Morning journal and courier., 1881-05-23
The Religious Field.


 Rev. Dr. Anderson, of Waterbury, ex- changed with Rev. F. Stanley Root, of Sey- mour, yesterday. Mr. Root was in attend ance at the Yale Theological School con- mencement last week. He is meeting with great success in the work of the ministry.
 The council called for the purpose of releasing Rev. Dr. Beckwith, of Waterbury, from his pastorate, convene in the Second church in that city today at 1:3O D. m. The following churches have been invited: First Congregational of Waterbury North Con gregational of Woodbury Eagle Rock of Thomaston, and the Congregational churches of Thomaston, Plymouth, Watertown, Morris, Naugatuck, Middlebury, Prospect, and Mont Clair, New Jersey.
 The revised edition of the New Testament was referred to by many of the pastors yesterday. Rev. Dr. Barbour made it the subject of his remarks at the College chapel yesterday. Dr. Barbour spoke of the men who conducted the revision, of their scholar ship and piety, and of the King James yer sion, and the advisability of the revision He spoke of the few old books that survived, thereby suggesting the thought, ''the sur
 NAfoA O1 GAO 44b6Co1. 4OW 1AOSCd arc bu0 books that have come down to us from the days of King James. They could easily and quickly be counted. Yet books had been written in number like the sands of the sea shore. The great majority of books died practically in less than seven years. The speaker read from the King James version and commented upon it as work of scholar
 ship. Any book written 27O years ago would
 of necessity contain obsolete words. Take with great interest.
 Rev. Dr. Harwood gave 8 sermon, or rather lecture, to his congregation at Trinity yester- day morning, on the subject of the new re- vision. The reverend gentlemen secured the | first copy in this city. He would not think of attempting a review of the new revision in so short time. He read from the new and contrasted it in few cases with the old. The revision. he said, was entitled to high respect
 indeed, embodying as it does the fruits of the patient labors of body of scholars eminent f ly fitted for the task. Their work was simply
 that of revision. They could not dictate. ! They did not change or alter the holy book, | except to correct faults, omissions or errors l in the work of previous translators. Their work was simply to give as nearly perfect as possible in English what had been written in I the original. ThSspeaker eloquently contrasted | the past with the present in one point in his | very scholarly remarks. That was with ref 1 erence to the vast call for the new revision
 and the quiet reception of the King James
 revision. When the King James revision ! came out only few copies were at first taken,
 but the new revision comes to this land and | in twenty-four hours the sale is half a mill lion. What difference between Bible read ing in 1911 and 1881! How great was the change between then and now! The word of God is indeed sought for by millions. Two
 continents-two great Christian nations shake hands in issuing the work, and the printing presses will scatter the new edition l over the world like the snowfakes in a win
 ter's storm. The speaker commended the reading of the new revision to his hearers
 Another very interesting portion of his dis
 course was his sketch given of the history of \ the sacred word.
 1 Rev. Dr. Bacon, at the Theological School
 alumni meeting the other day, spoke on the subject of authority in the case, and called \ up the fact that at Center church for many | years the Geneva version of the Bible was in use. That version was Gods book just as the King James version was, but there was
 no ecclesiastical authority dictating the SUD-
 planting of the Geneva by the King James ] version.
 1 Rev. Dr. Todd preached discourse on the ! revision yesterday morning. He wanted his
 people to become acquainted and familiar l with the revision. The new revision was an l inspired book, just as the King James revis. I ion is, and just as the accepted predecessors of the King James revision. The only diff ference is that each is an attempt to reach ! higher perfection in translation and to make
 it more exactly what it is in the original, | while furthermore English words that have l outlved their usefulness are dropped and | modern ones substituted.
 The new version was commented on by Rev. | H. c. Hovey at the Second Congregational I church. Fair Haven, yesterday. The text of l the morning sermon was 2nd Cor. 4: 7, ''We l have this treasure in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power may be of God, and | not of us" The ground taken was favorable
 to an immediate and fair examination of the
 result of so thorough Biblical scholarship, ! with due regard for the associations of the \ aged and others with the time honored 'sau 1 thorized version D and with full understand l ing that no further authority than the prefer
 ence of worshippers was needed to establish | any version in the public service. The lesson
 read, from the new version, was 1st Cor, 18th
 char. In the afternoon the subject of inspi- l ration was discussed at night comparison | was made between the readings of Wickliffe's l Bible, the King James version, and the new version, the portion thus examined being the | parable of the rich man and Lazarus
 | A1o IT. = basis of his mornings remarks, endorsing it l very highly as a scholarly and thorough piece l of work, to be received with high respect and l as lighting up passages hitherto obscure, l ambiguous, and gi 'ing to others more ex- act and better rendering. Scholarship had much advanced since 16OO and furnished the key to open passages which in the old were I not clear.
 At the Wooster Place Baptist church last l evening Rev. Dr. Stifer preached an inter- ! esting discourse on the New Testament revi- | sion. In the course of his remarks the preacher said there had been but few changes \ during the past three hundred years, or since 1 In the new version great many words have l been changed, at least @ hundred ! or more, and this was one need of re- | vision. The King James translation gave us | many false renderings, and in the new revi | sion these faulty renderings have been cor I ICCICus duI WS COul0 LO AuOH Lu0 scriptures | better by 8 study of the present version | The speaker referred to number of such I changes and said that the teachings of Paul ! and James in regard to faith had conficted l for nearly three hundred years whereas in I the new version they become reconciled. The present translators have dropped the rheto ! ric in order to give us the truth, and we can with comfortable degree of certainty tell | what Jesus said and what the apostles wrote | The work is not perfect. and no human work
 can be. It is exceedingly conservative, and many translations pain me. I wish to say, | however, that it is worthy of much careful l reading, and would advise that it be used, l at least as a commentary on the King James version.
 Two interesting discourses were preached yesterday at the George street M. E. church | by the pastor, Rev. Wm. P. Corbit. The subject of the mornings discourse was ''The | Baptism of Fire' MT. Corbit based his re-
 marks on Matthew Sd chapter and 11th verse:
 'I indeed baptize you with water unto re- pentance; but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy | to bear; He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire" The points were First, The promise of the baptism and it's fulfill
 ment. and, second, the effects which it pro- duced. The subject of the evenings sermon