A HIDDEN TREASURE
COMES TO LIGHT

The Story of the Makarios Bible

Bible Receives Critical Acclaim

"YET another monument of literature has been released: the Makarios Bible." With that introduction, the newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda announced the release of the Makarios Bible.

After noting that it was not until some "120 years ago" that the Bible first appeared in the Russian language, this paper lamented: "For many years the church was opposed to the translation of holy books into an easy-to-read language. Having rejected several translations, the church finally agreed with one of them in 1876, and it came to be known as the synodal translation. However, it was not allowed into the churches. There, to this day, the only Bible that is recognized is in Slavonic."

The newspaper St. Petersburg Echo also pointed to the value of publishing the Makarios Bible, observing: "Authoritative scholars from St. Petersburg State University, Herzen Pedagogical University, and the State Museum of Religious History gave high marks to this new edition of the Bible." Pointing to the translating of the Bible into Russian by Makarios and Pavsky in the first half of the last century, the newspaper noted: "Up to that time, in Russia the Bible could be read only in Slavonic, which was understandable only to members of the clergy."

Release of the Makarios Bible was announced at this press conference

The release of the Makarios Bible by Jehovah's Witnesses was reported during a press conference in St. Petersburg earlier this year. The local daily Nevskoye Vremya observed: "Authoritative scholars . . . emphasized that the edition should be evaluated as a fact of enormous significance in the cultural life of Russia and St. Petersburg. Regardless of what one thinks about the activity of this religious organization, the publication of this heretofore unknown translation of the Bible is undoubtedly of great benefit."

Surely, all lovers of God are delighted when his written Word is made available in a language that can be read and understood by the common people. Bible lovers everywhere are delighted that another Bible translation has been made available to the millions of Russian-speaking people around the world.