Jacob S Bullock | SIL International (original) (raw)
Videos by Jacob S Bullock
Is the goal of exegetical accuracy frequently at the mercy of the goal of acceptability in the pr... more Is the goal of exegetical accuracy frequently at the mercy of the goal of acceptability in the practice of Bible Translation? Drawing on the work of Philip Goodwin, this paper argues that in language communities with previous exposure to translated scripture, the value of acceptability often constrains translators to bypass advances in Biblical studies and privilege less viable text-critical readings, poor semantics, and outmoded grammatical understandings in order to please the target community. This paper validates this claim by examining cases of this phenomenon from three published translations. The paper concludes by briefly examining some of the strategies these translations use to incorporate new exegetical insights into translation products while maintaining a surface text acceptable to the target community.
4 views
At times, Biblical literature is shocking, embarrassing, or grotesque. Yet the most offensive pas... more At times, Biblical literature is shocking, embarrassing, or grotesque. Yet the most offensive passages are often those that communicate theological truth with the most poignancy and urgency. Frequently in translation, the impact of these texts is lost in euphemism, vagueness, or over literalness. When translators intentionally or accidentally smooth these rough edges, they ultimately skew the meaning of the text and blunt its theological potential. To truly fostering human thriving we must carefully preserve the rough edges through the translation process. This paper argues that only when translations of these texts sicken us, make our hearts beat faster, or bring us to tears has accuracy truly been achieved in translation.
Integrating cognitive science, communication theory, and theology this paper argues that the startling nature of these texts results from inferential processes influenced by lexical selection, linguistic register, and context selection. Resultantly, careful cons
7 views
Papers by Jacob S Bullock
The American Journal of Biblical Theology, 2022
Perhaps one of the most foundational aspects of Pauline theology is the unification of both Jews ... more Perhaps one of the most foundational aspects of Pauline theology is the unification of both Jews and Gentiles in Christ by faith. For first-century Jewish believers this raised the question of how the unity of their shared justification with the Gentiles in Christ through faith proceeded from both the Abrahamic covenant and the Mosaic Law. Namely, how can Gentiles who are not physical descendant of Abraham become heirs to promises YHWH made to him. Central to this question is the purpose and efficacy of the Law. These questions left early believers to debate whether Gentiles both needed to keep the Law to be justified.
Biblical Studies Journal, 2022
This paper argues that in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is portrayed through his miracles, parables, and... more This paper argues that in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is portrayed through his miracles, parables, and teachings to be the promised servant of YHWH in Isaiah 61. This paper will explore Matthew’s use of his source material to highlight Jesus’ role as the representative of YHWH and mediator of the Covenant. This paper will conclude that Jesus’s miracles and teachings demonstrate the “first fruits” of the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. Finally, the paper will demonstrate that Jesus’s teaching explores the “already but not yet” tensions present in the prophies of Messiah as the servant of YHWH which will only be realized in the eschaton.
Neke The New Zealand Journal of Translation Studies , 2022
In this paper I will be examining and evaluating three conversational implicatures from the gospe... more In this paper I will be examining and evaluating three conversational implicatures from the gospel of Matthew along with their translations in Tok Pisin, a lingua franca of the country of Papua New Guinea. My purpose in the examination is to evaluate whether the implicatures they contain are likely to communicate the same truth conditional meaning in the translation as in the original. After the evaluation I will show my proposed additions to the translations to ensure that the original truth conditional meanings are preserved.
For evaluation of the implicatures I will be utilizing principles from the theory of conversational implicature proposed by Paul Grice. Specifically, I will be referring to his super maxims of quality, quantity, relation and manner and his theory of implicature through violation of these maxims. (Grice 1989)
The Evangelical Review of Theology and Politics, 2020
Zen-Christianity is a pluralistic theological movement that is gaining greater acceptance in the ... more Zen-Christianity is a pluralistic theological movement that is gaining greater acceptance in the global evangelical community. Members of this movement claim to have achieved a theological bilingualism in which both distinct theological/philosophical systems are held in concert without conflict or distortion of one by the other. This article argues that far from achieving theological harmony, Zen-Christian theology severely distorts numerous tenants of orthodox Christian faith including the person and work of Jesus Christ. In demonstration of this, this article examines the Zen-Christian theology of Jesus as presented by Ruben Habito, a prominent theologian of the Zen-Christian movement. From an exegetical and biblical-theological perspective this article demonstrates that in order to fit Jesus into his Zen-Christian theological program, Habito must divorce Jesus from his theological, linguistic, and historical context. This article concludes that because it distorts the deity, teachings, and nature of Jesus Christ, Zen-Christianity, as presented by Habito, should be completely rejected by the evangelical community.
