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INTRODUCTION

THE MODERN READER'S BIBLE is not a new translation. It is the ordinary Bible (revised version), without alteration as to matter or wording, but printed in such a way as to bring out to the eye the full literary form and structure. This literary form and structure refers to such things as the difference between story, song, drama, discourse, essay; the distinction between verse and prose, together with the delicate variations of verse which make such a large part of the effect of poetry. The importance of all this in application to the Bible depends upon a difference between modern books and the manuscripts of antiquity in which for so many centuries the Bible was preserved.

The page of a printed book brings out to the eye the literary form so perfectly and so automatically that the reader never needs to think about it. It affects him unconsciously, like the attraction of gravitation. In contrast with this, ancient manuscripts were entirely lacking in form. A page of such a manuscript presents to the eye a mass of alphabetical letters not divided into words, still less into sentences with punctuation. There is nothing to indicate dialogue, with names of speakers; there is no distinction of prose and verse, and so nothing to mark the variations of lines in verse. A passage from such a manuscript would present an appearance something like this:

EPHRAIMSHALLSAYWHATH

AVEITODOANYMOREWITHI

DOLSIHAVEANSWEREDAND

WILLREGARDHIMIAMLIKE

AGREENFIRTREEFROMMEI

STHYFRUITFOUND

The same passage in a modern book would appear as a dialogue between two speakers.

Ephraim. What have I to do any more with idols?
God. I have answered, and will regard him.
Ephraim. I am like a green fir tree —

God. From me is thy fruit found.

In manuscript of this kind all forms of literature-story, song, dialogue, history-would look exactly alike. It is a succession of editors who have drawn from such formless manuscripts the distinctions of literary structure which appear in a modern book.

Now, all manuscripts in all languages earlier than the Christian era were written in this way. But a difference is found between the literature we call the Bible and other ancient literature. The manuscripts of Greek literature (for example) were preserved in the hands of literary men, who from their interest in literature were able to make out the form of what they read. Accordingly, when the gradual advance in the art of writing enabled the page to reflect the structure, these editors gave to their Greek literature its proper form: they presented Homer as an epic poem in hexameter lines, Sophocles as dramas in blank verse and choral poetry, Herodotus or Plato in prose. But the Bible, all this while, was in custody of men who had no interest in literary matters. They were commentators, and their use for the Bible was to make long commentaries on each single clause. When the advance in the art of writing reached these commentators, the form they gave to the Bible was that of texts for comment; these texts were numbered for convenience of reference, and divided into chapters. In this mechanical form of numbered chapters and verses the Bible reached our translators, and by them was transmitted to the versions of the Bible commonly used today. Thus ordinary Bibles are an unconscious misrepresentation of the real Bible; they do not give the true literary form, but quite another form

mechanically numbered chapters and verses, alien to the spirit of Biblical literature, and the creation of medieval commentators. The Modern Reader's Bible is founded upon an investigation of the forms of literature found in Scripture, which differ often from those of other languages. Each portion of Scripture is printed in what appears to be its proper structure. And this is of high importance to readers; for correct form and structure is

as essential as correct grammar for arriving at the meaning and spirit of any literature.1

The present work is THE MODERN Reader's BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS. The term "Schools" covers a variety of readers, from classes of young people to students at a university, not to speak of readers outside educational institutions who may be Bible students. It is for the particular teacher, or director of study, to adapt the kind of study to the particular class of readers; but all alike need a Bible in correct literary form. The adaptation of THE MODERN READER'S BIBLE for such educational use sums up under three heads. 1. Large portions of the full Bible are made up of what, in a modern book, would take the form of appendices and footnotes. What we have here is documents containing legal and statistical information. This is of value for scholars, but for the general reader it is an interruption to the continuity of Scripture. All this is here omitted. 2. Even important parts of Scripture may gain by the right kind of abridgment, minor passages being omitted to make the main drift stand out clear. Sometimes such abridgment takes the form of condensation. To know the Bible it is not enough to be familiar with particular passages; the student ought to have an adequate idea of each particular book of the Bible as an independent literary work. For such a purpose, in certain cases, a whole book is condensed by the editor in his own language, in order to make its substance and purpose clear; this condensation is supported by leading passages of the book in the actual words of Scripture itself. 3. It is important that in no case should there be any modification or alteration of the grand language of the Bible: the language of Scripture can be altered only by omissions. Difference of type distinguishes the Bible itself from such things as introductions or condensations. And what appears as the Bible itself is presented in its full literary form and structure.

