Review on: Pelican J. To whom does the Bible belong. A short History of the Scriptures. Trans. from English. Moscow, BBI; Kiev, Dukh i Liter, 2019, 253 P. ISBN 978-5-89647-375-6 (BBI) ISBN 978-9-66378-600-1 (Dukh i Litera)

Abstract

One of the most prominent contemporary historians of Christianity, Jaroslav Pelikan, in his latest book traces the history of the Bible from antiquity to the present day. His work is a colossal survey of a period of more than three thousand years. Pelikan traces the emergence among the people of Israel of first the oral narrative, later written down in Hebrew; then the translation of the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate; and the creation of the New Testament. The author then examines the development of the manuscript biblical tradition, printing, the latter's influence on the Reformation, the process of translating the Bible into modern languages, the birth and development of various schools of scholarship, and the creation of poetic and musical interpretations of biblical texts by J. Milton, J. S. Bach and F. Handel. Pelikan is an excellent storyteller and his entire study is written in an understandable and engaging way. Although the translation from English into Russian clearly needs editing in many places (noticed errors are given at the end of the review).