Is “SOLA SCRIPTURA” (=only the Scripture)

the key to the Truth?

By Manolis Kalomiris

Source: Periodical “Erevnitis” – Edition Νο.38 March-May 2007.

http://www.jesusportal.org/magazine/

The dogma of “Sola Scriptura” as accepted by Protestantism

The Greek-American Evangelical author, Mr. George Gyftakis, in his book “The Sufficiency of the Scriptures”, says on page 9: “We believe that the only criterion for every teaching, faith, behavior and decisions (individual and collective) is the Word of God”. And on page 7 he writes: “We believe that it is the responsibility of each faithful individually and of the collective community of the saints to discern what God has said through His Word”. Consequently, according to Mr.Gyftakis, each person on his own - or each group of faithful on its own – can study the Scripture, and whatever they happen to perceive through their study, is apparently the will of God. This is a clear indication of the individualism and the subjectiveness that permeates Protestantism.

Another Evangelical author, Mr. Kostas Zambelis, when asked “How does a believer know that he is not in a fallacy?” responded as follows: “A knowledge of the Scriptures and the power of God – in other words, the immediate faith in the unique person and the opus of Jesus Christ as well as the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life and the conscience of one who is reborn – provide the safe reassurance that he is not in a fallacy. A true believer is confident of the correctness of his course, because he bases his knowledge, his faith, his hope, his destination, everything, exclusively on the Person of our Lord Jesus Christ and the New Testament, and not on any other persons, texts, or systems… The medicine against religious fallacy is one and only: Return, therefore, to Christ – the sole source of Salvation – and to the sincere quest for the light of the New Testament with contrition and with faith in the redemptive Blood of Jesus Christ.” (from the Evangelical periodical “Elefthero Bema”, October-December 2003, p.20). Here, Mr. Zambelis writes that every sincere believer who believes in Christ only - without acknowledging a place of honor for other persons (e.g. the Saints) - and relies exclusively on the New Testament must feel confident that he is not in a fallacy. According to him, the medicine against religious fallacy is a faith in Christ and the New Testament. The problem however with the criteria that this otherwise sympathetic Evangelical author has on the method of safeguarding from fallacy, is that they are being upheld by thousands of ‘churches’ of the Evangelical community, who have very different theological viewpoints between them! However, with faith in Christ alone, and with the sincere study of the New Testament, they have not succeeded in avoiding fallacy! Because obviously, wherever there are opposing dogmatic “truths”, some of them might be correct, while others might be incorrect!

We read the following in the Greek Evangelical newspaper “Evangelio-Fos” (Gospel-Light), May-June 2005 edition: “We must compare the teaching that we hear from the pulpit, to what the word of God tells us. Every teaching must be examined under the light of the Holy Bible.” This of course will not signify the same thing for each Protestant, because he is dependent on the specific theological tradition that his specific Protestant ‘church’ follows – traditions that every sincere and well-meaning Evangelical and Pentecostal believer must admit differ between them, not only in details, but also in the basic dogmas of the faith! This invitation to compare whatever convictions one’s ‘church’ has to the Holy Bible is made by thousands of organizations, albeit with teachings vastly different to one another. Thus, the key to the truth – according to Evangelical Protestantism – is the dogma of “Sola Scriptura” (only the Bible).

But what happens when a well-meaning, sincere researcher of the truth finds himself facing the challenge of assorted religious groups to ‘examine his convictions versus the Holy Bible’, or be told that it is enough for him to ‘turn sincerely to the Scripture to find the truth’, only to discover that all those miscellaneous groups present among themselves a host of contradictory teachings, many of which may even refute each other (even though they are all supposedly derived from the Bible)?

One might justifiably ask: How is it possible for the thousands of religious groups – who all believe that the Holy Bible is sufficient for finding the truth as well as for discerning between truth and fallacy – to have such conflicting teachings between themselves? How is it that they are unable to agree among themselves on what the Holy Bible truly teaches?

The Protestant theological chaos

We shall present herebelow the claims by various Protestant movements as to what the Bible teaches, and the readers can form their own opinions on the matter. (Note: these quotes have been translated into English from the Greek texts. Wherever there are references to English texts, their original form will duly replace the quotes below, when available):

“The Scripture does NOT teach infant baptism”: «Infant baptism is not according to the Word of God and does not constitute Apostolic Tradition» (“Traditions: Apostolic, or Man-made?” – G. Krisilas, p.103 / Apostolic Christian Church).

