The First Nations Version[1] is “An indigenous Translation of the New Testament” that provides an Introduction ([ix]-xiii), including “Why the Name First Nations Version?” (x), “Partnering Organizations,” “Church Engagement,” “The Translation Council” (x-xi), “Other Native People Involved” (xi), “Consultants and Support” (xi-xii), “Community Checking and Feedback” (xii), “Reader Aids” (xii-xiii). These are followed by a “Prologue” that gives an overview of the Old Testament, including introductory sample translations from Genesis, Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Daniel ([xv]-xviii).

Throughout the New Testament text, commentary or explanatory notes are inserted and indicated by a left-justified grey vertical bar to the left of each note. For example, “Spear of Great Waters (Pilate) was the local governor representing the People of Iron (Romans). He had the power to decide who would live and who would die.” This note explains to whom Creator Sets Free (Jesus) was taken by “the tribal elders, the scroll keepers, and the Grand Council” (Mark 15:1b). Also, throughout the FNV footnotes are supplied that include Literal translations (e.g., 1 Corinthians 14:22) and Old Testament references for 1 Corinthians 15:3 and 4). Further, “To Help The Reader with the historical and cultural context” [2] A “Glossary of Biblical Terms” is supplied. For additional information one is invited to visit: www.firstnationsversion.com and www.facebook.com/firstnationsversion.[3]

[From InterVarsity Press] Terry M. Wildman (Ojibwe and Yaqui) is the lead translator, general editor, and project manager of the First Nations Version. He serves as the director of spiritual growth and leadership development for Native InterVarsity. He is also the founder of Rain Ministries and has previously served as a pastor and worship leader. He and his wife, Darlene, live in Arizona.

The Translation Council “was selected from a cross-section of Native North Americans. Elders, pastors, young adults, and men and women from different tribes and diverse geographic locations were chosen to sit on the council” (x-xi). Also, “to minimize bias” the Council included “a diversity of church and denominational traditions” (xi). The “Translation Council humbly submits this new translation of the Sacred Scriptures as our gift to all English-speaking First Nations people and to the entire sacred family, which is the body of the Chosen One” (ix). This translation “is not a word-for-word” rendering, “but rather … a thought-for-thought translation, sometimes referred to as dynamic equivalence” (ix).

Now let us examine a few samples from the First Nation Version and other translations.

The Lord’s Prayer

⁹ Pray then like this:

“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.^[a]
10 Your kingdom come,
your will be done,^[b]
on earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread,^[c]
12 and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil^[d]” (Matt. 6:9-13 ESV. [See linked footnotes for additional translation notes]).

The Way to Pray

“9 … when you send your voice to the Great Spirit, here is how you should pray:
‘O Great Spirit, our Father from above, we honor your name as sacred and holy. 10 Bring your good road to us, where the beauty of your ways in the spirit-world above is reflected in the earth below.
11 “Provide for us day by day—the elk, the buffalo, and the salmon. The corn, the squash, and the wild rice. All the things we need for each day.
12 “Release us from the things we have done wrong, in the same way we release others for the things they have done wrong to us.
13 “Guide us away from the things that tempt us to stray from your good road, and set us free from the evil one and his worthless ways. Aho! May it be so (Matt. 6:9-13 FNV)!

“Our Father in heaven” (Matt. 6:9a ESV) is translated in the First Nations Version as “O Great Spirit, our Father from above.” Besides, “Great Spirit,” other names for God are used in the FNV, such as “… Creator, Great Mystery, Maker of Life, Giver of Breath, One Above Us All, and Most Holy One” (xiii).

For many White North Americans, their staple food is bread. But for Indigenous North Americans traditional basic foods include “the elk, the buffalo, and the salmon. The corn, the squash, and the wild rice” (6:11b-c FNV). Such a rendering of this portion in Matthew 6:11 illustrates an example of the “dynamic equivalence” (ix) principle in operation. Bannock is “a type of bread made with wheat flour, shaped into round, flat cakes and fried or baked” and that was used “(originally in indigenous Canadian cooking).”[4] So, bannock is another staple or basic food that might be considered in Matthew 6:11 (FNV).

