Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-05-20
The Revised Bible.

The revised New Testament, for which
the literary and theological world has
waited SO long and anxiously, appears
to-day. The interest with which it has
been expected may be measured by the
fact that this country alone gives ad-
vance orders to the only authorized
English publishers for nearly million
copies, and whole pages of enterprising
newspaper work have been given up to
speculations regarding the character of
the changes made from the King James
version. The disfavor with which many
O. these changes are met must not he
mistaken as proof of their demerit, since
it is at least no greater than that which
confronted the edition of the scriptures
which for over two centuries and a half
has been recognized as we'll of pure
English undefiled, and accepted as a
standard of canonical authority. With
all the governmental backing behind it
the King James version did not at once
supersede its predecessor, ten editions of
which were issued after the appearance
of the revision, and it was longer than a
generation before the older fell into dis
use.
The new edition of the Holy Scrip
tures-of which only the New Testa-
ment is ready now for publication--will,
of course, meet with severe criticism, a
specimen of which we reprint in an arti-
Gle from the London Standard: for the
text of no book was craven SO deep on
the minds and hearts of the people as
that Of the Bible, no popular misconcep-
tion being 80 frequent as the idea of all
inspired translation of the original writ
ing, few stopping to consider that the
English of 1911 was not the language of
Divine authority and communication.
Time alone will test the merit and the
popularity of the changes made
the first impressions of them will
afford no fair standard of judgment.
Such radical revisiOns as the omission
of the doxology appended to the Lords
Prayer MATT, vi, 13), "FOr thine is the
kingdom and the power, and the glory
forever, amen - the suspicion of spuri'
BUSINESS cast upon the story of the woman
taken in adultery the elimination of the
text supporting the doctrine of the
Trinity l John, vii, 81; the proper
translation of the Greek "Hades" instead
of rendering both it and Gehenna ''hell'
rs i'm the old versiOn-are among the
most striking changes andsyet all OF
these, like the thousands of minor
changes, ample illustrations of which We
will hereafter Ely before our readers
have been made only upon the highest
authority and after most careful investi.
cation.
In all efforts to Judge the work of the
revisers, their cOnscientiOusness, freedom
from bias and their high scholarship
must be borne constantly in mind to fifty
measure their result. No change has
been made except by very general agree.
ment among them and to deny the ne.
cessity for i revision. is to deny all the
advances in science, philology and other
spheres of learning for nearly three cen
turies. In many places no doubt the re-
visers have rendered the text less pleas.
ing and fOrcible, but it was. not their
function to make the best sounding
translation Their business was to come
as close rs possible to = correct transla-
tiOn of the best authenticated originals,
and no criticism of their work is effective
unless it shows that they failed in this
regard.