“The Scripture teaches infant baptism”: «Where do we base the baptism of children and infants of faithful parents? Who gives us this right and this authority? Our answer is that this right is given to us by the Bible, which is the written word of God …» (“The Baptism of Infants” / General Synod of the Hellenic Evangelical Church, p.11).

“The Scripture teaches that Baptism is necessary for Salvation”: «Another group of our fellow-humans [ … ] is following a mistaken teaching regarding the plan for Salvation; it teaches that rebirth, Salvation, Redemption and absolution of sins all come before the baptism. Let us examine this matter in depth, because to them, baptism is a simple confession that comes after man’s salvation. [ … ] We disagree with this tactic, because it is directly opposed to the Word of God and the teaching of Christ and the holy apostles. Jesus Christ put Salvation after the Baptism. [ … ] It is obvious that only after baptism can man receive absolution of sins and the Holy Spirit to reside within his heart, because it is only after baptism that he is considered a child of God, reborn, saved, and the Lord will then add him to His Body» (“The Church of Christ during the Apostolic Years” – by Dinos Roussos, p.63/ Church of Christ).

“The Scripture teaches that Baptism is NOT necessary for Salvation”: «Does Baptism bring rebirth? NO. The Baptism on its own, is not a sacrament which, when performed, will bring rebirth and salvation to infants or adults. It is wrong for people to be baptized in order to be reborn. No-one was ever reborn through Baptism. The Word of God stresses that rebirth comes from above, through the energy of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God» (Traditions: Apostolic, or Man-made? – G. Krisilas, p.105 / Apostolic Christian Church).

“The Scripture teaches of the kenosis of Christ from His Divinity”: «This dogma about the kenosis of the Son of God has its roots in the soil of the New Testament and especially in the Gospels. […] Metallinos sets aside the unsupported Christological dogma [of the two natures] that the ecclesiastic tradition had shaped […] The rich collection of testimonies in the Bible that we presented which opposed ecclesiastic tradition, verify the immense and blessed truth that Jesus Christ […] voluntarily doffed the nature of the perfect God and donned the nature of the perfect and sinless man» (“The Word became Flesh” – G. Zervopoulos, p.12, 61/ Free Evangelical Church).

“The Scripture does NOT teach us of the kenosis of Christ from His Divinity”: «The most recent heresy in our opinion is the one that appeared in the local (Evangelical) church of Australia […] through the book “The Word became Flesh” by Gerasimos Zervopoulos, which has also ensnared many pure hearts of simple Christians. […] This teaching furthermore resembles to a large degree the theory of the Jehovah’s Witnesses […] Coloss.2:9) He was a perfect God and a perfect man, with a divine nature, not a human nature only. […] By adding to this, or removing from them, we do nothing more than present to the world “another Christ”, Whom the Scripture does not teach ...» (“The other Jesus” – pamphlet by the Evangelical Hellenic Christian Mission, Australia).

“The Scripture does NOT teach us of the Triadic dogma”: «Not even as a term, nor as a concept, does “Holy Trinity” exist within the Word of God. […] From beginning to end, the testimony of the Scriptures is opposed to this» (Periodical “FOS” (Light) – September-October 2001 p.39/ Church of Evangelists).

“The Scripture teaches us the Triadic dogma”: «We believe in the Holy Trinity. According to the revelation of the Holy Bible, there is one God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit; one unity, composed of three eternal Persons» (periodical “O Aggelioforos” (The Messenger) Nο.106 – January-March 2007 / Church of 7^th Day Adventists).

“The Scriptures teach us that the soul dies”: «Not once does the Bible describe the soul as immortal – that it is not subject to death…The words ‘soul’, ‘spirit’, ‘breath’ that are ascribed to Man are mentioned 1700 times in the Bible, but never as ‘eternal’ or ‘immortal’. The Bible is alien with regard to an ‘eternal human spirit’. (Article titled “What happens after death?” from the Adventist webpage www.greekvoice.org)

“The Scriptures teach us that the soul does NOT die”: «That the soul lives on after death is not a lie told by the Devil, but the truth of God. It says so in the Old Testament, Christ said so, the Apostles said so. It is obvious; it is as clear as the light.» (“Why the Faith of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is wrong”, p.132/ Apostolic Christian Church).

