ihr ,lourrican -?roblirri
eir
New Series,Von • -w •
--, _ 26a. • 6t;
Strictly in Advance $2.50, Otherwise $3.
Postage 20cts, to be paid where delivered. j
grintritan Ertzbijttrialt.
THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1869
THE INNERSIONIST VERSION;*
It is a singular and intense instance of bigotry,
when it leads •men to dee;rY their own historic de
nominational title, as not sufficiently distinctiie.
And it is a strange piece of inconsistency and
self-condemnation, for men to retain a t f erra in
their denominational name, Which they 'have
speat r tlfteen years, and, it is said a million• of
dollars, in hunting down and effacing from every
part of the Scriptures. We have not heard of
any new sect of " Immersers." We , believe •Dr.
ffi
Conant and the other ocersof the so.called, and
falsely called, " American Ilible;Union," consider
themselves correctly named Baptists. And yet
they are banded together in a life-effort to blot
out of the Scripturei, every vestige of that word,
and to put the Anglicized "Latin term. " immerse,"
in place of the Anglicized Greek word Baptized.
- As our readers are doubtless aware, this Bible
Union has translated and sent out a New Testa
ment, of which many editions' hive been printed
—the one before us, edition of 1866, claims to be
of the thirty-fifth thousand—in which the ori
ginal wo - ..d for baptize and its derivatives, are, in
every possible instance, replaced by;" immerse"
and its derivatives. John. the Baptist is.• John
the Immerser." The people, Christ, came to the
Jordan to be " immersed "hy him. He promises
to "immerse" them with water, but He that
cometh after _Film, will"immerse" them, with
fire. The Pharisees in Mark 7 : 4, hold to. the
" immersion " of pots, cups, brazen vessels and
couches. Coming from the market, 'except they
"immerse" themselves, they do not eat. The
Pharisee, Luke 11; 38, wondered that Jesirs did
not first "immerse" Himself before dinner. The
fathers, 1 Cor. 10 : were a 1 1, ." immersed" unto
Moses in the cloud and in tha sea. In one or
two instances, the courage of the translators has
not been equal to the task they had set before
them. They cannot bring themselves to use the
word immerse, where it would
h e so very awk
ward as even to offend their own ears,but sooner
than use in such oases the, word baptize, when
every consideration in rhetprio, in exegesis, and
in truth calls for it, they shirk the duty of trans
lating, and give us a paraphrase instead. We
refer to the passages, Luke 12 : 50, and Mark
10 : 38; the first of which, rendered in the En
glish version forcibly and accurately : "I have a
baptism to be baptized with," they belittle and
mutilate into : "I have an immersion to under
go ;" the second of which, "Can ye be baptized
with the baptism that I am baptized with," they,
not venturing to make ridiculous by translating,
Can ye be immersed with the immersion' with
which I am immersed, deliberately and disingen
uously, not to say scandalously, misrepresent, by
rendering : " Can ye undergo the immersion
which I undergo ?" simply for the sake of avoid
ing the odious and tabooed word, baptize. Else
why should they not alter the , language in the
similar instance of verbal fullness, Rev. 14: 2,
and say, Harpere.playing on their - instruments,
instead of following the received version,* they
do, saying: "Harpers harping with theirharps"?
Change in ono case isjust as needful as in the other.
No! the reason and spirit of the whole thing is,
made plain in those tery,passages. ,They ire so
bitterly averse to the use , of a term which does'
not involve their' exclusive notion and preach
their shibboleth, that they will venture rather to
tamper with the inspired form of statement, than
to let it appear. Professing to be Scriptural par .
excellence, they deliberately suppress Scripture in
their unnatural zeal.
The pamphlets to which we have directed the
readers' attention, by no means ignore the claim
of this " American Bible Union ".to higher and
broader motives, and greater achievements, • than
the promotion of denominational ends, or rather
the ends of a clique or a faction. It is repre
sented by the Union, that the substitution of
"immerse " for baptize, is only one or number
less instancesof improvement, and that the Union
has given to Christendona the much needed and
invaluable boon of a New and Improved English
Version of the New Testament. It is true, that
some very excellent Biblical scholars, as Hackett
and Conant hiruself, , have been employed upon
the work, and that to some exceedingly limited
extent, different denominations, have also been
engaged in it. It is" true, that Dr. Sohaf, in the
* BAPTISM vs. llllMETisiorr,.—A geview of the New
Testament of the Immersionists, by George B. Jewett.
Published by request of the Essex South Association..
2d Edition. Pp. 38, Price 30 cents.
