The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1881-05-31
RFLIGIOUs DRIFT.

GERMANY has taken the initiative among
Earopesn powers in prohibiting preach
ing by Mormon missionaries. An'otictal
reqntst by our Government that all other
powers do the same, would In all Proba'
bllity be needed, and thus a greatsource
OF Mormon increase in this country would
be destroyed.
Prominent Unitarians say they will
warmly welcome the revised New Testa'
ment, as 1t drops the thres texts most
quoted to prove the trinity Of the God
head, and modiAes others in their favor,
This, they, say, will scatter among the
people facts which theologians have long
conceded. Olergymen generally are ex'
pressing approval Of the new book Of
carefully giving to the ignorant what has
been known only 10 students. Some hold
more radical changes should have been
made, and the whole book Of Revelations
rejected as spurious.
Or THE several hundred young men who
graduated from the theological seminarief
Of the Presbyterian Church In this coun'
try, this month, 1t appears only fourteen
have volunteered to be home missiona'
riss, and this after six months recruiting
in these institutions and with one nun
bred and iorty.nlne mission stations in
the West alone, waiting Tor men. Dr.,
Kendall, the secretary OF the Board, In
quired, in the General Assembly now in
session at Buffalo, II foreign missions were
absorbing all the young men. He was
told that just four young men
have enlisted from the seminaries
this year, In the sixteenth century
young men who had devoted themselves
10 religion we're drafted, not recruited. At
the command Of Loyola, with nothing but
the coats ON their backs, they entered the
heart Of China and became mandarlns, or
went to India and taught the natives how
to grow rice better or built great religious
colonies in Peru and Mexico. Asking no
questions they went where they were sent
| and did what they were told. Now the
church prepares places for men, In only
another part Of our own land, pays them
salaries, sends them boxes, and after Q six
months campaign gets fourteen for 0 hum
bred and fifty places, The ptous young
man Of the period prefers to stay in the
east and try and slip into some big church
that somebody else has built up.
The New York Independent accepts the
new translation with considerable enthu.
Biasm. 1t says; The 3s men chosen to
translate the New Testament were selected
az the most competent scholars known In
England and America. Allowing that
there were a fair number Of othera as com.
petent az they, yet they were Coniessedly
none better. Nobody has complained OF
any lack OF competency on their part. To
begin with, their judgment was as good,
at least, as that Of all possible critics. But
their original advantage has been immeas.
urably increased. They have now been at
work for ten years on this n task, There
isno consideration affecting the translation
OF q Aingle word which they have not
carefully studied. II there are five
reasons for o different translation Of any
passage, they have considered them all,
and also the elk or ten reasons for the
translation they have adopted. By long
study, these thirty. eight men have made
themselves more competent to have an
opinion than the whole Euglish'spesking
world besides. That Is the simple fact.
Probably almost any one Of them would
carry more weight OF reason than any
hundred Of their cAptious critics. This,
We repeat, Is the simple fact, pateAt on the
face Of 1t, patent before the publication oil
their work, and sufficiently settles the
matter. We have not enough selt.Con6'
dence to set our judgment agAiust that Of
ten years study Of thirty. eight such men.
W. accepted their work thankfully, and
with some humility, even before reading.
Having read 1t, we still accept 1t.