JWS ATTACK RUSSIAN ORTHODOX
Bible "crafted to...conform to church views"

In a classic case of 'the pot calling the kettle black' the publishers of the New World Translation attack the Russian Orthodox Church for undertaking in 1856

its own synodal translation, doing so with guidelines that were carefully crafted to ensure that expressions used would conform to church views."

—The Watchtower October 1, 1997, p. 12

A couple of months later the December 15, 1997, Watchtower goes on to present a 6-page article on a different Russian-language Bible that the Watchtower Society has now released.

The article calls the Society's release "the Makarios Bible," although it is actually quilted together: Psalms from Gerasim Pavsky's version of the 1820's, the rest of the Old Testament from Makarios' translation of the 1840's, and the New Testament from the Orthodox Church's synodal translation —apparently the very one The Watchtower denounced in October.

The December article reveals that the Society had nearly 300,000 copies of this composite Bible printed in Italy and released it at a January 1997 press conference in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Watchtower quotes at length from Pravda and other Russian newspapers regarding the release event.

Why did the JWs produce this volume? Because it features the name Jehovah more than 3,500 times in its Old Testament. This is reminiscent of the Society's 1972 release of The Bible in Living English by Steven T. Byington. This Congregationalist layman similarly rendered the Tetragrammaton as Jehovah throughout the Old Testament. But, according to the terms under which the Society obtained publication rights from Byington's heirs, it was apparently printed just as he typed it—including an admission in the translator's preface that, "as to the Old Testament name of God, certainly the spelling and pronunciation 'Jehovah' were originally a blunder." (page 7)

A related letter from Russia

Date: Fri, 28 Nov 1997 02:12:13 +0000
From: Charles Spine <spine@dux.ru>
Subject: WT's Russian-language "Makarios Bible"

...Man, did they manipulate their own "coverage" on this one! They presented as gifts copies of this edition to certain profs and scholars who have the sufficient "wall-paper" to be considered experts in relevant fields (in the cases we know about, these scholars had possession of this translation for literally only a couple hours before press time). So, they had a gift of this so-called (by the WT) "rebirth of a long-lost Russian literary classic," in hand, a promise of press notoriety, and an honorarium (keep in mind that full-time profs in Russia make a miserable $200 per month; street vendors of vegetables make sometimes twice as much! For this reason, it is understandable that when such an offer to get press-coverage, a literary present and an honorarium is made, they practically HAVE to accept!) They really knew not of which they spoke, by their own admission, but the WT milked it!

What a dominoe effect...convince a few poor profs to speak as "experts" with little info, and a virtual bribe; invite friendly reporters from notable quote-worthy local Russian newspapers, then massage it further and quote extensively from these in your own multi-million print-run, worldwide WT. I must say, it is quite ingenious, actually. Rev. Moon would be proud (in the sense of doing everything possible to attain credibility by association). ...

Charles Spine
The Center for Apologetics Research
P.O. Box 954
194044 St. Petersburg, RUSSIA

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