A LETTER TO THE AmEILIA)AN Biel)/ UNION in an
swer to a recent pamphlet, entitled ‘Essex South
Association and the Revised Testament:?' covering
also Rev. Dr. Conant's Letter to the Examiner and
Chronicle, Dee. a, 1868. By the same. , 64 pages.
Prioe 50 cents.
critical part of his version of Lange on Matthew
refers quite frequently to Dr. Conant's opinions
upon the Greek text; but it is equally true, that
the Christian world of England and America are
too wise to be caught by the chaff of. such pre
tenses. The new version of the . Bible Union may,
pass as a Baptist or Immersion*, pamphlet, with
out derogating from any one's honesty; but as a
new and improved Etiglish versien, it is—not to
put too fine a point on it—a humbug; and One
of the greatest that Protestantism his ever pro
duced.
Poor Catholicianay be taken in by tho impos
ture of the mass and the miracleS of St.,4-anua
rius, but not a handful of Protestants will be de-:
luded into acceit:lng an openly sectarian version
of the New Testament as 'a Substitute for that
version, which is one of the, brightest jewels of
English literature, and the venerable andpre
cious associations of which they share With - all
the vast , family, of Christians who bear the Eng
lish name. This petty clique -'of immersionists
are, but holdinc , a candle to the sun and offering
it to Christendom, instead of clapping it under
its own denominational bushel, where it , just
about fit to be.
But Dir. .Te.wett in his two pamphle'te, carries
the war into Africa ! and shoive, by an accumula
tion of initannes, which would be tedioni if
not done in the iuterest_, of, truth, that the Eng
lish of- the new version, is varied from-the re
ceived , version and modernized uccordig.to no
settled, principles, the old forma :being retained
or not, apparently only by caprice • that the new
renderings are freßnently unintelligible, as where
penny is substituted by a denary;" that "from
hence" and similar . pleonasms. occur ; that the
,
English tenses, and moods, and particles of ,tine
are used with inelegance, r and inaccuracy; as:
"Jesus said to those Jews who haiebelieved on
Him," "In those days comes ,John 'the Inimer-'
ser." "Notthat I already attained!' He ShOws
that the translation is open to the gravest critici,srn
in factheing in.his own unreserved language : a
disgrac * Oie the scholarship. of The day—a gross
affront to the intelligence, liberality and
Chris
tian learning of the Church." The renderings,
are often needlessly'ambiguous; as: Luke 3, 23,'
" And Jesus was, when he began, about thirty
years of age;" 9, 39, " And it [a spirit] tears
him with foaming." 1 John 5;.19, " The whole
world is lying in the, evil one." The Greek is
followed in a school-boy's servile fashion; as, Matt.
19, 20: All these I kept; what lack I yet
Mark 14, 30 : And Jesus says to him, Verily I
say to thee, that thou this day, in this night, be
fore a cock crows twice, will thrice deny me.
Rev. 8, 5 : "And the angel has taken the censer
and he filled it out of the fire of the altar, and
cast it into the earth." John 6, 37: " Him that
comes to me I will not [instead of " in no wise"]
cast out." Here the translation of one of the
most precious and effective passages in the whole
Word of God is drained of its force by an actual
failure in literalness, the original plainly demand
ing the translation given in our Version. (See
Robinson's Leg.) Infelicitous is also the ren
dering of Acts 4, 16: " A notorious miracle," in
stead of ' a ncitable miracle, as in the received
version.
Nor can the plea avail, that fidelity to the orig
nal compels such a sacrifice of - English idiom,
for in many parallel cases, without perceptible rea
son, the translators , have, deviated . ad libitum from
the Greek. In Mark 41-43, four' different
tenses, of, the verb for " east," are rendered by
the same tense. in English, without variation.
They deny themselves of, or they take, the liber
ties of, translators ; they . are servilely literal, or
unconscionably lax., with a marvellous inconsis
tency. And the accusation of downright incor
,rectness made by Mr.:Jewett, is in many instan
,ces clearly sustained, although it must be admit
ted that in others, the decision cannot be dogmat
ically pronounced. But the great lack of eon-
Aipteney in their renderings, except where their
i dgling, tenet is involved, must go far to prove
that their paramount aim, steadily adhered to,
was not , to produce a better English version, but
under the cover of such a professed aim, and
with sufficient scholarship to give it currency, to
smuggle into the Christian Church a pitiful sec
tarian pamphlet; to venture even to degrade the
word of God to the base service of partizanship;
to make it a gospel, not of a doctrine, nor of a
sacrament, nor of a ceremony, but of an interest
so infinitesimal,as the precise mode of perform
ing a ceremony,—a mere Strand upon the outer
most husk of Christianity.