“The Scriptures teach us that we must uphold the Sabbath: «As we have examined the Holy Bible and have proven, there was NO “Sunday” that was upheld by Christians! On the contrary, they upheld the Sabbath, just as Christ did» (“The Truth around the 7^th day” – D.Troupis, p.17/ Pentecostal).

“The Scriptures teach us that we should NOT uphold the Sabbath”: «Throughout the entire New Testament, we find no instruction to uphold the Sabbath» (Periodical “Free Evangelical Rostrum”, October-December 2002, p.18/ Free Evangelical Church).

“The Scripture teaches that the receiving of the Holy Spirit is accompanied by speaking in tongues”: «As we have seen, speaking in tongues is the Biblical indication that someone has received the Holy Spirit» (“How you can receive the Holy Spirit” – M. Poulliades, p.22 / Pentecostal).

“The Scripture teaches that the receiving of the Holy Spirit is NOT accompanied by speaking in tongues”: «There is no basis in the New Testament on which we can assert that the repletion by the Holy Spirit is accompanied by the uttering of unknown languages» (“The speaking in Tongues” – G. Zervopoulos, p.35/ Free Evangelical Church).

“The Scriptures say that a Christian can NEVER lose his Salvation”: «Nowhere in the Holy Bible does it mention that a truly reborn Christian can be lost» (Evangelical “Lessons on Christian Living” – Emmaus Publications, p.21).

“The Scriptures teach that a Christian can lose his Salvation”: «The New Testament indicates with specific examples that the believer is apt to fall from God’s Grace and lose his Salvation […]» (“The Eternal Safety of the Soul” – G.Zervopoulos, p.15 / Free Evangelical Church).

“The Scripture teaches us that the Rapture of the Church will take place BEFORE the Great Tribulation and the Antichrist”: «The impending Coming of Christ in my opinion will take place before the Great Tribulation (Revel.3:10). […] The Word of God indicates that the Lord Jesus Christ must come for the saints, prior to coming along with them later on» (“Living His Life -J.W.Bramhall / Evangelical Publications “EMMAUS” p. 60).

“The Scripture teaches us that the Rapture of the Church will take place AFTER the Great Tribulation and the Antichrist”: «Most eschatologists and a host of believers unreservedly uphold the opinion that the Rapture of the Church of Christ will precede the Great Tribulation…However, this opinion of theirs is not supported by any excerpt of the Word of God…». «Christ comes to receive His Church, AFTER the appearance of the Antichrist and his enthronement in the temple of God, just as the apostle Paul had prophesied: “…for that day shall not come, unless apostasy has come first, and the man of sin has been revealed…” (2 Thess.2:3)» (“The Little Horn and the North” – Xenia Baltatzi, pp.105, 107 / Free Evangelical Church).

Do you see how many contradictory teachings the various Protestant movements assert that the Bible contains?

Thus, having examined only a small portion of the teachings that the Bible supposedly teaches, as borrowed from the very texts of those movements, let each reader honestly ask himself if it is indeed sufficient to accept something as a teaching of God, simply by quoting a few, supposedly “evidential” tracts from the Bible. The answer is that a mere reference to certain tracts from the Holy Bible is not sufficient enough to make a certain teaching valid in the eyes of God. And this is more than obvious when one takes into account how the Protestant movements and sects have all been providing such “evidential” tracts, for their otherwise manifold and cross-refuting convictions.

Protestant confessions regarding the chaos within Protestantism

At this point we shall see how Evangelical Christians themselves have acknowledged and admitted the chaos that exists within the realm of Protestantism.

Mr. Philemon Hadjipanayiotou writes: «Each time that God speaks in His Scripture, He implies only one thing, even if that thing is unintelligible to us. Therefore, ideally, if God Himself were to come and explain everything to us, He would have given us one only interpretation. Consequently, it is not logical for each individual to have his own, personally interpreted truth, and all of these individual “truths” to be equally correct.» (Periodical “Elefthero Bema”, July-September 2004, p.19).

