The prospect of the Bible's appearance in Patois has outraged some traditionalists in the U.K., but the Book of Luke has just been released, and the rest of the New Testament will soon follow. Patois is a language that is traditionally considered slang or broken English and is spoken by 90 percent of Jamaicans. Up until now, there has never been a translation of the
Holy Scriptures in Patois.

In June, the BBC interviewed the Rev. Courtney Stewart, general secretary of the Bible Society in the West Indies (Jamaica), about the audio release of Luke in Patois. He said, “The whole idea is for comprehension. The Bible makes its greatest impact when people have it in their heart language.”

The whole New Testament will be translated into Patois by 2012, when Jamaica celebrates its 50th anniversary of independence from the U.K.