Compare:

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to [sic] him and eat with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20 ESV).

 “I stand before the entrance of your tipi, asking you to welcome me in, I will sit down with you, and we will share a good meal together” (Rev. 3:20 FNV).

Kudos to everyone involved in producing this unique “dynamic equivalence” translation of the New Testament! To anyone—especially a non-Indigenous person—who takes seriously one’s need to understand and communicate better to First Nations or Indigenous people in North America, the reviewer highly recommends utilizing the First Nations Version of the New Testament.

 PR

Publisher’s page: https://www.ivpress.com/first-nations-version

Dedicated page: https://firstnationsversion.com/book/first-nations-version/

Read an interview with the FNV editor, “Terry Wildman on the Making of First Nations Version, a New Indigenous Bible Translation.”

Notes

[1] First Nations Version: An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2021.
[2]  Op. cit., [475]
[3]  Op. cit., [485]
[4] Dictionary Definitions from Oxford Languages (Accessed: Nov. 17, 2022).
[5] Dictionary Definitions from Oxford Languages (Accessed: Nov. 19, 2022).

The authors of a Canadian Pentecostal Reader are to be commended for such an exemplary, seminal, and significant reference research resource. The heart and core of this monograph focuses on a collection of early 20^th Century primary sources in the form of Pentecostal newsletters, carefully reproduced in reprinted format, with minor and useful amendments. The newsletters are arranged from Eastern to Western Canada: Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia, respectively. Canadian publication locations include the cities of Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Vancouver, and New Westminster. In the context, the authors describe that their collected primary newsletter “sources are historical, theological, testimonial, autobiographical, and biographical.” (1)

For introductory background information for each set of newsletters, the authors have taken a clever and consistent approach exhibiting and including ‘The People’, ‘The Publication’, and ‘Suggested Reading’. In addition, either external documented quotations or photographs conclude the introductions.

How refreshing to read experiential accounts of first-generation Pentecostals during the initial quarter of the 20^th Century!

Due to the length of Reader it appears that a wise decision was made not to include an index, but to give opportunity for the keen reader or scholarly researcher to secure a digital copy whereby any word or phrase of the book can be searched quickly and, if so desired, in sequence and comprehensively. Also, since The Canadian Pentecostal Testimony (Later renamed the Pentecostal Testimony, now: Testimony and Enrich) is largely available in digital form, the choice was made not to include this periodical among the set of primary newsletter sources for the book (2).

Further research and studies need to be conducted in regard to the following statement: “Ellen Hebden (1865-1923) is widely regarded as the first person in Canada to have the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the accompanying sign of speaking in tongues on 17 November 1906.” ([5]). It would have been helpful for the serious reader or researcher if this statement would have been documented, especially since this information is included in the first issue in May 1907 of The Promise ([12]-13) and since such a specific date is given. In my book review of Thomas William Miller’s Canadian Pentecostals: A History of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada ¹, I called into question that Ellen Hebden was the first Canadian person to be baptized in the Holy Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues in the 20^th Century (Pneuma 20: 1, Spring 1998, 119-20) ². I said, “it appears that John Loney of Snowflake, Manitoba (40-41) and not Hebden of Toronto was the first known Canadian, or at least the first known person in Canada to speak in tongues [in the 20th Century]. ³” (The Apostolic Faith, vol. I, 4 December 1906, 3) in Fred T. Corum’s Like As Of Fire (1981) ⁴ and in Wayne E. Warner’s The Azusa Street Papers (c1997), 24. ⁴ Warner was the former Director of the Assemblies of God Archives, Springfield, MO (8) ⁵. John Loney testifies, “I am in sympathy with your [William J. Seymour’s] work, am baptized with the Holy Ghost and fire, and have received the gift of some as of yet unknown tongue or tongues. It first came two years ago, and is proving more distinct and real. Believe God is preparing me for some special work in some part of his vineyard.” ⁶ (The Apostolic Faith, I, 4 December 1906, 3) in Fred T. Corum’s Like As Of Fire (1981) and in Wayne E. Warner’s The Azusa Street Papers (c1997), 24. Loney’s testimony could be interpreted that he was baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues as early as 1904.⁶

Reviewed by Laurence M. Van Kleek

Notes

¹ Miller, Thomas William. Canadian Pentecostals: A History of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. Edited by William A. Griffin. Mississauga, ON: Full Gospel Publishing House, c1994. 40-1.

