North of the Roman Empire in the first centuries after Christ were Germanic tribes which threatened the stable civilization that had been established by the Pax Romana (i.e. Roman Peace). In 264 A.D. the Visigoths (i.e. Western Goths), swept southward into Cappadocia and Galatia (in Modern Day Turkey) and carried captives back to Dacia, north of the Danube. Among those taken were the ancestors of a man named Ulfilas, meaning “Little Wolf.” Born among the Goths around 311 A.D., Ulfilas family had believed in Jesus Christ for three generations. Possessing the ability to speak Greek, Latin and Gothic, in 336 Ulfilas came to Constantinople as an interpreter for the Gothic court. Ulfilas remained in Constantinople for five years where he served as “lector” (i.e. one who read Bible lessons publicly). In 341 Ulfilas was appointed “bishop of the Goths” by the church hierarchy in Constantinople. Returning to Dacia, Ulfilas preached among the Goths for seven years, until persecution from the Gothic leader Athanaric became so severe that Ulfilas appealed to the Roman emperor to allow him and a large group of converts to settle south of the Danube in the Roman territory of Moesia. There he preached until his death in 383 while on a trip to Constantinople.

     Ulfilas was a product of his times, operating within the unscriptural church organization and hierarchy which had developed in those years. He also came, in his latter years, to advocate what would be called “Semi-Arianism.”* Similar to the Jehovah’s Witnesses of today he rejected the doctrine that Jesus is one with God the Father (Colossians 2:9) . As a result of his teachings, the Goths for the next two centuries embraced Arian concepts regarding the nature of Christ.

     In spite of these errors there are a few things which Ulfilas accomplished which we must admire (Philippians 1:18). First, when Ulfilas began his work among the Goths he was facing a people that had no written language suitable for translation of any major document. Ulfilas created an alphabet for the language, taught it to the people and translated almost all of the Bible into Gothic. The only portions which he did not complete were the books of Kings and Chronicles which he feared would incite the warlike character of the Goths (Philostorgius, Ecclesiastical History , 2.5). The fragments of this translation which have survived are of great value to modern biblical study. They provide an early witness to the text of the New Testament and the earliest surviving record of any Germanic language. This is significant for those of us who speak English because English is a Germanic language. Similarities between English and Gothic can help to clarify meaning. For example, Ulfilas translated the word for baptism with the Gothic word daupeinsa relative of our word “dip” (Joseph Wright, Grammar of the Gothic Language. Oxford:Clarendon Press, 1962, p. 313). There can be no question that Ulfilas understood that baptism was immersion.

     Further, we must admire the dedication and love for those who lived in the darkness of spiritual ignorance which Ulfilas demonstrated by his work. Ulfilas returned to an enemy people who had carried his family off as captives and dedicated his life to the effort to convert them. He undertook the monumental task of Biblical translation so that these barbarians could have the Word of God in their own tongue. Even under grave persecution, Ulfilas maintained a committment to teach the Goths.

     In our day we pray that the lost may come to obey the gospel, but how willing are we to help them come to the truth? Our computer age has made the transfer of written material a matter of ease, but how are we using this resource to help the lost? Now the Bible has been translated in most of the known languages of the world, but what do we do individually to help those who do not have access to the Word of God? As a war now rages against an enemy that has forbidden the teaching of the Bible; as we are all interested in the punishment of those who have done evil, who will prepare to share the truth with these people when the political environment changes? In our own neighborhoods, what are we doing to help those ignorant of the truth to have access to it? May we all do what we can each day to be ready to help those who desperately need to learn the truth. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear” (1 Peter 3:15, NKJV).