Perspectief 2019-44

2019-44 Mor Polycarpus Augin Aydin PhD 15 either rejecting it as disrespectful, or looking down on it as an inferior shadow of the real Hebrew Bible. But surprisingly the new translation was revered as much as the Hebrew. The Septuagint was thought of as the Bible itself . Secondly, it is very important to translate the liturgy and the liturgical symbolism into a language that is comprehensible to the people, especially the new generation and the generations to come. One should be more concerned about the spiritual needs of the faithful than preserving the language as a liturgical ornament. It is very important and rather vital to the Church here to have a profound vision of the Fathers who possessed a real sense of Christ and His place in our life and world yesterday, today and always. The Church here should follow their example in professing a faith for all centuries, a faith that is embedded in the living and dynamic Christ. It should be said that the Church in North America has translated various Syriac liturgical books into English with explanatory notes for the sake of her faithful who no longer understand or read Syriac. Also in Europe, the liturgical books are now being translated into the languages of the host countries, such as German, Swedish, French and Dutch. Furthermore, as the Very Rev. John Meno has re- marked: “The Church is now struggling with the question of liturgical reforms and a reinvestigation of the Church’s canon law and its relevance to the current situation of the Church’s life”. 2 In Europe, however, along the modern European languages, there is also an emphasis on the vernacular Syriac known as Surayt or Turoyo. There has been an online course and a publication of books in English, German, Swedish and Dutch entitled Shlomo Surayt . 8. Better Education and Brighter Future Education has become one of the most important and vital tools of our day. When it comes to education, North America and Europe have the best educational institutions in the world and offer excellent education and training in various fields and disciplines. This pre- sents a golden opportunity for the members of the Syriac- Orthodox community to excel in education and prepare a bright future for themselves and generations to come. Also in the area of Orthodox theology and Syriac studies, the West has many prestigious institu- tions that offer this type of education, which is not available in the homeland. In the area