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| The launch began with a minute’s silence to remember the victims of the attacks on New York and Washington D.C. Prayers followed, dedicating the new Scripture to God and asking that it act as a tool to bring peace and love to Turkey and the rest of the world. |
The launch was held on the evening of October 6 in the Hotel Hyatt Regency in one of Istanbul’s busiest districts, and began with a minute’s silence to remember the victims of the attacks on New York and Washington D.C.
Tool
Prayers followed, dedicating the new Scripture to God and asking that it act as a tool to bring peace and love to Turkey and the rest of the world.
The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople,
His Holiness Bartholomeus I, spoke about the need for church leaders
to take on extra responsibility for sharing God’s message of peace,
love and hope during times of conflict or tension.
The Rev Miller Milloy, UBS Europe-Middle East Regional Secretary, addressed the gathering, speaking of the importance of Bible translation.
“God is the great linguist – he speaks your language and he speaks mine,” he said. “It is to enable all peoples to hear God speak their own language that we translate the Bible.”
Mr Milloy paid tribute to the two translation consultants who worked on the project – the Rev Dr Manuel Jinbachian and Dr Krijn van der Jagt – and to the three translators, Ali Simsek, Behnan Konutgan and Mahmud Solgun.
Enthusiasm
He also thanked Ameniel Bagdas, Executive Secretary of the Bible Society in Turkey (BST) for his enthusiasm for the project and congratulated the BST on behalf of the UBS fellowship.
Jamal Hashweh, General Secretary of the Bible Society in Jordan, also congratulated the BST on behalf of the Bible Societies in the NAWAT (North Africa, West Asia and Turkey) sub-region and spoke about the impact that the new translation would have on Christians in Turkey and in other parts of the world. He compared it to the new translation of the Arabic Bible, which has made God’s Word more accessible to modern Arabic speakers.
Decree
The new Turkish Bible will undoubtedly open God’s Word to more Turks, especially young people. The old version was published in 1941, after being revised and changed from Arabic to Roman characters, following a decree by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who became president in 1923 (see story).
Nevertheless, the old translation still contains many Arabic words and, due to changes in Turkey’s education system, by the 1970s many young Turks could no longer understand Arabic. Realising that fewer people could read and understand the Turkish Bible, the BST, in partnership with the Translation Trust, began a new translation in 1979.
The New Testament was published 10 years later to a tremendous response. One journalist, writing a review of the New Testament, said that the translation “flows like music.”
The publicity surrounding the launch
of the new Turkish Bible has been equally encouraging, according to
Mr Bagdas. “Despite the coverage
of the war [on terrorism], two newspapers published stories about the
new Bible launch the day after the event,” he said.
The BST prepared posters and publicity
leaflets about the new Bible, its history, the history of Bible translation
in general, and what the Bible is about. These were made widely available
before the launch.
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| n A team hard at work on the final stages of the new Turkish Bible |
One university professor who attended
the launch spoke to Mr Bagdas, expressing his pleasure at the launch
of the new Scripture translation. He said he would show his students
the new translation and order 100 copies if they liked it. The BST has
already received many orders for the new Bible.
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