Biblical and Ancient Greek Linguistics, 2017
Relevance Theory offers historical-grammatical interpretation a model of human communication that... more Relevance Theory offers historical-grammatical interpretation a model of human communication that aids in clarifying the reason modern audiences inappropriately apply their own context to a biblical text. Hill's matrix, drawing on the model proposed by Relevance Theory, is a tool allowing expositors to explore the inappropriate context readers apply to the biblical text. Hill's matrix can aid interpreters in the discernment of assumptions as appropriate or inappropriate to apply to a text in a search for authorial meaning. Applying Hill's matrix to Acts 12:15 an exegete can identify both inappropriate assumptions modern American readers bring to the text as well as those contextual assumptions needed to find authorial meaning which are missing from modern readers' context. (Article)
Book Reviews by Jacob S Bullock
Review of Biblical LIterature, 2019
a prominent proponent of the application of discourse analysis to study of the text. In keeping w... more a prominent proponent of the application of discourse analysis to study of the text. In keeping with Porter's notable career, this collection of linguistically themed essays serves as an apology for the positive impact modern linguistic theories should have in New Testament studies. The book is broadly organized into thematic sections. The first covers such preliminary considerations as the availability and copyrightability of the texts, evaluation of current computer tools for analysis, and a critique of popular lexicons. The second broad section introduces various linguistic methodologies and discusses how they might improve dated approaches to New Testament interpretation. The third section contains a collection of short textual studies illustrating the application of linguistics to interpretation.
Conference Presentations by Jacob S Bullock
Bible Translation Conference Proceedings, 2021
At times, Biblical literature is shocking, embarrassing, or grotesque. Yet the most offensive pas... more At times, Biblical literature is shocking, embarrassing, or grotesque. Yet the most offensive passages are often those that communicate theological truth with the most poignancy and urgency. Frequently in translation, the impact of these texts is lost in euphemism, vagueness, or over literalness. When translators intentionally or accidentally smooth these rough edges, they ultimately skew the meaning of the text and blunt its theological potential. To truly foster human thriving we must carefully preserve the rough edges through the translation process. This paper argues that only when translations of these texts sicken us, make our hearts beat faster, or bring us to tears has accuracy truly been achieved in translation.
Integrating cognitive science, communication theory, and theology this paper argues that the startling nature of these texts results from inferential processes influenced by lexical selection, linguistic register, and context selection. Resultantly, careful consideration of these factors in translation is essential to arriving at the proper shock factor and theology of a text. Considering examples from the OT, this presentation will explore how shocking scriptural texts function as acts of communication and propose a methodology for handling these texts in translation.
Drafts by Jacob S Bullock
The first five hundred years of the Christian Church were a time of both exciting growth and cons... more The first five hundred years of the Christian Church were a time of both exciting growth and constant persecution. A foundation was built that endures to this day. During this time many women had profound roles as teachers, witnesses, leaders, and nurtures of the church as well as those who gave their lives in witness to their love of their Lord. They did this often counter-culturally and against great odds. This paper will argue that far from being marginal Christian witnesses women missionaries in the early church were nurturers of the Church, teachers of the faith, and faithful to their Lord to the death. In validation of this argument, this paper will discuss the life and works of four of these early Christian Witnesses the Apostle Peter's wife, Priscilla, Perpetua, and Felicitatis.
