TRANSLATING THE BIBLE
was very interested by the letters of Canon Ellison and Sir Howard Kelly on the subject of Monsignor Ronald Knox's version of the Bible. While I agree with many of the things they write, I feel they are both approaching the matter from a, position divorced from the modern situation, in which the Bible is to a lamentably large number of people a closed book. In view of this, I feel that three factors must be borne constantly in mind. The archaic language of the A.V., despite its beauty and majesty, is a stumbling block to the modern generation, who, for a variety of reasons, will not even take the trouble to enquire if such language has a meaning. Indeed, even for many reasonably educated laymen, the A.V. seems to have many difficulties and problems which we ecclesiastics seem either to overlook or of which we seem to be totally unaware. There are many, also, to whom the old-fashioned language of the Bible suggests that religion itself is out of date. Thus we are faced today with a formidable barrier to the spreading of the Christian Gospel.
This leads to my second point, which is also linguistic. The modern idiom is avowedly different from that of the A.V., and something more than a "modest revision" is needed to bring the Bible as a living back to modern youth. We may rightly deplore the aridity of our language as it is " perpetrated " by the younger generation, but that is to evade the real issue. Language lives by its current usage, and what we may lose in beauty and grandeur by a modern version, we may gain in intelligibility, which surely ought to be our prime concern.
Finally, this raises the question of the function of the Bible. This I conceive briefly to be the revelation of God, in and through Jesus Christ, to man. A closed or incomprehensible book can never be a revelation. Let us seek therefore to bring the Bible plainly to everyone. Let us have our modern versions in the living idiom of today, so long as the version is competently translated in the light of the latest established research and with the aid of the best possible MSS. The task is difficult, but let it be supported by our prayers for the guidance by the Holy Spirit of those engaged on it. We have too much to lose by remaining where we are. We have a world to gain by making Christ known.— Yours faithfully, A. W. MCCLELLAN. St. David's Manse, Windygates, Fife.
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