THE REVISED NEW TESTAMENT.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3058, 14 April 1881, Page 2

THE REVISED NEW TESTAMENT.

(The Watchman.) In February, 1870, the initiative in this responsible task was taken by the Convocation of the Province of Canterbury, who appointed a committee which was to confer with the Convocation of the Province of York. Tbat body declining to co-operate, the movers proceeded by themselves, distributed the work into two divisons, appointed persons to act on each, and resolved to seek tbe co-operation of certain Episcopal scholars and divines who did not belong to either house of Convocation, and of other scholars and divines who were not Episcopalians. Some of the Episcopal clergy, who had been invited, declined to act; but matters were so far arranged between February and June that the first meeting of the New Testament Revision Company was held on the 22nd of that month, and the first meeting of the Old Testament Company on the last day. It is worthy of note that, whereas King James' Bible was projected, completed, and published in seven years, the present revision of the New Testament alone will not have been published till eleven years have plapsed. This delay has, no doubt, been in part occasioned by the wish to act in harmony with a Board of Revisers in the United States which was organised and entered upon its labors in October, 1872, But if even greater delay had been created the revisers could not have been blamed; the desirableness of securing concord on both sides of the Atlantic justly outweighing other considerations.

At length, then, the task is completed, and those who, like ourselves, have not seen a line of the forthcoming book, await with eagerness, not, however, unmixed with solemnity, the day which shall enable us to examine and enjoy it. Many foretastes of it have indeed been > placed within reach of the lovers of the Bible. But these were the work of individuals. The book is to represent tbe judgment of twenty or more of the most competent scholars which this country can supply, with more than a dozen able Americans; and we may be sure that the best results of competent scholarship, with all the aids and facilities which the nineteenth century can furnish, will be embodied, in the volume. Never was so great an undertaking more auspiciously begun, carried on, or concluded. We have watched it with solicitude, but can discern no trace of literary or sectarian jealously, or political animosity from first to last. A pure desire to bring the words of eternal life in their most correct form within the reach of those who use the English language appears to have been the one actuating move of all concerned, and it is devoutly to be wished that their success may correspond with their diligent and disinterested labour.

But now arises a questian, or rather a cloud of questions. Our present version is said to have been undertaken by " His Majesty's Special Command." The revision is a work of private piety—begun by the Convocation of one division of the Episcopal Established Church of this country, and carried on by other parties without public authority. We call the

Version of King James the " Authorised Version," but it is extremely hard to explain tbe expression, and harder still to prove what is implied in it. Nor, though the fact is broadly stated on the titlepage, does it clearly appear how, or by whom it was •• appointed to be read in churches.

But who will authorise the revised version, or "appoint" what shall be done with it P Will it be left to make its own way without patronage, and subjected to whatever treatment tbe judgment of individuals may dictate? Will it so far approve itself to the judgment of the Bible-reading community that preachers will take their texts from it ? Or will there be the old book in the pulpit, pnd the new one in the pew, or vice versa ? And if it is left entirely to private action neither Convocation, Parliament, Conference, nor Union endorsing nor recommending it, how long will it be before it comes into general use in the churches, families, and schools ? Will it ever obtain so much favour as to lead to a modification of tbe fundamental law of the British and Foreign Bible Society ? This, indeed, would be the grandest possible proof of its success ; but as the Old Testament is not yet completed many years must elappe before such a consummation could be reached.

Doubtless some of the changes intro duced on the demand of a modern criticism will try the patience of readers. To find the Lord's Prayer denuded of the Doxology, the last half of the last chapter of St. Mark's Gospel, and the first eleven verses of the eighth of St. John removed into the margin or impressed with some mark of doubtfulness, will be startling to tens of thousands. The loss of tbe text of the Three Witnesses will possibly excite less attention, because the controversy respecting it has been so long before the public, while minor omissions, alterations, or retranslations may, in many instances, create painful emotion. But this is inevitable, and all that remains is, for those who aie able to do it to show that no proposed changes have or can have a serious affect upon any fundamental doctrine ; and that the gain of accuracy will ultimately countervail any temporary disturbance of thought and feeling or of phraseology.