KOINONIA, the journal of the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association (A.E.C.A.) has published one of my articles, entitled: "Translating Liturgical Texts from Ancient Greek to Modern Greek". The Editor of the journal, Peter Doll, introduces this article, in the Editorial, with the following:
"The Greek Church still worships and reads the Scriptures in the language of the earliest Christians. This is an enviable place to be in many ways, but the Greek of the Church is largely incomprehensible to present-day Greeks. As Dimitris Salapatas points out, however, using modern language in the liturgy does not ensure that modern believers understand the Church's way of life, its symbols and beliefs. Whether the Greek Church chooses to retain the ancient language of the liturgy or to 'transcribe' it into Modern Greek, a concerted programme of education is needed to help contemporary believers recover a deep understanding of their faith". (KOINONIA, The Journal of the Anglican and Eastern Churches Association, New Series No. 59, Trinitytide 2012, ISSN No. 0012-8732).
A copy of the article is posted on this blog, in order to have a digital copy of it. It is as follows:
Translating Liturgical Texts
From Ancient Greek to Modern Greek
Dimitris Salapatas
Many
books and articles have been written explaining, supporting or disagreeing with
the motion of translating the liturgical texts from Ancient Greek to Modern
Greek. There are many reasons for maintaining the ancient language and there
are also grounds on translating the liturgical language of the Greek Orthodox
Church. The two opposite views are based on various ideas and beliefs which are
important. The question, however, is which view one respects, prefers and
wishes to follow and which stance will the Church support now and in the
future.
First
of all, before analysing this important and crucial for the future of our
Church issue, it is essential to understand that any translation is nothing
more than “approximations, always no more than attempts to convey in the
grammar, idiom and vocabulary of one language what was originally expressed in
those of another”.
This is the case especially when referring to the poetic and melodic language
used for liturgical purposes.
In
this discussion, which has not yet become a crucial dispute (i.e. there are
views on this matter but it has not been such a great problem in order to bring
schism within the Orthodox world) but might in the future, has two distinct
groups of supporters. The ones suggesting the translation of the liturgical
texts within the Orthodox Church, state that modern Greeks (and by Greeks here
I mean the people living in Greece, Cyprus and the diaspora but also those who
speak the Greek language) do not understand the language of the Liturgy or that
of any other ceremonies within the Church. This inevitably concludes the
absence of many believers, especially the youth, from the Ecclesiastical Body.
Another argument supported by the same category of people is that the holy
texts have been translated in most languages. So why can they not be translated
into Modern Greek? The opposite view has also a great number of supporters, who
express the traditional notion of maintaining the original Greek text, which
also proposes the protection and preservation of the Tradition as they
understand it, whilst the original Greek language is understood as playing an
important part within Orthodox life. This is clearly a stance which stays afar
from any kind of modernisation or change.
Here
we will analyse whether the translation is to be supported or dismissed as a
solution, in order to bring back to the Ecclesia more people, especially the
youth. However it is crucial to point out that many aspects of the Orthodox
Church’s traditions and life are for many outdated, but due to this maintenance
of its traditions it has kept its dogmas and beliefs untouched, even through
difficult epochs. Faith and belief are important in order to follow and fully
understand not only the Liturgical texts but the Church’s life as a whole.
The
Orthodox Church does not believe or dictate the theory which the Catholic
Church has and promotes, i.e. the logic of accepting only the holy languages
(Hebrew, Greek, Latin), although it has changed its stance towards this since
the Second Vatican Council where it allowed the use and translation of the
Liturgy into other languages. ( “Following the pattern of the new edition of
the Roman Ritual, particular rituals are to be prepared as soon as possible by
the competent territorial ecclesiastical authority...These rituals, adapted to
the linguistic and other needs of the different regions, are to be reviewed by
the Apostolic See and then introduced into the regions for which they have been
prepared”
Orthodoxy
has always encouraged the usage of other languages, hence for example the
translation of the Bible and many Church texts by the brothers Cyril and
Methodios from Thessaloniki to the Slavic nations. That is why it is difficult
for the supporters of translating the texts to understand why the Church today
cannot and will not try to translate the Liturgy from Ancient Greek to Modern
Greek. However, in this case we are not talking about translation due to the
fact that we are not seeking to translate the original text to another language
but to transcribe it to the modern form of the same language, as George Seferis
named this procedure when he himself transcribed St. John’s Apocalypse, explaining
how he did not wish to explain the Apocalypse but his aim was to transcribe it
to the modern form of Greek. Modern Greek is also called “demotic”;
Metropolitan Ierotheos of Nafpaktos explains that “the demotic language cannot
be understood as a foreign language”,
to that of the original Greek of the New Testament.