² Canadian Pentecostals Reviewed by Laurence M. Van Kleek, Pneuma (20:1 Spring, 1998). 119-121.

³ Ibid, 119.

⁴ Corum, Fred T.  Like As of Fire (A Reprint of the Old Azusa Street Papers). Wilmington MA:  Fred T. Corum, 1981.  Snowflake, Manitoba—John Loney. Dec ‘06, p. 3, col. 2 [Using Warner’s Index], Warner, Wayne E. The Azusa Street Papers. Foley, AL: Harvest Publications, c1997. 24.

⁵ Burgess, Stanley M., Editor and Van der Maas, Eduard M., Associate Editor. The New International Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements. Expanded and Rev. ed. Zondervan, c2002. 1185-86.

⁶ I discovered another Canadian, Harry S. Horton, who was baptized in the Holy Spirit, accompanied by speaking in tongues in the early 20^th Century. He was the father of the Late Dr. Stanley M. Horton. In 1906, Harry received this experience at a home in Winnipeg. (J. Shirley Morsch, Editor in Chief of the History Committee. Rejoice: A History of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Alberta and the Northwest Territories. Edmonton, AB. The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada. Alberta and Northwest Territories (Mackenzie District); Altona, MB: Friesen Printers, a Division of D.W. Friesen & Sons Ltd., [1983]: 1.J. Shirley Morsch says, “In Elmer Cantelon’s book, Harvester of the North, he reported that his mother, Mrs. Peter Cantelon, of the Manitoba Mather District near Cartwright, received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit in her home in 1906.” I confirmed such in Elmer J. Cantelon’s, Harvester of the North (Toronto, Canada: Full Gospel Publishing House, c1969): 69-70. As already was employed as a search strategy for Mittelstadt and Courtney’s book, “familysearch.org, ancestry.com, and newspapers.com” (3), plus 23andme.com, could be used to shed more light on the historical background of people of interest.

So, besides maintaining that Ellen Hebden was the first person in Canada in the 20^th Century to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and accompanied by tongues speaking on 17 November 1906, there is evidence that others, such as John Loney of Snowflake, MB, Harry S. Horton of Winnipeg, and Mrs. Peter Cantelon of the Manitoba Mather District near Cartwright also received this experience in the same year. The question is for those who consider January 1, 1901, as so sacred, who was first? Is this date especially sacred to God or is it traditionally and culturally sacred to us? If 1904 is accepted, John Loney of Snowflake, Manitoba would be first! But if 1906 is the acceptable year, how likely would it be that November 17^th, so late in 1906, would rule out Harry S. Horton, and Mrs. Peter Cantelon as not receiving the experience possibly earlier than Ellen Hebden? Also, Christian historian scholars need to be careful not to take an elitist position that may rule out testimonies of laypersons.

Dr. Stanley Horton grandmother, Miss Clara Sanford (later Mrs. Elmer Fisher) who lived in Pennsylvania, received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, with the tongues evidence, in 1880.” (Morsch: 1). Claude Kendrick gives further examples of the speaking in “TONGUES PHENONMENA” in the United States in the last quarter of the 19^th Century. See The Promise Fulfilled: A History of the Modern Pentecostal Movement. Springfield, MO: Gospel Publishing House, c1961. 34-6. Regarding experiencing the Tongues phenomena, in 1875, Rev. R.B Swan of Providence, RI; in 1879, W. Jethro Walthall of Arkansas; in 1890, Daniel Awrey of OH; and in1900 “Sarah A. Smith … in Tennessee” had such an experience. (Ibid, 11). So, during the last quarter of the 19^th Century, there is evidence the people being baptized with the Holy Spirit accompanied with tongue speaking. I do not minimize the value or worldwide impact of the Azusa Street revival, but rather agree with Eddie L. Hyatt that since the day of Pentecost such wonderfully blessed phenomena have been throughout history. See Eddie L. Hyatt, 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, c2002).

