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Bible Forum holds popular appeal JAPAN — An International Bible Forum organised by the Japan Bible Society drew 2,000 people to a Tokyo hotel over three days in May. Fourteen lecturers from Japan and nine from overseas gave a total of 29 lectures, on subjects ranging from Modern Research on the Dead Sea Scrolls, to Biblical Hebrew for Beginners and The World of the Bible in American Cinema. Fringe events Associated attractions included concerts, a Bible quiz, art exhibitions, a bookfair and an opportunity to copy out part of the Bible by hand. The ‘popular’ nature of the fringe events reflects the aim of the Forum which was to arouse interest in the Bible not only from academics or Christians in Japan but among the general public. UBS lecturers included the Rev Dr Daud Soesilo, Translation Coordinator for the UBS Asia-Pacific Area, Dr Young-Jin Min, General Secretary of the Korean Bible Society, and Dr Suee Yan Yu, a Translation Consultant in the UBS Asia-Pacific Area. Interest in studying the Bible among Japanese Christians has risen in recent years, and the Forum proved useful in providing them with up-to-date information based on recent research. The Japan Bible Society recently announced that it has produced a Spanish version of the recording used in its Bible Talk device (see World Report 398). Although there are a considerable number of Spanish-speaking people in Japan, many of them expatriates or descendants of Japanese who emigrated to South America a generation or two ago, the Spanish version of Bible Talk is not only for local distribution and the Society is making it available to the entire UBS fellowship. The decision to produce it arose from the need for Scripture material in non-print formats and for New Reader material, mainly in Latin American countries. (WR 405/5 - 09/10.06) [2 photos] |
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