Page:The New Testament in the original Greek - 1881.djvu/95

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
INTRODUCTION TO THE AMERICAN EDITION.
lxxxvii

(1350), and following it closely in all cases in which the Revisers did not express a preference for other readings; even the orthography, the spelling of proper names, and the typographical peculiarities or errors of Stephens are, with a few exceptions, retained. The chapters are marked as in Stephens's edition of 1550, the distribution into verses accords with that in the Authorised Version, and the division into paragraphs is conformed to the English Re-vision of 1881.

The year 1881 is fruitful above any other in editions of the New Testament in Greek and the Revised English Version; and the demand for the latter in Great Britain and the United States is beyond all precedent in the history of literature. We may well call it the year of the republication of the Gospel. The immense stimulus thus given to a careful and comparative study of the words of Christ and his apostles must bear rich fruit. The first printed edition of the Greek Testament in 1516 was followed by the great Reformation of 1517. May the numerous editions of 1881 lead to a deeper understanding and wider spread of the Christianity of Christ!

New York, August 1, 1881.