SEOUL, Korea — When delegates arrived in South Korea for a meeting of the United Bible Societies (UBS) Scholarly Editions Committee, there was more on the agenda than discussion. The Korean Bible Society (KBS) had spent a year planning how to get the most from the Bible Societies personnel, and after just a few days it was obvious they had succeeded.
They arranged for the scholars to give a series of lectures during their stay. More than a thousand students and scholars attended, and learned about recent developments in textual criticism from two of the world’s leading biblical scholars. They also heard about the role of the UBS and KBS in preparing Scholarly Editions and Bible translations throughout the world.
The annual meeting took place near Seoul in August. It began shortly after a cyclone swept the Korean peninsula and ended just before a second one did the same.
The discussions in committee, which ranged from distribution and publication reports to projects and the need for Scholarly Editions, were just part of the visitors’ business. Dr Young Jin Min of the KBS saw an ideal opportunity to make an important contribution to the ecclesiastical and academic communities of Korea – as well as bringing national attention to the Korean Bible Society.
The first assignment was given to the Committee’s Chairman, Dr Jan Bühner, General Secretary of the German Bible Society, before the meetings began. Accompanied by other committee members, Dr Bühner gave the Sunday morning sermon at the English service of the Methodist church, which was the first Protestant church in Seoul.
On Tuesday evening the academic activities were launched with a Scholarly Forum at the Korean Bible Society in Seoul. During a three-hour session, three papers were presented, which had been translated into Korean and offered to each member of the audience in the form of a diglot souvenir booklet.
On the following two days, committee members were posted to various theological institutions and universities in Seoul and neighbouring cities. The series of academic presentations included a second forum, at the Methodist Theological Seminary, before an audience of more than 400 students and faculty members.
Through the efforts of the Korean Bible Society, routine UBS committee meetings provided an occasion in which biblical scholarship and Bible translation were brought to the national stage of Korean academic and ecclesiastical life. (WR 355/5 - 11.00)