Mr. Elias Eliades writes: «However, even among those who truly believe that the Bible is divinely-inspired, there still appear to exist (and they do exist) huge differences of opinion and a “Babel” of interpretations.» (Periodical “Spiritual Summits” Spring 2006, p.12).

Michael Brown, as quoted by a Greek Pentecostal periodical, says: «It is amazing to see how a national Christian leader comes up with a new interpretation of a tract, which has never been heard before, and before you know it, a revelation has come to all of his followers! They then teach it as a God-given revelation, and we in turn completely devour this “new truth!» (periodical “Rekindling in Greece” / June 2004 p.14).

The Evangelical author Mr. Stephen Katsarkas wonders: «Does such authority exist in the Bible?».  To which he replies: «Τhe problem here is that for one person to support a certain viewpoint, he will make use of one excerpt, while another person –for another viewpoint- will make use of another excerpt. We can find a valid basis that will support how we should destroy our enemies and a valid basis that will support how to forgive them, depending on whether we choose an excerpt from the Old Testament or an excerpt from the New Testament. Some may find arguments in there that there is no life after death, while others will insist that there are sound Biblical arguments for the exact opposite view and that it is in fact the basic core of the Christian Faith – depending again on whether they choose the Old or the New Testament» (Periodical “Thessalonikeis” / November-December 2006, p.17).

As admitted by Pentecostal columnist Mr. Christos Viggos: «It is with sorrow that we say that, even today, many of the Christian (Protestant) churches are utterly splintered and enclosed within raised walls, inside which they remain garrisoned, warring amongst themselves, each under the flag of their separate “dogmas”, which is based on the highlighting of a certain detail that up until yesterday, they themselves had actually perceived differently.» (Newspaper “Christian Truth” / May 1995).  

The Evangelical pastor Mr. M.Meletiades claims: «Admittedly, the issue of “Truth” is a controversial one, and it is Protestantism’s “Achilles Heel”. For example, what is the “Truth” in the vast number of theological issues such as Divorce/Marriage, Baptism, the Godhood of the Incarnated Jesus Christ, Worship, the second or third experience of the Holy Spirit, the uttering of tongues, etc? Opinions within the Evangelical world are divided; As a result, the number of different views on the same issue are equal in number to the “Churches” that uphold their own separate view as being “the Truth”. […] Unfortunately, we have taken Luther’s ‘Sola Scriptura’, we have added to it a USA-imported, unbridled, ‘Far-West’-type individualism, and we have utilized it to interpret the Scripture. This tactic of “each person interpreting as he pleases” had, as a result, not only the emergence of an assortment of differing interpretations (and at times even opposing ones) of the very same “Holy Writ”, but also a host of varying Protestant churches - in fact, all varying to the point where they are in no communion whatsoever with each other. Even worse than this, there are often diametrically opposed teachings, viewpoints and practices in worship within the same “family” of Protestant churches, even by their own pastors, to the point that the congregations become confused as regards their church’s positions, which are more reminiscent of the water that flows in Heracletus’ river (*), rather than the eternal and overall truths of God’s Word, which the Church should have been the guardian of. The question, therefore, that is raised and is an important one, is: “what is the Truth?” Because of this, a secondary one is raised: “how can we, on the basis of the truth, be united?” I have to admit that the answer to both questions is terribly difficult. Because it is impossible in practice, within this evangelical ecclesiastic “mosaic”, to form any mutually acceptable theological and hermeneutic family, the way it exists (or at least appears to exist) in the Orthodox or the Catholic Churches. […] Each ecclesiastic hue - for example the Greek Evangelical Church - has its own defined theological positions (i.e. a ‘Charter”), which are nothing more than its personal formulation of the “truth”, in the manner that the specific church perceives and interprets the Holy Bible.» (Periodical “Star of the East”, November 1998, p.295-296).

