In spite of it being a document to bridge Catholic-Lutheran relations, the Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification had two different Chinese translations: One by a Catholic, one by a Lutheran. Nearly 15 years after the signing of the document, Chinese speaking Christians have now received a new ecumenical translation which was ratified in a joint celebration of Lutherans, Catholics and Methodists.
The document marks the end a long search for a single agreed-upon translation for religious documents in Honk Kong and China. Rev. Dr. Nicolas Tai, Dean at the Theological Lutheran Seminary who also initiated the new translation word explains that “’justification’, for example, has two possible Chinese translations. You could translate them into either ‘proclaimed justification’ – as I did in the Lutheran version – or ‘already completely justified’ as a completed action, as did the Catholics. Of course it makes a difference which term you use.”
In the year of the fifteenth anniversary of the signing of the document, which the World Methodist Council has issued a statement of association with, working to reach the one billion people in China with an agreed-upon translation is another step in expanding God’s kingdom.
