The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1881-02-23
For the Central Presbyterian.
The New Version of the Scrip.
tureS

1t is as yet too soon to pronounce ad
visedly upon the merits or dement's of
the work of the English and American
revisers of the New Testament. When
that great undertaking is completed it
will be time enough to express a iudg-
ment. The book will then be in every
ones hands and we can all Judge for our
selves. When the proper time arrives
the subject will be duly considered in
these columns. In the meanwhile it will
hardly be thought impairment to express
few of the ideas that have risen to the
surface in advance of the publication.
These early Impressions would doubtless
be altogether premature as expressions of
deliberate opinion, and may prove to be
very wide of the mark as to the question
of fact; but they are wholly tentative
and conjectural
Notwithstanding this candid admis
sion, it will be acknowledged that all
conjecture in the premises is not wholly
baseless and unreasonable. In spite OF
the extraordinary care that has been
taken to prevent an unauthorized ex-
posure of what has been done by the
committees, the thing has got wind and
we imagine at least that we know all
about it. The remarks now immediately
to follow are not made absolutely. but
depend for any force they may possess
entirely on the truth of the assumptions
on which they are founded. Those as
SYMPTOMS are the averments as to the
facts OF the case that have appeared so
extensively of late in our daily and week
ly newspapers.
We attach little weight to the popular
arguments against any revision. Moth
ing human is faultless. With all the no
torious excellence of King Jamess Bible
it still falls short of perfection. Every
real Improvement of the book should be
welcomed; even if it involved a brand
new translation. Much more obviously
Is this SO, if the effort be not to make a
new version but simply to better the old
one. No intelligent man ought to be
daunted by the bare thought Of a revis-
ion of some sort. AS has SO often been
pointed out, King James's Bible itself is,
after all, only noble revision of the work
OF William Tyndale. A revision may be
Cor at all events might be) very slight
one. Hardly anybody could object to
ouSh ~ lOfloiOl DO CItUC, III IL were Oru-
dent'y conducted. For instance half
dozen obsolete, or ambiguous words
might be replaced by their Ineligible
synonyms. Surely no one could well
object to such change from what is evil
dently worse to what is evidently better.
Or, in addition to this, and the correction
of palpable errors of the press, there
might be here and there in a few signal
instances the removal Of well known and
universally conceded mistakes in trans
lation. We were at one time in hopes
that the committees were going to CON
tent themselves in the main with some
such changes as have just been indicated.
Unfortunately for such expectations.
when one allows translator an inch of
freedom he will infallibly take an ell
and we are beginning to be afraid that
obsta prancipiis is the only safe rule. The
learned gentlemen who make up the
committees have for years been Tapping
us in Elysium" and lulling us into sfum.
Der with mandragora and "drowsy !