Church State Crisis

In all its 174 year history, the Methodist Church has never failed to meet as a Conference. This is a major gathering that stands at the centre of church life and organisation. It appears now, in 2009, that the Conference tradition is to be broken by the strong-armed tactics of the current military ruler. The claimed sticking point is the failure of the Methodist Church leadership to do the regime's bidding and dismiss Revs Kanailagi and Lasaro for alleged "political" comments ; failing that the Methodist Conference would be banned. Quite correctly, the Qase Levu, Ame Tugaue, the GS Tuikilakila and the Assoc GS, Tevita Banivanua - all well-educated, moderate and respected men - replied that ministers cannot be dismissed at the will of any particular individual or administration but that certain processes, involving fairness and justice, must be followed. Yet the army gave the church one hour to act on its demand! The Methodists must stand together in solidarity and seek the religious freedoms that they are entitled to from any reasonable secular dispensation.

Kalougata and Bible Translation

I have recently been involved in correspondence with the Editor of the Fiji Daily Post. He asked me to write a brief article on the history of the Fijian word "kalougata" and its use by the earliest Bible translators. My article was subsequently picked up by the widely read and very interesting Blogsite "Babasiga" and an interesting discussion followed.

The wider context of this "Kalougata" debate is that the Fijian citizen James Ah Koy is financing a new Fijian translation of the Bible in which the word 'kalougata' (blessing) has been deleted. Ah Koy believes that the word is a curse but he has a very narrow understanding of the meaning and background of the word; I tried to point this out in my article.

The problem with Ah Koy's efforts, no matter how well intentioned, is that his translators are translating from English, not from the original biblical languages of Hebrew and Greek. This will inevitably result in an inferior translation.

The first translators of Scripture into Fijian were very fine scholars, John Hunt with the New Testament and David Hazlewood with the Old Testament. Hunt translated from Greek into Fijian and Hazlewood from Hebrew into Fijian. The sad fact is that later revsions of their work, by men like James Calvert and Frederick Langham, simply let to a poorer standard of translation. This is why I am currently involved in a project to see both the Hunt New Testament, firstly, and then the Hazlewood Old Testament, reprinted to make them more widely available, NOT to replace our current version, but to complement them and give greater depth and understanding in the reading of the Fijian scriptures.

2009: Launch of Next Part of 1847 Fijian New Testament

Welcome to the new year - 2009. A very important Fiji Methodist Conference will be held this year at Rewa. It was here in 1839 that the Methodists started a mission station, staffed by Thomas Jaggar. He was both an ordained minister and a printer. He came to Rewa with his family, bringing with him also a rudimentary Printing Press which was immediately put to work, printing catechisms, hymn sheets, school work books and segments of scripture

Thomas Jaggar was also a scholar of the Fijian language and he translated the Gospel of John. He sent it to his colleague at Viwa, the now celebrated John Hunt, who was working on a full translation of the New Testament into Fijian. Hunt accepted Jaggar's translation of John's Gospel and it was the only book in the 1847 NT not translated by Hunt.

At the Rewa Conference, three of the books of the 1847 NT will be re-published: Luke, John and Acts. This follows the publication of the books of Matthew and Mark in 2005 (see illustration).

It is significant that the fine work of Jaggar will be recognised at the place where he first carried out his printing, translating and mission work.

Publication Developments

For those who are interested, two of my books on early Fiji Methodism have just been published on Google Books. I think that this development is the result of the publisher, Institute of Pacific Studies(IPS) at the USP, being closed down in its current form. Since IPS owns copyright on its books, it has probably given permission for Google Books to publish the books in their entirety. As a result you can find the whole content of The Inheritance of Hope and Exodus of the I Taukei, both the English text and Fijian translation.

John Garrett On Fiji Methodism since Independence

Pacific Church Historian John Garrett made a very important contribution to our understanding of modern Fijian Methodism in an address he gave in 1995. Garrett's address was published in Mai Kea Ki Vei: Stories of Methodism in Fiji and Rotuma (Fiji Methodist Church, 1996). Garrett noted the tension within Methodism of a strong nationalist strain alongside a wider ecumenical and liberal strain. The founding President, Rev. Setareki Tuilovoni, was able to maintain a bridge between these two aspects of Fiji Methodism. Since Tuilovoni's passing, these two features have not sat so comfortably together. I will have more to say on this in future "posts". The photo that accompanies this message shows Rev Setareki Tuilovoni, founding President of the Methodist Church in Fiji, together with his family.

Fiji Methodist History

Greetings to Everyone of You.

I have started this column as a means to communicate with all those around our globe who share an interest in the history of Fiji Methodism and related topics. I hope that you can feel free to contribute your knowledge and ideas. Christianity came to Fiji with a strong Methodist focus; the first missionaries were both English ministers and Tongan converts, together (at the very beginning) with three remarkable Tahitian pastors of the LMS.

My own studies have included many different aspects of Fiji Methodist History from the beginnings up till recent times. In the last few years, I have become interested in the first translations of the Fiji Bible and that is the project in which I am currently involved. I will share with you about my work in this area in future columns.

Meanwhile, a very warm Ni Sa Bula to you all and I hope to hear from you, with your particular interests and questions.

Andrew Thornley, Sydney.