." - "Then Jesus went over all Galilee, teaching in the synagogues, and proclaiming the glad tidings of the reign." The common version reads: "In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying: repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." - "And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom." Where is the great improvement of those passages? "The reign of heaven approaches," and, "proclaiming the glad tidings of the reign." Really, sir, a bad speller might mistake the whole matter, and conclude that John the immerser was warning the people of an approaching storm; and that there had been a great drought [sic] in Galilee, and that Jesus was proclaiming to
them the glad tidings of refreshing showers shortly to fall. All this, I say, a bad speller might do, not knowning that r-e-i-g-n was one thing and r-a-i-n quite another.
The Savior, according to the common version, says: "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" This, as reformed by Mr. Campbell, reads thus: "What would it profit a man, if he should gain the whole world with the forfeit of his life?" Answer: A man possessing the religion of Christ Jesus, will not give it in ransom for his life. Many, very many, have suffered martyrdom, rather than deny their Lord. A man of true honor, of noble sentiments will meet death in its most
frightful shape, before he will submit to ignominy and disgrace. And every man, worthy of the name of a man, had rather die than be a slave. But these are but trifles. Is the Savior the only wise God - equal with, and alike entitled to the WORSHIP of his creatures, as the Father? We had been taught to think so from reading the old version; but the new gives another view of the subject. I cannot
find in the new version, where any man ever worshipped the Savior at all. If there is such an instance, I have overlooked it. 1 wish you to mark the difference in the following quotations from the old and the new versions. Those words in SMALL CAPITALS are all translated from one, and the same word of the original. Do not startle when you see them swelling out to an entire sentence; its only a case of emergency; they arc from the same one word:
OLD VERSION
Matthew, ii: 2. We have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Ibid. verse 8. When you have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.
Ibid. verse 11. They saw the young child with Mary, his mother, and fell down and worshipped him.
Matthew viii: 2. And behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.
Matthew ix. 18. While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came
a certain ruler and worshipped him, saying, my daughter is even now
dead.
Matthew xiv. 33. Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped
him, saying, of a truth, thou art the Son of God.
Matthew xv. 25. Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord help me.
Matthew xxviii. 9. And they came and held him by his feet, and worshipped him.
Ibid. verse 17. And when they saw him, they worshipped him.
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NEW VERSION
Matthew, ii: 2. We have seen his star in the east country, and are come TO DO him HOMAGE.
Ibid. verse 8. When you have found him bring me word, that I may also go and PAY him HOMAGE.
Ibid. verse 11. They found the child with Mary his mother, and prostrating themselves, DID him HOMAGE.
Matthew viii: 2. A leper came, who,
PRESENTING HIMSELF BEFORE him, said, sir, if you will, you can cleanse
me.
Matthew ix. 18. And while he was speaking, a ruler came, and PROSTRATING HLMSELF, said, my daughter is by this time dead.
Matthew xiv. 33. Then those in the bark came, and PROSTRATING
THEMSELVES BEFORE him, saying, you are assuredly the son of a god.
Matthew xv. 25. She nevertheless advanced, and PROSTRATING HERSELF BEFORE HIM, said, O Lord, help me.
Matthew xxviii. 9. Upon which, they PROSTRATED THEMSELVES BEFORE him, and embraced his feet.*
Ibid. verse 17. When they saw him, they THREW THEMSELVES BEFORE him.
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Thus have I followed h im through Matthew. Read these quotations carefully. Why render the same word at one time do homage; then, presenting himself before; and then, (Oh! tell it not in Gath!) threw themselves prostrate
before. This must be a word of as many significations as the chameleon [sic] has colors, and, according to Mr. Campbell, changes about as often. Why, in Matthew ii. 11, is it said, "prostrating themselves, did him homage?" The word he has translated in this place, did homage, is the word he has elsewhere, in the above quotations, translated, threw themselves prostrate before. It should, according to
his own analogy, have read, prostrating themselves, they threw themselves prostrate before him! But the "leper" only presented himself before the Savior. Why was it not, threw himself prostrate before him? - Only, I presume, because Mark represents him as kneeling. It would not have appeared so well for Matthew to say he threw himself prostrate before him, and Mark that he only kneeled.
