RUSSIA RELIGION NEWS


Bible on trial in Vyborg

EVGENIA SMARGINA: "SEVERAL ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATIONS IS AN UNDOUBTED GOOD"

Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 4 December 2017

 

"I am an associate of the Institute of Eastern Studies. I teach ancient languages, including several biblical disciplines. I participated in a project for translation of the Bible.

 

"I am not very well acquainted with this translation [i.e, Sacred Scripture; New World Translation—tr.], but I have several complaints of a purely linguistic, historical, and cultural nature. Everybody has the right, if one is sufficiently competent in it, to translate and interpret the biblical text. While others have the right to criticism him.

 

"One perfect translation would be good, but this is impossible because there is no perfection in the world. And when there are several alternative translations, one can say that this is an undoubted good. A translation by 70 translators, judging by the original source, has also been made. They all translated and then they assembled and consulted."

 

Evgenia Smagina is director of the department of history and culture of the Ancient East in the Institute of Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a Bible translator. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 December 2017)

 

APPELLATE COURT TO CONSIDER DECISION BANNING BIBLE TRANSLATION

Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 29 November 2017

 

On 6 December 2017 the Leningrad provincial court will consider the appeal against a decision of the Vyborg city court, which found the Bible with the publication title of "Sacred Scripture New World Translation" to be "extremist material."

 

The appeal, consisting of 141 points and thoroughly proving the baselessness and illegality of the decision of the court of first instance, was filed on 21 September 2017.

 

The hearing will begin on 6 December 2017 at 10:00 and will be conducted at the address of building 6 Fontanka Naberezhnaya, St. Petersburg. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 December 2017)

 

 NIKOLAI SHABUROV: "THIS IS A TRANSLATION OF THE BIBLE. ATTEMPTS TO MAINTAIN OTHERWISE ARE SIMPLY IGNORANT"

Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia, 2 December 2017

 

"I have a notion both about the translation and about the judicial proceedings. As regards the translation, this is one of the translations of the Bible and it has its supporters and those who criticize some particular items. That is natural. There is no single perfect translation. And I suppose that many translations of the Bible are necessary. Various approaches are needed. And in this sense, the 'New World Translation' occupies its own, so to speak, legal niche. Moreover, there are some interesting finds there, so to speak.

 

"As regards this trial, when it is said that it is extremism and that it allegedly is not the Bible, I wish to emphasize again: in an academic environment it is possible to criticize the 'New World Translation' just as it is possible to criticize the Synodal translation. And incidentally there is another great question: if we will compare the Hebrew and Greek originals, then in some places the Synodal translation may be more accurate and in others, the 'New World Translation' is, and so forth. But this is a translation of the Bible. Any attempts to maintain that we are dealing with some other book are simply ignorant. Any person who takes up this translation will see that it is a translation of the Bible. You understand that it is possible to dispute about some terms and about how the device of the execution of Jesus Christ looked. But, excuse me, this is for professionals to decide. And when they try to tell us that 'cross' is normal and 'stake' is extremism, this would be funny if it were not so sad! I would say this. Because the issue is, of course, an attempt to ban the Bible.

 

"It might seem that I am somehow criticizing the Synodal translation. That is not so. It has played its own enormous historic and positive role, but, excuse me, 150 to 160 years have already gone by.

 

"There is no standard translation. And I think that there never will be one. Understand, there should be various translations. Just as there is no standard translation of what have you—the tragedies of Shakespeare or the poetry of Byron. New translators appear in every generation who do it again. And with such a book as the Bible it is naturally necessary for there to be ever new translations."

 

Nikolai Shaburov is a kandidat of culturology and a professor and director of the Academic Center for the Study of Religions of the Russian State Humanities University. (tr. by PDS, posted 4 December 2017)


Related articles:
Trial of Jehovah's Witnesses' Bible resumes
August 9, 2017
Court's ban of Bible defies logic and common sense
August 18, 2017
Court decided that Jehovah's Witnesses' Bible is not Christian
August 18, 2017
Notorious opponent of Jehovah's Witnesses criticizes ruling against their Bible
August 22, 2017


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