Typed letter from W. H. Benade to potential members of the Committee of Seven, appointed by the Committee on Ecclesiastical Affairs of the General Convention of the New Church in America at the meeting held in Philadelphia on June 13th, 1876. "Dec. 1st 1876" written in pencil on upper righthand corner of the first page. The Committee's purpose is to create a new translation of the Sacred Scriptures, and in this work, they will confer with the New Church Bible Society of England and with Dr. R. L. Tafel, the Society’s official representative. As Chairman of the Committee of Seven, Benade proposes the Committee conduct their work via written letters since he has been unable to call an in-person meeting of all members. Before they begin, Benade asks members to officially accept their position on the Committee and to indicate whether they approve of the following principles and methods for translation. In summary these are: Principles: a) The Sacred Scripture is Divine Truth itself. It should therefore be translated literally, not paraphrased, so that its correspondential meaning is maintained. b) The Lord revealed the spiritual meaning of the Word to Swedenborg by divine command, and therefore, when translating the original Hebrew and Greek, the Committee’s choice of English words should be informed by Swedenborg’s Latin version. c) As the remains of Divine Truth have been implanted in people’s minds through the strength and beauty of the King James version, changes to its language should only be made to improve literal translation and to bring it into closer conformity with Swedenborg’s work. Methods: a) They will translate the books of the Word in their original order with each member assigned several chapters. Completed chapters will be circulated amongst the Committee for revision. b) Before beginning translation of their appointed portion, members will transcribe Swedenborg’s Latin rendering of it, noting any variations within Swedenborg’s work. c) As he works, each member will prepare a list of original Hebrew/Greek vocabulary words along with Swedenborg’s Latin version and their English translation. These vocabulary lists will be combined and standardized following the creation of a final translation. Names mentioned: Committee on Ecclesiastical Affairs, Dr. R. L. Tafel, New Church Bible Society of England, Committee of Seven, Dr. Leonhard Tafel, Mr. L. H. Tafel, Mr. S. M. Warren, Mr. W. H. Benade, Mr. John Worcester, Mr. T. O. Paine, Mr. S. F. Dike Places mentioned: Philadelphia, England, London