Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1881-02-11

Will cOTn, odtS anu oTdu. LnlAeu, lol StalA
feed.
If any of my brother farmers think
there is any efficacy IN this treatment, let
them give it a trial, and report results
through the VINDICAToR.
e. J. BELL.
The Revised New Testament.
The revised edition of the New Tesla
ment will soon he open to the public. 1t
is not, as has been the impression OF many,
to be substituted by any clerical authority
for the edition of that book now in use in
the churches; it will probably be used first
and read rs are the Bible commentaries for
instance, nd such churches as may so Sc
lect may adopt it in their own good time or
reject it. We . i've below an interesting ar
ticle on the new book from the New York
Fitness
The revision of the New Testament,
which was begun under the direction of
the ConvocatiOn of Canterbury ten years
ago, was completed last October, and the
new version is now in print, although it
has not yet been given to the public. The
work is the result of the deliberations of
two committees, one Of fifty learned Bib
lical scholars in England and one of thir-
ty IN this country. The two committees
did not meet together and take JOINT &C
ton, but correspondent with each other and
compared notes, and, as a general thing.
we're able to agree upon the proper reading
of the texts. In cases of disagreement
the text Of the British committee is used
but the reading of the American commit
tee is given in an appendix, so that the
reader or student has before him both
TRANSACTIONS. The only copies of the book
in this country are those which have been
sent to the members of the American COM
mittee, OF which the Rev. DR. Phillip
Schaff is the president, and they are pledg-
ed not to show them to any person, or give
any information as to the changes made IN
the texts of the King James version,
until the new version is formally approved
and adopted by the Convocation of Can
terbury. DR.. Schaff said yesterday that
the COnvocation would meet early in Feb
ruary, and as soon as it approved the YER
sion the revised New Testament would be
given to the world. The American COM
mittee has taken out no copyright on the
book, and the intention is to give it to the
public free. as the old Bible has been CIV
en-. In very few days at furthest, if the
Convocation approves of the revision, the
book will 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 prevent
any portions of the revision fropi being
brought before the public before its formal
adoption by the Convocation, the main
features of the work are known to the re-
ligieus world. Copies of the book were
sent to Church Of England papers to be
used In preparing reviews, "a strict injunc-
ton being laid upon the editors against
printing any portion of the text or any re.
view OF the book before the action of the
ConvOcation. The London s'Recordn dis
regarded this injunction, and published a
review on the 7th instant, quoting liberal
ly from the work to show where and in
what manner the text had been changed
The following week the "Record" apollo
gized for this publication, 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 Churchmen in
Europe to-day as they will be after the
book is published. Those who imagined
that any Of the accepted fundamental doc.
trines of Christianity were to be overturn-
ed by the work of the committee will find
themselves greatly mistaken. In very few
instances has any text 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 material
from doctrinal point of view. AS gen.
eral thing the changes consist of the sub
stitutiOn Of the present for the past tense
in the verbs, the use of the indefinite arti.
Gle in place of the definite, and the chang
ing Of propositions. In several instances
verses have been omitted altogether
but as a general thing the omission de.
tracts nothing from the sense of the les
son. AS an example of this, Mark. tx.
43-46, may be cited. In the present YER
sion the verses read as follows:
'43. And if thy hand offend thee, cut il
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:
"a. Where their worm dieth not and
the fire is not quenched.
"45. And if thy foot offend thee, cut il
vi ~ 10 UCUuCA LII UuOO W CuUC1 lld1U luUU
life, than having two feet to be cast into
hell, into the fire that never shall be
queDched:
''46. Where their worm dieth not and
the fire is not quenched.'
Verses A and 46 in the above are en-
tirely omitted from
THE NEW VERSION,
but verse 4S of the same chapter, which is
i'm nIvT+ f,n do 10 oil r.
stand. The work is arranged in para
graphs, and the chapters and verses are
printed in the margins. The familiar
headlines to chapters which serve so well
as a means of reference 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 be-
ginning to the end, and in order
to 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 i'd
oms OF the original language, instead of
adopting the English idiom, as the public
was led to believe that they would do
The result is that the work is very schol-
arly, but the text is not so plain as it might
have been made by a treer translation
The changes, on the whole, are not of a
character to create any alarm in the minds
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 8 pray
or as rendered IN Matthew, vi, 9-13. In
the new version the doxology Is entirely
omitted and the prayer reads thus: sOur
Father which art in Heaven, hallowed be
Thy name. Thy kingdom come. 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. And lead us not into tempta-