NEW READINGS OF OLD TEXTS.

FIRST PAPER.

THE issue of the Revised Version of the New Testament may justly be regarded as one of the most important events which the religious world has lately witnessed. It had been long looked for and earnestly desired by thousands both in this country and in America. Expectations had been raised to the highest pitch by the character of the revisers, and by the lengthened period which they had devoted to this task. It was an arduous undertaking upon which this assembly of scholars and divines had entered. They had not merely to produce a thoroughly accurate and reliable translation of the most valuable documents in existence,-documents which they, in common with their fellow-Christians, believed to be the work of the Holy Spirit, and whose every word and particle was of momentous interest. They had not merely to satisfy a host of scholars as erudite and as critical as themselves-but they had also to present the English-speaking public with a work which would be thoroughly popular. They were labouring pre-eminently for the unlettered-for those to whom the Greek Testament was a sealed book, but to whom the Gospel and Epistles were matter of daily thought and delightful familiarity. To meet the requirements of these might well be considered a more formidable task than to answer the demands of scholars and critics. For the Revised Version, however perfect it might be, would have to compete with a work, which for two and a-half centuries, had been the study of millions-had been the chief source of their moral strength and spiritual comfort-had endeared itself to them by its never-failing wisdom, its Divine promises, and its wondrous revelations of truth. words of the Authorised Version had so fixed themselves in the minds of men, that even if every copy had perished, the whole Book could easily have been reproduced from the memory of multitudes. Moreover, the language of the book was so pure, its style so noble, that even those who cared little for its teaching could not fail to admire the wondrous English in which it was written, and those who loved the truth which it taught could not but love it the more because of the matchless grace of form in which it was presented. The English New Testament was to them as "apples of gold in network of silver."

The very

And so there was no wonder that the Revised Version was received by many with something of misgiving and of disappointment. It was widely welcomed, but the welcome was not always of the warmest. Now that the novelty of its opinion is probably this: that

appearance is past, the general it is a most valuable aid to the study of the Divine Word, but

that it cannot and ought not to supersede its predecessor. The two may be studied side by side, The old version will probably retain its place especially for devotional purposes. There is, as Mr. Wesley says, something "peculiarly solemn and venerable in the old language of our translation, and suppose this to be a mistaken apprehension and an instance of human infirmity: yet is it not an excusable infirmity, to be unwilling to part with what we have been long accustomed to, and to love the very words by which God has often conveyed strength or comfort to our souls?" But for critical purposes the Revised Version is incomparably superior. To it we should turn whenever we wish to know precisely what is the mind of the Spirit. No preacher ought without consulting it to preach a sermon or employ a proof-text or even to quote an illustrative passage. We may even venture to say that honesty in our holy calling demands that we should be as familiar with the New Version as with the Old. We may indeed find reason after careful deliberation, to prefer certain readings in the unrevised textbut the probabilities are immensely strong against its being really preferable. A man, who even after diligent investigation, ventures to set up his opinion against that of the revisers, must at least be a man of extraordinary courage.

It is, however, a matter for deep thankfulness that the general teaching of the New Testament is unaffected by the changes which have been introduced in the Revised Version. None of the grand doctrines which the Church has cherished so long are in the least shaken, and many of them are strongly confirmed by the new readings. Yet the teaching of isolated passages has in many instances been shown to differ from that which was formerly deduced from them. There are old familiar texts from which thousands of earnest and useful sermons have been preached, which now appear in a guise so novel that the old sermons must be laid aside. In some instances this is perhaps a blessing in itself. It will certainly be a great benefit to many preachers to be forced out of the old grooves, to be obliged to enter new fields of thought. The fresh pastures of truth to which they are led will afford sustaining and invigorating food both to preachers and hearers. And yet it will not be without a pang that old texts will be resigned, and old sermons discarded. And so it will be the object of this and a few other papers to show that the calamity is by no means so great as some may imagine. Antiquated and obsolete sermons may have to be relinquished, yet the old texts, even in their new form, may be as available as ever, and some of them may afford matter for even more effective teaching, and more powerful appeal. And this might certainly have been expected. It would have been strange indeed if the words of truth presented in the purest attainable state had been less profitable, or less

powerful than when hampered and marred by the errors of translators. The nearer we can get to the real meaning of our Lord and His inspired servants, the loftier will be our views of truth, and the more perfectly shall we be furnished for labour and for fight. We will now examine some new readings of old texts, and try to point out the lessons which they teach.

PAUL BEFORE AGRIPPA.

"And Agrippa said unto Paul, With but little persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian; and Paul said, I would to God that whether with little or with much, not thou only, but also all that hear me this day, might become such as I am, except these bonds."-ACTS xxvi. 28-29.

Few New Testament passages have been more completely transformed than this. Yet in its new form it may be made the subject of a very useful sermon. Paul the prisoner before Agrippa the king-the greatest of apostles before a contemptible and immoral prince-the herald of eternal truth standing to be judged by a vain and self-indulgent trifler-such is the scene. A striking illustration of the confusion into which humanity is fallen. Many similar scenes have been witnessed, Socrates before the Athenian judges, Galileo before the agents of the Inquisition, Luther before the German Diet. . . . Yet wisdom is justified of her children. Sooner or later men discover that the wise man is the real king, that the good is the truly great. In Agrippa we can only see now a parasite of the Imperial Court-a brief possessor of shadowy greatness. In Paul we recognise a mighty thinker, a faithful toiler, a man whose thoughts and words and deeds have created history and raised a memorial lasting as time. The exclamation of the king is a poor piece of irony. The answer of the apostle is full of seriousness and dignity.

