Wycliffe Global Alliance

Wycliffe Global Alliance is an alliance of organisations united in their desire to see the Bible translated for every language group that needs it. Wycliffe was founded in 1942[1] by William Cameron Townsend and was first known as Camp Wycliffe. The organization is named after John Wycliffe, who was responsible for the first complete English translation of the whole Bible into Middle English.[2] Then in 1942 Camp Wycliffe became Wycliffe Bible Translators.

Up until 1991, Wycliffe was a single organization with divisions in various countries. It has been restructured, so that the Wycliffe organizations in each country became fully independent, causing Wycliffe International to become an association of organizations. In February 2011, Wycliffe International took on a new "doing business as" name, Wycliffe Global Alliance, with current headquarters in Singapore.[3]

Wycliffe is most often associated with the Protestant section of Christianity. There are currently over 100 Wycliffe member organizations from over 60 countries.[4]

As of November 2012, translations of either portions of the Bible, the New Testament, or the whole Bible exist in over 2,800 of the 6,877 languages used on Earth.[5]

Philosophy and methods

Wycliffe bases its philosophy on Townsend's Protestantism which regards the intercultural and multilinguistic spread of Christianity as a divine command. Protestantism, including this organization, adheres to the principle of sola scriptura and regards Biblical texts as the authoritative and infallible word of God.[6]

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.[7]

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, Asia, Australia, Europe, and North and Central America.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Charitable Choices - wycliffe bible translators". Charitychoices.com. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  2. ↑ "John Wycliffe". Oxfordreference.com. Retrieved 20 November 2014. (subscription required)
  3. ↑ "Lausanne World Pulse, retrieved Apr 16, 2013". Lausanneworldpulse.com. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Wycliffe Global Alliance website". Wycliffe.net. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "2012 Scripture Access Statistics". Wycliffe Global Alliance. Retrieved 2013-04-16.
  6. ↑ "Wycliffe Global Alliance doctrinal statement". Wycliffe.net. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  7. ↑ "Wycliffe statement "Why we exist"". Wycliffe.net. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "World Evangelicals" (PDF). Worldevangelicals.org. Retrieved 20 November 2014.

External links