In the summer of 2009, an appointee of the movement from the United States served in several European countries. During his time in France, the French representative gave him a copy of a three-part discourse given by Bro. Johnson in Monceau Sur Sambre, Belgium on August 8, 1933. This French language document was brought back for the Executive Trustee, translated into English and is now published in the Winter 2009 PT.Apparently, the Executive Trustee feels that this discourse supports his “present view” on the dates of the Youthful Worthies and wants to use it as a proof. Yet, it is filled with obvious errors, does not actually prove his view, and its source is not presented truthfully in the PT. (Note: We initially dealt with this matter in reference to the French representative’s use of a couple of sentences in the Spring 2007 PT. See the original French Correction post in 2008.)
Error in Translation: A Poor Game of Telephone
The printed discourse came about due to the excellent efforts of an unknown French-speaking sister who, most likely, took shorthand notes while Bro. Johnson spoke at a podium. Later, these notes were typed into the final 31-page French text document. The potential for error to creep into her work is very high and we can easily show this from the very title of the discourse. It translates to: DISCOURSE INTERPRETED FROM BROTHER JONSHON AT MONCEAU SUR SAMBRE THE 8th AUGUST 1933.
His last name is incorrectly spelled as “JONSHON.” She did it the way it sounded to her in French. So, if his own name is inaccurate, what should that tell us about the rest of the document? We certainly don’t fault the efforts of this unknown sister, but it is rather shocking that the Executive Trustee would translate it back to English and present it as Brother Johnson’s own words. Nowhere in the Winter PT 2009 does he mention that the discourse is a recent translation of a very old French-language interpretation/translation of uncertain quality. And it is several steps removed from Bro. Johnson’s spoken words. Certainly, this is poor judgment on the part of the Executive Trustee and the appointee who brought it to him.What are some significant errors in the document? What is different in the original as compared to Bro. Johnson’s actual work? Stay tuned for more in the next couple of posts. Also, we’ve made available a PDF of the original 31-page French work. Please click here to download.
1 comment:
Thanks to the Blog,
For exposing this deception that has been passed off on the brethren in the Winter 2009 Present Truth. They neglected to mention that this was notes of another and their interpretations and that this person did not have the privilege of having the 1933 June PT in the French language or E vol. 4, in the French language which was written 5 years later that agrees with the original 1933 June PT.
There are several other reasons to know that this was not the notes of Bro. Johnson's discourse and that it is the interpretation from someone else. Bro. Johnson never used notes or a Bible he had all this in the memory of his mind and quoted it from memory. Bro. Johnson was a "Mental Giant" and not a double minded man.
What a web of deception we weave when we seek to deceive!
Pilgrim, Bro. Blaine
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