Thesis Chapters by Jacob S Bullock
ThM Thesis Dallas Theological Seminary, 2018
Drawing from Relevance Theory and Intercultural Communications theory, this paper proposes a sup... more Drawing from Relevance Theory and Intercultural Communications theory,
this paper proposes a supplementary methodology for studying the use of nonlinguistic modalities in New Testament narrative. This paper presents evidence that the contextual gap between author and exegete impairs an interpreter’s ability to recover explicatures from the non-linguistic modes of these texts. The purpose of this methodology is to mitigate an interpreter’s contextually conditioned risk of pragmatic failure regarding the presence and use of nonlinguistic modalities in these texts. The methodology draws on the interpretive posture of cautious optimism, an input mapping approach for the quantitative study of the use of nonlinguistic modes in these texts, and RT pragmatics as a robust basis for qualitative analysis of how these texts function as multimodal utterances. From this methodological basis, the paper presents a sample method of text charting drawn from the input mapping approach. This method is demonstrated in a short comparative study of the account of the anointing of Jesus at Bethany found in John 12, Matthew 26, and Mark 14. The sample study demonstrates the productivity of the method for generating quantitative observations about the use of nonlinguistic modes of communication in New Testament narrative texts as a basis for a qualitative study. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research regarding multimodality in New Testament narrative.
Teaching Documents by Jacob S Bullock
In 2015 the Pacific Institute of Languages, Arts, and Translation (PILAT) conducted a Greek I cou... more In 2015 the Pacific Institute of Languages, Arts, and Translation (PILAT) conducted a Greek I course. One student in this course had a very difficult time grasping course content and was exhibiting what I knew to be characteristics of dyslexia. Both Greek and English were used for a variety of classroom exercises and the student exhibited the same difficulties in both languages. Specifically, the student repeatedly confused the order of letters in words when reading a text, had an unusually slow reading speed and demonstrated repeated difficulty distinguishing letters with similar shapes.
During the course I tried to broaden my knowledge concerning dyslexia as a learning difficulty and see what we could adjust in our course approach to help the student. Because of time limitations we were not able to greatly help the student at the time. However, this experience opened my eyes to the fact that a certain percentage of the student who come through SIL training are impacted by this condition.
I decided to conduct research into what would be best practices when preparing course material to help people with dyslexia and to a lesser extent other learning difficulties. This paper presents a short overview of dyslexia and some suggestions gleaned from various sources to make our training courses and materials more accessible to people with dyslexia.
Is the goal of exegetical accuracy frequently at the mercy of the goal of acceptability in the pr... more Is the goal of exegetical accuracy frequently at the mercy of the goal of acceptability in the practice of Bible Translation? Drawing on the work of Philip Goodwin, this paper argues that in language communities with previous exposure to translated scripture, the value of acceptability often constrains translators to bypass advances in Biblical studies and privilege less viable text-critical readings, poor semantics, and outmoded grammatical understandings in order to please the target community. This paper validates this claim by examining cases of this phenomenon from three published translations. The paper concludes by briefly examining some of the strategies these translations use to incorporate new exegetical insights into translation products while maintaining a surface text acceptable to the target community.
4 views
At times, Biblical literature is shocking, embarrassing, or grotesque. Yet the most offensive pas... more At times, Biblical literature is shocking, embarrassing, or grotesque. Yet the most offensive passages are often those that communicate theological truth with the most poignancy and urgency. Frequently in translation, the impact of these texts is lost in euphemism, vagueness, or over literalness. When translators intentionally or accidentally smooth these rough edges, they ultimately skew the meaning of the text and blunt its theological potential. To truly fostering human thriving we must carefully preserve the rough edges through the translation process. This paper argues that only when translations of these texts sicken us, make our hearts beat faster, or bring us to tears has accuracy truly been achieved in translation.
Integrating cognitive science, communication theory, and theology this paper argues that the startling nature of these texts results from inferential processes influenced by lexical selection, linguistic register, and context selection. Resultantly, careful cons
7 views
The American Journal of Biblical Theology, 2022
Perhaps one of the most foundational aspects of Pauline theology is the unification of both Jews ... more Perhaps one of the most foundational aspects of Pauline theology is the unification of both Jews and Gentiles in Christ by faith. For first-century Jewish believers this raised the question of how the unity of their shared justification with the Gentiles in Christ through faith proceeded from both the Abrahamic covenant and the Mosaic Law. Namely, how can Gentiles who are not physical descendant of Abraham become heirs to promises YHWH made to him. Central to this question is the purpose and efficacy of the Law. These questions left early believers to debate whether Gentiles both needed to keep the Law to be justified.
