To misrepresent another religion for fear that people might choose that religion is repugnant, but to do so to one’s own faith in the hope of gaining more converts is downright despicable.
Christian missionaries, travelling in the mid-1970s to the Colorado valley, found themselves unable to convince the resident Panare Indians to accept faith in Jesus Christ. To overcome this dilemma they took to compiling books for the natives to read in their mother tongue, however, it was quickly realised that before the Indians could be made to accept repentance and salvation they had to be given something to feel guilty about.
The missionaries came up with an ingenious, yet underhand, solution: translate the New Testament in such a way as to implicate the Panare Indians in Jesus’ death! Gone from the Bible was Judas’s betrayal, the Romans, the trial, and Pontius Pilate. The text now read at the appropriate places: “The Panare killed Jesus Christ, because they were wicked. Let’s kill Jesus Christ, said the Panare… They laid a cross on the ground…” etc. The New Testament continued: “God will burn you all… God will exterminate the Panare by throwing them on the fire… ‘Do you want to be roasted in the fire?’ asks God. ‘Do you have something to pay me with so that I won’t roast you in the fire? What is it you’re going to pay me?’” The Indians were terrified. Soon the first Indian woman came forward and said: “I don’t want to burn in the big fire. I love Jesus.” (Adapted from Norman Lewis, The Missionaries, Arena 1989, pp.188-192)
The end had justified the means and, as far as the missionaries were concerned, the Indians had attained salvation in Jesus Christ. The fact that they had to distort their own Bible to achieve their goal was of no consequence. Interestingly, Norman Lewis doesn’t tell us whether the Indians had to continue using the same distorted Bible throughout their “Christian” lives. If so, the Panare would certainly have had a very unique and warped understanding of just who Jesus was!
Iqbal