Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1856-07-26
THE BIBLE REVISION MOVEMENT

7, treelQeut
of the American (Baptist) Bible Union, 20
which he succeeded upon the death Of Rev.
DR.. Cone. For certain reasons he felt COM
pelled to resign though it appears that in
various capacities he has rendered important
services in behalf Of Bible revision" and
raised upwards Of $50, 900 In furthsrance Of
this object Having been asked for an expls-
nation of the step now taken, the reply ap-
pears In the form Of q pamphlet Of twenty
pages under his own signature. The disclo-
Sures made are certainly very extraordinary.
DR.. NJ. says:
On being elected President of the Union, in
october, 1855, found myself In possession of
more direct and unqualified responsibility
and, under these circumstances. felt the i'm
portance OF becoming more particularly &C.
qualnted with the operations of the BODY.
then, for the first time, ascertained who the
revisers were; and found, TO my astonish
ment, that instead of there having been sbout
forty individuals actively engaged in transla-
ting the New Testament, as / had understood
from the Secretary, and had often stated,
there had not been more than twenty three or
twenty-four. Instead of all these being COM
petent scholars, as had supposed, and as the
plan of the Union required, and as is often
stated in the official documents of the Union,
some of them unquestionably lacked the es-
sentisl qualifications of a translator.
Another alleged error with respect TO the
management Of the association relates 10 the
mode Of paying the trsnslators. DIR. Maclsy
states that Professor Consnt, of Rochester,
has contract with the society (which Sc
cures to him, in addition to a salary of 81, 200
from the Theological Seminary, $1,000 a year
for the portion of time not required in his
professional duties, tIA he shall haze COM
pieted the old Testament, with a copyright
interest, and percentage on the futsre sales
of his translation, when publshed with notes.
IE al Iol tla+ o.
received three years salary or 5000, and
has not completed one Of the books Of the Old
Testament.
Objection is also made to the manner in
which the work Of revision has been perform
ed In addition TO shocking trapslstions,"
the misguided hand Of the reviser had been
rashly laid on the original text. DR.. Msclsy
says:
In one book, which came under nv Obser-
yation, after it had been stereotyped, q cur
sorry examination showed that the reviser had
deviated from the received Greek text" in
two places, by adding something to it in
twelve places, by substituting something for
it; in twenty-five places, in rejecting some
thing of it. And one of the portions, rejected
as spurious, embraced tLcekve consecutive
Uerses' In another place, the following pas
sage is cast ont Of the Bible:
For an angel went down at a certain sea-
son into the pool, and troubled the water;
whosoever then first after the troubling OF the
water stepped in, was made whole Of what
soever disease he had"
Where the common version reads,
"That whoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have eternal life"
the received Greek text has been so critically
edited that. in the revised English version,
the same passage reads thus: a. That every
one that belieVeth on him may have eternal
life. > And the rejection Of "Jesus, +" ""John,"
Christ" and Amen" are specimens Of
the smaller changes, which have resulted from
this revision of the Greek text.
Numerous instances are cited TO show that
the rules Of the association, designed to con-
troll the manner of the translators have been
rudely violated; and charges are made
against the officers of the Bible Union, which
require further explanation With regard to
other points of difficulty, we extract the fol-
lowing
Being fully satisfied, from personal examin.
alton, that the funds, which 1 have done so
much TO collect and which know have been
most sacredly devoted, by the rich and poor,
to one OF the hOliest purposes Of Christian
charity, are being squandered that a vast
amount Is expended for operations remote
from the one great object of the institution
that men are employed to translate the Word
of God who are not qualified for the work
that unwarrantable trsnslations have been
made, which, if published, must bring into
discredit the most precious doctrines of nv
faith, sap the fundamental truth of Christian
ity as Individually revealed in the Holy Scrip.
lures, and shake the confidence Of the people
in the canon Of the sacred writings; that such
revisions are likely to be published for inds-
crimipate circulation without the previous
precautionary examination, provided for, and
required by, the plan and rules Of revision,
or originally adopted by the Board, that the
controlling power of the institution has be-
come centralized in one man and thst the
exercise of that power is not only such as 10
forbid the hope Of reform, but also to blast
the name and influence Of every one who
advocates reform; feeling perfectly satisfied
of all this, L am compelled by a stern sense
OF duty to abandon the enterprise, and 10 free
myself as far as possible. from all further re-
sponsibility in its operations And L cannot
doubt that my friends, when rightly informed,
will justify me for so doing.
The New York Commercial Advertiser saws
IL Is proposed 70 investigate these various allie
cations, and apprehends that they will result
In the annihilatiOn Of the Bible Union. AT
ter such disclosures" il remarks. {" honorable
Christian gentlemen can scarcely remain in
connection with it, and those who may still
e1deavor to carry on its operation, are not
likely TO receive from the community the Pc
cuniary aid necessary for that purpose"