New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-10-23
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
THE NEW TESTAMENT IN MODERN
SCHOLARSHIP AND CHURcHMANsHIP.


soo OF T THfs1 SEw = TTEsThMEST By The Right
Rev. Brooke Foss Wes;cott D. D.. d. C. l..
Lord Bishop OF Durham Svo PIP 2ss James F0''
& Co.
The general indifference Of the churches TO the
revised version Of the Bible !s hardly credaoie 70
them. Certainly It would be d!scredtaoie 10 any
school to retain IN use textbook In which ''iu'-
titude Of errors had been demonstrated after the
on,oarsnce NJ a corrected edition. The need OF the
revision was long proclaimed and admitted II was
undertaken BY the official authority OF the Church
of England. II was performed by the most trust
worthy hands in England and America. Years VI
labor were expended on II. Ire most aou"u""'
safeguards we're provided against any but thor
oughy warrantable changes In the old transiaVo'''
Great expectations were entertained NJ 1t. 10 get
a copy OF the revised version OF the New les'--
ment q few hours in advance OF the mall IL was
transmitted by telegraph entire from New-1orh 70
Chicago In q short time after this curiosity "aa
been satisfied the book fell dead. later declining 10
nearly nothing. At the end OF twelve years l'oin
the completion OF the work on the revised OId
Testament there are comparatively few churches IN
which It Is found. and most rarely Is II iouhu III
that communion which authorized It's prepara'o,'
Rarely has there been . more remarkable exhiDi-
ton of the Grass conservatism OF the merely re-
l,glous spirit.
OF course This was not without cause II without
reason A lot OF impracticable scholars fell foul OF
It with great fury. The reviews resounoeo WIN
their outcres 1t was merely repetl'lon oi 'iio
onset made upon the authorized version al us hrst
appearance Nevertheless. 1t stifened among the
less learned that reluctance TO change whlch Is
bred partly Of ignorance partly OF indHereheT'
and partly of fondness for old forms, however
faulty. Probably the new arrangement by pare"
graphs instead Of the old by verses. modern ana
artificial as the latter is has had much TO 90 with
the continued preference for the old. Bishop west
@fA rvctn
more rapidly in Its time than the new In our time
Whatever encouragement be in this. 1t Is put
sorry tribute to the modern claim or superior en-
hghtenmenl.
The apparent design of the Bishops book 10 70
promote that Intelligent reception OF tho REVISION
,rh,ch has been too long delayed. He meets at the
outset an objection which seems TO have hao
weight among EpiscopalianS that 1t has NOT yer
been appointed be read In churches' as i's pfeo
ecessor was. This authorization IL shown 10 nave
been simply permlssive. But" says No. II INC
use of the revised version is welcomed by a con-
srerat,on I do not think that bishop has any
power even II he had the will. TO prohibit It. The
Bishop refuses all controversy He contents MINI
self with stating that the revisers during thef ten
years labor heard all the objections ana argu-
ments that have been used since and tina. no SUD-
seouent restatement Of them has In the least
.hoken his confidence in the general results OF
those prolonged conferences In the Jerusalem
Chamber There Is nc man in tho English-speakins
world from whom such a statement is mors au-
thoritatve.
The points in which DR.. westcott exhibits the
superiority Of the revision elaborated IN minute
detail under general heads viz. its grammatical
accuracy Its employment Of uniform terms FOR the
same original and Of different terms FOR dinereht
in the original its more vivid preservation OF the
local and temporal color of the original the added
light which It throws upon religious doctrine con-
corning the Christian life, creation. ProVioence
and the person OF Christ. An index OF seventeen
pages OF references in fine type to texts which are
examined and compared shows the thorougnnees
OF his treatment
II Is well TO repeat on all occasions that the text
Of the Greek Testament Is better evidenced IMAM
any other Greek text known to scholars Not
more than onc-sixtieth part Of the whole Is open 10
serious question Nor Is the evidence FOR any
Christian truth weakened by any alteration that
has been made. Yet the omission OF some familiar
passages. especially that Of the angel at Bethesda
John " d and the heavenly Trinity q John v. y.
has given an exaggerated impression. No part OF
the work has been more violently attacked than
the revision Of the Greek text but no part OF IL as
DR.. Westcott believes, will more completely com.
mend itself to scholars in the future. At tho same
time there Is no doubt that traditional beliefs con-
corning what the authorized version renders In
number OF passages as 1.-The end OF the world"
have received modification by the alternative rem
dering Of the revision In Its marginal reading the
consummation Of the age" This substitutes for the
COSmlC
Of the historic world, worlds. Of time ancient
and modern. and for the old idea OF a final catas-
trophe the idea Of an evolutionary transition
from age to age-he limit Of one being the thresh-
old of another. The influence Of this change OF
single word upon theological conceptions Of the
future is far-reachlng.
Cogent as is Dr. Westcotts argument for the
New Testament revision, to which he limits him
SELF a vastly stronger argument could be made for
the revised Old Testament No one will pretend
that the scholars Of 1911 were competent In He
brew as they were IN Greek, or that their transa-
ton Of II Is free from the most serious errors
which, especially in the poetical books. make 1t
often false, and not seldom uninteig!ble. That
well-educated cergymen should still be content
to use the old version OF the Old Testament
in preference 10 the new is one OF the most strk
ing instances Of the power OF custom The question
Of the responsibility for this indifference which at
taches to the Bible societies we need not discuss.
Its settlement has probably been delayed by those
who have unjustly disparaged the revision. AS to
these the unprejudiced student will look with
something moro than suspicion upon the criticisms
Of scholars who appear to find nothing more than
solemn music In the English version OF words Of
life. and to admit no hope Of ripper knowledge from
the discipline Of two centuries and half"