DR. JOHN HINTON PRAYER LETTER
And They Glorified God In Me
Galatians 1:24
Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life,
whereunto thou art also called,
and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:12
Bible Restoration Ministry Newsletter April, 2004
Dear Friends and Supporters,
It has been a while since I sent out a newsletter due to the fact that I am involved in too many projects to be able to set much time aside for writing. The following is a condensed and incomplete rundown of my present progress. The local library has managed to find me three 19th century Bengali Bible translations and I copied the first two, which totaled over 2,200 pages and cost me over $100. Unfortunately, I have not yet found a church that has a copier that I can use, so if anyone can direct me to one in my area, I’d be very grateful. The first of these was an 1848 translation that is a King James equivalent. The 1874 translation that I was sent has merits, however, footnotes and parenthesis were used to cast down upon many verses. The third Bengali Bible that I was sent was from 1894 and it is perverted, so I am sending it back uncopied. I have found a publisher to republish the 1848 translation. The vocabulary could use updating, but it is not perverted as are all of the modern versions. Updating the vocabulary, without omitting or perverting verses as other revisers have done, would be a great project for the future. I have found a number of missionaries interested in the Bengali Bible, so I have great hopes for the future of the Bengali Bible. Bengali is spoken by somewhere around 200 million people; it is a very important language. A gentleman from * has proposed that we work together to form a new Bible society that will be devoted to republishing King James equivalent and Textus Receptus-based Bibles. This Bengali reprint may be the first one to be reprinted under our partnership. XOFC has already published a good number of Bibles.
I have been contacted by missionaries to Pakistan who have the means to publish Urdu Bibles, as well as having access to a large number of native speakers of Pakistani languages, including Urdu. What they wish to do is to take a current corrupted Urdu translation and to cut and paste text to replace missing passages and to correct mistranslated words in order to undo the foul work of the apostates who corrupted the Bible in this language. I also discovered an Urdu translation that is currently being reprinted under the name Hindustani. I am carefully looking at this translation. I believe that it should be renamed an Urdu Bible and will prove to be the Bible that should be spread in Pakistan. In any event, it is far superior to the perverted Urdu versions presently being used to attack the trinity and other biblical doctrines. I am looking into the possibility of these two projects coming together. However, it works out, it brings great joy to my heart to know that the Urdu speakers of India and Pakistan soon will no longer have only perverted Bibles to choose from. I greatly feared that I was going to be forced to type up the entire text myself.
The cut and paste method of correcting corrupted texts may be used for a number of Bibles from India and other parts of Asia. I am hoping to use the same technique for the Pashto Bible. Pashto is an important language of Afghanistan and is spoken by a good number of Pakistani refugees. The Pashto NT copy that I have is good for the most part, but there are a few problems. An example is the Lord’s Prayer in Matthew 6 in which the ending is missing. I originally feared that I was going to be forced to type the whole text, but cutting and pasting would relieve me of several months work. This is especially important since I have no source for a free Pashto font, and have only limited skills with the language. Examining this text requires a great deal of dictionary work on my part, so it is slow and tedious work in any event, but it will be relatively simple if the cut and paste method is used. I do, however, need the assistance of a native speaker, but judging from what I have encountered so far, the number of verses that will need revision are few and far between.
Sindhi, Punjabi, and Baluchi are other major languages of Pakistan. I am confident that Bibles, or at least New Testaments, will be made available in them. A KJV-equivalent Sindhi Bible was completed in the 19th century, but has long been out of print. As for Punjabi, I have yet to obtain a copy of the 19th Pakistani Punjabi Bible, but I suspect that it will be a KJV-equivalent. The issue with Punjabi is complicated. Indian and Pakistani Punjabi use different scripts. In India the Gurmukhi script is used and in Pakistan a variation of the Perso-Arabic script is used. The former script is more like the Sanskrit script so it would be useless in Pakistan. I hope to find good Bibles in both languages so that they may be reprinted through photocopying. I do not believe that there is any Bible in the Pakistani Punjabi script presently published, either sound or perverted, so there is a great need. I have a Gurmukhi script Punjabi Bible, but it is perverted. I am still trying to acquire an older version.
Baluchi is the language of Baluchistan in Pakistan. I have some knowledge of this relative of Urdu, but I do not even know if the complete Bible has ever been translated into it. I would not be qualified to translate one myself, but hopefully, I can find an old one that is good. My first attempt through library interlibrary loan has been unsuccessful, but I am not giving up.
I am still involved in a few European language Bible projects and will send another newsletter relating to them in a few weeks. I am looking for knowledgeable informants in a number of languages, including Lithuanian, Danish, Swedish, Yoruba, Swahili, and others. If anyone knows someone who could help me with these, please send me contact information.
I am still pounding away at the keys for the Hindi Bible. I have taken to listening to sermons, law lectures, anatomy and medical tapes and other materials while I am typing. After I type up each chapter, I have to proofread it once for typos and once for content, which requires my full attention, but I have come to realize that the typing end of the job is more mechanical than intellectual, so the time passes better if I use the time for educating myself.
This is eliminating much of the tedium of my ministry. God willing, I should complete Hebrews this afternoon.
I am still searching for ministry support from churches and individuals. I give presentations and seminars to teach pastors and their congregations how to defend the King James Bible. If your church is interested in hearing about the issue of Bible translation, please contact me. I also speak on the topics of natural medicine, edible and medicinal wild plants, wilderness and urban survival, investing in gold and silver (something that I only teach and have no longer means to actually do), and Big Brother enslavement technology. I would love to visit you church.
Your servant in Christ,
John Hinton
Bible Restoration Ministry