The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1881-02-01

fHtW YORK 1tHt>. - ISL
The revision Of the New Tes'amen,,'
which was begun under the direction On we
(opyccation Of Canterbury ten years Ego,
WAS completed last October, ana 'oe pew
version IL now In print. aifh"ugn " nas no'
,e, t..en rken 10 the pubic. Tho wG& Is
;sa result NJ the deliberations Of two com
mittees. one OF fifty learned Biblical scholars
in Nnc,apd and one OF thirty In this coun-
try The two committees did not meet to-
gether ard take Joint action, but CORE
snonded with each other and com pared
notes. and, as general thing. were able
10 agree upon the proper reading o' tne
texts, In cases Of disagreement the teEt OF
the BriHslncommitiee l. used, but The read
ing Of the American committee Is given 10 an
appeudix, so tlist.tbe reader or student bas
before him both Transitions. Jhe envy
comics os the book in this country are those
which have been sent to members OF tbe
Americae committee, OF which the neS'
DIR. rhilip Schaff Is the president. ana tney
are pIedxed not 10 show them 10 any per
son. or give any information as TO the
changes made in the texts OF the hfn2
lanes version, until the new version vs.
formally approved and adopted by The Con,
vacation Of Canterbury. DIR. Scban said
Yesterday that the ConyOcaiion would met
early in February, and as soon as IL ap-
nroyed the version The revised New Tesla
nent wotsId he given To the worid. LIE
American committee has taken out no copy
right on the book, and the intention Is 10
Give il 10 the public free, as the old Blble
has been gken. In a very few days at Iur-
tbest. IL the COny 0caii0B approves 01 the
revision. the book will be published, and
leverybody will then be at liberty TO COM
pare il with The old version
Notwithstanding
THE pREcAeTJoNs
taken by TIE twO committees to prevent any
horizons of the revision from being brought
hefore the p,ytic before its formal adoption
Inv the Convention. The main features OF
the work are known to the religious world.
C0pies OF the book were sent 10 Church OF
England papers to be used in preparing re-
views. n strict injunction being laid upon
the editors against printing any portion OF
the text or ans review Of the book before
the action OF The Convection. The Lon
don Record d,sregarded this injunction,
and published a review Oh the an instant,
quoting Iiberaily from the work TO show
where and in WHIST manner the text had
been changed. The following week the
Record apologized for this publication, say
ing il was the result OF mistake; but
The apology could not recall the passages
which had been made public, so that the
main features OF the revised New Tesla
ment are almost as well known TO
Churclmen in Europe to-day as they will
be after the book is published. Those who
imagined that any of the accepted funda-
mental doctrines OF Christianity were TO be
overturned by the work OF the committee
will find themselves greatly mistaken. In
very few instances has any text Deen
changed so as to alter the meaning which
attached 10 1t in the King Jamts version,
aud in still fewer instances Is the change
material from a dOctrinal point OF view.
As general thing the changes consist OF
the substitution Of the present for the past
| tense in the verbs, the ust OF the INDEFINITE
article in place OF the definite, and the
changing OF propositions. In several in
stances verses have been omitted altogether,
but as a general thing the omission deracts
nothing from The sense OF the lesson. AS
an example OF this, Mark, tx, 1916. may
be cited. In the present version the verses
read az follows:
"43. And il thy hand offend thee, cut it
off: it is better for thee 70 enter into life
MANNED, than having two hands to 90 into
he'll, into the fire that never shall be
quencbed:
"44. Where their worm dieth not and the
fire is not quenched.
"45. And il Thy foot offend thee, 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
Quenched:
"4G. Where their worm dieth not and the
fire is not quenched.'
Verses "A and 46 in the above are entirely
omitted from
THE NEW VERSION,
but verse AS Of the same chapter, which is
i'm precisely the same words, is allowed to
stand. The work Is arranged in paragraphs,
and the chapters and verses are printed in
the margins. The familiar headlines TO
chapters which serve so well as means OF
reference are expunsed. 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 10 the end and in order
, 70 find the subdivisions with which one
has been familiar The margins must be con-
suited. The work of translation has been
very faithfully performed, and the commit.
tees have adhered scrupulously to the
idioms of the original language. instead Of
adopting the English diom, as The public
was I'D to believe that 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 freer translation. The
changes, on The whole, are not OF charac,
ter TO create any alarm in the mind OF
CHRISTIANS. Not single accepted truth has
been eliminated, and no special doctrine OF
the Church is assailed.
Among the more striking changes may be
noted an alteration in the LOrd's prayer as
rendered in Matthew, vi, 9.13. In the new
version the doXology is entirely OMITTED ana
the PRAYER reads thus: "Our Father whico
art in Heaven, halowed be Thy name. Thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done. As 10
Heaven, so on earth. Give us this day our
daily bread; aud forgive us our debts, a.
we also have forgiven our debtors. And
lead us not into temptation, but deliver Us
from the evil one" The prayer as recorded
in Luke, XII, 2, 3. 4, reads as follows in The
revised book: "Fat,ser. hallowed be Thy
name. Thy kingdom come. Give Us day
by day our daily bread And forgive Us
our sins, for we oarselves also fol give
every Que that Is indebted 10 rs. And lead
us not into temptation" In Matthew iv.,
>, where the
TEMPTATr9S OF CHRIST
is related, the old version says: Then the
devil taketh Him up into the holy city and
setteth Hin on a pinnacle of the Temple"
la this verse ga pinnacle" is made 10 read
1.-THE pinnacle" aBa the change Is manifest
" proper, since there was only one pinnacle
TO the Temple.
Very many Of tbe alterations are OF pre-
I,ciseIy such nxt@re as this, the deenite
article being substituted for the indefinite.
and rice uerSa. Matthew. vi, 1-"Take heed