Biblical Studies Journal, 2022
This paper argues that in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is portrayed through his miracles, parables, and... more This paper argues that in Matthew’s Gospel Jesus is portrayed through his miracles, parables, and teachings to be the promised servant of YHWH in Isaiah 61. This paper will explore Matthew’s use of his source material to highlight Jesus’ role as the representative of YHWH and mediator of the Covenant. This paper will conclude that Jesus’s miracles and teachings demonstrate the “first fruits” of the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven. Finally, the paper will demonstrate that Jesus’s teaching explores the “already but not yet” tensions present in the prophies of Messiah as the servant of YHWH which will only be realized in the eschaton.
Neke The New Zealand Journal of Translation Studies , 2022
In this paper I will be examining and evaluating three conversational implicatures from the gospe... more In this paper I will be examining and evaluating three conversational implicatures from the gospel of Matthew along with their translations in Tok Pisin, a lingua franca of the country of Papua New Guinea. My purpose in the examination is to evaluate whether the implicatures they contain are likely to communicate the same truth conditional meaning in the translation as in the original. After the evaluation I will show my proposed additions to the translations to ensure that the original truth conditional meanings are preserved.
For evaluation of the implicatures I will be utilizing principles from the theory of conversational implicature proposed by Paul Grice. Specifically, I will be referring to his super maxims of quality, quantity, relation and manner and his theory of implicature through violation of these maxims. (Grice 1989)
The Evangelical Review of Theology and Politics, 2020
Zen-Christianity is a pluralistic theological movement that is gaining greater acceptance in the ... more Zen-Christianity is a pluralistic theological movement that is gaining greater acceptance in the global evangelical community. Members of this movement claim to have achieved a theological bilingualism in which both distinct theological/philosophical systems are held in concert without conflict or distortion of one by the other. This article argues that far from achieving theological harmony, Zen-Christian theology severely distorts numerous tenants of orthodox Christian faith including the person and work of Jesus Christ. In demonstration of this, this article examines the Zen-Christian theology of Jesus as presented by Ruben Habito, a prominent theologian of the Zen-Christian movement. From an exegetical and biblical-theological perspective this article demonstrates that in order to fit Jesus into his Zen-Christian theological program, Habito must divorce Jesus from his theological, linguistic, and historical context. This article concludes that because it distorts the deity, teachings, and nature of Jesus Christ, Zen-Christianity, as presented by Habito, should be completely rejected by the evangelical community.
Biblical and Ancient Greek Linguistics, 2017
Relevance Theory offers historical-grammatical interpretation a model of human communication that... more Relevance Theory offers historical-grammatical interpretation a model of human communication that aids in clarifying the reason modern audiences inappropriately apply their own context to a biblical text. Hill's matrix, drawing on the model proposed by Relevance Theory, is a tool allowing expositors to explore the inappropriate context readers apply to the biblical text. Hill's matrix can aid interpreters in the discernment of assumptions as appropriate or inappropriate to apply to a text in a search for authorial meaning. Applying Hill's matrix to Acts 12:15 an exegete can identify both inappropriate assumptions modern American readers bring to the text as well as those contextual assumptions needed to find authorial meaning which are missing from modern readers' context. (Article)
Review of Biblical LIterature, 2019
a prominent proponent of the application of discourse analysis to study of the text. In keeping w... more a prominent proponent of the application of discourse analysis to study of the text. In keeping with Porter's notable career, this collection of linguistically themed essays serves as an apology for the positive impact modern linguistic theories should have in New Testament studies. The book is broadly organized into thematic sections. The first covers such preliminary considerations as the availability and copyrightability of the texts, evaluation of current computer tools for analysis, and a critique of popular lexicons. The second broad section introduces various linguistic methodologies and discusses how they might improve dated approaches to New Testament interpretation. The third section contains a collection of short textual studies illustrating the application of linguistics to interpretation.