The present volume contains that portion of the Bible called THE NEW TESTAMENT. The Old Testament, with the Books of Wisdom, will appear hereafter.

The movement of which Jesus Christ is the head and center

1 A fuller discussion of this subject will be found in the Appendix to the Author's work, The Bible at a Single View (Macmillan).

has revolutionized the world, and laid the foundation of modern religion and life. To return to what the world was before the appearance of Jesus Christ is as impossible as to put back the clock of time. Thus one who reads the New Testament is watching the birth of the modern world. This might, no doubt, be discussed by the historian: but the New Testament is literature, and here the revolution of the world is speaking to us with its own voice. Such appeal of the New Testament to the modern mind is enhanced by the comparatively brief compass in which this literature is comprised. It is not as if it were necessary to study some embodiment of twenty centuries of religious history. The work of Jesus and his Apostles covers only about a century: with this the world revolution was accomplished in part, and what followed through the centuries was simply the application of it to various nations or periods of time. The literature which presents this work of Jesus and his immediate followers makes only a moderately sized volume; the whole of it has been printed in an "extra" of a daily paper. In this single volume, which could be read, if necessary, in two or three sittings, the student watches the whole of modern religion and life struggling into birth.

The content of the New Testament falls into three parts. 1. We have the ACTS AND WORDS OF JESUS. These were at first carefully preserved in oral teaching, imparted by leaders of the Church to their followers. At a later period this oral instruction was drawn into the form of elaborate books, of the highest literary beauty, known as the Four Gospels. 2. Then we have the ACTS AND WORDS OF THE APOSTLES. "The Acts of the Apostles" is the title of an historic narrative recording the progress of Christianity after the departure of Jesus from the world. The "words" of the Apostles take the form of Epistles addressed by the Apostles to their churches or converts; in these epistles are gradually unfolded the great thoughts of religion and the growing church. 3. There remains a single book, entitled THE REVELATION, which, in the form of visions, presents the final goal of the world movement inaugurated by Jesus.

"If only Jesus Christ had written a book, how all the world would eagerly read it!" This reflection has often been made; yet it is founded on a misunderstanding of the difference between

modern and ancient literature. Books are the characteristic form of later literature; in the earlier ages of the world some of its greatest literature was conveyed in oral speech. Such oral literature would tend to be lost, unless some special characteristic of it appealed to the memory, and kept it alive to the age of permanent books. Now, there are certain highly distinctive literary forms which have this appeal to the memory, and help to keep oral speech from being lost. Such are the proverb, or epigram, or parable, which abound in the books of Old Testament wisdom. A large part of the recorded work of Jesus consists in the use of these wisdom sayings. They may be original with Jesus, or they may be sayings of earlier wisdom which have fresh currency given to them from their adoption by Jesus. No doubt the same saying by Jesus would be used on many different occasions, with modification to suit the varying circumstances. But the distinctive individuality of such a literary form keeps the language from being modified, and makes the reader feel certain that he has the words as they came from the lips of the Master. In this edition a special (heavy-faced) type is reserved for these sayings of Jesus, which can thus be studied by themselves. It is a valuable exercise to read, apart from the rest of the New Testament, what this special type presents as the Sayings or Wisdom of Jesus. The reader is then in a position to realize how, apart from other high claims, Jesus is to be approached as one of the world's great authors.1

The kind of assistance offered to the reader in this edition is threefold. 1. To each part of the New Testament - Gospels, Acts, Epistles and Revelation-a literary introduction is prefixed, designed to give an impression of the whole before the separate books are taken up. 2. As before remarked, the text is presented in full literary form. It belongs to such literary form to indicate the logical divisions of a book, that is, divisions arising out of the nature of the particular book, as distinguished from conventional divisions such as chapters and verses. 3. Notes are added. It is one of the difficulties of annotation that notes, though they may contain useful information, yet tend to distract the reader from the continuity of the text. With this danger in view the notes 1 Compare below, pages 34-5.

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