Chapter 4

New Testament

To what extent the New Testament is already translated, published, and accessible to priority language communities — and where gaps still remain.

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The New Testament is a crucial, strategic milestone

This chapter focuses on analyses related to Catalog1 Highlight, using the 27 books of the New Testament as a reference. While Chapter 3 looked at the presence of biblical books in general, here the scope is more specific: it examines the current status of the New Testament in each language group.

Turning data into missionary action also means showing where the New Testament has already arrived — and where it still needs to.

What this chapter answers

How many Catalog1 Highlight groups already have the complete New Testament.
In which cases only parts of the NT have been translated.
Which groups remain without any New Testament book available.
How these resources are being made available (print, audio).
Where these languages are located within Brazilian territory.

How to read these figures

All values are calculated directly from ICMT's connected database. When a record has no information, it remains visible and identified as such: no data is estimated, filled in, or replaced.

Key concepts

New Testament

The 27 books that make up the second part of the Christian Scriptures. Its completion represents a crucial, strategic milestone in the progress of translation projects.

Print text

A written record of the New Testament, printed or digital, consolidating years of translation effort.

Audio text

An audio recording of the New Testament — from an already translated text, or through direct oral translation.

Geographic distribution

Location of Catalog1 Highlight languages within Brazilian territory, indicating where the New Testament is already available.

Universe analyzed

Figures 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3 cover the Catálogo1 destaque consolidado, which gathers the values Catálogo1 destaque and Catálogo4_concorrência1 from the database — the same 112 groups analyzed in Chapter 3.

New Testament in print

The New Testament in print remains a milestone in the translation movement: the consolidation of years of translation effort and the possibility of use in community, educational, and liturgical contexts.

Figure 4.1

Catalog1 Highlight with the complete New Testament recorded in print text

How many Catalog1 Highlight languages already have the complete New Testament in printed text?

Catalog1 Highlight · New Testament in print

112

language groups studied

Goal: all groups with the complete New Testament.

Current status: 58 of 112 · 51,8%

Complete NT: 58
Active project: 20
No project: 34

58
Complete NT
51,8%
20
Active project
17,9%
34
No project
30,4%

Analysis based on the CC_NovoTestamento column. The three categories are mutually exclusive in this figure.

Figure 4.1

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New Testament in audio

Audio guarantees immediate accessibility in contexts with predominantly oral tradition and overcomes literacy barriers — which is why it can progress along its own path, independent of print publication.

Figure 4.2

Catalog1 Highlight with the New Testament available in audio text

How many Catalog1 Highlight groups already have the New Testament in audio?

Catalog1 Highlight · New Testament in audio

112

language groups

38 de 112

Complete NT in audio

33,9%

New Testament in audio available: 38
Audio of book(s), without complete NT in audio: 17
Audio to produce: 56
No audio information: 1

38
New Testament in audio available
33,9%
The complete New Testament is already available in audio for this group.
17
Audio of book(s), without complete NT in audio
15,2%
Audio already exists for at least one book, but not yet the complete New Testament — it may have been produced through direct oral translation.
56
Audio to produce
50,0%
The group still needs to produce the audio recording.
1
No audio information
0,9%
There is no applicable audio information for this record in RE_Áudio_MP3.

Analysis based on the RE_Áudio_MP3 column, cross-referenced with CC_NovoTestamento to show where audio already exists even without the complete NT in print.

Figure 4.2

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New Testaments in Brazil — a sketch

Figure 4.3

New Testaments in Brazil — a sketch

Where are the languages that already have the complete New Testament, and where are they still missing?

Catalog1 Highlight · Geographic distribution

58
with NT available
112
on the map
0
without coordinates

NT available
With NT project
No NT project (or unknown)

Map of Brazil with Catalog1 Highlight groups, marked as a square when the New Testament is complete and as a triangle when it isn't yet, colored by project status.

Showing 112 of 112 groups

Brazil's outline is a simplified silhouette, for geographic orientation only.

Each language is represented by a single point (usually the village with the largest population). Languages spoken in more than one municipality, state, or country appear as a single point in this figure.

Figure 4.3

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What this chapter shows

58 of the 112 Catalog1 Highlight languages already have the complete New Testament in print.
34 groups (30%) still have no declared NT translation project.
Audio can progress along a path independent of printed text, through direct oral translation.
The geographic distribution shows where progress has already occurred and where mobilization is still urgent.
Every completed New Testament is a historic victory and an invitation to continued missionary action.

Go to Chapter 5 — Old Testament