Madras Bible Society appointed Rev. Henry Bower as the Chief translator of the Bible: Bible translation work had/has been a continuous process of revisions. Rev. B. Zieganbalg's translation became obsolete and there were minor defects in the translations of Rev Fabricius and Rev Rhenius and as a remedial measure, the Jaffna Translation was brought out in 1850; but this version also failed to get general acceptance of the people and so the Madras Bible Society formed a Revision Committe and appointed Rev Heny Bower in 1857, as the Chief Translator. of the Revision Committe...The Madras Bible Society also appointed a Seven Member Committee, from other denominations serving in South India, to assist Rev Henry Bower to bring out a new translation of the Bible, acceptable to all Tamil Protestant churches. This Seven Member Revision Committe was consisting of the following members:[1] Rev Dr. Robert Caldwell,[SPG], Author of the iconic book, " A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages, [2] Rt Rev.Dr. Edward Sargent,D.D, of CMS, 3] Rev..Lewis of the LMS, [4] Rev. Kohlhoff of SPG, [5] Rev Henry Scudder of American Tamil Mission, [6] Rev. William Tracy of Madura American Mission and [7] Name not known [ John S. Chandler, "A History of the Mission in South India" published by the American Madura Mission, p.264] Rev Henry Bower and the Seven Member Committee started their translating work with full vigour and enthusiasm
The revision of the New Testament was actively pushed from 1858 and in May 1858, the Revision Committee members met at Kodaikanal for its final revision. The next May [1859] they passed the Following: " Resolved that we rejoice in the completion of the revision of the Tamil New Testament, and that we earnestly desire that the Bible Society proceed to make a similar arrangement for the revision of the Old Testament".[ Ibid] .The New Testament [Power Version or United Version] translated by Rev Henry Bower and his team was published in 1863 and the Old Testament [Power Version] translated by Rev Henry Bower and team was published in 1868. The Bible translated into Tamil by the Revision Committee headed by Rev Henry Bower is called as Power Version or United Version, and this Tamil Bible is generally carried by the Church going Tamil Christians whenever they attend Church services and Christian Convention meetings.
Rev.Dr. Henry Bower, D.D.
Other Literary Works of Rev Henry Bower: Rev. Henry Bower was a Linguist, he was proficient in English, Tamil, Greek Latin, Sanscrit and Hindustani. Rev Henry Bower was a Par Excellence Translator, and he was appointed as a Member of the Church of England's Translation Committee to translate the "Book of Common Prayer" of the Church of England into Tamil, this translation work took two years. Rev Henry Bower translated Bhagavat Gita and the Tamil Grammar book "Nannool" into English. He translated Sastri Iyer's Treatise on Jain Philosophy into English, and this book was published in the year 1868 by the SPCK press at Vepery, Madras. He also produced the Naamagal Lambakam of Seevagachinthamani with Narchinarkiniyar's Commentary with a Preface in English and this book was prescribed as a Lesson for the B.A, Class, the University of Madras. As Rev Henry Bower served for nearly ten years in Thanjavur area, he developed a cordial friendship with the great Tamil Christian Poet Vethanayagam Sasthiriar and he wrote a biography of Vethanayagam Sasthiriar. Rev Henry Bower's compilation works include a Vedic Dictionary of Terms on Religion and Philosophy and a Book of his Discourses. Rev Henry Bower was a prolific Writer, and he had written thought provoking Articles on Religion, Logic, and Linguistics. It is said that he introduced Tamil literature to Dr Robert Caldwell. In 1851 he published a book of Essays in English on Hindu Castes. In 1877 he published a book titled' Interpretation of the Law'. Rev. Henry Bower translated the following books into Tamil:[1] Mr. Tom Butler's Anthology, [2] He translated the iconic Theological masterpiece titled, "Exposition of the Creed" authored by the great Theologian Lord Bishop of Chestor, Rev. Pearson John, [3] A Biblical and Theological Dictionary, [4] Lectures on the Moral Law, and [5] History of Christianity in India and some other works. Rev Henry Bower was a great Admirer of the famous Tamil Grammar book,"Nannool' and Thirukural and he said," Thiruvalluvar's Thirukural is the first-class literature in Tamil. He had also written the books titled "Viswamana Vilakkam", "Sambhandha Vilakkam", between Hinduism and Papu Religion and Dharmasastra Saaram..
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Rev. Henry Bower Died: From Madras he was moved to Kumbakonam and he served in Kumbakonam from 1875 to 1878 He did the last phase of his active ministerial service in Madras from 1878 to 1884, and he retired from his ministerial service in 1884. He was receiving his person. He became very weak and ill and to recover health he went and stayed at Courtalam for some time, but he
died in 1885 at the age of 73, at Palayamkottai
Conclusion: Rev. Dr. Henry Bower was one of the greatest missionaries served in South India and was an intellectual, social Thinker, Theologian, Tamil scholar and a great Evangelist. He had the prestigious privilege to be In Charge of the Madras Mission [ Vepery Mission] from 1874 to 1883[The Rev. A. Westcott, M.A, " A Our Oldest Indian Mission" Madras, 1897] He served as the Principal Examiner of Tamil at the University of Madras with great distinction. He had the opportunities to rub shoulders with great foreign missionaries cum Tamil Scholars such as Dr. G.U Pope and Dr. Robert Caldwell. The Archbishop of Canterbury, England conferred on Rev Henry Power the honorary Doctorate degree " Doctor of Divinity" in recognition of his manyfold service and accomplishments. It is not possible to accommodate all the chapters Rev. Henry Bower's historic and brilliant biography within the space of this Blogpost and so I will end this Blogpost with the following sentence," Dear Rev Dr. Henry Bower, D.D, we thank God for you, we thank you for the Power Version of the Tamil Bible, we are proud of you, and we love you".
END .
By. P. Babu Manoharan, M.A[ All rights are reserved. This Blogpost will be modified, enlarged or corrected later if needed].
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