Newspaper Page Text
8 THE PRESBYTERI
THE SHORTER READING.
At the present time, attention is fixed upon the
translation of the Bible called the American Revised
Version. While it has been most vigorously pushed
upon the people by the publishing house that controls
the copyright, it has not been accepted by the great
mass of the people as a superior substitute for thv_
King James version. The last Assembly of our Church
has made it necessary that we consider the relativemerits
of the much advertised American version nnri
the King James. In sending down to the Presbyteries
the report of the committee on the proof-texts for the
Confession of Faith and the Catechisms, the Assembly
made no comment upon the plan followed by the committee
which placed the American above the King
James, when there was a difference (page 124, Minutes,
19?9)- We have carefully studied the American Version
since it was issued. It was read and marked
while the good wife read aloud first the King James,
them the English Revised Version. While the American
is vulnerable in many points, too many for a newspaper
review, there is one of a most serious nature to
which attention is directed. One of the rules of criticism
is that known as Parson's: "That when there is
a difference in readings from the various manuscripts,
the shorter is to be preferred to the longer." The
philosophy of such a rule is that when additions are
made they are copied from marginal explanations
which are not a part of the original text. It is assumed
that the writing on the margin is an unwarranted addition,
or that the copyist was disposed to add new
words or phrases or clauses. Unless human nature
has changed since the early apostolic days, the reasoning
is in error. The experience and testimony of
many stenographers and clerks today will be just the
opposite. The tendency is to omit rather than to add.
The writing on the margin shows that the copyist
omitted certain words and placed them on the margin
for convenience. The longer reading is, in modern
experience, most apt to be correct. The American
Revised Version follows Parson's rule of the Shorter
Reading most, abundantly. In the gospel by Matthew,
it is used fifty-six times. Some change a word, some
a sentence, as in Matthew 6:13, where the conclusion
of 'the Lord's Prayer is omitted?"For Thine is the
kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."
1 Wc did not count how often the rule is used in the
whole Bible, but entirely too often.
C. T. Thomson.
Kosciusko, Miss.
I
There was a time when business men locked up their
valuables most carefully, fastened the huge doors, and
closed the thick shutters. Now the same men think
the greatest securitv is fonnH in tiavinc* o
~ ^ v/i
always turned upon their possessions. Thieves do not
dare to Veak through and steal when the glare of light
will be upon them. One has happily suggested this
1 as an illustration of the manner in which we should
treat the precious Word of God. Put it in the light!
Do not attempt to defend it! Let it speak and show
l# for itself!
AN OF THE SOUTH. October 20, 1909.
Devotional and Selections
"THE LORD'S PRAYER."
Oh, prayer of prayers, when softly lisped
By infant -ips beside the mother's knee,
Thou art Indeed th* appeal of helplessness
Unto the An-Father's heart! But none the less.
When whispered low, in simple faith, by him
wnom years have crowned with honors and with fame!
Who learns from childhood to believe and love,
To worship and obey?to him thou art
The very Pearl of Prayers. The love of Christ
Is there, and, like a thread of gold, binds fast
The first petition to the very last,
And from the heart of the great brotherhood
Of man rises, like incense s\>eet and pure,
The murmur of "Amen" forevermore.
?O. H.
THE MINISTER AS A GOOD "MIXER."
Dr. John F. Cowan, ot Haini, has a sensible article
on the above subject in the Homiletic Review. He
cotrc
***v s?
"More than to anyone else, it is 'up to' the minister
to 'make good' with all classes of men. Therefore the
minister must be a good 'mixer' with men. That is to
say, he must be able to come freely into contact with all
classes of men, on an equal and easy personal footing,
and not merely on a professional footing. The minister
who can take the Christly aroma into the lodge, the
social club, the political club, the workingman's union,
and the farmer's grange, has a dozen chances to make
the old truths appeal as something fresh and down to
date, as against one chance in the case of the minister
who is a recluse, a bookish, seminaryish preacher, however
brilliant his ouloit oower.
A A ' X '
"Ministers do mix with men in times of sickness and
trouble, though sometimes reluctantly. I once overheard
a Protestant layman lamenting the fact that,
when there was an explosion in one of the iron miHs,
a Catholic priest, might be found on the scene before
the smoke cleared away, to administer extreme unction
to any of his unfortunate parishioners who might
need it; but the Protestant ministers would probably
wait until they were sent for, and then leave their aermonizing
unwillingly. This is not a true picture of
the great mass of Protestant ministers. Neither is it
true that most ministers prefer feminine society to
male, though some have such an impression. Why?
"The question of the minister mixing in politics is
a mooted one. It can not be discussed here to any
extent. But Washington Gladden certainly lost none
of his ministerial dignity or influence when he served
as a member of the Columbus board of aldermen. He
proved a good 'mixer.' Who does not believe that
Edward Everett Hale would have been even more influential
as a minister of God on the floor of the United
.States Senate than as its chaplain? That was good
'mixing' when the ministers' meeting of Boston elected
representatives to the labor unions. ? A good 'mixer'
will be foremost in the village improvement society of
his parish. He will preach the gospel of 'Cleanliness
is next to godliness* most effectively in that way. That
was a good 'mixer' with the boys of his parish who
took twenty-five of them to see the Harvard-t)art