Page 220 - Stati inu obstati, revija za vprašanja protestantizma, letnik XV (2019), številka 30, ISSN 2590-9754
P. 220
povzetki, synopses, ZUSAMMENFASSUNGEN
in the world and would have them until the end of the world, although in specific his-
torical periods true believers are not always easily recognized among a multitude of oth-
er people. Hence, Blahoslav did not derive the right of existence for the Czech Breth-
ren from the development of the Church, its attested historical structural features and
shifts in the course of history, but rather from the election of believers. The driving force
of (Church) history is therefore not a man with his intentions, conclusions, failures, dif-
ficulties, and disputes, but God through his creative and salvific initiative. With it, He
turns the wheel of history in all historical periods and on all meridians of the world, in
this way always maintaining his Church. Blahoslav believed that in certain periods the
Church of God remained hidden, anonymous, and invariably in the minority, and only
a look in the “rear view mirror” revealed that it was a true institution of God.
Blahoslav’s translation of the Bible, alongside his knowledge of contemporary hu-
manistic approaches in translation, demonstrates a specific understanding of the status
of the biblical language. This was attributed a special solemn and elevated meaning by
the translator, which had to be expressed in a suitably high Czech linguistic style with-
out expressions that, in his opinion, signified the colloquial Czech of the time. Blahoslav
articulated such ideas in Grammar (Gramatika, 1571), after having implemented them
in the translation of the New Testament (Nový zákon, 1564, 1568). When translating bib-
lical texts, Blahoslav considered first and foremost systematic and practical theological
reasons for the choice of vocabulary and expressions. He aestheticized and intellectual-
ized biblical writings in Czech and consciously opted for a more demanding, aestheti-
cally pleasing language that significantly and over centuries increasingly differed from
the common spoken Czech. His New Testament became the cornerstone of the Bible
of Kralice (Bible kralická, 1579-1593), which served linguistically as a foundation for the
standard baroque Czech and, as a “biblical language”, for the standard Czech restored by
Joseph Jungmann in the 19th century. Blahoslav thus profoundly influenced the Czech
language and its use to this day, as well as the diaeresis between the standard (spisovná
čeština) and the spoken (obecná čeština) Czech, which in expression and use persists
even today.
Keywords: Czech Brethren, Jan Blahoslav, Christian humanism, translating Bible
Die Böhmischen Brüder – 560 Jahre. III: Auf der intellektuellen Bühne
des Böhmischen Königreichs: Jan Blahoslav
Mit Jan Blahoslav (Johannes Blahoslaus; 1523–1571) erreichten die Böhmischen
Brüder einen ihrer intellektuellen Höhepunkte, denn die Bedeutung seiner Textproduk-
tion für die Entwicklung der tschechischen Sprache und Literatur kann nur mit Lukáš
Pražský (Lukas von Prag; 1460–1528) und Jan Amos Komenský (Johann Amos Kome-
nius; 1592–1670) verglichen werden. Darüber hinaus waren die Böhmischen Brüder mit
Jan Blahoslav von nun an nicht mehr nur intellektuelle „Außenseiter“ oder lediglich Be-
obachter in der gelehrten Kultur und ihre Weggefährten.
218
in the world and would have them until the end of the world, although in specific his-
torical periods true believers are not always easily recognized among a multitude of oth-
er people. Hence, Blahoslav did not derive the right of existence for the Czech Breth-
ren from the development of the Church, its attested historical structural features and
shifts in the course of history, but rather from the election of believers. The driving force
of (Church) history is therefore not a man with his intentions, conclusions, failures, dif-
ficulties, and disputes, but God through his creative and salvific initiative. With it, He
turns the wheel of history in all historical periods and on all meridians of the world, in
this way always maintaining his Church. Blahoslav believed that in certain periods the
Church of God remained hidden, anonymous, and invariably in the minority, and only
a look in the “rear view mirror” revealed that it was a true institution of God.
Blahoslav’s translation of the Bible, alongside his knowledge of contemporary hu-
manistic approaches in translation, demonstrates a specific understanding of the status
of the biblical language. This was attributed a special solemn and elevated meaning by
the translator, which had to be expressed in a suitably high Czech linguistic style with-
out expressions that, in his opinion, signified the colloquial Czech of the time. Blahoslav
articulated such ideas in Grammar (Gramatika, 1571), after having implemented them
in the translation of the New Testament (Nový zákon, 1564, 1568). When translating bib-
lical texts, Blahoslav considered first and foremost systematic and practical theological
reasons for the choice of vocabulary and expressions. He aestheticized and intellectual-
ized biblical writings in Czech and consciously opted for a more demanding, aestheti-
cally pleasing language that significantly and over centuries increasingly differed from
the common spoken Czech. His New Testament became the cornerstone of the Bible
of Kralice (Bible kralická, 1579-1593), which served linguistically as a foundation for the
standard baroque Czech and, as a “biblical language”, for the standard Czech restored by
Joseph Jungmann in the 19th century. Blahoslav thus profoundly influenced the Czech
language and its use to this day, as well as the diaeresis between the standard (spisovná
čeština) and the spoken (obecná čeština) Czech, which in expression and use persists
even today.
Keywords: Czech Brethren, Jan Blahoslav, Christian humanism, translating Bible
Die Böhmischen Brüder – 560 Jahre. III: Auf der intellektuellen Bühne
des Böhmischen Königreichs: Jan Blahoslav
Mit Jan Blahoslav (Johannes Blahoslaus; 1523–1571) erreichten die Böhmischen
Brüder einen ihrer intellektuellen Höhepunkte, denn die Bedeutung seiner Textproduk-
tion für die Entwicklung der tschechischen Sprache und Literatur kann nur mit Lukáš
Pražský (Lukas von Prag; 1460–1528) und Jan Amos Komenský (Johann Amos Kome-
nius; 1592–1670) verglichen werden. Darüber hinaus waren die Böhmischen Brüder mit
Jan Blahoslav von nun an nicht mehr nur intellektuelle „Außenseiter“ oder lediglich Be-
obachter in der gelehrten Kultur und ihre Weggefährten.
218
