141 © The Author(s) 2021 T. J. Hastings, K.-W. Sæther (eds.), The Grace of Being Fallible in Philosophy, Theology, and Religion, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55916-8_9 CHAPTER 9 Restoring the Pro Nobis > Pro Me: A Translated Religion, Polycentric Ecumenism, and Moderate Fallibilism Thomas John Hastings THE STRIKING FACT AND POTENTIAL CONSEQUENCES OF A TRANSLATED RELIGION A Christian convert from cradle Islam in the Gambia, the late Lamin Sanneh (1942–2019) never tired of driving home the seldom-noticed yet striking fact that Christianity, in contrast to Islam and many other major religious traditions, lacks a sacred language. With only rare exception, the New Testament (NT) provides a foreign language rendering of the words of and about its founder. In Whose Religion Is Christianity? 1 Sanneh points out, “The New Testament gospels are a translated version of the message 1 This taunting rhetorical question from an African Christian who spent most of his teach- ing career in the West is reminiscent of the work of Kosuke Koyama, an Asian Christian who also spent most of his teaching career in the West. Koyama criticized the hubris of every T. J. Hastings (*) Overseas Ministries Studies Center, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ, USA e-mail: thomas.hastings@ptsem.edu