What
is essential is that the Liturgical language has a holy aspect due to the fact
that it is the language used in order to pray and communicate with God.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew states that “even eminent philologists claim
that the text of the Divine Liturgy happens to be one of the masterpieces of
Greek Literature. For this reason the centuries have respected this text not
adding a single jot or tittle”.
Even the Church Fathers, when writing their texts and liturgies they used the
highest form of Greek and not the everyday language of their era. In addition,
as my former Professor Fr. George Metallinos states, “the language of one
people is not merely a means used to just communicate and inform, but also a
unique and irreplaceable institution (carrier) of its historical, spiritual and
social fortune. Language in all of its timeless course and practice saves the
culture of the Nation and it broadcasts it to the next generations, retaining
its continuance”.
Even
if a translation or transcription is actually realised will this truly solve
the problem? If I am to take into account the practices of the Orthodox Church
in Great Britain I will have to give a negative answer, disappointing the
supporters of the translation proposed. Past experiences show that even when
many churches within the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain have the
Liturgy in English, where the prayers and the hymns are fully understood,
believers and especially the youth do not attend Church. On the contrary fewer
people follow the Liturgy in English than the one celebrated in the original
Greek. So maybe the problem should be searched possibly elsewhere. “Many
Christians have not been admitted through experience within the Church”.
That is why, also, they do not even know the common and simple prayers, such as
the Lord’s Prayer. Theological terminology as well is not understood, when for
example a theologian talks about Economy within the Church secular
understanding dictates that the theologian is discussing a financial theory,
whilst he is explaining God’s plan for creation.
A
translation will probably give the opportunity to the faithful to understand the Liturgy intellectually, but
when faith is not present then the true meaning of the words spoken, chanted or
read will not be fully understood. If the necessity is to understand the
Liturgy like a newspaper, where information is merely given to us then
unfortunately the true meaning of Christianity is not recognised. Christos
Yiannaras states that “access to the meanings of sacred texts is certainly a
function of living and being within the epicentre of the ecclesiastical body
and a spiritual endeavour – individual understanding of the signifiers is not
enough”.
This reminds us of the Theology on the Holy Trinity. It is interesting to
understand that whilst the Church has used human words and secular means (for
example shapes and diagrams) to comprehend and explain what and who God is, it
has yet not come close into understanding Him in full. We merely recognise and
explain what has been shown to us by God. How could creation understand the
Creator? It is naive of man to think that he could intellectually understand
God, while at the same time he cannot figure out creation and the world which
surrounds him.
Nikolaos
Kavasilas points out that “the man at the Divine Liturgy apart from any other
means is sanctified with the viewing of the acts as well”,
pointing out that by being there and watching what is happening in front of him
suffices. When explaining about the Liturgy he emphasises how they all
represent the Divine Plan, ‘Θεία
οικονομία’, of Christ, sanctifying the
participants and believers in order to receive the Body and Blood of the Son of
God. A symbolism exists in order “to not only think with our mind but to see
with our eyes... this symbolism was created so the Divine Plan is not only
given with words but also to our eyes... in order for it to have an effect on
the soul, introducing within us not only the theory but also passion”.
It is imperative everyone understands the ontological meaning of the Liturgy
and that, as St. John Chrysostom explains in his Homily 16 (On the Epistle to
the Hebrews), the Liturgy ‘despite being celebrated on earth, our service is in
heaven and is of heaven’.
Another
central point for the supporters of maintaining the Liturgical language as it
has been for the past two thousand years is that by translating the texts the
historical, theological practical and traditional meanings of the words and
phrases will not be able to be preserved; or even if they are they will have to
be explained in many words or paragraphs in order to grasp why a specific word
is used in a certain passage.
