The Tru316 Story
All across Africa, in thousands of different language groups and cultures, people were coming to Christ in the Great Revivals of the 20th century. More and more gathered together for worship and growth. It was wonderful!
In 1900 there were only an estimated 10 million Christians in Africa. By 2000 there were 400 million! Yet, when they gathered together there were two problems: they lacked trained leaders and they were using flawed Bible translations.
Problem #1. Untrained believers. “What is a church?” and “Who will instruct us?” came the cries. The church was growing so fast that the church was “just an inch deep and a mile wide.” How were they to live? Believers lacked training and the call went out for more trainers for the new believers.
The Association of Evangelicals of Africa set up graduate seminaries for the French- and English-speaking portions of the continent. These schools were to train leaders in Hebrew and Greek, as well as theology and practical subjects, to ground the growing churches in dozens of countries from the Indian Ocean on the East Coast to the Atlantic Ocean on the West Coast. Dr. Joy Fleming was one of the first professors God raised up to serve the churches of the 17 French-speaking countries, from the Congo to the Sahara and westward. The African leadership encouraged her to focus on key passages relevant to their churches. God led her to dive deep into the Hebrew text on the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2-3 and especially on Genesis 3:16.
Problem #2. Incorrect translation. When African believers finally gained access to Bible passages translated into their own languages they were mostly encouraged. Yet in some ways they were horribly discouraged. Through an error in translation and because of flawed theology when people read Genesis 2-3 they learned that God was good and kind in Genesis 2 but fickle and unjust in Genesis 3. Of course that was incorrect.
The biggest problem? In Genesis 3, the patterns of God’s words to the three at the tree, and specifically in God’s words to the woman in 3:16, were not presented in the African Bible versions. In Hebrew God spoke to the serpent and the man using a parallel six point pattern. When God spoke to the woman that pattern was completely absent. This pattern interrupt alerted the early Hebrew reader that God drew a distinction between the woman and the two others. The other two had actively rebelled against God. The woman had not. The other two each had a curse imposed by God. The woman did not. Yet modern translations across Africa, and in English and French too, do not show these different patterns. Even worse, they have made it look like God singled out the woman for a severe curse. Because of this, in Africa, believers singled out women for harsh restrictions!
Dr. Joy Fleming pointed out that God didn’t curse Eve (or Adam) or limit woman in any way. As she taught this to her students in the seminary classes, and in village churches too, believers were greatly relieved and encouraged. Yet translators continued to pump out their incorrect versions of Genesis 3:16 thereby undermining God’s positive message in Eden of grace and of the Savior who was promised to come from Eden through the woman.
Dr. Joy Fleming and Rev. Bruce C. E. Fleming established the Tru316 Foundation to “true” the verse of Genesis 3:16 and related passages in Bible translations and in Christian teaching around the world. You can have a major part in doing so through your support as a Tru Donor. Please connect here: www.Tru316.com/donate
