Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1963-09-15

According to recent reports, pros
poets are better than ever that within
the foreseeable future we shall have
common Bible, a version of the Old
Testament agreed upon by Christians
and Jews, a version Of the New Testa-
ment equally acceptable to Orthodox,
Catholics and ProteStants. Scholarship
is rapidly making definitive text pos
sible for the first time in history, And
for the first time in about a thousand
years the mood Of the churches is favor
able to such mutual acceptance.
From one point of view the idea is
immensely attractive. The many varie-
ties Of Christians and Jews will not soon
agree on what the Bible means in every
detail. But it would be good If they
could at least agree on what the Bible
says.
We share the hopes Of those who
see such possibilities in the coming of
common Bible. But insofar as the
project implies the creation of yet an
other up-to-date, revised, English Ian
guage version, we look upon it with fear
and trembling.
The trouble with modern versions
Of the Bible stems directly from sup
posedly scientific criticism in the 10th
century which tended to dismiss great
deal of the scriptures as "mere" poetry.
Too many eccleSiaStic authorities re-
acted with an attempt to Soft-pedal the
undoubtedly high poetic content Of the
sacred books, to undertake new transla-
tionS as If the problem were solely one
of linguistic accuracy and the Bible some
kind Of scientific treatise.
Obviously, a lot Of the Bible is poetry,
and great poetry at that. But there is
nothing mere" about poetry. Religious
truth is usually given to man in ways
very similar to those Of poetic truth. It
would seem to be impossible to say pre-
cisely where the truth Of the Bible re-
sides, but 1t is presumptuous to take 1t
for granted that none of that truth
resides in the poetry Of the Book, in the
Illuminating images, in the cadenced
language, in the cumulative effect Of
sounds in series.
In the English language for three
and half centuries, that particular
aspect Of biblical truth has been en-
bodied in the King James Version. Nor
is It accidental that this is so. The
Authorized Version was made in 1911,
at the flood-tide of the most creative
period in the English language, before
or since. In the preceding two decades
the tongue had been newly minted by
Shakespeare; even while the new Bible
was being assembled, the playwright
was at work on '"The Tempest" There
were power and music in English that
were not there before. That ripe time
even brought forth man like Lancelot
Andrewes to forward the enterprise, the
rare combination Of a scholarly bishop
and a man keenly sensitive to the new
songs of the new speech.
1t has been objected from time to
time that the King James Version is
here and there obscure, mysterious, not
Immediately understood. The best an
swer is simply that neither are the
Jewish and Christian religions a series
Of geometrical theorems. From Moses
to st. Paul, the men who made the books
Of the Bible were dealing with mysteries.
In reading the Bible, it is no bad thing
to hear the sound Of mystery.
New, definitive and universally ac-
ceptable versions Of the original Hebrew
and Greek can only be welcomed. When
the movement toward a Common Bible
arrives at English, we devoutly hope
that the King James Version will form
the sonorous and lyrical heart of Bible
for all English-speaking people.