Escravo de Cristo: a verdadeira identidade cristã

The objective of this article is to present some results of a larger research, whose purpose was to verify how the translation of the lexeme δούλος (slave) from the New Testament in Greek to the New Testament in Portuguese occurred. 22 biblical editions were compared. In the Greek New Testament, δούλος is used by Jesus Christ and the Apostles to characterize the Christian identity, that is, the way of life Christians must assume once they accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. Data analysis allowed to conclude that, in general, the term δούλος is not translated as “slave”, as it would be desirable. Therefore, fundamental aspects of Christian identity were masked or subverted by the translations. Since it is not simply a translation error, but rather an ideological stance due to the socio-historical context in which the biblical translations were made, answers are sought to explain such posture and we also seek to rescue the lost meanings of Christian identity.