NEW ENGLISH BIBLE

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31054, 9 May 1966, Page 18

NEW ENGLISH BIBLE

Complete Edition By 1970

The complete New English Bible is expected to be published by the Oxford and Cambridge University presses by 1970. The translation of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha is finished and is being checked. The New Testament section of the Bible was published in March, 1961. Almost six million copies have been sold. A literary panel has already examined the translation of the last sections to recommend any changes thought necessary. At the revision stage, a small body of literary advisers will again examine the revised translation in consultation with the scholars concerned. When the English text is in final form, printing and binding will begin. Two observers representing the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Britain will sit with the joint committee of the churches, which has planned and is directing the new translation. The Rt. Rev. B. C. Butler, Abbot of Downside, will represent Cardinal Heenan, Archbishop of Westminster. Another observer will be appointed by the Most Rev. G. Gray, Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh. The joint committee is composed of representatives of the Baptist Union, the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, the Congregational Union, the Council of Churches for Wales, the Society of Friends, the Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church of England, and the United Council of Christian Churches in Ireland. The British and Foreign Bible Society and the National Bible Society of Scotland are also represented.