Bruce Anderson, PhD, gave a lecture on “The Brest Bible and the Reformation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (GDL)” within the framework of the exhibition project “Belarus and the Bible”, on September 25.
The event was prepared by the National Library of Belarus, the Manuscript Research Group (the USA) and Belarusian State University.
Bruce Anderson, PhD, the Oxford Center for Missionary Studies, is a researcher of the political thought in the early modern period of modern history.
The Brest Bible is a Belarusian book-printing monument, the largest and most richly decorated Belarusian printed book of the 16th century, which was published with the financial support of Nikolai Radzivil the Black, in 1563. This is the second (after Leopolit’s Catholic Bible) complete translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Polish literary language of the 16th century. The lecturer emphasized that the Brest Bible was the first complete translation from the original languages, Hebrew and Greek.
Bruce Anderson presented the Brest Bible in a historical context and in comparison with other editions of the Bible of various beliefs. The lecturer noted that the book corresponded to the calls of the Renaissance and was aimed at the concept of personal reading and meditation on the Holy Scriptures.
The discussion was attended by scholars of the Institute of History at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the Department of History of Belarusian State University, Belarusian State University of Culture and Arts and other institutions.
