The Orthodox Text (Saxon Church)

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The Orthodox Text (West Germanic: Der Richtjefremte Tracht) is a West Germanic translation of the Christian Bible, in addition to a further volume of texts, begun by the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of the Saxon Empire in 2011 (5962 BE). The translation of the New Testament is currently in progress, so far including complete translations of 2 John, 3 John, Jude and Revelation and partial translations of Matthew and Mark. The translation was both commissioned and carried out by King Penda II, the Saxon Emperor.

Sources

The source of the translation varies by book. The gospels are translated from Old English versions, the Wessex Gospels, dating from approximately 990. Acts as well as the epistles and Revelation are translated from the Dr Wumkes Frisian versions from 1943. These are cross-referenced with the English Standard Version (1971) in the process of translating into West Germanic, meaning that certain verses used by the Anglo-Saxon and Frisian churches have been omitted in line with the modern method of textual criticism.

Canon

The Old and New Testaments reflect those used by Protestants worldwide, rejecting the deuterocanonical books. Controversially, the ending of the Gospel of Mark (Mark 16:9-20), which is usually bracketed in modern Bibles, has been completely excluded from The Orthodox Text. Other omitted verses have also not been included in footnotes. In contrast, the usually bracketed John 8:1-11 has been fully integrated into the text, although the Saxon Church acknowledges that it is most likely not in its original location.

A third volume called the Church Book, while not considered scriptural, includes the Catechism of the Saxon Church (containing the Westminster Confession of Faith as well as ecumenical creeds, the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Commandments and Lutheran prayers); the Deuterocanon; the Pseudepigrapha (the Infancy Gospel of Mary, Additions to Mark and the Gospel of Nicodemus); the Hymnal of the Saxon Church; in addition to a section called the Archive featuring Christian and heathen poetry of both Anglo-Saxon and Norse origin.