Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-02-29
Iiter,llv and clearly The spirit Of God.

literally and clearly the spirit Of God, as
Committe on Revision was composed Of
professors OF Greek and Hebrew, theolo-
CLANS, ministers, students of Biblical his
tory aud scholars of the highest grade,
embracing all the Protestant creeds
among their numbers. The commission
meets monthly in the Jerusalem Chamber
at Westminster. But after they began
their work it occurred to them that they
had no right to ignore America, and they
requested the Christian Churches of the
United States to organize similar
commission here to cooperate with the En-
glish body, believing that it would tend
to Insure greater accuracy and nearer
approach to perfection. The American
commission was organized in 1871, and
meets every month in the Bible house in
this city 1t consists of well-known
Biblical scholars, representing all the
leading American religious denominations,
and all the principal American literary
institutions, universities, colleges and
seminaries, nearly all of them being
professors of Hebrew and Greek, or OF
Biblical literature. The English COM
Company and the New Testament Com.
pany, At their monthly meetings they
submit their TRANSACTIONS and renderisgs
of the books made from their own exami-
nations of all the translations and
versions, and from the original manu-
scripts. Each book and chapter is taken up
successfully and discussed, and no change
from the existing version can be agreed
on by less than majority vote. They
then consider such changes second and
third time, and the change is only
finally authorized lift secures two-thirds
vote in its favor. They then send a con-
fidential transcript Of their recommended
version to the American commission, and
it is similarly acted upon here and as fully
considered and the American commission
may confirm, modify, or reject, or make
new suggestions in the work, sending its
transcript in similar confidential way to
the English commission for their approval,
modification, or rejection. The British
and Foreign and the American Bible
Societies have nothing to do with the work,
though they take great interest in it, be-
cause by their constitution they are limited
to the production and dissemination OF
but it is probable that efforts will be made
to change the constitution so as to enable
them to publish and distribute the new
version, if not alone, at least with the
present version. All the proposed changes
which can not be agreed on will be print
ed in an appendix, but the list of these
changes will be small and will touch
mainly on minor points of language and
spelling, and matters Of national taste
rather that as affecting the merit Of the
work. Some of these points relate to the
rem dering into equivalent English or
American terms the coins and weights and
measures now expressed in the Greek and
Latin terms, or whether the modern
equivalents or the ancient ones shall be
given in the marginal notes. When
finished, the version is to be printed and
published by the University press OF
Oxford and Cambridge, so that no part Of
the pecuniary burden is borne by America,
and in consideration of that the English
Commission will claim the exclusive copy
right. The New Testament will be
copyrighted by the coming fall, so that 1t
may be issued in the fifth century after
Wycliffe's first English edition was given
to the world. The Old Testament will
not be completed for two or three years
to come, and the Apocrypha will be de-
layed two or three years still later.
When the edition is completed, the
commissions will retire from control, and
it will soon be question for every Chris
tan family to decide whether they will
adopt the new Bible or not
DR.. Schaff, in conclusion, said that he
had no doubt the new copy would soon
take the place of the "authorized' version,
although some were already much
troubled about it, and thought it would
unsettle peoples minds somewhat. But
to that he replied that minds were already
unsettled concerning the accuracy of the
Bible when the work was begun, and they
must be settled again. The existing YER
sion often required explanation and
correction from the pulpit, and to his
judgment it seemed that the pulpit was
not the place for it, and he believed the
best way was to avoid such necessity by
obtaining the best rendering of Gods
Book that our learning scholarship, and
intellectual advancement could procure,
and that ultimately it would tend to the
greater glory of God, the spread of His
power, and the influence Of His Holy
Spirit