We can only say, in conclusion, that the Chris
tian public is deeply indebted to Mr. Jewett
whosenumerous citations we have searcely,more
than alluded to,—for the industry and• ability
which , he has shown in, exposing ;the character of
this enterprise, and which, have compelled Dr.
Couant,. in, spite of his declared contempt for the
PHILADELPHIA, THURSDAY, MAY 13, 1869.
pamphlet and its author, to come forward and at
tempt a reply. - We do not think the laurels of
the conflict have been carried off by the.veteran.
THE CHURCH AND PUBLIC EDUCATION.
". The hope, of the • republic is the education of
the people." This sounds well in a stump
speech or , a fourth of July oration. Butis it all
sound ? or dome, the American people, toelieve it
is true We have, been used .to talk akont the
general intelligence . of our country. , edu
cation of what we are, pleased to call the '`masses,".
has been a theme of gratulation. But it is ques
tionable•and
whether we see clearly how radical an
sianificant is this matter of public or popular
education. We have been. quite too willing to
trust, to systems and public .authorities . .for the
training of the children, without respect to - the
ehareeter or,qaalityof i it ,The perpetn4y, and
progresspf.a.government, like .ours, cle'llend, in
great measure, .on a :Protcatu i nt e ducation;, Rome
has always been, and now more than ever is . the
foep i liberty t and ‘hence ,to
~ popular education.
Says .Michel4t, ." Rome, loves ,
.liberty so
~much,
that in a holy seal,forit, they .. want to hmin by
stifling, it,inr the highest, places ~of instrnetionrl
There.pan be..no questiOu,;that in every., opuptry
where Rotnanism: is dominant,
,:the millions are
grossly, ignorant, p,n4 liberty is but a Aar,: And
Protestant , CAristtauspuglit, by. this tiers to un
derstand, that civilization and education., of the
higher type , are to, prevail in this or any other
land, it must be undcr,the,influenee of kr 9 test-
Aq t. Christianity—the religion of -the Christian
Church. ,The early-settlers . of this country, un
dersOld,„thia; ,and they laid the foundations
broad, and;.deep for,: the, religions ~cultups and.
Christian ,education of, the people. But in the
',rush and
,hurry,, the , strife for place, and the
insatiate, greed gain in • these later, fifties, the
Churph.,is in . danger qf forgetting the.
Important part she is to, act. - -
The. American Protestant idea of the ghureh
is, pot fthat the State is„„to: Patronize ,an ,'\ take
care of it, b„nte that tke church' is to. rniEiktor to'
t)aisk,,weifaro.of the Slop. .Christian .petage are
to study the, highest interests of. the nation, nd
withithe most generous : .views 'of public justice,
they are to secure the -greatest, good of the great
est number. There is 'nothing selfish, clannish
•
iior covert in the•religionef the :gospel., ,"This'
thing was not done in, a corner."., Government
that is worthy of the name, has no, reason to fear
it. The State can trust it. The Protestant
Church has always been, the friend of intelligence,
law and free gov,ernment.
,t ,
Our own record as a denomination, in all these
respects, has been very clear and worthy. We
have always been' among the foremost in every
effort to popularize education. And,-never, in
the history.of our, country, ha.s, there been so
wide a, field nor so loud, a call for us to show our
true spirit as rimy.' Are ; .our . people,fuily awake
to this fact r Millions have been- •brought to our
doors in a day,and demand of us the means' of
popular, instruction and Christian training. We
are not so ..much in danger, of neglecting the
colleges and _higher institutions of learning, as
we are of forgetting the vast., work of primary
education. Here the thousands, yea millions,
get their first--their only principles of instruc
tion.
They, pass from the public school to the work
shop, the counting-house,.andthe : various avoca
tions of active life. Are our Christian people,
our churches, watchful of the progress of this
mighty power operative daily in our public
schools? , How few of our ministers and educa
ted members of our, churches have any practical
interest in the free schools of our cities and pop
ulous towns ! How rarely, ski we hear, anything
of this subject from the pulpit! How few of
our people are ever inerested enough to visit
these numerous, stately buildings, dedicated to
the work of educating the future generations!
