Discussion: What is the value of the written word?

What is the value of written word?

The written word has such an impact on my life. To me, the most important written word is The Bible. I believe that it is the infallible word of God. Recently, my church had visitors who are Crimean missionaries who work to translate the Bible and introduce the Christian God to Islamic communities. The most memorable part of their visit to our church was their discussions of the troubles of translating the Bible into something that the inhabitants of that area would understand. What word would they use for God? The only words that meant "God" in their language was used for either polytheistic gods or the Islamic God. Which word would help the inhabitants better understand the God of the Bible?

Another struggle is also how they would keep the essence of the Bible the same. This led me to realize the importance of every word when translating any written word into another language. Not only is the denotation, the dictionary definition of a word, important; the connotation, the overall meaning behind the word, is also equally if not more important. The essence and feeling behind each word has to be the same. Translation software companies like Smartling who help to translate written word, such as novels, from one language to another must struggle with these same problems.

While translating written word, it is important to me to keep the emotions behind the story consistent throughout languages. For instance, I recently read Shaken by Kariss Lynch, the first in the Heart of Warriors series. I loved this book mainly because of the emotions that I felt while reading it. Although I usually do not cry during novels, I wept during this one. The emotions were so real and I could easy connect with the characters. If this book were to be translated into another language, I believe that the raw emotions behind the book and the feeling that I was left with after reading it would also need to be translated.

What do you think is the most important aspect of a novel that may not be easily translated? What novels would you like to see translated into another language?

Blog Tour and Book Review: A Nation Under Judgement by Richard Capriola

 

Book Title: A Nation Under Judgement

Author: Richard Capriola

Publish Date: April 3, 2014

Genre: Christian Nonfiction

Book Description (from Blog Tour Media Packet):  

What does it mean to be One Nation Under God? Our Founding Fathers believed it was more than a political slogan. Have we strayed from their vision? A Nation Under Judgment focuses on issues currently facing our nation including hunger, poverty, the environment and marriage. These and other issues are reviewed from both a Scriptural point of view and a social policy point of view. Readers are empowered to consider whether our nation is moving away from being One Nation Under God.

Book Excerpt:

Over one hundred and fifty years ago, Abraham Lincoln accepted his party’s nomination in Springfield, Illinois, to run against Stephen A. Douglas for the U.S. Senate. In his acceptance speech before one thousand Republican delegates, Lincoln addressed the issue of slavery and said, “A House divided against itself cannot stand.”

 

Today, the issue that divides us is no longer slavery. Now, it is whether we will live up to the words “one nation under God” and the very meaning of those words. Do we construct our national polices and our laws to honor God’s point of view, or do we develop them based on a political agenda? What does it mean for us to be “one nation under God?” Have the words become merely a political slogan? Do they have value only in times of national crises, when we feel threatened? Have we become a nation asking for God’s protection and blessing while ignoring His point of view?

Our Founding Fathers understood that we could not exist apart from God’s point of view. George Mason warned that providence would punish national sins with national calamities. Thomas Jefferson new that God’s patience would not endure forever when he wrote “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and his justice will not sleep forever.” 

Book Trailer:

 

About the Author:   
Richard Capriola spent many years serving as a hospital chaplain. He completed four years of Clinical Pastoral Education in preparation for his chaplaincy work. In addition to his pastoral care experience, he has served as a mental health counselor at both a regional crisis center and a psychiatric hospital.

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Why I Read this Book: I received a physical copy of this book as part of a blog tour in exchange for an honest review.  This in no way influenced my review.

 

Review

Is the United States of America truly a nation that follows God's principles?  This is the question that this books seeks to answer.  Filled with scripture and statistics, the overall message of the book was very meaningful and the topics were interesting.  This book has an incredible amount of potential but I believe that it fell short in a few areas.

Throughout the book, I felt like there where too many statistics and quotes and not many original ideas.  There were too many facts and not many conclusions.  I sometimes got lost in the statistics and forgot what point the author was trying to make.

I really enjoyed the Biblical messages throughout the book.  The message of not being gluttonous, greedy, lustful, ect. was a meaningful message.  The parts of the book that included original ideas was very thought provoking.  Although I do agree with much of what this book states, many problems of why the United States is not a God following nation were presented but a solution to this problem was not discussed in this book.  If there were more unique ideas and solutions to the problems presented throughout this book, I would have enjoyed it much more.

Overall, the message was wonderful but the statistics bogged down much of the book.  Even though this book was not the perfect book for me, it may be for you.  I encourage you to give this book a try.

 

Final Statements

Recommended Reading Age: 16+ for adult topics such as abortion

Overall Rating: 3.5/5

Have you read this book?  Discuss this book in our PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads by clicking HERE.