The Church Slavonic Bible (both the New
and the Old Testament) was translated into Standard Russian only at the
beginning of the nineteenth century and, curiously enough under the aegis
of the British and Foreign Bible Society. This translation passed
unnoticed and had no influence whatsoever on the Russian literary
language, already embodied in Pushkin's masterpieces. The Russian Orthodox
Church refused to accept this translation and has kept to the Holy Writ in
its Church Slavonic version to this very day.