It
is, I believe, imperative to give a case study to underline the problematic
issue which the Church will have to eventually solve. A good example of the
various problems produced by a translation or a transcription process into
Modern Greek is the distinction suggested by Origen, when he explains St.
John’s Gospel. He states that there is a certain difference between “ο Θεός”
and “Θεός”. “The former means
what we mean by God the Father, in other words it is effectively a proper name,
while the latter means what Nicea will mean by ‘consubstantial with the
Father’”.
Translations can only paraphrase whilst trying to point out the intended
meaning. This of course can be achieved through an explanatory sentence which
should come after every word or sentence of the Bible. This phrase comes from
St. John’s Gospel (John 1:1), “Ἐν ἀρχῇ ἦν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν Θεόν, καὶ Θεὸς ἦν ὁ λόγος”. The New King James Version
translates the same line as follows: “In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God”. A Μodern Greek translation of the same phrase,
translated by the Metropolis of Dimitriados in Greece (2001), reads: “Απ’όλα
πριν υπήρχε ο Λόγος κι
ο Λόγος ήταν
με το Θεό, κι
ήταν Θεός ο Λόγος”. The Latin Vulgata translation is: “In principo erat
Verbum et Verbum erat apud Deum et Deus erat Verbum”. As Father Ephrem Lash states, the Latin language
is unable “to preserve the distinction in the Greek between the word God with
and without the definite article, since it does not have a definite article”.
English does not use the article in front of a name hence it is also unable to
maintain the distinction found in the original text. So here we have just one
example of how problems occur when translating to another language that does
not have the same grammatical rules with the original text. However in the
Modern Greek translation the article is kept and the distinction is obvious, as
it is in Ancient Greek. This difficulty of translation brings me to the next
point.
One
strong argument, that the supporters of translating the Liturgical texts into
Modern Greek have, is that the Bible has already been translated into most
languages. This is not a modern practice, as one can easily identify in any
book of Church History; on the contrary it is an ancient one which helped
spread Christianity all over the world. One of the first examples of this
achievement is of course the translation of Cyril and Methodios from the
original text to Slavonic. Cyril (Constantinos) came up with the glagolitikon
alphabet (also known as the Cyrilic Alphabet), and with Methodio’s and their
students’ help they achieved to translate the liturgical parts of the Holy
Bible and the liturgical books. Through
this sacred endeavour many things were achieved, such as the entry into the
Christian world of millions of Slavs, who understood the Liturgy and the Bible,
they acquired an alphabet and for the first time their language was written.
These are the important results of achieving the translation of the liturgical
texts into another language.
The
Slavonic paradigm is in no way the only one observed during the Byzantine
period. Another example is the establishment of the Russian Church and also
before that we had the translation of the Greek text into the language of the
West, i.e. Latin. It is evident that this has been an ongoing practice within
Christianity, and specifically within the Orthodox Church, since the belief of
the three holy languages has never existed in the East. That is why one sees
with a critical stance the view stated by Professor George Babiniotis, when he
expresses that we should not translate the Liturgy, since it is a mystery;
words, he claims, lose their meaning when translated from one language to
another. However this has been the Orthodox practice for centuries. Somehow
this argument is beginning to have a chicken and egg effect.
A
question many ask is why the non-Greek Christian world should understand what
is said and chanted in the Liturgy and the Greek world should remain in the
‘dark’. It is a difficult question to answer when the practice of the Church is
to translate the texts into various languages in order for the people to
understand the Liturgy. However here we come to the point stated earlier, that
in the case examined in this paper we are not looking at translating the text
from one language to another but we are specifying in transcribing it to a more
modern form of the same language. Maybe a suitable answer which would mediate
in this case and help towards solving the problem would be that a translation
not into ‘popular’ Modern Greek (known also as dimotiki), meaning daily life
language, but into a higher form of Greek (katharevousa) which could be
understood today would be a good start. Possibly this is the answer for both
groups disagreeing on this topic. However a debated view could be that those
frequently attending Church services are in a position to understand the
meaning of the liturgical texts. Additionally we are reminded of the ancient
Greek saying “τα αγαθά κόποις κτώνται”, i.e. “The good things can be achieved
only with great effort”. Nevertheless, it is obvious that both groups of this
argument have a strong point to make, but eventually they base their views on
the different opinions they maintain in order to explain their beliefs on the
matter.
