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The NT in Four Languages For Orthodox Divine Services
Aim of the project:
To provide the Orthodox parishes across Belarus with the Belarusian texts for liturgical divine services.
Project summary:
Acting in cooperation with the Bible Society, the Belarusian Exarchate Orthodox Committee keeps on working on the New Testament which is being translated into four languages (Church Slavic, Greek, Russian and Belarusian). It is an ongoing multiyear project, and the work is currently being done on the Book of Acts with 20 chapters having been already completed. There are plans to finish this stage by the end of 2007 and start working on Apostles' Letters from January 2008.
Owing to the fact that a strong sense of national consciousness is growing amidst the Belarusian people, Christian churches across the country are striving more and more to promote the national language by holding divine services either partially or wholly in Belarusian. This specialised edition of the Four Gospels will meet the needs that the Belarusian Orthodox churches experience, while conducting services in Belarusian, but will also meet the needs of those individuals not able to attend church services regularly, and those who want to study the Holy Scriptures in accordance with the Orthodox Church tradition.
The Bible Society considers this project to have a high priority in its program, for the following reasons:
1. The Orthodox Church is regarded by the Belarusian authorities as a leading denomination in the country and it enjoys certain privileges and favour of the state. The BS’s relationship with the Orthodox Church will be greatly progressed by the successful outcome of this project and will ultimately provide us with a passport to better relationships with officials.
2. Because the Orthodox Church in Belarus is a part of Russian Orthodox Church, i.e. belongs to the Moscow Patriarchate, it has always been associated with Russian-speaking members, leaving out those who speak Belarusian and are in search of God. These national-minded people from all levels of our society cannot be attracted by a pro-Russian Church with nothing to identify it as a church serving the Belarusian nation, a nation with its own rich history, culture, and language. The spiritual hunger of those people is left unsatisfied. Who knows how many people holding the Orthodox faith can’t bring themselves to come to a Russian-speaking church, where there is nothing that makes them feel Belarusian!
3. It is a regrettable fact that a sense of national consciousness was purposefully repressed for more than 200 years in our country, when the Russian language forcefully replaced Belarusian as a communicative tool. As a result, the very identity of Belarusians as a nation was lost in many ways. No wonder so many Belarusians today are averse to the Russian language to be used in our daily life, in the churches especially. The introduction of Belarusian as the language of liturgical services will greatly encourage the growth of the number of church-goers, as there are many who wish to hear their native language in the places of worship, and want to know more about God.
The book is already prepared for publishing and funds have been transferred. The material will be passed to press in the nearest future. Initially, there were plans to publish 5,000 copies, but inflation forced us into reducing the number of copies down to 2,500. By the time the funds were transferred the text was translated and corrected only; no computer processing was done because of the delay in getting the funds. The resignation of the chief specialist in computers made the situation more complicated. We now have to use the services of different people in order to complete the work.
There are some 1,400 Orthodox parishes throughout Belarus. Priority is given to providing books for priesthood (for using during divine services), but the books will be distributed among laymen as well. Belarusian-speaking Orthodox parishes in Poland, Lietuva, Russia and Ukraine took an interest in the book.
Also, we received applications from Belarusian Diaspora. For Belarusian readers the books will be available at the libraries.
We have learnt that there are so many Orthodox believers who are keen to know more about God through studying His Word! Among them, there are a number of people speaking Belarusian, and hopefully this book will help them in their spiritual life as well.
We would like to continue the project and publish as many books as possible because the real need goes far beyond 5,000 copies. Potentially, this book can be useful for each Christian. .
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