The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1881-02-16
THE new new TESTAMENT.
How the New Book Reads
After Ten Years Work on 1t by
the Wise Men Of the World.

AILef zen IGarS work On IC %
the Wise Men Of the World.
d The New York Times gives tn
y following interesting account ofsom
Of the more notable changes mad
in the new version Of the New Tes
lament. The revision is the worl
Of a committee Of twenty-five learn
| ed, conscientious men, composed 0
Americans and others, who have NJ
sectarian prejudice to influence theil
judgment and whopresent what they
honestly believe to be the mind O
the Spirit in the words of the in.
spired writer. The prevalent opin-
ion Of the religious press is that the
Revision will be of great value, con
frming as it does every essential
word of doctrine in the old version,
and demonstrating the Integrity of
faith in the literal revelation of God.
Dr. Prime thinks the greatest diver
sity of opinion viii probably be
found in the decision of the revisers
to omit from the text some passages
now standing and never doubted by
the church at large to be in the orig
! inal. The revised New Testament
is not yet published in England, but
some copies have been furnished the
press for critical examination before
it is given to the public. A dispatch
from Oxford to one of the American
revisers says that the revised work
will not be issued to the public be
fore May next SO the review we
copy from the Times must content
the readers of the GAZETTE for the
present, and we have no idea we
could fill the space it occupies with
matter Of more general interest:
The revision Of the New Testa-
ment, which was begun under the
direction of the COnyocatiOn Of Can
terbury ten years ago, was com
pleted 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 delib-
eratiOns of two committees, one of
fifty learned biblical scholars in Eng
land and one Of thirty in this coun-
try. The two committees did not
meet together and take joint action,
but corresponded with each other
and compared notes, and, as a gen
eral thing, were 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 COM
mittee is given in an appendix, so I
that the reader or student has be- |
fore him both translations. The .
only copies of the book in this coun-
try are those which have been sent /
to members Of the American com .
mittee, Of which the Rev. DR.. Philip
Schaff is the President, and they .
are pledged 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 approx
ed and adopted by the Convocation
of Canterbury. DIR. Schatf said yes
terdav that the Convocation would
meet early in February, and as soon
as it approved the version the re
vised New Testament would be
given to the world. The American
committee has taken out no copy
right on the book, and the intention
is to give it to the public free, as
the old bible has been given. In a
very few days at furtherest, if the
COnvocation approves of the revis-
ion, the book viii be published, and
everybody will then be at liberty to
with the old version.
Notwithstanding
THE PRECAUTIONS
.aken by the two committees to pre- :
vent any portions of the revision !
rom being brought before the pub
ic before its formal adoption by the {
JOnvOcatiOn, the main features of !
he work are known to the religious :
world Copies of the book were J
ent to church Of England papers {
o be used in preparing reviews, a
trict injunction being laid upon the :
EDITORS against printing any portion
# the text or any review of the
)ook before the action of the Con :
location. The London Record dis :
egarded this injunction, quoting !
literally from the work to show !
where and in what manner the text I
lad been changed The following :
week the Record apologies for this !
saying it was the result +
# mistake; but the apology could
lot recall the passages which had
,een made public, SO that the main
eatures of the revised New Testa- Y
nent are almost as well known to +
}hurchmen in Europe to-day as a
hey will be after the book is pub h
ished Those who imagined that +
my of the accepted fundamental h
doctrines of Christianity were to be a
by the work of the COM I
nittee will find themselves greatly
In very few instances \
las any text been changed so as to '
liter the meaning which attached G
0 it in the King James version, and c
n still fewer instances is the change G
material from a doctrinal point of Q
Jew. As a general thing the 8
hanges consist of the substitution f
f the present for the past tense in 0