Bible Translation Conference Proceedings, 2021
At times, Biblical literature is shocking, embarrassing, or grotesque. Yet the most offensive pas... more At times, Biblical literature is shocking, embarrassing, or grotesque. Yet the most offensive passages are often those that communicate theological truth with the most poignancy and urgency. Frequently in translation, the impact of these texts is lost in euphemism, vagueness, or over literalness. When translators intentionally or accidentally smooth these rough edges, they ultimately skew the meaning of the text and blunt its theological potential. To truly foster human thriving we must carefully preserve the rough edges through the translation process. This paper argues that only when translations of these texts sicken us, make our hearts beat faster, or bring us to tears has accuracy truly been achieved in translation.
Integrating cognitive science, communication theory, and theology this paper argues that the startling nature of these texts results from inferential processes influenced by lexical selection, linguistic register, and context selection. Resultantly, careful consideration of these factors in translation is essential to arriving at the proper shock factor and theology of a text. Considering examples from the OT, this presentation will explore how shocking scriptural texts function as acts of communication and propose a methodology for handling these texts in translation.
The first five hundred years of the Christian Church were a time of both exciting growth and cons... more The first five hundred years of the Christian Church were a time of both exciting growth and constant persecution. A foundation was built that endures to this day. During this time many women had profound roles as teachers, witnesses, leaders, and nurtures of the church as well as those who gave their lives in witness to their love of their Lord. They did this often counter-culturally and against great odds. This paper will argue that far from being marginal Christian witnesses women missionaries in the early church were nurturers of the Church, teachers of the faith, and faithful to their Lord to the death. In validation of this argument, this paper will discuss the life and works of four of these early Christian Witnesses the Apostle Peter's wife, Priscilla, Perpetua, and Felicitatis.
ThM Thesis Dallas Theological Seminary, 2018
Drawing from Relevance Theory and Intercultural Communications theory, this paper proposes a sup... more Drawing from Relevance Theory and Intercultural Communications theory,
this paper proposes a supplementary methodology for studying the use of nonlinguistic modalities in New Testament narrative. This paper presents evidence that the contextual gap between author and exegete impairs an interpreter’s ability to recover explicatures from the non-linguistic modes of these texts. The purpose of this methodology is to mitigate an interpreter’s contextually conditioned risk of pragmatic failure regarding the presence and use of nonlinguistic modalities in these texts. The methodology draws on the interpretive posture of cautious optimism, an input mapping approach for the quantitative study of the use of nonlinguistic modes in these texts, and RT pragmatics as a robust basis for qualitative analysis of how these texts function as multimodal utterances. From this methodological basis, the paper presents a sample method of text charting drawn from the input mapping approach. This method is demonstrated in a short comparative study of the account of the anointing of Jesus at Bethany found in John 12, Matthew 26, and Mark 14. The sample study demonstrates the productivity of the method for generating quantitative observations about the use of nonlinguistic modes of communication in New Testament narrative texts as a basis for a qualitative study. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research regarding multimodality in New Testament narrative.
In 2015 the Pacific Institute of Languages, Arts, and Translation (PILAT) conducted a Greek I cou... more In 2015 the Pacific Institute of Languages, Arts, and Translation (PILAT) conducted a Greek I course. One student in this course had a very difficult time grasping course content and was exhibiting what I knew to be characteristics of dyslexia. Both Greek and English were used for a variety of classroom exercises and the student exhibited the same difficulties in both languages. Specifically, the student repeatedly confused the order of letters in words when reading a text, had an unusually slow reading speed and demonstrated repeated difficulty distinguishing letters with similar shapes.
During the course I tried to broaden my knowledge concerning dyslexia as a learning difficulty and see what we could adjust in our course approach to help the student. Because of time limitations we were not able to greatly help the student at the time. However, this experience opened my eyes to the fact that a certain percentage of the student who come through SIL training are impacted by this condition.
I decided to conduct research into what would be best practices when preparing course material to help people with dyslexia and to a lesser extent other learning difficulties. This paper presents a short overview of dyslexia and some suggestions gleaned from various sources to make our training courses and materials more accessible to people with dyslexia.