THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 13131, 2 June 1908, Page 2

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

» 10 TH* EDITOB OF "TiOS PI -38." Sir,—-To ambark on religious cont"roverey is an endless und'artakin-g; in deed, tbe libraries of tin© world could i_ot c-oruuiin the works wi-_.t_a __-r--v. H-»*-_v_r, with regard to "Prottte. ant's" (ju*a?tio_ touching tho fo_rtfc* oo_a__-n-_aent, let mc remind ham thai it is rarely po__iL_« in _____a-ing fxo-11 one language to __<>___• to give _> o__ot n-t-aa-nijig <_■' every word and p_ra6e. The word "day" waa _9-d by tie t_*ai__a.U>ra 300 years ago, probaixiy for 'want of a better .word, .-heir great work waa undertaken in _n age when iiLbiioal oritioiam did not e___»t, wheu science was in its in__i_cy, and w_<*_ _~-cun_cy oi e_-pi-_e__>_, at a_. evea-s in t,ransia-uoi_, was often very taciung. May I say that t_o word is again and ag__i used m tiie Bible when the moanLag is p_ii_ly _ peu-iod of years, e.g., Kebecca when -jonding Jacob* to PudanAnam says:— Taary a few 'days,' till <t__v brouber's fury turn away." Now the journey alone ocoupiod weeks, while Jacob stayed away for o*?or .twenty yearts. Aid to give one ex■aimpUi firom the New Tn-etament—l m_£-ht give hundreds from both books-— o_r fc-vtour uses tbe expression: — "AbraJuaan rejoiced to see my 'day,' " when it is dear t__t either the yeare of His mimistry or perhaps a very much longetr period of time ore under refere noe. .With regard to the impossibility of giving exact meanings in tna_„a-ing from one language to anotiher, I may j-oiiu-iu ••i-roi._>c_nt" that many languages have six or even seven (Rus-t-ua-n; ca_e_ against our Englitih three; th-at Ureek verbs bave three voices, tcu-t Luo, to take a typical in_ta_ce, has no leas than forti\- tenses in the verb finite, against the*___f-do_en or so -eaisc*. c«-tihe En-jish verb. Ootn-eoquent-y our trans-luuon-, a<t beet, quite fsul to render the subtle distinctions of thought and expression used by tihe HeHenic peoples. To go further back into the mists of a-i-tiquiity tai-tl transkte the old Semitic tongue into modern Engiiah i_ even a more d-fli-ult undertakin-5. With j-eaa-*d to tbe la-mentaMo itmo--. ance disptayod by the VI. etandartboy touching the reason 101 „»_.. 0 _. t the Sa_>bath, ail I cam -say is. _vat Tt is ta very sad roilection on tbe loss our children 6-uffor from the baniishment ot religion and Christianity from the State sohoo-s. There is scarcely a London School Bo_rd urchin who could not answer tbe question. r ii,= Higb Scbool boy not only needs to learn a good deal more than be now knows, bait •to "__learn" a good dead as well, for Home was not a Ptagan state in the year 325. ConstantLne was then the emperor; not only had ho embraced Ohri_ti__ii..y, but it was then *t_e established religion of the limpiire. So for from the Gbnstian Sabbath having a Pagan Orioin, any reader of the "Aots" can see that tbe Christians kept the first day of the week; t_ey were at iibertv to keep the Jewisb Sabbath as weH. if they liked, but it was not obligatory, j us-, as it was also "not obligatory for thorn to keep other Jewish customs. —Yours, etc., C.T. P.S.—As I do not intend to again fbak-_ up **oux columns on this matter, lot mc thank you for the (Use of your vaJ uable space. W __TI -DITOB Of ''___ PH-tf- " Sir, —I consider the correspondence columns very valuable columns in the daily newspapers, and that the Press is a great factor in promoting religious thought and discussion. I therefore thank you for aJ-oa-ring the correepondenoe under tho heading "The T_n Commandments." Your correspondent, "H. T. Purcha-*," in his letter published in your issue of the 30th May, shows the reason he would havo the Ten Commandments placed on tho secular school walls, and that, too, in the most simplest and original form. If also shows your readers that he does not believe the Ten Commandments are by any moans a perfect code for us Christians. But still he teaches tho Ton Commandments in his Sunday School, and says them at the Holy Table every Sunday (or, by the rule of his church ought to do so, he being a priest of the Church of England). Would it not be better for hrim to advocate being placed on the school walls what he thoroughly believes in, viz., the duty towards God and the duty towards my neighbour, and to certainly stop tho Ten Commandments being placed on the walls for the children if "they are not a perfect code, for us Christians." But when doctors disagree, eto. In the Cathedral on Empire _>ay evening tho Rev. C. W. Carrdngton preached. In his sermon he applied thr Ten Commandments as a code of national morals, and said the Ten Commandments constituted a scale of laws so well founded that not a word of them could be disobeyed without disaster, and they could be adopted as a national code securing national order, purity and progress. I still hold. to the opinion that I would not like to see any alteration of the commandments we have been accustomed to, including the fifth commandment—urging children to this duty oh the ground that they would have long lifo, if they performed it. Long life is one of the blessings of our times as of tho Old Testament. Surely "H.T.P." would not advocate everyone having a short life in this world, although we have something better to look forward to in tbe next. It would be a fatal mistake to alter the Prayer Book, which is our great bond of"u*ii>n. wi"-Ji all due deference to tho higher criticis**-*. —Yours, etc., PROTESTANT No. 2.