Bat there is another remarkable thing in the quotations above, from the new version. The Lord's "disciples" in the bark, are represented as heathens. They were Jews - educated to worship the one only true and living God; they were disciples of the Savior, they
had heard him recognized by the voice of the Father from heaven, saying, this is my beloved son; they had seen disease flee at his word or his touch; they had seen him make devils let go their hold - the blind see - the deaf hear -
the dumb speak - the lame leap as a hart - the dead spring into life. And even upon an occasion similar to this, they saw him still the tumult of the deep with the authority of him who can say to the sea, "thus far shalt thou come and no farther, and here let thy proud waves be staid." Yet after all this, his disciples in the bark only "prostrated - themselves before him, saying, yon are assuredly the son of a god." Heathens would have done more - they could not have said less.
Mr. Campbell knows the value of terms. Homage is paid only to man; but "thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve." Read the old version, and the idea irresistably [sic] forces itself upon you, that Jesus Christ was acknowledged by his disciples to be God, and was worshipped as such. But
in how different a light is he presented in the new. There he is represented as a Russian autocrat or Turkish sultan, walking among servile minions, that fall prostrate before him from fear or slavish reverence. Viewed by the former, how amiable in the eyes of the Christian does he appear! But viewed by the latter, there is something revolting in the picture.
Now, sir, since you are a Reformer, and have read Mr. Campbell's writings, I must
presume you are acquainted with Greek. Tell me, then, why the word worship is not correct in all the quotations I have made from the old version. If yon will read the new version, and compare it with your Greek Testament, you would conclude that it was the work of two men, with ideas of things as opposite as the poles. Let us see for a moment the variety to be found in the new version. I shall call one the translation of Alexander, and the other of Campbell.
Alexander. - Mathew ii. 17: Prostrating themselves did him homage, (prosekunesan.)
Campbell. -Revelation vii. 11: They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped (prosekunesan) God.
Alexander. - Matthew ii. 2: We have seen his star in the East country, and are come to do him homage, (proskunsai.)
Campbell. - Revelation xix. 10: And fall before his feet to worship (proskunesai) him.
Alexander. - Matthew xxviii. 9: Upon which, they prostrated themselves before (prosekunesai) him, and embraced his feet.
Campbell. - Revelation xix. 4: The twenty-four elders, and the four living creatures, fell down and worshipped (prosekunesan)God.
Alexander. - Mathew xxviii. 17: They threw themselves prostrate before (prosekunesan) him.
Campbell. - Revelation xiii. 7: They worshipped (prosekunesan) the dragon; xx. 4: Who had not worshipped (prosekunesan) the beast, &c.
I might continue my quotations, but it is unnecessary. You will observe that I have
selected passages, translated differently, where the same word, literatim is used; so that those who are unacquainted with the conjugation of Greek verbs, may see with how good reason this blow at the root of the Savior's divinity is made. You see that men, with propriety, could be said to worship the dragon and the
beast, but to the Savior, the "mighty God and everlasting Father," they only pay homage, or fall prostrate before him. Mr. Campbell has, almost invariably, rendered the word in question, worship, except when used in reference to the Savior, and then it means any thing else. If it is, in truth, a word of such a multiplicity of meanings, surely there is some reason why it should not be worship
when referring to the Savior, and why it should in every other situation. Butler, I think, says of his hero:
He was in logic a great critic,
Profoundly skill'd in analytic:
He could distinguish and divide
A hair 'twixt south and southwest side;
On either which he would dispute.
Confute, change hands, and still confute.
It would require a logician as skillful as the personage above described, to give a better reason than the following, for translating the same word, worship, in every place except when used in relation to the Savior. Mr. Campbell does not believe that the Savior should be worshipped, and he translates on this subject, as he does generally, according to his creed.
Since your amalgamation with the Unitarians there has been a surprising revolution in your sentiments. You once thought the doctrine of the Trinity of great importance; but now, it is a matter of indifference - a mere phantom of untaught theology, more calculated to bewilder than to profit It is a vulgar proverb, "that birds of a feather flock together." You are Unitarians. It is in vain to deny it. You
are united; you fight under the same banner. Mr. Campbell, in his new translation, has done more to advance the views of those who deny the equality of the Father and the Son, than all the books that were ever written upon this subject. Those books contained but the arguments of men, but he has published the same views under the sacred sanction of the inspired word of God - of the "Living Oracles." How far the honesty of his intentions will excuse his gross perversions of holy writ, is reserved for the great day of accounts.
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* Mr. Campbell has transposed this sentence. It stands in the original as in the old version. He should have had it, “Upon which they embraced his [body ?] and threw themselves prostrate before him.
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[From the Tennessee Baptist, August 11, 1855; via a CD of microfilm copy. Transcribed and formatted by Jim Duvall.]
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