EXHIBITION OF THE HISTORY OF BIBLE PUBLICATIONS IN RUSSIA OPENS IN MOSCOW








MOSCOW, March 13, 2001. /From RIA Novosti correspondent Elena Titarenko/.  An exhibition of publications of the Bible in Russia between the 16th and 20th centuries called "Russian Bible: From the Ostrog Bible to Bibles of the End of the 20th Century" was opened at the State History Museum in Moscow. Among its displays are the most prominent publications of the Bible, some of which tell dramatic stories.


	The collection of holy biblical texts was first prepared for the press in the ancient Slavonic language and was printed in Russia in 1581. This event which was connected with Ivan Fyodorov who invented the first printing press in the 16th century, took place in the town of Ostrog where Prince Konstantin ruled. Hence the name given to the Ostrog Bible, which is the central display of the exhibition. The famous Ostrog Gospels were also printed in the same town. Copies of them are also on  display now.


	For many years the Ostrog Bible remained a canonical book, for the Russian Orthodox Church recognized only that translation of the holy texts. Its 17th century re-edition was prompted by the need to introduce amendments and, above all, to eliminate distortions of the text that had accumulated while the book was copied. Nevertheless, the corrections were introduced with great caution, and most fully only in 1751, when the Elizabeth Bible came out.


	Under Russian Tsar Peter I (he ruled Russia at the end of the 17th and in the early 18th century) a translation of the Bible into Russian began to be prepared, since the ancient Slavonic text was difficult to understand. The publication of the Russian version of the Bible in the early 19th century was speeded up by the Russian Bible Society.