232 
of its truth has ever become an apostate. The facts which they affirm as 
real have a most intimate bearing on Christianity. Surely they ought to be 
thoroughly sifted by an institution like the Victoria Institute.* ° I must 
also express dissent from the views which are propounded in this paper as 
to the authority of the Septuagint version, on which some of the theories 
before us rest for their support. The opinion of its superior accuracy as a 
representative of the autographs of the Old Testament writers is founded 
on the supposed “sanction which this version has received in the New 
Testament,” and on the supposed impossibility that subsequent scholars can 
have translated with equal accuracy. I fear that in this opinion Professor 
Challis has not the support of any eminent modern authority. Different 
parts of the version differ greatly in point of merit ; different parts of it 
were made by different persons, and at considerable intervals of time. The 
old story about the seventy translators, their each translating the Old 
Testament separately, and the verbal agreement of each separate transla- 
tion— in one word, that its authors were supernaturally inspired— is aban- 
doned as a myth by every man of sense. It is also no less clear that on certain 
points its authors accommodated their translation to the Greek taste, and 
that they have not succeeded in doing this with perfect correctness. This is 
especially manifest in the manner in which they have toned down several of 
the more striking anthropomorphisms which the Hebrew has applied to God ; 
and in several other peculiarities of the version. Alterations of this kind have 
been systematically made by its translators. Nor can any weight be attached 
to the affirmation that it has received the sanction of the writers of the 
New Testament by their constant quotation from it. In the first place, this 
is not the fact ; and in the second place, the citations of the Old Testament 
in the New are very far from being made with anything like consistent 
accuracy. Any person desirous of testing this question for himself may see 
the case clearly stated in Mr. Sunday's work in answer to the second part 
of Supernatural Religion. In this work the quotations are tabulated under 
the different heads of accurate, slightly variant, and widely variant citations 
and the result proves that the position taken by the Professor in this paper 
cannot be maintained. 1 L 
Rev. T M. Gorman.— I think the references to the Septuagint a weak 
point in the paper : take for instance the word ko.\6v ; the original Hebrew 
word means “good,” a different word being used for “ beautiful.” 
Rev. A. I McCaul.— Mr. Gorman has just spoken of the word koK 6 v . 
1 do not think there is any doubt that the Hebrew word is used for 
beautiful, and therefore I do not agree with Mr. Gorman. Neither do 
* Since these remarks were made, the subject of “ Spiritualism ” was very 
afte y r wh,Vb U tL il l iK ™ ectin K of the British Association, shortly 
alter which the lengthy Slade investigation took place. — Ed. ^ 
