IV. Five Lectures embracing the Fundamental Points of Unitarian Christianity. By Richard Shaen, M. A. 1844. These Lectures are intended "for the people," and "aim to express, forcibly and concisely, the grand fundamental points in which all Christians can unite, and which form the basis of what is commonly styled Unitarianism.” They are carefully and instructively written, and are remarkably cheap. The author acknowledges an obligation to an Article in one of our Numbers, entitled, "The Five Points of Christianity." The subjects are, "The Bible: its nature and use among Christians; the Perfections of God; Christ the pure Image of the Eternal Father; Man: what he is, and what he may be; Man's spiritual Development his retribution and restoration." V. A Commentary on the Seventh Chapter of Daniel. By Elizabeth. London. 1844. We received this Commentary, accompanied by the following note : "The principle and the interpretation of the enclosed chapter have been privately admitted to the author as correct, by the Government, the Bishops, and the Clergy of all denominations, who have unitedly urged its publication. "Two-thirds of the first edition, published on the 5th instant, have already been affectionately received by members of the Government, the Bishops, and the Clergy and members of churches of every sect and party. The author has sought simply to give a correct interpretation of the mind of the Spirit, under the guidance of that Spirit, without regard to the opinions of sect or party; and as she is without the aid of human talent or learning, she pleads for the compassion of men of learning and talent, should they review the work.' "September 11th, 1844." The preface throws further light on the character of the work. "In the Spring of 1839, the author had interpreted, upon certain principles, most of the chapters in the Book of Daniel and in the Revelation of St. John. Finding them uniform in their revelation of the nature of Sin,' as being national idolatry, and also in perfect accordance with history, she, on the 8th of April, sent the said interpreted chapters in a box' to her own minister, with an earnest request to him to let no eye see them but his own.' After keeping the box'seven weeks,' (Dan. ix. 25,) he returned it and its contents-to use his own phrase-' in silence,' with an assurance that no eye had seen them but his own.' In 'six months,' however, the writer found, to her great sorrow, that he had betrayed the secret in her bosom,' of the prophecy concerning her kingdom of the One God and his Christ,' (Rev. xi. 15, 19,) to all his brethren.' From that time the Ministers of all denominations have been incessant in their petitions to her to publish the said chapters, and thereby save them from the sin' of continuing to preach doctrines which they no longer believe. At an unspeakable sacrifice of feeling, but with a firm reliance on the promised guidance of the Holy Spirit (Luke xxiv. 49, 50; John xiv. 16, 26), whose work it has been, without the aid of a human being (Rev. v. 4, 5; xxii. 4, 16), she has now yielded to the prayer ' of the servants of our God,' that His will may be done on earth, as it is done in heaven.' We take one passage from the Commentary as a speci men : "I brought him to thy disciples, and they could not cure him (the heir apparent's body) of the devil (of Paganism in their cure of souls). Elizabeth is the deliverer from Paganism, out of Zion (Chapel B******). She is sent with a perpetual covenant to the perpetual Curate of P*****, near London.”—P. 17. This is most melancholy. Has the lady no friends? VI. A Commentary on the Four Gospels. By A. A. Livermore. 1844. This is a Commentary by an American Divine, reprinted in this country by the Belfast Sunday School Society. For the purposes of that Society, it is well adapted, being rich in moral suggestions and reflections. For the purposes of a Commentary, it is too much in the sermon style, and is not free of the censure in the first line of the wellknown couplet : "Whilst Commentators each dark passage shun, MR. SHARPE ON SOME PASSAGES OF HIS TRANSLATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT. I thankfully make use of the permission you have granted me, to state in your pages the reasons which guided me in translating those passages of the New Testament which meet with your disapprobation in the two Reviews with which you have honoured my Translation. My plan of making the book of as low a price as possible, forbad my adding notes to explain my reasons for the several alterations, and therefore I am the more glad to be allowed to do so in regard to the few passages which you criticize. As I am more desirous of profiting by the opinions of others than of defending my own, and, instead of regretting your censures, could wish that I had the benefit of your criticisms on some more important passages, as well as on some of those which are rather a matter of taste, I simply quote the Texts and add my reasons with a Valeant quantum. Matt. ix. 23. "And when Jesus came into the ruler's house and saw the pipers, and the crowd making a noise, he saith unto them; Leave the place." Here some may prefer with the Received Version the word minstrels, as having more pathos and sentiment. Had I thought