(*) Heracletus’ river: According to the ancient Greek philosopher Heracletus, “one cannot enter the same river a second time” (Ποταμώ γαρ ουκ έστιν εμβήναι δις…)

Finally, the periodical “The Apostolic Faith” (which is published by members of Pentecostal movements) confesses that: «The claim that the Scriptures are easily comprehended and therefore all sincere people will, by studying them, reach the same conclusions, has proven to be an entirely naïve one …So, either the Scriptures are NOT as transparent as they were believed to be, or the students were not well-meaning ones… This is why we ended up like the “many gods and many masters” (1 Cor.8:5-6), inasmuch as there are equally innumerable teachings and interpretations that lead to a false sense of security and an utter ineffectiveness.» (“The Apostolic Faith”, June 2005, p.3)

The impasse of the “Sola Scriptura” dogma

So, it is more than obvious – also according to the above, sincere admissions by the Protestants themselves – that the Protestant dogma of “Sola Scriptura” (=only the Scripture) is sorely deficient, because each one of their ‘churches’ or denominations has its own, subjective hermeneutic framework with which they comprehend the Holy Bible; this explains why their convictions are of such a vast variety. Given that the Holy Bible does NOT preach contradictory and cross-refuting teachings, but has one message and one correct interpretation only, it is more than obvious that all these Protestant groups, with their hermeneutic chaos and their endless fragmentation, have failed to lead people to the truth and away from fallacy.

If it were indeed the will of God that we discover the truth only by means of the Holy Bible and our “good intentions”, well, this method is obviously a failure, given that it has led to 23.000 different “Truths” of that one, same Holy Bible! Furthermore, a conclusion such as this is a blasphemous one, inasmuch as it would be ascribing to God a sensational failure in His method for leading us to discover the Truth (assuming that God’s method is indeed the personal understanding of the Scriptures that Protestantism upholds). What is observed in Protestantism is reminiscent of the situation described in the Holy Bible during the Judges’ era: “In those days, there was no king in Israel; each would do whatever appeared correct to him.” (Judges 17:6)

Having touched on the very important issue of interpreting the Bible, the following question is posed: Which of the thousands of interpretations that are in circulation in the religious “marketplace” are more correct or more valid? It has become more than obvious that it is not enough to merely invoke the Bible in order to justify the correctness of a teaching; as we have seen, one can easily invoke the Bible and yet be supporting a heretic teaching or a terrible fallacy! Likewise, one can even utilize a few or many Bible tracts for the purpose of “documenting” his cacodoxy! This of course does not imply that a ‘church’ or a ‘pastor’ purposely distorts the Scriptures in order to mislead others; most ‘churches’ and most ‘pastors’ are sincere in their conviction that the Holy Bible teaches this or that thing. However, that master of deceit – the devil – lurks behind all this confusion over the understanding of the Bible, because we are clearly told by the very Bible that he is “the one who deceives the entire world” (Revel.12:9).

With the confusion that Satan has created in Protestantism, he has succeeded in demoting the Holy Bible to the status of a subjective book that each reader can perceive in an entirely opposite or contradictory sense to the others! But it was not God’s intention that each denomination or sect produces whatever dogmas it “discovers” on its own from within the pages of the Bible, “for God is not of disorder, but of peace – as in all the churches of the saints” (1 Cor.14:33)

In Protestantism, we can clearly see the fulfillment of Jesus’ words: “Jesus, having perceived their thoughts, said to them : Every kingdom divided against itself will become desolate, and every city or household divided against itself shall not remain standing” (Matthew 12:25). This explains Protestantism’s current crisis, with its continuing fragmentations and the multitude of new, heretic teachings that are perpetually springing forth from its own bosom! As admitted in the Protestant periodical “MOODY” (September-October 1999, p.14): «Turn back your calendar to the year 1999, and open up the books with the various denominations. You will count 24.000 of them all over the world, while approximately 5 new ones are added every week»! (Quoted in the Periodical “Tychikos”, November-December 1999, p.10).

The Church that the Lord founded is obeisant to the Apostolic guideline: “For I beseech you, my brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to all say the same thing, and that there be no schisms among you, but that you be entirely united, having the same spirit and the same opinion” (1 Corinth.1:10).

We would like to quote here the testimony of a very important Father of the 2^nd century Church, Saint Irenaeus, who was Bishop of Lugdunum (now Lyon, in France), who was the student of Saint Polycarp, who was in turn the student of the Apostle John. Irenaeus speaks very clearly of the unity that the Church enjoys, thanks to the Apostolic tradition and Her contrast to the heresies and their various, cross-refuting teachings: «All these heretics, therefore, appeared long after the bishops to whom the Apostles had delivered the churches… Given that these heretics that we mentioned are blind to the truth, they are forced to deviate and to walk along an ever differing path. And that is why all the areas of their teaching are riddled with disagreements and inconsistencies. But the way of the people of the Church enfolds the entire world, because it preserves the Tradition of the Apostles intact».