How, too frequently, is this whole businesss left
by default to fall into the hands of ignorant and
scheming politicians! There are,,in this single
, city, over one hundred and fifty thousand chil
dren, between the ages of six, and eighteen years,
attending the public,: schools, while the whole
number in private and
,denominational schools is
less thsn twenty-five thousand ! Is it difficult
to see where the voting power of the city, and so
of the nation, is being, educated ? And who, if
not the Christian Church, holding the„free and
generous principles of a 'Protestant Christianity,
should be interested in this vital matter of pri
mary popular education Is it .not high time to
awake, out of our long sleep I',
,While the jesuiti-,
cal ingenuity of
, papacy is intent upon gaining
possession of every element orpower in popular
instruction, is•it not a fatal mistake
educate
neg
lect our Christian commission to educate the
multitude in the direction of the gogpel and free
republican government ? It is not long since,
by the wise forecast. and prompt action of one of
our own ministers in a neighboring , city, the
machinations of papist priests to get possession
of the school funds, were defeated. Let every
Christian minister showa like wisdom. And let
the Church see to it, that the cause of public
education have a full share'of her interest. Visit
the schools; stand fast by those who have the
iminediate Management of them. Watch every
movement that has to do with the system. En
courage' the most liberal policy of popular 'in
struction, and in this way will the Protestant
Chriitian Church Make itself felt for good
throughout the nation: G. F. W.
THE LATE NATIONAL SABBATH' SCHOOL
CONVENTION.
It.aeerne , difficult for those not present at this
great gathering in Newark,? two 'weeks ago; to
enter into:the sacred:enthusiasm of the partici-
pants: The universal report is that even in this
age of Conventions it: Was pre,eminently delight
ful and successful. The picked • men, the elite
of:a body of Christian Workers, who are them
selves the ehoice spirits of the Christian brother
hood,,were there, :exalted by a consciousness of
the .nebleriess'and usefulness of their calling, by
the Multiplied evidence of its advancement, and
by,the, glow , of , Christian sympathy which per
vaded the entire body. Many distinguished
men were, present, not • however., including; as
was hoped would be the case, Vice •President
Colfax, (whose 'absence was apologized for in an
admirable 'letter) but such. men
. ;; as Senator
Frelinghuysen of New Jersey, George _H.. Stuart
of this city,:who ;presided in his wonted busi
ness-libe,' sittisfactory, manner; and who was
called away for a season by President Grant, to
.counsel with him arid. others, on Indian. affairs ;
Judge Otilveri :Ralph 'Wells, the. two, Tyngs,
Rev. John , .Hall, D.A., Henry Ward. Beecher,
the , blind H. Thane _Miller and a host of ,others.
Of Southerti, States, North , Carolina, Florida,
Texas, Kentucky; Were represented,, and there
were, delegates from Canada, England, Scotland,
and even Egypt and South Africa.
There , was much:admirable speaking of a
kind to, warm; stimulate, Cheer ,and instruct the
.delegates. ,This, of• itself, would probably be
!worth all the trouble and expense of the gather
ing. But in the, ten years that have , elapsed
,since the; Convention met' in Jayne's 'Hall, in
this city, great progress has been made both in
the methods! and spirit of the Sunday-school
enterprise. Hence„ closer .attention was given
to the details of the work; and the Convention
divided" itself into six sections, after the Man
;ler of Scientific associations, to each one of
which some branch of the subject was 'allotted.
.
The results of the whole were afterwards embodied
in resolutions, reported to, and passed by the en
tire body. This; . excellept arrangement ' both
showed and will secure great advance in the
work of Sabbath-school instruction. It seems,
iiiaCed; a thing not unlikely, that a complete s s
tem of lay eduoation in Bible knowledge will
grow out of the present Sunday-school move
inent, a result which is to be devoutly wished.
Never were teachers of secular branches so de
voted to their work, so keen for improving their
methods, so constrained and quickened by'high
spiritual motives as the Sabhath-schoOl teachers
of our day.
As the proceedings have been phono,graphi
cally reported, and will soon be published by
Messrs. J. C. GARRIGUES and Co., 608 Arch St.,
it is needlesi to attempt here anything further in
this respect. Persons desirous of securing copies
- sh'ould' make 'early appli'cation;' addressing the
office of the Sunday School tintes. We will at
present say nothing mire, except to suggest an
inquiry why the honored National Institution,
the AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, has
had apparently no connection whatever with a
Convention, whose objects are identical with its
own high and Catholic aims and work ?
SUNDAY IN POLITICS;
A odrrespondent of the N: Ti-ibune, who
thinks the Republican party in danger, advises
them, as a measure of policy, to giver the Ger
mans of the irreligidus class free lag'er on . Sun
day. To'which the' , Tribuite answers, after con
trasting the inherited traditions and , customs of
America and Germany about Sunday observance,
as follows :
" Now it seems tows-and we mean to be very
moderate and guarded in our statement—that
our Teutonic friebds ought .not to hurry us.
They ought to consider how they would be apt
to deal with,a like demand if they were living at
home in 'GerMany, and we had recently migrated
thither, and' were demanding that they 'should
alter their immemorial-lit*s into conformity with
our , convictions. Will they be so good as to
Genesee Evangelist, No. 1199.
