The occasion for the discussion was Patriarch Kirill’s speech at the closing plenary session of the 7th International Theological Conference of the Russian Orthodox Church, “Contemporary Biblical Studies and the Tradition of the Church,” on November 28, 2013. At that time, the patriarch called for continuing work on a new translation into Russian, begun back in the 1970s with the collaboration of Professor A. A. Alexeyev. In his view, before starting such a translation, it is necessary to complete a critical edition of the Slavonic text.
According to the patriarch, he “has not abandoned the dream” of publishing a Slavonic text of the Bible: “We keep talking about the importance of the Slavonic text, and we still do not have a critical edition. Nestle–Aland produced a critical edition of the Greek text, but we still cannot produce a critical edition of the Slavonic text.” About the Synodal translation, the patriarch said: “Everyone understands the Synodal translation! There is no need to scare people with it.” He also noted that the translation contains inaccuracies that could be corrected, but at the same time “under no circumstances should a new translation be created on the basis of the Synodal one, thereby crossing out the significance of the Synodal translation itself.”
In an interview with Pravmir, Anatoly Alexeyev stated that it was he who “christened the translation ‘Patriarchal’,” but according to him, “that name does not yet show a future.” He believes that the patriarch’s position on this issue has not changed since the 1970s. According to Alexeyev, at the conference the task of a new Russian translation was not seriously substantiated: there were no reports criticizing the shortcomings of the existing translation, and no developed project was proposed. The discussion took place at a round table, but, as Alexeyev said, “it was an exchange of opinions, and nothing more.”
Alexeyev related that work on the Slavonic Bible began in 1990 at the Academy of Sciences and the university in close cooperation with Vladyka Kirill. At that time, important biblical manuscripts were entered into a computer, in particular the Gennadian Bible of 1499. According to Alexeyev, at a difficult moment Vladyka Kirill found a patron who donated two Intel 286 computers and transferred significant funds to the university, so that the work was supported by these means for at least a year.
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