He also said: «This is the kerygma and the faith that were delivered to the Church, which were carefully preserved as though they were residents of a house. She likewise believes them, as though She has a soul and the same heart. She proclaims them harmoniously and teaches them and delivers them as though she possesses a mouth. Dialects all over the world are dissimilar between them, but the power of Tradition is one and the same. Neither the churches that were founded in the German lands have another faith or another tradition, nor those that were founded in the Iberias, or with the Celts, or in the East, or in Egypt, or in Libya… ». ( Censure Against Pseudo-knowledge, 5^th 20:1, 1^st 10:2 ).

The key to the truth, according to the first Christians, is NOT the “Sola Scriptura”, but the Apostolic Tradition of the Undivided Church! As admitted by Protestant David Bercot:: «Luther…had insisted that the Bible was the only source of authority. “Sola Scriptura” became one of the main slogans of the Reformation. And yet, this slogan was from the beginning a myth. No-one uses ONLY the Scripture as a source of authority; Rather, each individual has as a source of authority his personal INTERPRETATION of the Scripture… As someone had once observed, “Prior to the Reformation, there was only one Pope. Following the Reformation, each one with a Bible in hand became a Pope”. Instead of relying on his own personal interpretations of the Scriptures, or Augustine’s interpretations, Luther should have paid attention to the interpretations of the first, undivided Church. By not doing this, the tragic result is that today, there are more than 22.000 individual churches and denominations, which all teach different things, and yet, they all assert that they are teaching ‘only the Scripture’.» (Periodical “Tychikos”, November-December 1999, p.9).

The need for the Tradition of the ancient Church

The Holy Bible clearly defines the trust that the Apostles left to the first Church:

«Hold fast the example of healthy words that you have heard from me, in the faith and the love of Christ Jesus. Safeguard that good trust, through the Holy Spirit Who dwells among us.» (2 Tim.1:13-14).

«And deliver everything that you have heard from me by many witnesses, to faithful people who will be able to teach others also.» (Β΄ Τιμ.2:2).

«Therefore, brethren, remain steadfast and preserve the traditions, which you were taught either by word or our epistle. » (2 Thess.2:15).

We see here that the tradition of the Apostles was chiefly transmitted by word of mouth – contrary to Protestant claims. The best interpretation of the Scripture and the best basis for comprehending the Scripture is the one delivered by the Apostles themselves. It is: «the faith, which was once only delivered to the saints. » (Jude 3).

On the contrary, most of the teachings that distinguish Protestantism as something separate from the historic Church are only the interpretations of the Scripture that appeared from the 15^th century onwards!

The key to the Truth is to seek the carrier of the Apostolic Tradition, which is none other than the Church that the Lord Jesus Christ founded in the 1^st century and which incessantly exists to this day, according to His promise: «Behold, I am with you all the days, even to the end of the age» (Matth.28:20). Moreover, this Church can never apostatize from the truth, because again, the Lord Himself, with His unerring mouth reassured us that: «…I shall build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against Her» (Matthew 16:18).  Only this Church is «the pillar and the basis of the truth. » (1 Tim. 3:15). She is not some kind of “invisible” church, but the actual, historic Church Herself – the one that also finally formulated the Canon of the Holy Bible, during the 4^th century.

Are you willing, dear reader, to abandon Protestantism’s subjectiveness and individualism and pursue the true “key to the Truth”, which is none other than the Apostolic Tradition and the Historic Church? Your reply will determine whether you will begin to live the fullness of the proto-Christian teaching that the Historic Church has preserved, or the segmental, “personal” understanding of the Scripture according to multi-splintered Protestantism, with its thousands of contradicting and cross-refuting teachings! The decision is yours!

We believe the time has come, dear friend, if you belong to any one of these Protestant denominations, to be joined to the steadily increasing trend in Protestantism towards a genuine (and not a phony) return to our proto-Christian roots. May we all return to the Ancient Church and to the authority of Her teachings! May we all return to the true meaning of the Bible, as delivered to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church by the first Christians and as it is still preserved, through to our day!

Manolis Kalomiris

Translation : A.N.