a study of bible-第2章

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页，按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页，按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部！
————未阅读完？加入书签已便下次继续阅读！


est　for　its　effort　to　go　back　of　the　Septuagint；　so　dominant　had　the　translation　become。　Jerome　fought　for　it；　and　his　version　won　the　day；　and　became　the　authoritative　Latin　translation　of　the　Bible。

For　seven　or　eight　centuries　it　held　its　sway　as　the　current　version　nearest　to　the　tongue　of　the　people。　Latin　had　become　the　accepted　tongue　of　the　church。　There　was　little　general　culture；　there　was　little　general　acquaintance　with　the　Bible　except　among　the　educated。　During　all　that　time　there　was　no　real　room　for　a　further　translation。　One　of　the　writers＇1＇　says：　〃Medieval　England　was　quite　unripe　for　a　Bible　in　the　mother　tongue；　while　the　illiterate　majority　were　in　no　condition　to　feel　the　want　of　such　a　book；　the　educated　minority　would　be　averse　to　so　great　and　revolutionary　a　change。〃　When　a　man　cannot　read　any　writing　it　really　does　not　matter　to　him　whether　books　are　in　current　speech　or　not；　and　the　majority　of　the　people　for　those　seven　or　eight　centuries　could　read　nothing　at　all。　Those　who　could　read　anything　were　apt　to　be　able　to　read　the　Latin。


＇1＇　Hoare；　Evolution　of　the　English　Bible；　p。　39。


These　centuries　added　to　the　conviction　of　many　that　the　Bible　ought　not　to　become　too　common；　that　it　should　not　be　read　by　everybody；　that　it　required　a　certain　amount　of　learning　to　make　it　safe　reading。　They　came　to　feel　that　it　is　as　important　to　have　an　authoritative　interpretation　of　the　Bible　as　to　have　the　Bible　itself。　When　the　movement　began　to　make　it　speak　the　new　English　tongue；　it　provoked　the　most　violent　opposition。　Latin　had　been　good　enough　for　a　millennium；　why　cheapen　the　Bible　by　a　translation？　There　had　grown　up　a　feeling　that　Jerome　himself　had　been　inspired。　He　had　been　canonized；　and　half　the　references　to　him　in　that　time　speak　of　him　as　the　inspired　translator。　Criticism　of　his　version　was　counted　as　impious　and　profane　as　criticisms　of　the　original　text　could　possibly　have　been。　It　is　one　of　the　ironies　of　history　that　the　version　for　which　Jerome　had　to　fight；　and　which　was　counted　a　piece　of　impiety　itself；　actually　became　the　ground　on　which　men　stood　when　they　fought　against　another　version；　counting　anything　else　but　this　very　version　an　impious　intrusion！

How　early　the　movement　for　an　English　Bible　began；　it　is　impossible　now　to　say。　Certainly　just　before　700　A。D。；　that　first　singer　of　the　English　tongue；　Caedmon；　had　learned　to　paraphrase　the　Bible。　We　may　recall　the　Venerable　Bede's　charming　story　of　him；　and　how　he　came　by　his　power　of　interpretation。　Bede　himself　was　a　child　when　Caedmon　died；　and　the　romance　of　the　story　makes　it　one　of　the　finest　in　our　literature。　Caedmon　was　a　peasant；　a　farm　laborer　in　Northumbria　working　on　the　lands　of　the　great　Abbey　at　Whitby。　Already　he　had　passed　middle　life；　and　no　spark　of　genius　had　flashed　in　him。　He　loved　to　go　to　the　festive　gatherings　and　hear　the　others　sing　their　improvised　poems；　but；　when　the　harp　came　around　to　him　in　due　course；　he　would　leave　the　room；　for　be　could　not　sing。　One　night　when　he　had　slipped　away　from　the　group　in　shame　and　had　made　his　rounds　of　the　horses　and　cattle　under　his　care；　he　fell　asleep　in　the　stable　building；　and　heard　a　voice　in　his　sleep　bidding　him　sing。　When　he　declared　he　could　not；　the　voice　still　bade　him　sing。　〃What　shall　I　sing？〃　he　asked。　〃Sing　the　first　beginning　of　created　things。〃　And　the　words　came　to　him；　and；　still　dreaming；　he　sang　his　first　hymn　to　the　Creator。　In　the　morning　he　told　his　story；　and　the　Lady　Abbess　found　that　he　had　the　divine　gift。　The　monks　had　but　to　translate　to　him　bits　of　the　Bible　out　of　the　Latin；　which　he　did　not　understand；　into　his　familiar　Anglo…Saxon　tongue；　and　he　would　cast　it　into　the　rugged　Saxon　measures　which　could　be　sung　by　the　common　people。　So　far　as　we　can　tell；　it　was　so；　that　the　Bible　story　became　current　in　Anglo…Saxon　speech。　Bede　himself　certainly　put　the　Gospel　of　John　into　Anglo…Saxon。　At　the　Bodleian　Library；　at　Oxford；　there　is　a　manuscript　of　nearly　twenty　thousand　lines；　the　metrical　version　of　the　Gospel　and　the　Acts；　done　near　1250　by　an　Augustinian　monk　named　Orm；　and　so　called　the　Ormulum。　There　were　other　metrical　versions　of　various　parts　of　the　Bible。　Midway　between　Bede　and　Orm　came　Langland's　poem；　〃The　Vision　of　Piers　Plowman；〃　which　paraphrased　so　much　of　the　Scripture。

