President & CEO of American Bible Society Roy Peterson co-authored a recent op-ed for Christianity Today arguing that Bible translators should never sacrifice the accuracy of the biblical message while pursuing faster and faster results. “We take very seriously our spiritual responsibility to ensure that each new translation accurately relays the Scripture’s full meaning and spirit of the gospel,” says Peterson and his colleagues in the piece.

Peterson and five other leaders within the Every Tribe Every Nation (ETEN) alliance of translation organizations wrote the piece in response to another Christianity Today article featuring Bible translation methods that seem to champion speedat the expense of accuracy. “We are watching methodologies evolve right before our eyes that are accelerating translations,” says Dr. Peterson, quoted in that initial article.

Both articles cite New Testament translation projects in Zambia—projects supported by American Bible Society’s financial partners—to demonstrate how accelerated translation methods are getting the Bible to eagerly awaiting Christians faster than ever. The projects in Zambia provided complete New Testament translations in three and a half years. Such a feat would have taken eight years in 2005.

Peterson and his ETEN colleagues remind readers that speedy translations are useless without cautious faithfulness to the biblical text. But they also admit, along with the editorial staff at Christianity Today, that progress in modern Bible translation methods is something worth celebrating. As Peterson and his colleagues write, “It is highly encouraging that this significant acceleration, with verified quality, is now emerging.”

To read the piece by Dr. Peterson and his partners in the Every Tribe Every Nation alliance, click here.