Ukrainian Bible Society ( uk, Українське Біблійне Товариство), is a religious non-profit organization, established by representatives of different

Christian denominations Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, who recognize the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

as the Word of God. It is a member of the international association of

United Bible Societies The United Bible Societies (UBS) is a global fellowship of around 150 Bible Societies operating in more than 240 countries and territories. It has working hubs in England, Singapore, Nairobi and Miami. The headquarters are located in Swindon, Eng ...

, which currently involves 145 national institutions of similar kind. The main task of the Ukrainian Bible Society is to translate, publish and distribute the Bible and its portions. The Bible Society in Ukraine began its work in 1815 as a network of several affiliates to the Russian Bible Society. After a long period of Soviet regime restrictions, the Ukrainian Bible Society was re-established in 1991. Among its founders were the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christian-Baptist Church, the All-Ukrainian Union of Evangelical Christians (

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church , native_name_lang = uk , caption_background = , image = StGeorgeCathedral Lviv.JPG , imagewidth = , type = Particular church (sui iuris) , alt = , caption = St. George's C ...

Ukrainian Orthodox Church - Kyiv Patriarchate Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * Som ...

, and the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

. Later they were joined by the

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Church,

Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; uk, Українська автокефальна православна церква (УАПЦ), Ukrayinska avtokefalna pravoslavna tserkva (UAPC)) was one of the three major Eastern Orthod ...

Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate) The Ukrainian Orthodox Church ( uk, Українська православна церква, Ukrainska pravoslavna tserkva; russian: Украинская православная церковь, Ukrainskaya pravoslavnaya tserkov', UOC), common ...

Roman Catholic Church in Ukraine , native_name_lang=, image=30x41---.jpg, imagewidth=, alt=, caption= Archcathedral Basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Lviv, abbreviation=LCiU, RCCiU, type=, main_classification=Catholic, orientation=Western Christianity, sc ...

. Yakiv Dukhonchenko was the first President of the Ukrainian Bible Society beginning in 1991. Hryhoriy Komendant is carrying out the Presidential responsibilities at the present time (since 2007). The Organization has four branches in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

(Central branch),

Kherson Kherson (, ) is a port city of Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers appr ...

(Southern branch),

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

(Western branch). There is also a special department for Bible translation into

modern Ukrainian language Ukrainian ( uk, украї́нська мо́ва, translit=ukrainska mova, label=native name, ) is an East Slavic language of the Indo-European language family. It is the native language of about 40 million people and the official state langu ...

led by Father

Rafail Turkoniak Rafail Turkoniak (also Raymond (Roman) Pavlovych Turkoniak; uk, Рафаїл Турконяк; born 7 May 1949, Manchester) is an Archimandrite of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Doctor of Theology and Doctor of Liturgy, biblical translat ...

Activities

The Ukrainian Bible Society is the initiator and active supporter of the official celebration of the ''Bible Day'' since 2004, when the Bible Day was celebrated for the first time in Ukraine. In all countries of the world, the Bible Day is celebrated on the last week-end of October. In 2005, it distributed 174,721 copies of the Bible and 159,626 copies of the New Testament. The new edition of the Ukrainian Bible translation by Ivan Khomenko with corrections introduced by a special work group was presented at the

Ukrainian Catholic University The Ukrainian Catholic University ( ua, Український Католицький Університет, ''Ukrains'kyy Katolyts'kyy Universytet'') is a Catholic university in Lviv, Ukraine, affiliated with the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. ...

in October, 2007. This new edition had, by some estimations, an

ecumenical Ecumenism (), also spelled oecumenism, is the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships among their churches and promote Christian unity. The adjec ...

character and included particular contributions of Catholics and Protestants. In 2008 the Ukrainian Bible Society launched a new project for the

Bulgarians Bulgarians ( bg, българи, Bǎlgari, ) are a nation and South Slavic ethnic group native to Bulgaria and the rest of Southeast Europe. Etymology Bulgarians derive their ethnonym from the Bulgars. Their name is not completely understo ...

, one of the larger

ethnic minority The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

groups in Ukraine. The assistance in obtaining Bibles in

Bulgarian language Bulgarian (, ; bg, label=none, български, bălgarski, ) is an Eastern South Slavic language spoken in Southeastern Europe, primarily in Bulgaria. It is the language of the Bulgarians. Along with the closely related Macedonian la ...

for the project was provided by the United Bible Societies. According to project plans, the Bibles will be presented to national cultural centers, libraries, educational institutions, religious institutions and many individual Bulgarians wishing to read the Bible in their native language. The cornerstone of a new building of UBS named "Bible House" was laid on Baumana Street in Kyiv in March, 2008.

Bible translation into Ukrainian

The known history of the Bible translation into Ukrainian began in the 16th century with

Peresopnytsia Gospels The Peresopnytsia Gospel ( uk, Пересопницьке Євангеліє, ''Peresopnytske Yevanheliie''), dating from the 16th century, is one of the most intricate surviving East Slavic manuscripts. It was made between 15 August 1556 and 29 ...

, which included only four

Gospels Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

of the New Testament. Later in the 17-19th centuries, when the Ukrainian territory was a part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

, several other translations were made secretly because of the Russian Government restrictions on Ukrainian language. At present there are several translations of

Holy Scripture Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...

into Ukrainian done : * 1903

Panteleimon Kulish Panteleimon Oleksandrovych Kulish (also spelled ''Panteleymon'' or ''Pantelejmon Kuliš'', uk, Пантелеймон Олександрович Куліш, August 7, 1819 – February 14, 1897) was a Ukrainian writer, critic, poet, folklori ...

translation; (Ukrainian: Переклад Куліша). * 1957 Ivan Khomenko translation; (Переклад Хоменка) Rome. Translation by Catholic priest, including deuterocanonicals. * 1942, 1962

Metropolitan Ilarion (Ivan Ohienko) Metropolitan Ilarion (secular name Ivan Ivanovitch Ohienko; uk, Іван Іванович Огієнко; 2 January (14 January), 1882 in Brusilov, Kiev Governorate – 29 March 1972 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) was a Ukrainian Orthodox cleri ...

translation; (Ukrainian: Переклад І. Огієнка) Commissioned by the UBS. Used by most

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

churches in Ukraine today. * 1997,

translation (Ukrainian: переклад Турконяка). United Bible Societies. New Testament 1997, Old Testament in process. * 2004, Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko) translation; (Ukrainian: Переклад Філарета) New Testament only: * 1906 Pylyp Morachevskyi translation; (Ukrainian:Євангеліє в перекладах Пилипа Морачевського) translation of the New Testament;''Conference in Kyiv Marks Birth Anniversary of First Translator of Holy Gospels into Ukrainian, by Religious Information Service of Ukraine, December 2007'' * 1971 G. Derkach New Testament (Ukrainian: Переклад Г. Деркача) * 1989 Ukrainian Catholic University New Testament

References

External links

Ukrainian Bible Society Web site
{{Authority control Christian organizations established in 1991 Bible societies Christian organizations established in the 20th century History of Christianity in Ukraine 1991 establishments in Ukraine Christian organizations based in Ukraine Publishing companies of Ukraine