The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1880-11-27

and the record of the result. In this way
vast amount of critical examination was given
to every sentence in the New Testament, and
we may be sure that not even a word of any
Importance escaped searching investigation.
Rev. DR.. ]. w. Chambers, in a paper read
before the recent General Presbyterian
Council on the new Bible revision, says: The
revision will be based on an Improved tert.
The text employed by King James transla-
tors was derived from few manuscripts, and
those of late date, and abounds with ad-
mitted imperfections. These it has been the
province of Biblical criticism to discover and
remove, and for centuries the lahors of
learned men have been devoted to this end.
1t is estimated that there are about four
hundred cases In which the sense of a passage
is affected by the reading that is taken,
but comparatively only few are important.
Still it is desirable that we should have as
pure text as possible, and the common
reader should have q reasonable assurance
that the book he reads is free from corrup-
tions An immaculate text is, of course, out
OF the question. But critical helps have be-
come so abundant that in majority of cases
men are able to conclude, with a good de-
gree OF confidence, what was originally writ
ten. The revision, therefore, will exhibit
what, in the concurrent judgment of
its authors, is the nearest possible
holy men of old used in declaring
the will of God. Some have opposed the
movement on this very ground, claiming that
the matter is still too uncertain for any such
course, and that the part of wisdom is to wait
for further light. But considering what has
been done in this field, what rich materials
have been gathered, how carefully the COM
parative value of authorities has been esti-
mated, how far the principles of textual criti-
clsm have become settled and how general is
the agreement of the ablest critics on the
more important questions, there is small rea-
son for experimenting any discoveries in the
future which will throw the past into the
sha1e. The most interesting and momen-
tous recovery OF the present century was the
Snattic manuscript, and too much credit can
hardly be given to its discoverer and editor,
Iischendorf; yet the chief use of that pre-
cious uncial has been not so much to furnish
new readings OF any portion of the text, as to
give evidence in favor of one or other of the
readings already known, and occasionally,
where the existing evidence was balanced, to
add enough to turn the scale. 1t is reasonable,
therefore, to suppose that little could be gained
by delay Something, no doubt, may be
acquired in the course of the next century.
But meanwhile it is surely of profit to use
what has already been settled and to make
our Bible represent, in some degree at least,
the achievements of modern Biblical criti-
cism. In the main body of the work the
requisite corrections can be directly intro
duced, vile in all the more important cases a
statement Oh Tue rival text can be added IN
the margin, where it is of equal or nearly
equal value. In this way the unlearned
reader may be taught how the case stands in
any given passage, and can have upon it the
opinion of larger number of British and
American scholars. In many cases he will
be saved from the danger of taking the mere
mistakes of transcribers for the words of
evangelists and apostles, or even of our Lord
Himself, while in others he will discern a new
beauty and vigor in the turn given to an i'm
portant utterance by the alteration or addi-
ton Of a very few words He may regret to
part with passages such as the well-known
text of the three witnesses in John, but the
loss will be abundantIy compensated by
gains in other directions