Authorized Version of the Bible

“ To avoid giving offense to any denomination of christians, I have not knowingly made any alteration in the passages of the present version, on which the different denominations rely for the support of their peculiar tenets.
In this country there is no legislative power which claims to have the right to prescribe what version of the scriptures shall be used in the churches, or by the people. And as all human opinions are fallible, it is doubtless for the interest of religion that no authority should be exerted in this case, except by commendation. ”

“ This tradition of theirs finds its sanction in the Catholic Church, and would be utterly worthless if she had no existence.
Again, it is impossible to controvert the fact that the Bible, as a Christian revelation, depends for its authenticity and canonicity upon the sanction of the church. To say that it does not is to claim inspiration for every individual in order to decide upon what is and what is not inspired. If I reject the authority of the church, how shall I be content with the Bible as it is, as she has compiled it? ”

“ But the detached and piecemeal way in which the revision had been carried out naturally caused certain inequalities in the execution of the work. The different parts of the Bible vary considerably in merit, the alterations in the New Testament, for instance, showing freshness and vigour, whereas most of the changes introduced in the Old Testament have been condemned as “arbitrary and at variance with the exact sense of the Hebrew text” (Westcott, op. cit. p. 237) . ”

“ They have been lead to preach the things contained therein, and if they had discovered the doctrine, this Bible cannot lay on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. That part of the work that is necessary for man's salvation must be done by one whom God authorizes. Therefore the Bible alone is not sufficient. It contains the truth. It is the word of God. It contains the instruction of the apostles. But it does not contain the divine authority that is necessary to commission a man to baptize or administer in any ordinance pertaining to the house of God. ”

“ The right use of the Bible grows out of the true view of the Bible.
The Old Testament is the literature of the people of religion, in whom ethical and spiritual religion grew, through all moods and tenses, toward perfection. The New Testament is the literature of the movement which grew out of Israel, the literature of the Universal Church bodying around the Son of Man, in whom religion came to perfect flower and fruit. The real Bible is the record of this real revelation coming through real ethical and spiritual inspirations ”

“ Quarto and octavo editions of the New Testament alone were published in the same year, 1539, as the original edition, and in the following year, 1540, the New Testament in duodecimo. The Old Testament was reprinted as part of a Bible in 1551, but no other editions are known than those named.
It will have been observed that the translations of Holy Scripture which had been printed during these years (1525-1539) were all made by private men and printed without any public authority. Some of them had indeed been set The Great Bible, 1539. ”

“ Does any one fancy that this rewriting will fare better than other attempts to discredit the Bible story? It is hard to believe that the world will ever be satisfied with the Bible rewritten by its critics. They do well to leave the original statements alone. They have indeed the right of private interpretation; but the Bible they cannot destroy, nor can we accept their alterations. ”

“ But it must be the Bible translated into their own language, so that they may comprehend it. Give them the Bible! Bestow on them those sacred books which Moses and the Prophets, the Evangelists and the Apostles wrote for the people, and not for the priests only! Give the people that which is their own; they have a right to it of which you cannot deprive them. It is the testament of our God, who left His people the heirs of His holy Word; in reading which, faith will be granted, and to the belief of which are attached salvation and life. ”

“ They receive the Bible as the only rule of faith, covenant, and code of laws for church government. They do not admit the least license with the letter and spirit of the Scripture, especially with the New Testament, do not allow one tittle to be added or rejected in the administration of the ordinances, but practise them precisely as they are instituted and made an example by Jesus Christ in his word. ”

“ It would be difficult to imagine now a more striking symbol of the art of printing, or to suggest a better device for it, than to represent an angel giving an open volume to mankind. (b) The leading doctrine of the Reformers was, that the Bible is the source of all authority in matters of religion, and, consequently, is to be accessible to all the people. ”

“ In the same passage, as quoted in the epistle to the Hebrews, where we have only a revision of the old Latin, we read: "Behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, that I will accomplish for the house of Israel and for the house of Judah a new testament (testamentum) : not according to the testament (testamentum) which I made for their fathers," etc.
3. The unity of the Bible has its ground only in divine inspiration. So far as human composition is concerned, both parts of it have a great variety of authors. ”

“ When we come to summarize, we are led to declare that if the Gospel historians be not worthy of belief we are without foundation for rational faith in the secular annals of the human race. No other literature bears historic scrutiny so well as the New Testament biographies. Not by a single chain, but by three great chains can we link our Bible of to-day with the Apostolic Bible. ”

“ For if the authority of the Bible rests not on any external miracle, nor on any author's name, nor on any theory of its composition, nor on any pronouncement of any one body of men, but on its own compelling power to convince men that it came from God, then its foundations are safe enough, and the question how the Books grew or by whom they were written or edited or brought together into a Bible is a matter of literary interest in no way vital to the authority of Scripture. ”

“ If the Old Testament contains a Revelation from God, then the New Testament is not from God, for God cannot contradict himself: and it can be proved abundantly, that the New Testament is contradictory, and repugnant to the Old and to itself too. ”

“ The volume opens with a primitive version of the Psalms in verse, then follow the Old Testament, the Apocrypha and the New Testament, as in Bibles of the present day.
The version of the Scriptures now in use among Protestants was translated by the authority of King James I., and published in 1611. Fifty-four learned men were appointed to accomplish the work of revision, but from death or other causes seven of the number failed to enter upon it. The remaining forty-seven were ranged under six divisions, different portions of the Bible being assigned to each division. ”

