New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-05-19
THE REFUSED NEU rEsrVENE.

To-morrow the Revised New Testament will
be put upon the market in this country. II viii
unqucstionably have "A greater immediate sale
than any book ever issued. The extent of the
advance demand may hc estimated 10y the fact
that the agent in this city for the English ed-
ton has received orders already for $4,000
copies. The book is controlled IN England 10y
oxford University, but, in the absence of an in
ternationa copyright law, the only WAY that IN
stituiion can get any advantage here from ~,
ownership L. To be first ia the American market
with the printed copies The work of manu-
featuring the book has been IN prosrc,N for
about three months. and large invoices have
been stored in Ncw-lork for several weeks but
all effort, of publisher, and others To obtain
copic, in advance Of the day fixed Tor H. stimuli
tanroii> appearance on both side eft Tie Atlantic
appear 10 have been successfully resisted. With
the Ics"jlrcr, al ia, command oi oar New 9th
publishing houses. IL viii not hc Ion, however,
before rival American editions Viii hc "ut.
ON, or two dly. will suffice lo. ihc rliHt'r> and
bin,l,.i- to mauuiaclui, ,h. book. c3jU,Hon
English COZ .,- DO store h'I, arr tL.tc:"c, only
a partial gauge of the Immediate i,maut.
There viii bc numerous An, r,c.,u editions. and
proiably more than half auiili.u copies viii
be- sold h,loic the first of june. After The
uo,clt, ha, Voiu Oh and pubic curiosity Is >'.'-
i-n,d Us to the general m''it OF The translation
aud the important CHANGE, rair 20 tur U.d
plrleroo.y, the Subsequent demand viii 81
course depend upon the extent To- winch the
ucn version i adopted 10y tie ,hu''h,o as
substitute for tAr old.
The cnoimou- d,mand for th, IL !~cd New
Testament will be- taken. and r-lltl, taken. b,
the religions community 49, proc. oi the great
interest in and reverence for the Gospel MARIA
u,c, and Epi>tlcS felt 10y The ma->..S oi the iro-
pie. in spite OF the progress of MatrrHIl-m'
Eationa,m and the many other prevailing
forms of Unbrcf or NoDclicf. Ii i, also
proof that the need of a new translation, made
with the benefit OF modern knowledge OF the
languages and archaeology Of the Bible lands,
!, widely recognized. Intelligent Christians
know that the sO-calcd authorized version car
rae, with it 10 force of authority save what lis
own merits rs a translation give IL. 1t has been
universally accepted in Engliah-spcakng COM
tries only because it Is, H. a whole, the best
translation cxtant. Any special reverence at
tarhng to il j. misplaced. No claim of lnSplra
ton was ever made for the men who by King
Jamcss direction rendered the Hebrew and
Greek texts into English. All that can be said
of them is that they faithfully translated the
book into the best English of their day. Many
of the words and phrases they used have become
obsolete, and the general style they employed Is
archaic. This style, however has acquired "A
certain imprcssivcncss and sanctty from the
fact that it is not the common language of the
street and the market, and it would be u serious
mistake to change it into the colloquial English
of the present day. We understand that the
Revision Committee has carefully guarded it
self against falling into this error. Nor has II
altered obsolete words and phrases where their
meaning is still well understood. The changes
made are not made for the sake of change, but
only where there are manifest errors or where
the old expressions do not convey TO the mind
the ideas conveyed 10y the original texts. The
duty of the transators was clearly to make the
version mean in English just what the most
authentic original texts mean when read iii the
light of the best modern scholarship, and this
duty they have no doubt kept closely in view.
If the new version had appeared a quarter of
century ago it would have been eagerly
scanned through UNCONVENTIONAL spectaces for
weapons of offence and defence 10 be used in
sectarian conflicts. This will hardly be the
case now. The Protestant Churches stand
close together and seek to forward their mutual
interests hY friendly cooperation rather than 10