3/19/2025 Russia (International Christian Concern) — Earlier this month, the Moscow City Court banned a Bible translation by a popular Chinese Christian, labeling it as “extremist.”
It is now illegal to distribute the New Testament: The Recovery Translation, translated by Witness Lee, founder of the Local Church in Moscow. In the 1950s, Witness Lee led much of the Local Church’s expansion into Taiwan, the United States, and other nations.
Witness Lee had been sent and commissioned by Watchman Nee, the famous Chinese Christian leader who founded the Local Church in the 1920s and who was imprisoned in 1952 for life by the Chinese Communist Party for his Christian activities.
The Moscow court ruled that the Bible was un-canonical and unnecessarily exclusive over other Bible translations, especially those from the Russian Orthodox Church.
“This is likely to create more pressure and a chilling effect on the members of the Local Church Congregation in Moscow and around Russia,” an International Christian Concern (ICC) staffer said. “It is fascinating that a Bible translation born out of so much persecution of Chinese Christians is now at the core of increasing pressure on evangelical believers in Russia. Please continue to pray for the local church members, for the evangelical Christians in China and Russia, and also for ongoing Bible translation efforts across the globe.”
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