“ All editions of the Bible, issued by non-Catholics, in ancient as well as in modern languages, are permitted to those and those only, who are engaged in serious theological or Biblical studies, provided, however, that the PROLEGOMENA and annotations do not of set purpose impugn the Catholic faith. ”

“ The Bible is a collection of books written at different periods of the world's history. These books profess to be records of the various manifestations and teachings of the Creator to mankind. It is claimed for them, that their authority is established by miracles and prophecy, with all the evidence that is possible, so far as we can conceive, and that there are no other books in the world having any such evidence of authorized revelations from God. ”

“ But, assuming without proof that the Scriptures are the sufficient and only rule of faith, they conclude, against undeniable facts, that the Bible is a plain book, and intelligible to the people, to even the unlearned, as it should be if intended by its divine Author to be the sufficient and only rule of faith. They find their conclusion untenable, and modify their statement, and say that their conclusion is true as to all things necessary to salvation. ”

“ The Scriptures are the only divinely authorized record of the doctrines which we are bound, as Christians, to accept, and of the moral principles which are to regulate our actions. No one can be required to believe, as an article of faith, any doctrine which is not contained in them; and whatsoever anyone says or does, contrary to the Scriptures, though under profession of the immediate guidance of the Holy Spirit, must be reckoned and accounted a mere delusion. To the Christian, the Old Testament comes with the solemn and repeated attestation of his Lord. ”

“ Throughout the Middle Ages and in the eyes of the Protestant reformers the two great divisions of the Bible continued to command equal respect and attention. From the Old Testament and its reflection in the teachings of Paul, Puritanism and the theology of the past three centuries derived most of that which revealed their strength as well as their weakness. From the law, the prophets, and the book of Proverbs they drew their stern spirit of justice, their zeal for righteousness, and their uncompromising condemnation of everything that seemed to them wrong. ”

“ To The Editor Of The “Advent Harbinger.” Sir:—After your repeated and unsuccessful attempts to stigmatize, put down, demolish, and forever abolish the TEN WORDS, the law and commandments of the living God, the only foundation for the bible, you come forth in the A. H. of Nov. 9th, and say “We are not under the law (of Moses,) but under (the law of) grace, the New Testament, and now all we want to know is, does the New Testament either by precept or example require us to keep any day as a SABBATH?... We do not want your inferences, but plain, direct New Testament testimony ”

“ Familiarity has mitigated the harshness of the revisers’ renderings; scholarship, on the whole, has confirmed their readings. The Version has been publicly read in parish churches both in London and in the country. In Canterbury cathedral and Westminster Abbey it has definitely displaced the older Version. Bishops have acquiesced and congregations approved. It is no longer possible to maintain the plausible and damaging contention that the Revised Bible is ill suited for public use. ”

“ The prophets and Apostles and Evangelists of either covenant reach out one to another; and lo, among them is seen the form of One like the Son of God.... How far it may be rational to reject the Bible, I will not now discuss: but it is demonstrable that a man cannot accept the Bible, and straightway propose to omit from it one jot or one tittle of its contents. As for abstracting from Scripture [237] the marvels of Scripture, it is precisely for the protection and preservation of them, as I have been shewing, that the most curious and abundant provision has been made. ”

“ We do not mean to say that every church has a separate Bible, though virtually it almost amounts to this, as each denies to all others that use of the Bible and construction of its doctrine and teachings which alone can insure salvation. But, in a broader sense, there are two hundred answers to the question, Where are we to find "the only scriptures given by inspiration of God"? The two hundred translators and four hundred commentators make out more than two hundred distinct systems of faith, and virtually more than two hundred Bibles. ”

“ Our object is not, however, to destroy faith in the Bible as the word of God, (a truth which, on Catholic grounds, is thoroughly demonstrable,) although it is worth while to reflect on the difficulties which surround the attempt to make it the sole teacher of divine revelation; but to call to mind how important, how absolutely necessary, it is, that the Bible which we read should be a true translation from a correct copy of the original inspired book. ”

“ The argument on which he chiefly relies is that the Bible cannot be considered necessary to a belief in Christianity, since Christianity was a living and conquering power before the New Testament in its present form was recognized by the church. ”

“ Now what books do we find, outside those of the New Testament, which we can be sure were so used by what we will call normal or Catholic Christians? The best evidence we can get, apart from definite statements by early writers (of which there are not many) , is that of our oldest manuscripts of the complete Bible, made for public use. One of these, the Codex Sinaiticus, of the fourth century, adds to our books the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas. ”

“ The Holy Bible, according to the Established Version: with the Exception of the Substitution of the Original Hebrew Names, in place of the English Words, Lord and God, and of a few corrections thereby rendered necessary. With Notes. London: Westley and Davis, 4to. It contains a Preface of four pages, and a list of the Meaning or Signification of the Sacred Names substituted in this edition, of nine pages. A copy of it is in the British Museum, the press mark 1276 h. ”

“ In truth, the writers of the New Testament know no distinction, as it respects divine authority, between one part of the Pentateuch and another. They receive the whole as an authentic and inspired record of God's dealings with men. A few examples, taken mostly from the book of Genesis, will set this in a clear light. ”