The Struggle for a Bible in MODERN GREEK - Die-Hard Opponents

Die-Hard Opponents

in 1901, The Acropolis, a prominent Athenian newspaper, published the Gospel of Matthew rendered in the Demotic Greek by Alexander Pallis, a translator working in Liverpool, England.  The apparent motive of Pallis and his colleagues was to 'educate the Greeks' and to "help the nation recover"  from decline.

Orthodox theology students and their professors called the rendering "a ridiculing of the nation's most valuable relics," a desecration of Holy Writ.  Patriarch Joakim III of Constantinople issued a document disapproving the rendering.  The controversy took on political dimensions and it was used in a devious way by warning political camps.

An influential part of the Athenian press started attacking the Pallis translation, labeling its supporters "atheists," "traitors," and "agents of foreign powers" who were bent on destabilizing Greek society.  From November 5 to 8, 1901, at the instigation of ultraconservative elements of the Greek Orthodox Church, students rioted in Athens.  They attacked the offices of the Acropolis, marched against the palace, took over the University of Athens, and demanded that the government resign.  At the climax of the riots, eight people were killed in clashes with the army. The next day, the kink demanded the resignation of Archbishop Prokopios, and two days later the whole Cabinet stepped down. 

One month later the students demonstrated again and publicly burned a copy of the Pallis translation.  They issued a resolution against the circulation of this translation and asked for severe punishment for any such attempt in the future.  This served as an excuse to prohibit the use of any modern Greek version of the Bible. A  dark moment indeed!

Next time: The Struggle for a Bible in MODERN GREEK - "The Saying of Jehovah Endures Forever"

The Watchtower, 2002