Listening to the Multilingual God: John's PrologueSample

"There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe."

—John 1:6-7

We've all heard common statements like these: "I believe that the weather is going to be great tomorrow" or "I have faith in you, young man." The meaning of the verbs in these statements of opinion are very different from the same two English words we use for the Greek pistis (or its verb form pisteuó), "faith" and "believe", when we refer to "believing" in Jesus in verse 7 of John's Gospel. How is that possible? 

This is just how language works. Words tend to have many and often shifting meanings. Belief and faith have been used in the English language since the earliest of English Bibles, and to replace them with a newly made-up word just to differentiate it from the casual "have-an-opinion" kind of belief would be confusing at best and possibly disastrous. After all, the language used by believers should be understood by everyone, not just those who are familiar with a specialized vocabulary.

Still, other languages have expressions for belief or faith that are more figurative and maybe more expressive, at least to us outsiders: 

• Chicahuaxtla Triqui (spoken in Mexico) translates faith as "to arrive on the inside." 


• Baniwa (spoken in the Amazon) translates it as "to leave one's heart with." 


• Western Kanjobal (mostly spoken in Guatemala) employs "truth entering into one's soul." 


• Mashco Piro (spoken in Peru) renders it with "obey-believe." 


• And Mossi (spoken in Ghana and several other African countries) uses "leaning on God."

Clearly, some of these terms are exclusively used for belief or faith in God. What seems to unite these expressions is something deeply personal, which according to the Mashco Piro translation, "obey-believe", also has an impact on our actions. Each translation speaks to us without needing much of an explanation.

In contrast, a translation from a language in southern Nigeria relates "faith" to an expression meaning "losing feathers."

Randy Groff of Wycliffe Bible Translators explained that "there is a species of bird in his area that, upon hatching its eggs, loses its feathers. During this molting phase, the mother bird is no longer able to fly away from the nest and look for food for her hungry hatchlings. She has to remain in the nest where she and her babies are completely dependent upon the male bird to bring them food. Without the diligent, dependable work of the male bird, the mother and babies would all die. This scenario was the basis for the word for faith in his language."

John came to be a witness so we all might have faith in Jesus. Can you "leave your heart" with Jesus and "obey-believe" him? Are you ready to "lose your feathers" and trust God to take care of you today?