Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-04-28

g. Thou shalt do no murder.
Z. Thou shalt not bear false wit
! ness against thy neighbor.
8. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
.. Thou shalt not steal.
| 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neigh
bor's goods.
(Suggested by Rev. George B. Will
liam Douglas)
! Revise the Ten Commandments was the
| recommendation made this morning BY
Rev. DR.. George W. Douglas. canon o,
the Cathedral of st. John the Divine
New York. in speaking before the twenty
| ninth congress Of the Protestant Episco
pal Church DR.. Douglas was speaking or
''The Need for Prayer Book Revision t
Meet Present Day Conditions the topic
which was set for discussion today before
| the congress.
Let us have the courage" he said, "tc
restore our prayer book version Of the
Ten Commandments to what scholars are
pretty well agreed was the original and
shorter form, and let US drop the inflated
clauses wherewith some ancient scribes
spoiled the magnificent proportion Of the
decalogue."
Revision Of the prayer book. he said
must have in mind "the movement fol
church unity which is now In the air. II
such revision can be attained the Roman
Church and the Greek Church and the An.
glican Church ultimately must be able to
come together In public workship. In
revision We must not snap the links that
bind US to these ancient churches.'
Another reason for revision. the speaker
AAA &hA 4al
ment which has been attracting work
ing people and so-called socialists to the
Christian churches" The present Book
Of Common Prayer is unsuitable for these
people. he declared. The revised prayer
book should give ministers tho right on
occasion to 'pray extempore without aD-
pearing to be either rampant or radical"
Speaks In Opposition.
Rev. DR.. Henry r. Gummey of Haddon.
field. N. j.. spoke In opposition to revi.
SION. He suggested that II any revision
be made It be done only after long and
careful study OF the subject by an inter.
national council representing all the
branches Of the Aglican Church. TIC
this would be referred all liturgfcal
problems.
Even radicalism acts so slowly that
there Is no fear Of too hasty action, espe-
II,
declared Rev. DR.. Percy 8. Grant of New
York. He thought there should be prompt
action on the question of revision of the
prayer book.
Intellectual life Of today insists on get
ting away from the Journalism Of religion,
he declared. The present-day demand for
brevity in everything, he thought. would
enforce revision shortening the church
service.
The Book Of Common Prayer" he
said, 'iS stationary and aristOcratic,
and the present democratic trend Of
things demands that there be change"
Rev. Cyrus Townsend Brady of Kansas
City. Mo-, declared he would oppose any
revision Of the prayer book which
would take away anything from the
Need of Revision.
Rev. DIR. Douglas opened the discussion
of the morning topic, and in the very be-
ginning Of his paper he declared: THAT
our prayer book needs revision can hard
ly be admitted by children Of the church
without reluctance. The task is like
remodeling ones ancestral home. II
there has been a happy home life. We
children will watch the transformation
with concern. He should have wise
mind, a tender heart and gentle hand
who undertakes to alter the house Of his
fathers. Nor, in the case Of our prayer
book. can we forget that its fortunes
have been interlocked with those Of the
authorized version of the Bible"
After speaking on the side OF the eau.
ing a revision of the book Of prayer the
speaker said:
Let us turn 20 the other side Of this
serious and pressing question.
After all, as the late Lord Acton re-
| marked in his lectures on the French
revolution, the earth belongs to those
who are upon it. not to those who arr
| underneath and our prayer book Is fol
the use Of the living church Rightly
| regarded. therefore. our concession to the
need Of prayer book revision is not rad
| icalism. but an act of reverence for re-
| ligion-of insistence that religion shall
| be real. 1t will not do for serious Chris
tians to be stayed by the dead hand
There are instances where my inheritance
| cannot be my possession unless IL is ad
! justed to me and to my time: and some
! times the claim for such adjustment is
not so much on my account, as for the
Objectionable Phrases Cited.
Bishop Ryle Of England in his ad-
mirable pamphlet on The Revision OF
the Prayer oBok Psalter' indicate.
many small errors in translation, yet
one cannot but be surprised that he
/
damnatory Psalms. 1t is bad to be
singing, because of the noise Of Thy
waterpipes,' when we ought to sins
at the sound Of Thy cataracts.' but II
hurts me far worse to say or sing OF
| the wicked man. Let his children b.
fatherless. and his wife q widow. and
ever bow Thou down their backs 1t 1.
I bad to say the strang children shaI
dissemble with me- when the passage
means the foreigners come cringine
unto me- but 1t Is horrible to say lei
them fall from one wickedness to an
other, and not come into Thy righteus.
ness For our own sakes we ought not
| to say to God what we do not. and
| cannot mean. and we shall scandalize
many whom we else might win to oul
public worship OF the Heavenly Fa.
ther.
yet II. in order to avoid such psalms
We habitually resort to one OF the Sc
/ (Continued on EiKhth PHxe.)