BIBLE 



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BIBLE 



spoken, that language continued to be used 

 in the churches, and the earliest suggestions 

 that the Bible actually be translated into the 

 vernacular met with violent opposition. Ex- 

 press the sacred truths which had stood su- 

 preme in the Church for centuries in the 

 vulgar language of the people? It was not to 

 be thought of! But in every enlightened 

 country there were brave men who dared to 

 fight against tradition and to bring the Bible 

 within reach of all. In Germany, Luther's 

 translation was epoch-making, not only in 

 religion but in the literature and language of 

 the country, for it helped to crystallize the 

 all-too-fluid dialect forms. In England there 

 were several worthy of note Wycliffe's trans- 

 lation, finished about 1380; Tyndale's, upon 

 which modern versions of the English Bible 

 are based; and Coverdale's, which was printed 

 in 1535 and was the first complete English 

 Bible published. 



The Accepted English Versions. Several edi- 

 tions of the Bible followed Coverdale's, each 

 of which attempted to correct the errors and 

 improve the language of previous editions, 

 but none proved wholly satisfactory. In 1604, 

 therefore, at the petition of the leading cler- 

 gymen of the country, James I of England 

 appointed fifty-four eminent scholars to make 

 a new translation. For seven years they 

 worked at their task, and the King James, or 

 Authorized, Version which they produced, so 

 far surpassed in accuracy, arrangement and 

 language all those versions which had gone 

 before that within a few years it supplanted 

 them all. English-speaking Protestant churches 

 throughout the world adopted it, and until the 

 latter part of the nineteenth century it had 

 no rival. 



Biblical knowledge had not stood still, how- 

 ever, and the English language had changed 

 so that some parts of the Bible had acquired 

 different meanings from those which they had 

 had when the translation was made; and in 

 1870 a company of English scholars, aided by 

 a group of distinguished Americans, set about 

 making a new translation. So far as possible 

 they kept the stately language of the King 

 James Version which had become so firmly 

 fixed in the affections of the people; but 

 where changes in diction were necessary for 

 the clearing up of obscurities they did not 

 hesitate to make them. Many a reader to-day, 

 who is grateful for the new light thrown by 

 this Revised Version, still prefers to read the 

 older version, familiar through long use. 

 45 



The American Revised Version, which em- 

 bodies all the results of recent investigations, 

 was made still later. 



The Divisions of the Bible. The Jews looked 

 upon their religion as a compact between 

 themselves and God, and applied to their 

 sacred writings the title of Covenant or Testa- 

 ment. This latter form attaining wider use, 

 the later books were called the New Testa- 

 ment, and as the Old and New Testaments 

 the two great divisions of the Bible are known 

 to-day. 



The Old Testament. This division, which 

 deals with the Jews and their history under 

 the old Mosaic laws, consists of thirty-nine 

 books, which admit of a very definite classi- 

 fication into law, historical books, prophecy 

 and poetical books. The law includes the first 

 five books, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Num- 

 bers and Deuteronomy; the historical division 

 takes in all the books from Joshua to Esther; 

 the poetry embraces Job, Psalms, Proverbs, 

 Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon and Lamenta- 

 tions; and the prophetic division comprises 

 the remaining sixteen books. Of some of these 

 books the authors are definitely known; of 

 others the authorship is traditional; while as 

 to the origin of a number of them, absolutely 

 nothing is known. Throughout century after 

 century the first five books were ascribed to 

 Moses, and the daring person who ventured 

 the question, "But how could Moses have de- 

 scribed his own death?" was looked upon as 

 a dangerous skeptic. The Psalms, too, were 

 credited without question to David. But 

 present-day criticism is by no means so sure 

 of its ground, and hesitates to declare with 

 certainty the authorship of either of these 

 groups of writings. 



The New Testament. The twenty-seven 

 books which make up this division fall into 

 three natural groups. First, there are the his- 

 torical books, the four Gospels and the Acts 

 oj the Apostles; then the epistles, and finally 

 the curious, prophetic, visionary Revelation. 

 Even the earliest of the Gospels was not writ- 

 ten until years after the Ascension; the story 

 of Jesus was handed down by word of mouth 

 until there grew up the fear that parts of it 

 might be lost, and then Mark wrote his nar- 

 rative, the first of the Gospel accounts. The 

 Gospel of John was the latest book, and was 

 probably not written until the beginning of 

 the second century of the Christian Era. 



The Canon. This is a curious word with an 

 interesting history, as used in this connection. 



