The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1881-06-23
THE BIBLE REVISION.
Rev. DIR. Talmage Declares that it Will
Multiply Infidellty.

audience in the BROOKLYN Tabernacle Fl
began the attack by stopping abruptly il
the Lords Prayer, after the petition, ''de
liver US from the evil one," and observing
without the formality of an Amen :"
shall have to stop there, for the new
revision has struck out the doxologv."
When he took up the Bible for the morn
ing lesson he said Il will read from tn,
NTH chapter of john Then he turned
over the leaves, and stopped as if disap
pointed and astonished, and continued
No; the revision has done away witt
that Then he turned to another chapter
and began To read, but stopped again, say
ing Ne; that has perished, too" He
did the same with a third selection. and
finally said eve shall have to take to the
Old Testament. The Old Testament com
pany has not reported, and will not for two
| years | will read from the nineteenth
| Psalm
la his sermon, Dr. Talmage began bv
reading the story from III. Samuel of the
shifting OF Uzziah for touching the ark
| Then he continued That ancient box
| persisted. 1t was conHagrant with the an
clent temple destroyed BY Nebuchadnezzar
/ but we have secured another ark of the
| covenant, which is the Bible Like the one
! of old, it contains the divine covenant; it
/ contains the mamma of the wilderness. Let
not the hand of worldly criticisms, or pc
| dantry, or of useless disturbance touch
/ that ark. Remember the fate of Uzziah -
| a1f lalmage proceeded TO say that the
| ldng james Bible was satisfa ctory TO all
| Chrlstendom except few doctors of divni-
| ty. After working ten years the New Tes-
lament company of reyisers had launched
| Its work upon the world after great and uni
! Versdl advertisement, and after peculiar
aud dramatic holding of it back until a GER
tam day, and then until another day. The
English presses said DR.. Talmage ''were
kept at work on that book while our Amer
lean publishers offered large sums of money
If they could publish ii simultaneously and
the offers were rejected with cavalier and
abrupt refusal. In one day million copies
were sold; some say there were two millions
sold IN two days. A great compliment to
the Bible Yes; but be not deceived
Have you any idea that two millions of peo-
pie were seized with a sudden desire for
Scripture research Most of those people,
indeed | believe all of them had Bibles of
their own The whole Christian world
wanted to know what the thirty-eight revis-
ers had been doing with our book. The
Baptists wanted to know what had been
done with immersion. The Methodists
wanted to know about free grace the Epis-
copalians about apostolic succession the
Unlversalist about future punishment We
are asked to give our verdict. Some like it.
Some don't like it. Some want to wait and
hear what other people say about it, SO that
they can say the same thing. Laughter.
large number of persons are afraid of the
Ecclesiastical Ring, for there Is among
Christians Ring. Bossism is just as prev
aient IN the Church as 1t Is in the world,
and monopoly, if it could would rule the
kingdom of God, as it rules the money mar
ket and the Legislature.
There are two voices which have not
la1.,,x 49, Al 49,
of quiet Christian scholarship in England
and the United States, which is hurt more
than it can express at many of the changes in !
the New Testament. Then there is the |
New Testament. Then there is the voice |
OF the great mass of the people, nine hun
dred and ninety-nine out of every thousand, |
who regret in the depths Of their souls that |
this revision was attempted. They look |
upon it as dissertation and profanation-
as a religious outrage. shall show you why |
l regret the revision of the New Testament. /
| am willing to put it on the shelf by the |
side Of other commentaries expressing hui
man opinions about the Word OF God. But |
put it on my toilet table, put it in my fam
lily room, put in my pulpit, and substitute
it for King James translation Inever will.
| Applause | wish what | say shall be
received in entire silence, without approba-
tion or dissent"
Advancing to his table and resting his
hand upon the Bible there, DIR. Talmage cen
tinued: Il put my hand on this old book
and take the oath ofallegiance. Applause.
| will stand by the holy translation. Those
thirty-eight gentlemen, after ten years tin
kering with the Word Of God, announce
that they have not found single new doc
trine. If there had been any new doe
trine discovered, | would have said,
Away with the old translation the
world cannot afford to have a wrong view
about God, the soul, or the Trinity" But
the reyisers discovered no new doctrine
Then why this shock to sacred associations?
Why this loosening of the faith of Christen-
dom? 1t Is too late to revise the Bible by
transating it. The revision of 1881 propos-
es to destroy 5000, 900 copies of the Bible in
the hands of Christians to-day. 1t makes
the magnificent liturgy of the Episcopal 7
Church and its prayer books a vast inaccu-
racy. 1t makes the inscriptions on the
tombstones of our dead untrue. 1t reflects
upon the family Bible until the unnitaiated
can find no certainty in it except it be the
record of marriages, birts and deaths.
[ Laughter. p
This revision is war upon the accuracy
of religious literature. Away with Cruden's
Concordance; away with your Commenta-
Ties. Who are the men on the other side |
who are responsible for this impertinence |
know nothing of the qualifications of the |
Bishops and Archbishops of the other side. |
But understand that many of them were |
far from being the best scholars OF England |
or Ireland. They had the signs of great /
scholarship-D. ID. and LII u. and T. Il. S. |
but these are often the baggage in a very |
slow train. Laughter. | call this revision |
pedantic, capricious, empiric, and false to |
the principles laid down that no changes |
should be made which were not absolutely |
necessary. But the gentleman who takes
the responsibility of choosing the group of |
scholars for revisal born and educated in /
foreign land, is not specially qualified to |
choose from among American scholars those I
best qualified to do the work. This gentle |
man, who takes the responsibility of the |
whole matter, outrages the living and dead /
generations of Bible readers by saying and |
reiterating that Christian people for many |
years have been drinking the water of life |
from the jaw bone OF an ass !! This gentle |
man took the responsibility of choosing |
group of scholars, all but four of whom were |
unknown outside of their little circle. | |
could call the roll of hundred American |
scholars who are the superiors of those who |
were chosen as the American revisers of the |
New Testament, always excepting the learn
ed DR.. Woolsey.
81 pronounce the revision literary bOtch.
1t will never be adopted in this country if
the fearless criticism of the people speaks
out its mind / reject this revision becauseS
it is a mechanical failure; because the
verses and headings have been aban-
doned. Here is paragraph a column
and half long, in the middle of which are
buried the blessed words, Jesus wept,
instead of standing out in solitude with
all their grandeur, pathos, tenderness, and
omnipotent meaning. l reject the new
version because of It's amazing triviality.
You remember Christs sermon, where he
speaks of putting new wine into old bottles
The new version substitutes the word skins,
as if they COULD lot explain bottles as we'll
as skins Laughter. Show me penny
said Christ The revisers say, show me
denarius.' [Laughter.] The old transla-
American part of the New Testament com
pany where it says, for he naked
The American committee chose that it