Yet　the　fact　is　that　until　the　last　quarter　of　the　fourteenth　century　there　was　no　prose　version　of　the　Bible　in　the　English　language。　Indeed；　there　was　only　coming　to　be　an　English　language。　It　was　gradually　emerging；　taking　definite　shape　and　form；　so　that　it　could　be　distinguished　from　the　earlier　Norman　French；　Saxon；　and　Anglo…Saxon；　in　which　so　much　of　it　is　rooted。

As　soon　as　the　language　grew　definite　enough；　it　was　inevitable　that　two　things　should　come　to　pass。　First；　that　some　men　would　attempt　to　make　a　colloquial　version　of　the　Bible；　and；　secondly；　that　others　would　oppose　it。　One　can　count　with　all　confidence　on　these　two　groups　of　men；　marching　through　history　like　the　animals　into　the　ark；　two　and　two。　Some　men　propose；　others　oppose。　They　are　built　on　those　lines。

We　are　more　concerned　with　the　men　who　made　the　versions；　but　we　must　think　a　moment　of　the　others。　One　of　his　contemporaries；　Knighton；　may　speak　for　all　in　his　saying　of　Wiclif；　that　he　had；　to　be　sure；　translated　the　Gospel　into　the　Anglic　tongue；　but　that　it　had　thereby　been　made　vulgar　by　him；　and　more　open　to　the　reading　of　laymen　and　women　than　it　usually　is　to　the　knowledge　of　lettered　and　intelligent　clergy；　and　〃thus　the　pearl　is　cast　abroad　and　trodden　under　the　feet　of　swine〃；　and；　that　we　may　not　be　in　doubt　who　are　the　swine；　he　adds：　〃The　jewel　of　the　Church　is　turned　into　the　common　sport　of　the　people。〃

But　two　strong　impulses　drive　thoughtful　men　to　any　effort　that　will　secure　wide　knowledge　of　the　Bible。　One　is　their　love　of　the　Bible　and　their　belief　in　it；　but　the　other；　dominant　then　and　now；　is　a　sense　of　the　need　of　their　own　time。　It　cannot　be　too　strongly　urged　that　the　two　great　pioneers　of　English　Bible　translation；　Wiclif　and　Tindale；　more　than　a　century　apart；　were　chiefly　moved　to　their　work　by　social　conditions。　No　one　could　read　the　literature　of　the　times　of　which　we　are　speaking　without　smiling　at　our　assumption　that　we　are　the　first　who　have　cared　for　social　needs。　We　talk　about　the　past　as　the　age　of　the　individual；　and　the　present　as　the　social　age。　Our　fathers；　we　say；　cared　only　to　be　saved　themselves；　and　had　no　concern　for　the　evils　of　society。　They　believed　in　rescuing　one　here　and　another　there；　while　we　have　come　to　see　the　wisdom　of　correcting　the　conditions　that　ruin　men；　and　so　saving　men　in　the　mass。　There　must　be　some　basis　of　truth　for　that；　since　we　say　it　so　confidently；　but　it　can　be　much　over…accented。　There　were　many　of　our　fathers；　and　of　our　grandfathers；　who　were　mightily　concerned　with　the　mass　of　people；　and　looked　as　carefully　as　we　do　for　a　corrective　of　social　evils。　Wiclif；　in　the　late　fourteenth　century；　and　Tindale；　in　the　early　sixteenth；　were　two　such　men。　The　first　English　translations　of　the　Bible　were　fruits　of　the　social　impulse。

Wiclif　was　impressed　with　the　chasm　that　was　growing　between　the　church　and　the　people；　and　felt　that　a　wider　and　fuller　knowledge　of　the　Bible　would　be　helpful　for　the　closing　of　the　chasm。　It　is　a　familiar　remark　of　Miss　Jane　Addams　that　the　cure　for　the　evils　of　democracy　is　more　democracy。　Wiclif　believed　that　the　cure　for　the　evils　of　religion　is　more　religion；　more　intelligent　religion。　He　found　a　considerable　feeling　that　the　best　things　in　religion　ought　to　be　kept　from　most　people；　since　they　could　not　be　trusted　to　understand　them。　His　own　feeling　was　that　the　best　things　in　religion　are　exactly　the　things　most　people　ought　to　know　most　about；　that　people　had　better　handle　the　Bible　carelessly；　mistakenly；　than　be　shut　out　from　it　by　any　means　whatever。　We　owe　the　first　English　translation　to　a　faith　that　the　Bible　is　a　book　of　emancipation　for　the　mind　and　for　the　political　life。

John　Wiclif　himself　was　a　scholar　of　Oxford；　master　of　that　famous　Balliol　College　which　has　had　such　a　list　of　distinguished　masters。　He　was　an　adviser　of　Edward　III