginal, scholars and clergy.  Rev. Lin says, "This book
is not a difficult one, because we asked the translators to put it into
plain-simple language accessible to all women of faith."

For More Information:  Lin Ni-ling   niling@mail.pct.org.tw