4 JUNE 1942, Page 12

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A NEW TABLE OF LESSONS sm,—May a fairly regular reader of lessons in church, though one with no claim to Biblical scholarship, venture on a comment on Lord Cecil's interesting suggestion? In the Old Testament the Revised Version seems to combine beauty with accuracy and is a delight to read: in the New, it gives the impression of providing accuracy at the expense of beauty and stumbling-blocks to the reader in the form of disturbing changes to familiar phrases. The compilers of the additions and devia- tions proposed in 1928 to the Book of Common Prayer have very skil- fully amended the Authorised Version in the Epistles and Gospels by here and there substituting a word or two from the R.V. where really necessary, e.g., " things that are lowly " for " men of low estate " (Rom. is, 16), "counted it not a prize to be on an equality " for " thought it not robbery to be equal" (Phil. 2, 6), "flock " for " fold " (St. John to, 16), " seat " or " place " for "room" (St. Luke 14, 7 et seq.), or by omissions, e.g., I John 5, 7).

Would not Lord Cecil's object be met by adopting R.V. or O.T. Lessons, and A.V., with a comparatively small number of such amend- ments for the New Testament, with, of course, the R.V. arrangement in paragraphs, which is a great help to the reader?—Yours faithfully,