that the word pipers was a ludicrous word, I should have the same preference, but not thinking so, I thought it by no means useless to put the English reader in possession of the whole information that the Greek conveys; as I believe that there are many passages in which a greater attention to the mere manners and customs of the Jews whom our Lord and his apostles addressed would correct theological error. In this case the information gained by exactness may be unimportant, but a translator should be slow in so deciding. If error is to be expelled by a greater exactness in the translation, every word must receive the same alteration. Matt. v. 15. "Neither do men light a lamp and put it under the bushel, but on the lampstand." Here, with the Received Version, some would read a bushel, though in the Greek we have the same definite article as before the word lampstand. The passage is a good one for explaining one cause of the difficulty we find in the use of the Greek article. We help our ignorance by indefinite expressions. Had the speaker mentioned an article of furniture which we were acquainted with, as the meal-tub, or the bread-basket, we should be no more troubled by the definite expression than we are by the lampstand. To avoid the harshness, is to conceal the difficulty; it is concealing our ignorance of the word bushel by an indefinite expression. The same remark might be made to twenty passages in the Received Version. This instance of the bushel is certainly very unimportant, but it serves to introduce others. Thus : Luke vii. 5. "He loveth our nation, and built us the synagogue." Here, where the Greek expressly says the synagogue, the Received Version alters it into a synagogue. Whereas, if instead of in Capernaum, it had been said in a village in England, "He built us the church," every body would at once understand "the parish church," and would feel no need of making it indefinite. Again; 2 Tim. iv. 4. " And they will turn away their ears from the truth, and will be turned towards the Fables." Here there may be a doubt whether these fables were Jewish, or Pagan; probably the latter; but our not knowing is no good reason for altering it into fables. As the truth here spoken of meant Christianity, the fables may have meant Paganism. In the same way the mountain, near the lake of Galilee, on which so many interesting scenes of the Saviour's life took place, is very improperly altered into a mountain; and the boat, which Jesus from time to time entered on the same lake, is improperly altered into a boat, or ship, though we almost identify it as that which belonged to the sons of Zebedee. I repeat that we must not allow our ignorance of the circumstances to make us alter the definite expressions into indefinite. Acts xvii. 31. "Because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he hath ordained." Here in the Greek there is no article, and surely to follow the Received Version in writing the man is to depart from exactness in forgetfulness of the lapse of eighteen centuries. We are now fortunately so familiar with the man whom God ordained to be the bearer of his Good Tidings, that we might forget that Paul used these words in speaking to the Athenians, who had never heard the name of Jesus, and who laughed at the resurrection. How could he better introduce the subject for the first time, than by speaking of a man whom God set apart? There certainly are words and phrases in all languages before which the definite article is swept from very frequency of use; as we say God, not the God, like the Greeks; and as passages of the Old Testament are quoted in the New; as "Queen of the south," Matt. xii. 42, may properly be rendered "The Queen of the south." But that was not the case with the name of Jesus in the ears of the Athenians. Translators have gained familiarity with the man, while they have less familiarity with the synagogue, (at Capernaum,) and the mountain, (near the lake of Galilee,) and would then take the liberty to alter the translation accordingly. As to the passages in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in which our Lord is called a son of God, the question about the use of the article is even still more important; but I do not hesitate to assert, that the literal translation gives the writers' real meaning. Let us remark, first, that Jesus is also often called the Son of Man; and here the article is never omitted. Had it been omitted in this latter case, there would be good reason for inserting it, because we see that this was a well-known title, taken out of the Old Testament, and applied to one single person; and hence, by frequency of use, the article might, in a Jewish mouth, have been held unnecessary, as in the Greek of the New Testament Judgment-day means the day of Judgment, and the Christ was, after a time, called Christ. But besides the want of any passage in the Old Testament which makes it probable that the disciples were looking for a prophet under the name of the Son of God, one quotation from the New Testament is enough to prove the contrary. In the Sermon on the Mount our Lord says, "Blessed are the peace-makers, for they will be called sons of God." It was not at that time a title applied to Jesus, or any one person. |