The Czech Ecumenical Translation of the Bible in its Historical Contexts

The paper concentrates on the circumstances of the genesis of the Czech Ecumenical Translation of the Bible (1961–1979). It presents the preparation and finalization of the project which can be labelled as unique in relation to the former Eastern Bloc countries and remarkable with respect to the church and religious history of the Czech Lands. The text consists of six contexts – the first one concerns global church history, whereas the remaining five contexts concern various aspects of Czech church history. 1) Global church history offers an insight into the paradigmatic shift of the Second Vatican Council in relation to Bible studies and ecumenism. 2) The second context describes the readiness of the non-Catholic and Catholic milieu for a new translation into the national language. 3) Subsequently, the process of the translation is briefly introduced as well as the non-implementation of this translation in the Roman Catholic Church with respect to liturgy. 4) The paper then shows contemporary pillars (i.e. at the time) of the communist church policy and the matter of the ecumenical relations between the Czech Christians. 5) Within an analysis, a paradoxical situation is shown when ecumenical activity was not systematically suppressed by the state; reasons for such an approach are considered. 6) The paper addresses a positive perception of the translation in the contemporary and later reception and in the church collective memory.