The editor of this book, Dr. Riku P. Tuppurainen, Dean of Graduate Studies of Summit Pacific College in Abbotsford, BC (xii), has skillfully assembled a festschrift of “Essays in Honor of Professor Roger Stronstad” (T.p.) for Roger’s 75^th Birthday. These essays are divided into four major sections: PART I—Roger Stronstad as Biblical Scholar, Pentecostal Theologian, and Educator (vii); II—Reading St. Luke’s Text: Hermeneutical Considerations; III—Reading St. Luke’s Theology: Pneumatological Ambiances; and, IV—Reading St. Luke’s Pneumatology with Other Texts. All 21 scholarly contributors of the book’s 22 chapters hold doctorates and because of their contacts over the years with the honoree knew him well enough to make personal references to him. Unfortunately, among the Pentecostal scholars who personally know him, not one of them is a Pentecostal woman academician. The contributors are scholars currently living in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Belgium, or Australia.

The work consists of two bibliographies, one of which is a “Comprehensive Bibliography of Roger Stronstad’s Published Works” by Alford Deeley (xxix-xxxiii). He holds the Roger J. Stronstad Chair of Biblical Theology at Summit Pacific College. The other “Bibliography,” near the end of the book (265-290), precedes the Indexes. Besides Roger Stronstad, who has the most bibliographic entries in the festschrift, are the contributors Amos Yong, Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Robert P. Menzies, Craig S. Keener, Martin William Mittelstadt, and Rikki E. Watts, each with a comparatively large number of bibliographic sources.

The primary foci of the book are both biblical and pneumatological, reflected by the Old Testament (including the Septuagint) and by the New Testament. In addition, Old Testament apocryphal and Pseudepigraphic literature, other ancient Jewish writings, early Christian writings, and other ancient literature appear. Tongues speaking, pre- and post-Stronstad eras, socio-rhetorical criticism, postmodernism, ecclesiology, Charismatic ministries, missional pneumatology and prophetic learning are discussed. Although Lukan, Matthean, Markan, and Johannine theologies are presented, Pauline theology is limited to one specific and comparative essay: “What Does It Mean—According to the Book of Acts and the Letter to the Ephesians—to Be ‘Filled with’/’Full of’ the Holy Spirit?” This contribution is by Dr. Sven Soderlund, Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Regent College, Vancouver, BC. Of all Scriptural passages selected for the basis of an essay to represent Pauline theology, arguably to be “Filled with” or “Full of” the Holy Spirit is one of the most important for Holy Spirit living. But considering the importance to Pentecostals of Pauline theology, particularly of I Corinthians 12-14, references to these chapters unfortunately include only 63 references to this Corinthian segment in the festschrift. Of further import to Pentecostals are spiritual gifts in Romans 12 that is limited to three references. Among the collected essays, Romans 8 has five references, but Romans 8:26-27 has only one reference pertaining to these verses.

Evident from his sources used, Dr. Craig S. Keener is to be commended for his depth of research evident in his essay, “Prayer for the Spirit in Luke 11:1-13.” Keener is F.M. and Ada Professor of New Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, KY (xii). The range of references he uses in the essay displays his depth of research and is but a small reflection of his monumental 4-volume-4600 plus page work, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary (2012). In his essay, Keener goes far beyond Biblical references. These include Deuterocanonical and Pseudepigraphical sources. In addition, Jewish writings comprise the Babylonian, Mishnah and Tosefta Tractates; Targums; Rabbahs; the Qumran Rule of the Community and Josephus. Christian writings encompass Polycarp, Justin Martyr and Chrysostom. Other ancient writings are by Philo, Homer and Seneca.

Essays by Keener, and the other 20 contributors honoring the Rev. Dr. Roger J. Stronstad, will provide for an upcoming generation and future generations of Pentecostal scholars a host of topics and motifs for further research and discussion.

Reviewed by Laurence M. Van Kleek

Publisher’s page: https://wipfandstock.com/reading-st-luke-s-text-and-theology-pentecostal-voices.html

Preview: https://books.google.com/books?id=cRK4DwAAQBAJ