I.—The EXCLAMATION of Agrippa indicates,

I.

His worldliness. He doubtless recognised to some extent the strength of the Apostle's argument. He must have admired his eloquence and fervour. And the convincing Spirit was present to enforce the message of His faithful servant. Perhaps Agrippa felt his need of that salvation which Paul preached; but to become a Christian, to ally himself with the sect everywhere spoken against, to take his lot with the persecuted Nazarenes, was a prospect which he could not bear. Was he not a king, and the son of a king? Was he not the favourite of emperors? Had he not been promoted both by Claudius and Nero from one dignity to another, and might he not hope for a further increase of power and greatness? But if he should become a Christian, then farewell to his fair dreams! And certainly he must then give up his sinful pleasures and live a life of severe morality. He cuts short all deliberation. No, Paul; no Christianity for me. In me you have no likely object

for your well-meant zeal. Go to the poor and despised and hopeless-to slaves and prisoners but I will listen no longer. "With small persuasion thou wouldest fain make me a Christian."

2. His scepticism. Like the other Herods, he was a Jew by profession, but this was probably part of his policy. It is most likely he was at heart a sceptic. Scepticism was fearfully prevalent amongst the upper classes of the Roman Empire. This we learn from the writings of their most distinguished men. The Divine existence and the future life were with them a matter of jesting. Morality was reduced to mere expediency, and had no relation to a final judgment or a supreme authority. Faith was dethroned, and the highest object of men was to make the best of this brief life. Amid this wreck of all religion, Christianity arose, demanding the faith of men in a creed the most spiritual, announcing that this present life is but a shadow, and the life beyond the great reality. It ought not to adapt itself to the prejudices of men. It struck full in the face the world's favourite ideas. No wonder that many should shrink, even from the examination of its claims. So it was with Agrippa. "What!" he seemed to say, "shall I be convinced in spite of myself? Shall I on the judgment-seat confess myself condemned? Nay, I will hear no more." And so, with agitation in his breast but poorly concealed by the levity of his speech, he bids his eloquent prisoner to stop: "With but small persuasion," &c.

I am not anxious to

3. Religious indifference. "You want to make me a Christian. You need not give yourself the trouble. make myself one. Why should I be a Christian rather than a Jew or a heathen? Apart from those peculiar features of your faith which make it especially objectionable, all religions are alike to me." This indifference was the natural result of scepticism. And it was perhaps because faith in all religions was gone, that all sects were tolerated by the Roman Government for a while. Their toleration sprang, not from charity, but contempt. A philosophical Roman cared nothing for the difference of sectaries. And so Agrippa could dismiss the Apostle with a light heart and a poor jest: "With but small persuasion," &c.

There are multitudes to-day whose attitude towards the Gospel is precisely that of Agrippa. The same obstacles still stand in their way. Worldliness is a stumbling-block upon

which thousands have fallen. Charles II. could not endure the seriousness of the covenanted divines, and said that "Presbyterianism was no religion for a gentleman." The same objection is felt and variously expressed against all earnest Christianity. Scepticism hinders many upon the very threshold of salvation. Not so much the noisy scepticism which manifests

itself in obscurity and blasphemy-but the indolent scepticism which only half accepts the Christian verities, and leaves the other half suspended in vague doubt, never making any vigorous effort to arrive at certainty, but rather priding itself upon its uncertainty. Men of this spirit do not investigate the truth, but play with it. It would be well for them to let Oliver Cromwell be their teacher for once: "I have learned too much of God to dally with Him." There are young men who dally with God and His truth until they have trifled away all serious convictions. So we find them sunk in indifference, fenced about by unconcern against all appeals, turning aside the most weighty arguments and most earnest entreaties with an easy apathy and a supercilious sneer: "Ah, with but little persuasion you would fain make us Christians!"

II. The APOSTLE'S ANSWER indicates

1. Sincerity. The king had spoken in a trifling vein. But Paul was a man too serious and sincere to sympathise with or even understand the spirit of a trifler. To him the facts of the moral world presented themselves not as shadowy phantoms, but as realities, stern as fate and certain as death." Not heeding the levity of the king, he turns upon him in awful earnestness: "I would to God," &c.

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Sincerity is the one grand condition of successful work. 2. Eagerness for the salvation of men. "Whether with little persuasion or much," he is ready for any labour and any sacrifice. Whether by long and painful argument, or by passionate entreaty; whether by calm statement of the truth, or by the supreme evidence of suffering for the truth; whether by words or deeds, by the utmost stress and labour of the mind or by the offering up of life: "I would to God," &c.

Some men glide into salvation "as buds travel into blossom." There are others dull, cold, stolid, upon whom repeated assaults of the truth are necessary. Christian tact and godly ingenuity are needed. A human soul is worth all the pains we can employ-whether little or much.

The eagerness of the Apostle also breaks out in the words, "All that hear me this day." Not only Agrippa, but Festus, Bernice, &c.

3. A noble self-consciousness: remarkable for his humility.

"Such as I am." Paul was But he was free from that morbid self-depreciation by which so many Christians destroy both their happiness and their usefulness. He had got beyond the experience which says, "'Tis a point I long to know," &c.

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4. Charity. Except these bonds."

If those who heard him that day had accepted the truth, there was every probability that they also would have to take their