BIBLE TRANSLATION MADE BY JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES RULED "EXTREMIST" IN R.F.
Portal-Credo.Ru, 19 August 2017
The Vyborg city court of Leningrad province on 17 August recognized one of the translations of the Bible ("New World Translation" adopted by Jehovah's Witnesses) as "extremist material," a Portal-Credo.Ru correspondent reports. At the same time, in Russia there is a law in effect, adopted in 2015, that prohibits recognizing the Bible "as extremist materials," while the question about translations is not dealt with in the law.
The New World Translation does not fundamentally differ from the Synodal translation, which is most widely distributed in Russia. In their translation, the Jehovah's Witnesses only tried to downplay the "trinitarian" fragments and also to use the name Jehovah as often as possible. An expert conclusion, on the basis of which the court issued its decision, recognized as "extremist" in particular the fragment of the Old Testament where God's destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is described.
The judicial act, unprecedented in human history, was made by Judge Dmitry Grishin, a kandidat of jurisprudence and past chairman of the department of civil law of the A.S. Pushkin Leningrad University. "To recognize 'Sacred Scripture—New World Translation' as extremist material," the verdict says. "To recognize as extremist materials the brochures 'The Bible and its Main Theme,' 'Science Instead of the Bible?' and 'How to Improve Health. 5 Simple Rules.' To confiscate the batch of the aforesaid literature."
The court's decision has not taken effect and it may be appealed within 30 days. Reporting from the courtroom was posted on the website of the Jehovah' Witnesses in Russia. (tr. by PDS, posted 19 August 2017)
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