Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1881-06-01
THE NE " TESTAMENT
authentic Account Of The Changes an
the ReriSed TerSiOn.

Il ne revised version OF tDc New les
lament which is now given to the pub
lie officially is the result of ten years of
faithful work by the most eminent Bib
lical scholars of England and America,
and as such will meet the views of all
students in both lands, although some
of the changes made in the translation
of the King James version will proba-
| bly be objected to by thousands of earn
est Christians who have been brought
up to look upon the Book as the inspir-
ed word of God, and have not consid-
cred the fact that the English Bible is
a translation, and that into all transla-
tions errors are liable to creep. The
old familiar text which has been the
authority of the English-speaking
Christian world since 1911, will be
found in many cases to have been
changed In some instances the chang
es which have been made give an en-
tirely different meaning to the texts,
and to those who have been taught to
look upon the English Bible as the one
source of religious authority changes
of this nature will appear harsh and re-
pulsive. But it is to be noted that in
all the corrections made in the revised
version, there is not single one which
does away with any main fact which
has been accepted by the Christian
world since the King James translation
was made.
NO FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE CHANGED.
The fundamental doctrines of the
Christian religion are not changed in
the slightest degree by the new ver-
sion. Everything which people of the
present generation were taught as
children to look upon as the teachings
of Christ is faithfully preserved, and
our children and our children's children
will find in the Revised New Testa-
ment the same doctrinal principles, al
though perhaps in different and more
easily comprehended phrases, that their
fathers and grandfathers had to instruct
them in the Sunday schools of the two
past centuries. He'll is not abolished
in the new version. as has been an
nounced prematurely in the public
press All that has been done in this
connection is to expunge the word
hell where it has been improperly
translated, and to substitute for it the
proper word, the hades of Greek my
thology, which means the temporary
abiding place of departed spirits. In
all passages in which the Greek word
'Gehanna' appears, it is faithfully trans
lated hell The devil, the prince of
darkness, still holds his place in the
Bible under the translation of the re-
vised edition of the New Testament,
but be holds somewhat subordinate
one He does not enter so largely into
the complications of human affairs as
in the old version. The expression
which has been translated for over two
centuries, possessed of the devil, is
translated in the new version possessed
cf a Demon and is shown to refer SIM
ply to a peculiar kind of disease, which
in our day and generation, is called
madness. Wherever the word devil
refers to the prince of darkness, the til
tie is faithfully preserved in the revis-
ed edition.
TEN THOUSAND CHANGES.
The new translation which is now
given to the public, under the sanction
and authority of the Convocation of
Canterbury, contains about 10000
changes from the original tex. as found
in the King James version. Some of
these changes will at first be found to
be dsagreeable to the English reader
Some of the old familiar rhythm is de-
stroyed, and words to which the ear
has become accustomed are left out
But the translators have taken the
broad ground that the word of God
should be kept as pure as possible, and
they have carefully sacrificed every
word and expression which could not
be verified in the original editions upon
which their work is based.
With these preliminary remarks we
are ready to note some of the most in
teresting changes.
TWO FAMILIAR STORIES.
Matthew xix, 1.-THE revised ver-
sion reads, instead of why callest thou
me good?' why askest thou me of
that which is good p The text follow
ed by the authorized version had been
changed by the copyist to harmonize it
with the accounts of Mark and Luke.
Mark tx, 22-23.-Here is valuable
and beautiful change. The father of
the possessed child says to the Savior,
If thou canst do anything, have COM
passion on US and help us In our
common version, Christ's answer is,
IF thou canst believe, all things are
possible to him that believeth. But
the word believe has no textual war
rant, and by it's insertion We have lost
from our version the quick play of
thought in which our Lord takes up
the poor fathers word and throws it
hack to him; and this the revised ver-
sion gives us: IF Thou canst! All
! things are possible to him that believ-
eth
THE UNJUST STEWARD.
pears in a much mooted passage-the
Savior's practical exhortation from
the parable of the unjust steward. Our
version has it: Make to yourselves
friends of the mammon of unrighteous-
ness that when we fail, they may re-
ceive you into everlasting habitations.
Here the change turns on the verb
'ekleipo,' fail - our common version
having followed false reading, 'ekli-