There have been several comments here in the last couple of days detailing what a poorly thought-out plan it is of Bob Thiel to translate HIS book into 1,000+ languages. No matter how many languages he supposedly translates HIS book into it will never be ultimately understandable in the native languages and nuances of that language as he imagines. All of those translations are nothing more than paraphrases of his original booklet. Things he deems important are lost.
Years ago, we used to discuss translating as it related to the Bible itself. Pages were filled with details regarding some of the questionable activities of some of the specific members of King James's committees, particularly Erasmus. That topic provided additional proofs that the type of fundamentalism and inerrancy taught by HWA/WCG/AC is simply not possible. Overall, the major concept became that the very act of translating from one language to another is in reality paraphrase. Things of importance are lost. I probably have a better idea of the potential impact of this because I'm involved with Japanese and Chinese industrial equipment, and our manuals for these are translated from the manufacturer's languages into a "sort of" English. This requires experience and intuition to understand. Although our materials predate AI, I've read some of the AI translations which are currently emerging. I can tell that this process exacerbates the problems we will have when they get around to applying this to our manuals.
The reason this used to be the province of university professors, and why the Catholics and other publishers of the Bible work with fewer languages than Bob does on his books is that only those who have cultural insights into those who speak the various languages have a deep enough understanding of the various nuances to be accurate. Bob will probably say something like "Oh, but I'm a prophet, doing the work of God! My translators are inspired!" Unfortunately, it is not reasonable to expect this when using known fakes and imposters to do the translating. We know this from other aspects of Armstrongism such as healing. The frequency with which it occurs does not make it reliable, or even practical.
The glaring reality with Bob and his book is that he believes his book is more important than the Bible. A reader here noted how extensively the Bible has been translated, a book far more important than 60 pages of self-importance grandiosity. Far more people have read the Bible than will EVER read Bob's booklet. His booklet will NEVER touch the lives of people like the Bible has done for centuries.
"The Bible has been translated into many languages from the Biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. As of September 2023 all of the Bible has been translated into 736 languages, the New Testament has been translated into an additional 1,658 languages, and smaller portions of the Bible have been translated into 1,264 other languages according to Wycliffe Global Alliance".
Another reader made this astute comment on how this translation program is all about himself.
...have made available the good news of the kingdom of God in more languages than has ever been done since the start of the Christian church in Acts 2.
...and there you have it! Bob just elevated himself above Christ's apostles, and above Herbert Armstrong. Bob admits that he can be deceived yet still be one of God's leading servants (but remember how he attacked Rod Meredith for smaller deceptions than have afflicted Bob), but despite that deception he can still be God's Number One Servant Ever.
Oh, and Bob, if you are reading this, let's talk about what it means to have "made available" a translation. Some of your translations are into languages with just a couple thousand speakers somewhere in Asia, speakers who don't have access to modern tools like the Internet in their homes and sometimes not even in their villages. If you really are serious about wanting to "make available" a translation, simply getting the translation done and put on the Internet isn't going to cut it.
Yes, Bob, those Apostles you insult, the ones who didn't translate Christ's message as widely as you have had done, actually WENT to the people they wanted to serve. They weren't playing a numbers game. They traveled to remote and dangerous locations, where they trained and ordained elders and deacons.
Bob, you haven't done that. You're a pretender. A fraud. A laughingstock everywhere other than your deceived, mentally ill mind.
The Great Bwana Bob's so-called ministry has always been a numbers game and never really about touching people's lives with the word of God. It is always about himself in every article, sermon video, and booklet. Just look at his websites and blog and see how much he promotes himself while ignoring Jesus. The earth has never had a greater man walking its green hills than the feet of the Holy Bob.
Another read here wrote about the blatant hypocrisy of Holy Bob and his recently revealed translation debacle.
Bob knows that he is supporting a translation service that falsely uses the names of real translators as fronts for the AI-produced translations.
As such, he is correct to tell us that HE isn't being scammed. Rather, Bob is willfully participating in a scam that defrauds real translators by using their CVs to give Linda Jane's AI service a credibility it does not deserve. Bob is willing to pay this service a fraction of what the real translators (whose names are falsely being used, who don't actually do the translations) would charge.
If Bob wants to buy AI translations, he could do so from any number of services. But the fact that Bob is willing to pay a service that knowingly and blatantly misrepresents itself, and that does so by stealing real translators' identities, tells us what Bob really thinks of the Ten Commandments.
In this age of the internet and its instantaneous source of information, this ongoing shitstorm of the Great Bwana Bob Mzungu Thiel has been endlessly entertaining and yet painful to watch. It is fascinating watching his so-called ministry unravel in front of our eyes and yet painful to see the hundreds and hundreds of lives being spiritually damaged by his lies.
The Great Bwana Bob was not called and sent forth by God to preach the gospel. Bob called and sent himself after three different Church of God churches REFUSED to ordain him. He preaches, not the true gospel, but a false one. Paul saw such ministers in his day:
For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, this you tolerate verywell! NASB 2 Cor. 11:4
I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ. Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed. NLT Gal. 1:6-9
These sly deceitful men came in through the backdoor claiming lofty positions, uninvited, in order to keep people slaves to the law. Bwana Bob was NEVER invited or encouraged to start a new splinter group, he had no position of authority but gave himself titles of importance. He trampled all over the backs of those who came before him, discrediting them as ineffectual and that he had the only true way of doing things.
Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery Gal. 2:4
You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us. (2 Cor. 2:17).
While the Great Bwana claims that he is not in this for personal wealth, he is in it for the personal gratification and notoriety/accolades he so desperately seeks. Accolades that he never got from his father, Raymond McNair, Dibar Aprtian, and Rod Meredith. He is like a poisonous snake slithering through the tall grass catching you unaware, deceptively dangerous.
