The Struggle for a Bible in MODERN GREEK - Some Light Amid Darkness

After the Greek-speaking areas of the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottomans in the 15th century, the majority of the people there were left in want of education.  The Orthodox Church, although greatly privileged under the Ottoman Empire, neglectfully allowed its flock to become a poor and uneducated  peasantry.  Greek writer Thomas Spelios commented:  "The all-absorbing goal of the Orthodox Church and its educational system was to protect its communicants from the inroads of Islam and Roman Catholic propaganda.  As a result, Greek education was somewhat stagnant." In such a gloomy atmosphere, Bible-loving individuals  felt the need to provide the distressed people with relief and consolation from the Bible book of Psalms.  From 1543 to 1835, there were 18 translations of the Psalm into spoken Greek.

The first Greek translation of the complete Christian Greek Scriptures was prepared in 1630 by Maximus Callipolites, a Greek monk of Callipolis.  This     took place under the direction and auspices of Cyril Lucaris, patriarch of Constantinople and a would-be reformer of the Orthodox Church.  Within the church, Lucaris had opponents, however, who would not accept any reform attempts or agree to any translation of the Bible into the spoken language.  He was strangled as a traitor.  Nevertheless, some 1,500 copies of the translation by Maximus were printed in 1638.  In response to this translation, 34 years later an Orthodox synod in Jerusalem declared that the Scriptures 'should be read, not by just anyone, but only by the ones peering into the deep things of  the spirit after having done appropriate research."  This meant that the Scriptures should be read only by the educated clergymen.

In 1703, Seraphim, a Greek monk from the island of Lesbos, tried to publish a revision of the Maximus translation in London.  When  promises for financial help from the English court failed, he printed the revision using his own money.  In fiery prologue, Seraphim stressed the need for "every godly Christian" to read the Bible, and he accused the high-ranking clergymen of the church of "desiring to cover up their misbehavior by keeping the people in ignorance."As might have been expected, his Orthodox opponents had him arrested in Russia and exiled to Siberia, where he died in 1735. 

Commenting on the deep spiritual hunger of the Greek-speaking people during that time, a Greek clergyman made the following statement regarding a later revision of the Maximus translation: "The Greeks received this Holy Bible, along with the others, with love and with craving.  And they read it.  And they felt the pain within them soothed, and their faith in God  . . .flared up."  However, their spiritual leaders feared that if people were to understand the Bible, then the clergy would be exposed for their unscriptural beliefs and deeds.  Therefore, in 1823 and again in 1836, the patriarchate of Constantinople issued an edict to burn all copies of such Bible translations. 

Next time:The Struggle for a Bible in MODERN GREEK - A Courageous Translator

The Watchtower, 2002