Centenary Translation of the New Testament

by Helen Barrett Montgomery

Publisher:

American Baptist Publication Society

, 1924

Overview

The Centenary Translation of the New Testament grew out of Helen Montgomery's desire to provide an easy-to-understand New Testament for the boys in her Sunday school class. She had tried the King James Version, which was very difficult for the young to understand, and she also tried the Weymouth New Testament of 1903. Still not fully satisfied, she decided to produce her own translation, utilizing her Greek education, to "make it plain" for the "ordinary" reader. She spent nine years on the Centenary Translation of the New Testament before it was published in 1924 by the New York Bible Society, on it's hundredth anniversary. About the Author Helen Barrett Montgomery (1861–1934), was a social reformer, church leader, women’s activist, and missions activist. Helen Barrett graduated from Wellesley College as a teacher in 1884. She studied and excelled at Greek, leading her class. She taught at the Wellesley Preparatory School in Philadelphia. She was the first woman to translate the New Testament directly from the available Greek Manuscripts into English and have it published by a publishing house. Her translation was also notable for beginning the practice of inserting chapter and section titles, a pioneering feature that is common in Bibles in many languages. Her Centenary Translation of the New Testament has stood the test of time, being published well into the 1990's.A copy of her Centenary Translation of the New Testament was reprinted in 1988 under the title The New Testament in Modern English, with a spine and cover labeled Montgomery New Testament.

Product Details

• Title: Centenary Translation of the New Testament
• Author: Helen Barrett Montgomery
• Publisher: American Baptist Publication Society
• Print Publication Date: 1924
• Logos Release Date: 2020
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
• Subject: Bible translations
• Resource ID: LLS:WS_8B264A83ACC6497F94304B49514527FE
• Resource Type: Bible
• Metadata Last Updated: 2021-06-24T23:09:37Z

About Helen Barrett Montgomery

Helen Barrett Montgomery (1861–1934) was a social reformer, a Baptist leader, and a prominent intellectual in the American women’s ecumenical missionary movement. In 1893 she founded a chapter of the Women’s Educational and Industrial Union. A graduate of Wellesley College, she gained distinction as the first woman ever elected to the school board in the city of Rochester, New York (1899), and the first woman ever elected to the presidency of the Northern Baptist Convention (1921). Montgomery was also the first woman to publish and translate the New Testament from its original Greek. The Bible and Missions is one of six books she wrote for the Central Committee on the United States of Foreign Missions.