It
is understood that, amongst other things which form a nation, tradition and
religion, language plays a key part. Maintaining language is crucial, as seen
vividly around the world, where for example Greeks preserve (via the schools
under the auspices of the Church) the Greek language. “As the biological life
is passed on from generation to generation, in the same way the cultural life
of one nation is passed from generation to generation”.
On the other hand we should not underestimate the fact that as humanity changes
and adjusts to the modern world, so does the language used in all the cultures.
A plain example is the introduction of new words to our vocabulary, for example
‘coca cola’, ‘internet’, ‘car’, which did not exist during the writing of the
Bible. However these words exist today. Others would also claim that the modern
form of Greek is much poorer than ancient Greek. In many ways this is a
universal belief but we should not dishonour our modern language which has
evolved through many historical, cultural, sociological, political,
philosophical and linguistic changes which have occurred in the past 2000
years. Modern Greek has actually incorporated all of these variations.
Disregarding this linguistic evolution, inevitably results in the death of a
language as a living organ which evolves and changes according to the factors
stated above.
The
philosophical and theological background is of paramount importance in the
process of understanding the Church’s view. The Church has as practice a
certain way of life, spiritual exercise, diligence and effort. These are some
of the reasons in maintaining the original language. Modernists argue that they
do not have time to understand and study what is taught by the Church and that
they should be “fed” the information quickly in order to comprehend and play a
role in the Church’s life. However, although they expect this from the
ecclesiastical society, as well as many other things, they do not realize how
Christianity works; no one is born a doctor, a solicitor, a scientist, an
historian. The same applies to Christianity. In order to live as a Christian
one must put a great deal of effort into it. Then and only then will someone
appreciate the depth and richness of Orthodoxy and live according to the
teachings of the Bible.
Each
Christian has a personal responsibility in order to understand scripture and
the Liturgical texts. As St. John Chrysostom explains in his 11th Homily, “I
desire to ask one favour of you all... That each of you take in hand that
section of the Gospels which is to be read among you on the first day of the
week, or even on the Sabbath, and before the day arrive, that he sit down at
home and read it through, and often carefully consider its contents, and
examine all its parts well, what is clear, what obscure, what seems to make for
the adversaries, but does not really so; and when you have tried, in a word
every point, so go to hear it read. For from zeal like this will be no small
gain both to you and to us. We shall not need much labour to render clear the
meaning of what is said, because your minds will be already made familiar with
the sense of the words, and you will become keener and more clear-sighted not
for hearing only, nor for learning, but also for the teaching of others”.
This last point is very important in understanding that prayer and church
attendance is not to be understood individually but as a society of believers
communicating with God. Language is just one part of ecclesiastical life which
contributes towards a greater understanding of the Orthodox life. This is
emphasised when referring to prayer. An Orthodox would not just ‘say’ his
prayer but ‘do’ his prayer. The difference is that in order to pray a believer
does not just say some words but uses all five senses.
What
does one seek to gain from the Liturgy? According to Stanley Harakas “in the
Divine Liturgy, we meet the real presence of Christ in the elements of the
Sacrament and in the forgiving, elevating and fulfilling presence of Christ in
our lives”;
This view emphasises that full understanding is not the essence of Orthodoxy.
Let us not forget how the Church challenged and reacted to the Gnostic books
which underlined the importance of knowledge, as seen vividly for example in
the Gospel of Judas. The main ontological element of Christianity is not
knowledge but salvation, which can be reached through knowledge’s experience
and belief. Knowledge on its own is not what the ecclesiastical tradition
dictates.