I Home & Foreign Miss. $2.00.
Address :-1334 Chestnut Street
look at the matter in this light? Are we utter
ing the, dictates of bigotry ? of fanaticism ? or
those of philosophy and common sense ? Do let
us be reasonable all 'round I
"We protest against our correspondent's as
sumption that the Germans are precluded from
drinking their lager on Sunday. We know bet
ter; and, if he does not, he may easily learn.
We venture to assert that they have averaged
six glasses each per 'Sunday ever since they
landed on our shores. - There is no law here
that forbids their drinking themselves full up to
the chin on Sunday or any other day. Our laws
do forbid- the sale, and exposure for sale, of
lager on Sunday, as of almost everything else.
Their general idea is. that we should do our
trading, like our work, on the other six days of
the week, and only the most indispensable mini
mum of either on the day regarded by most of
us as the Christian. Sabbath. Perhaps this is all
wrong,.and Sunday ought to' be a day of labor
and traffic just like any other day. Convince us
of this, if you can ; we are open to reason ; but
don% undertake to bully us..
" In our judgment, a large majority of the
people of this State - are satisfied with our laws
respecting. Sunday,.believing that there is quite
as much drinking and dancing, fishing and hunt
ing, fiddling and frolic, on that day as is good
for us,,or as a reasonable man could ask for. If
those laws are now upset, it. will - be because the
few bully the many out of adherence to their
convictions of what is proper and beneficent, by
threatening to vote the Democratic ticket. We
don't truckle to this sort of dictation."
THE VOTE . ON REUNION—WHAT NEXT?
Revising our list of last week, we find that
Minnesota Presbytery should be classed with
those voting , for the Committee's amendments;
while lowa City, by a recent vote, changed from
the unamended to the amended Basis, expressing
readiness for any plan the Assembly may adopt.
On the , same' platform with lowa City are Grand
River, Ohio, and Otsego New York, Presbyte
ries. So also may be reckoned Knox, 111., and
Watertown, N. Y., although. their preference is
distinctly
,stated for the Basis of 1868. N.
Missouri prefers the amended. Basis, but gives
some discretionary powers. Alton, 111., took no
new action, but was ready last fall for union on
the Standards.
On the other hand, the Presbyteries of Athens,
0.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Saginaw and Washtenaw,
Mich.; Cedar• Rapids, Iowa; Kansas, Dacotah,
and San - Francisco voted for. the amended Basis.
Nevada. (formed from Sierra Nevada and
Washoe) voted for the Basis unameuded last
fall. 'Washtenaw calls for the repeal of the Ex
chiding acts.
Thirty-two Presbyteries, so far as heard from,
show more or less ; willingness for union without
a specific understanding; and sixty-four have
voted for express terms, all but lour or five
adopting the Basis as amended by the Committee.
Zealous reunion men are now planning for a
new Basis to be adopted by the coming Assem
blies and - to be sent down to the Presbyteries
with a request that. they call special meetings for
immediate action upon it; it being part of the
plan that the Assemblies adjourn to meet in the
First church in'this; city, next October, there to
consummate the work. •If the principles em
bodied in the Reunion Basis of 1868 as amended
by our , Committee and assented to by the late
Pittsburg Circular, can be secured, our Church
is, ready for union to-morrow. • Let us have a
sound reunion without delay, but no marrying in
haste to, repent at leisure.
THE PACIFIC RAIL ROAD.
The union of the Eastern and Western por
tions of this road at a central point near Salt
Lake, City, was announced on Monday, May 10th.
We believe that the day will be memorable in
all the annals of time, as marking another stride
.towards a commanding position of our own
_among the civilized nations of the earth. Such
will be its influence upon commerce and upon
national life, that' we may well , pray for a pecu
liar blessing upon the wonderful 'triumph of en
terprise, capital and skill. The wild enthusiasm
with which the event has been celebrated in Cal
ifornia, is an intimation of one of the main utili
ties of the Pacific rail road, , the strengthening
of the bond of union between remote sections of
our vast country. • We - have taken it more calm
ly on this side of the continent, but the result
at such an early, day—nearly two months earlier
than was predicted by the most sanguine a year
ago—years'earlierthan was expected long after
the work had been fairly started—the result we
say, fills us with admiration, amazement and joy.
.Let us do our part towards making it a highway
for our God.
Newcastle, ; Pa.—Rev. Wm. T. Wylie in a bu
siness note to this office, mentions that he has
" just closed with our communion a series of
schopl-hpuse meetings, by which twenty-six were
added to our own church and, nine- to other.-
branches."