The weekly democratic statesman. [volume] (Austin, Tex.) 1871-1883, 1881-02-17

DR.. Schaff said recently that tn,
convocation would meet early il
February, and as soon as it ap
| proved the version the revised New
Testament would be given to tn,
world.
THE AMERICAN COMMITTEE
has taken out no copyright on tn,
book, and the intention is to give i
to the public free, as the old Bib,
has been given. In very few DAYS
at furthest, if the convocation ap.
proves of the revision, the book vii
be published, and everybody will
then be at liberty to compare it with
the old version.
Notwithstanding the precautions
taken by the two committees to pre-.
vent any portions of the revision
from being brought before the pub
lie before its formal adoption by
the convocation, the main features
OF the work are known to the re-
ligious world. Copies of the book
were sent to Church of England
papers to be used in preparing re-
views, a strict injunction being laid
upon the editors against printing
any portion of the text or any re-
view of the book before the action
of the Gonvocation.
The London Record disregarded
this injunction, and published re-
view on the 7th ult., quoting liber-
ally from the work to show where
and IN what manner the text had
been changed. The following week
the Record apologized for this publ
cation, saying it was the result of a
mistake; but the apology could not
recall the passages which had been
made public, so that the main fea-
lures of the revised New Testament
are almost as well known to church
men in Europe to-day as they will
be after the book is published.
Those who-imagined that any of the
accepted fundamental doctrines of
of Christianity were to be over
turned by the work of the commit
tee, will find themselves greatly mis-
taken. .t
VERY FEW ALTERATIONS.
In very few instances has anytext
been changed so as to alter the
meaning which attached to it in the
King James version, and in still
fewer instances is the change mate
rial from a doctrlnal point of view.
AS general thing the changes con-
sists of the substitution of the pres
ent for tho past tense in the verbs,
the use of the indefinite article in
place of the definite, and the chang
ing of propositions. In several in
stances verses have been omitted al
but as a general thing the
detracts nothing from the
sense of the lesson. AS an example
of this, Mark tx, 1916 may be.eited.
In the present version the verses
read as follows: sfi
40. And if thy hand offend thee
cut it Off it is better for thee to enter
into life MANNED than having two
hands to go into hell, into the fire
that never shall be quenched.
Al. Where their~~worm dieth not
and the fire is not quenched.
As. And if thy foot offend the cut
it off; it is better for thee to enter
halt into life than having two feet
to be cast into hell, into the fire that
never shall be queuched. e, '-..
46. Where their worm dieth not
and the fire is not quenched.
Verses A and 46 in the above are
entirely omitted from the new YER
sion, but verse 48 of the same.chap-
ter, which is in precisely the same
words, is allowed to stand. .'sii
The work is ARRANGED in nara
are printed in the margins. The
familiar headlines to the chapters,
which serve so well as means of
are expunged. This will
make the book seem strange to the
ordinary Bible reader.
THE TEXT OF EACH GOSPEL
is thus made continuous in the body
of the book from the beginning to
the end, and, in order to find the
with which one has been
the margins must be con-
suited. The work of translation
has been very faithfully performed,
and the committees have adhered
to the idioms of the
original language, instead of adopt
ing the English idiom, as the public
was lead to believe they would do.
The result is that the work is very
scholarly, but the text is not so
plain as it might have been made by
q freer translation. The changes. ON
the whole, are not of character to
create any alarm in the mind of
Christians. Not a single accented
truth has been eliminated, and no
special doctrine is assailed.
Among the more striking changes
may be noted an alteration in the
Lords Prayer as rendered in Mat
thew, vi, 9-13.
In the new version the doxology
is entirely omitted, and the prayer
reads thus: "Our Father which art in
heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy
will be done, as in heaven, so on
earth. Give US this day our daily
bread, and forgive us our debts as
we also have forgiven our debtors.
Ana lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.p
The prayer as recorded in Luke,
XII, 2, 8, 4, reads as follows in the
book: HFather, hailowed be
Thy name. Thy kingdom come.
Give us day by day our daily bread.
And forgive us our sins, for'we our
selves also forgive every one that is
indebted to US. And lead lis not
into temptation" 'il
In Matthew, w., 5, where
THE PETITION OF CHRIST
is related, the old version says:
Then the devil taketh Him up into
the holy city and setteth Him on
pinnacle of the temple" In this
verse "a pinnacle" is made to read
the pinnacle" and the change. is
proper, since there was
only one pinnacle 10 the temple.
Very many of the. alterations are
Of presicely such nature as this, the
definite article being substitpteJ for
the indefinite, and vice versa; Mat
thew, vi, 1-"Take heed thai Ye,do
MT -FOUR aims hafnre menO-is made