Any
future change in the liturgical language within the Greek Orthodox world will
produce many problems and issues which will have to be dealt with. These have
already been expressed. Some reservations are understandable and others quite
absurd. Byzantine music is an essential matter. What will happen if a
translation is actually enforced? Ancient Greek and Byzantine music have joined
harmoniously. However, through the use of Byzantine music in other languages
(i.e. English, Arabic, Romanian and Slavonic) it is evident that minor
differences will occur, but this is not a serious deterrent. Another view is
that if the language will change then other traditions and features will also
transform or disappear. Iconography is seen as a language, hence the saying
‘one icon equals a thousand words’. Leonidas Uspenski notes: “For the Orthodox
Church the icon is a kind of story which expresses its dogmas and its
commandments so well, as language... They are like a mirror which reflects the
spiritual life of the Church and where through it one can judge the dogmatic
battles of each epoch”. Some also suggest that even the priest’s
vestments will have to change in order to comply with the dressing forms and
habits of the modern world. However, although time has a different meaning
within the Church, as stated by the hymns, we are not referring to modernising
the Church in all of its aspects.
A
modernisation process has certainly occurred, whether people accept it or
not. When electricity was introduced an
issue within the Ecclesia was whether each Church should adopt electricity and
a sound system. Even though this is not an important issue, it was one which
divided the hierarchs and many theologians expressed conservative views on this
matter, especially referring to how the Church should maintain its tradition by
keeping the candles and by not permitting electrical devices. So it is apparent
that changes occur within the Church and customs may alter, just like the hymns
within the Ecclesiastical tradition starting from Kontakion on to Kanons or
even the introduction of psalms and hymns which did not exist previously, for
example the Lamentations in front of the Epitaphios on Good Friday which were
established in the 15th century AD. This highlights the Byzantine
Liturgical evolution, which stopped after 1453 and the fall of Constantinople.
However a change was brought to the Byzantine music in the 19th century,
by Hourmouzios the Hartofilaks, Gregorios Protopsaltis and Metropolitan of
Dirrahio Xrusanthos Prousis,
with the introduction of the new musical writing, minimising the symbols used,
making it less difficult for anyone to learn. This new notational writing is
the one used today in the Greek Orthodox Church, nevertheless the music is
maintained.
Will
a future translation transform someone into participating more ontologically
and spiritually than superficially? A pragmatic answer has to be a negative
one, since this cannot be achieved without the full understanding of the
symbolic language used within the Church. It is a belief within the
Ecclesiastical Body that with intensive efforts not to translate literally its
texts but to teach its symbolic language will help the modern believer take
part in the Church’s mysteries and achieve his goal, which is salvation. It is
important to identify that in this modern epoch the new catechumens are not
people coming from outside the Body of the Church, but its members; they are
the people who were baptised from a very young age but who have never been
properly instructed within Christianity.
According to Anthony M. Coniaris, “Baptism is like the planting of the
seed of faith in the human soul. Nourished and fed by Christian training,
catechesis, in the family and in the church school, the seed of faith will grow
to produce a mature Christian”.
This is an important point, similarly expressed by Likourgos Aggelopoulos, a
very famous chanter in Athens, that the Church should teach its members the
language of the Bible, as it did in difficult periods in the past, retaining in
that way the Greek language. This could be the solution to this “dispute”.
Analysing
and emphasising the above arguments we come to understand that this issue will
not easily be discarded by both parties. A balanced view regarding this matter
is the one expressed on 14th of April 2010, where the Holy Synod of
the Church of Greece concluded that this subject will continue to be discussed
in Synodical meetings and in collaboration with the Theological Schools and
“when this discussion matures and is considered necessary, it will enter the
Hierarchy of the Church of Greece, which is the highest ecclesiastical
administrative body, in order for it to be dealt Synodically”.
This I believe shows how the Ecclesiastical Body is willing to discuss and
maybe adopt any change, if of course this is accepted by the whole body of the
Church, a practice used since the first Apostolic Synod in Jerusalem.
I
would like here to propose a personal opinion as a solution to this debate,
which could be a starting point in the process of resolving this complicated
matter. It would be wise, I believe, to form a group of scholars, theologians,
teachers, professors, bishops and linguists who will form a new ‘Septuagint’
group, taking in to account the previous Septuagint who translated the Old
Testament from the original Hebrew to Ancient Greek. The translation into
Modern Greek produced by these specialised scholars will then have to be
approved by a Synod, preferably the future Pan-Orthodox Synod, if it ever takes
place, or even a Synod of all the leaders of all Greek speaking Orthodox. This
will be the first step in achieving a catholic acceptance of the translated text,
avoiding the negative results of the first translation of the Liturgical texts
into Russian, resulting in a second translation or a change in the liturgical
language after a period of time, as is the case now with a new English-language
translation of Mass, which would be closer to the Latin, within the Roman
Catholic Church. Their argument is that “a universal church should have the
closest thing possible to a universal missal”.
