Part 1, A Testament Is Established
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2033073/posts
Part 2, The Word Is Preserved
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2033622/posts
Part 3, A New Word Is Added to the Old
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038304/posts
Part 4, The Canon Becomes an Unread Relic
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2038916/posts
Part 5, Glimmers of Light in Darkness
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/2039498/posts
Part 6, No Price Too Great
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2040572/posts
Part 7, The Sweet and Ripened Fruit
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2042182/posts
ping for later. And thanks for posting - this sounds like it will be good once I get to it!
The King James version rocks!
From Sir Frederick Kenyon’s “The Story of the Bible”,
“In Westcott and Hort, therefore, the Biblical student at last had a Greek text based on the most ancient authorities, and with a fully expounded textual theory to support it. And the English reader had in the Revised Version a translation which, though not taken directly oar fully from Westcott and Hort’s text, at least represented a text far sounder than the `received text’ which had been in the hands of the makers of the Authorized Version, and had since been in universal use. So far, all was clear gain. Unfortunately, however, the Revisers had not obeyed the instruction which enjoined on them ‘to introduce as few alterations as possible into the text of the Authorized Version consistently with faithfulness’, or at least they had given an exaggerated interpretation to `faithfulness’. A multitude of small changes made in obedience to a somewhat pedantic scholarship, and not governed by the instinctive sense of style which was the heritage of King James’s translators, repelled the reader who found the most familiar passages in the most familiar part of his Bible (the Gospels) presented to him in a changed form for which he could see no good reason. The result has been fatal to the general acceptance of the Revised Version as a substitute for the Authorized; but this should not make us blind to its real merits. Where the difference between the two is due to a difference in the text translated, it is long odds that the Revised Version is right; though more recent scholarship would in some cases prefer the alternative readings which (from excessive caution in the acceptance of variants) have been relegated to the marginal notes. Also in the Epistles many a difficult passage has been made more clear as the result of centuries of study of St. Paul’s meaning. It is in the Gospels that the changes have been most unfortunate; and as the Gospels are the books best known to the majority of readers, this has prejudiced the whole. The Revised Version of the Old Testament, moreover, which followed in 1885, is not open to the same criticisms. Here the Revisers had not to deal with a new text, for the Hebrew text before them was substantially the same as in 1611, and they did not undertake to introduce changes from the Septuagint. On the other hand, the understanding of Hebrew had made much advance since the Authorized Version, and the Revisers were able to give light to many an obscure passage, especially in the Prophets. In general, they were chary of making alterations unless the sense demanded it, and in most cases they were dealing with words less familiar than the Gospels. Consequently their work gave less offence, and the gain was generally recognized.
No serious student of the Bible in English can neglect the Revised Version without loss. While it never can be the magnificent monument of English which the Authorized Version is, while it cannot bring the sacred story and teaching home to us with the same unequalled appeal of majestic language, it does give us a more accurate text, translated with a more fully informed scholarship ; and if we want to be sure of the meaning of the Bible we must always keep an eye on the Revised Version. Every educated student of the Bible should have and use both - the one for the edification which comes from great literature greatly expressed, the other for the more exact study of the true meaning of the Word of Life.”