This is what I believe could work within the Orthodox World, where an agreed
translation from a new Septuagint group could be achieved. However, in Georgia
this has happened, where a team of four people have just finalised the
translation of the four Gospels into Modern Georgian, using as a base the
Ancient Greek and Ancient Georgian texts; this of course was done with the
blessings and support of the Patriarch of Georgia Elijah II. Maybe the Greek
Orthodox Church could see this as a first paradigm and eventually follow it,
when it sees that the right time has come.
In
the eventual case of the adoption of one and approved transcribed biblical
text, this could be used during the Sacred Services. Greece and Cyprus could
learn from the diaspora. A practice in many ecclesiastical communities within
the Archdiocese of Thyateira and Gr. Britain is the reading of the Apostle and
the Gospel in both the original language and English. Maybe the Greek speaking
world could adopt this practice and read biblical texts from both Ancient Greek
and Modern Greek. Also many of the translated texts can be written with
Byzantine notation, as is the case in the Archdiocese of America, where
Byzantine music and the English language have been combined. Many will argue that when a priest preaches
he explains in Modern Greek the Liturgy and the Gospel. However, it has been
suggested that this, in many respects, is not enough.
Another
key point which could facilitate the resolution of this issue in the Greek
world is the existence of the Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom in publications
having both the original and the translated version, into for example English,
as is the case with the reprinted book of ‘The Divine Liturgy of our Father
among the Saints John Chrysostom’. In the preface of this new book Archbishop
Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain writes, “This translation, undertaken
under the leadership of the Very Revd Archimandrite of the Ecumenical Throne
Ephrem Lash has been particularly well received, no doubt due to the clarity
and rhythm of the language that the translator has used, whereby words and
phrases which even experts in Greek liturgical scholarship have had difficulty
in understanding and translating properly and accurately have been traced to
their patristic origins and roots and have been rendered in a fashion that is
both direct and meaningful”.
This shows how a small Septuagint group in this case was formed in order to
translate the Liturgy from the original Greek to English; maybe this can be
considered as a good and practical solution.
An interesting question could be why can’t this happen in the case of
transcribing the text to Modern Greek? Would the Ecumenical Patriarch
Bartholomew and Archbishop Gregorios be wrong to support such a translation
into Modern Greek? Undoubtedly not. But it seems that the Greek world,
including priests and laity, are indecisive at the moment to take action in
resolving this matter, whether they are for or against any future
transcription.
It
is evident that there are two solutions to this serious issue. On the one hand
we have the translation of the Liturgical texts into Modern Greek, which would
be a long and hard process. On the other hand we have the prevalence of the
original text, which has to be supported by the Church as a whole. The latter
solution evidently means that the Ecclesiastical Body will have to teach not
only the Ancient Greek language, in order for everyone to understand it better,
but also its way of life, its symbolisms and beliefs. Then and only then will
the Church see the fruits of its work reveal themselves and will acknowledge
the issue analysed here as a minimal and unimportant one. Education is key in
this respect.
A
change, however, will most probably occur, whether it initiates in the Mother
Lands or the Diaspora. Although I do believe that a choice should be given to
each Archdiocese or Ecclesiastical Body, whether to celebrate in the original
language or Modern Greek. However any decision taken should be accepted on a
Pan-Orthodox level. Sacramental Inter-communion has to be preserved within the
Orthodox World. This issue should in no way be seen as a new reason to have a
future schism within Orthodoxy. Ecclesiastical life should be more understood,
maintaining its richness and purpose, i.e. salvation, whether this suggests the
teaching of the Ecclesiastical practices and traditions to the believers and
maintaining the original Greek or the eventual transcription of the Liturgy
into Modern Greek.