A big 400th anniversary this year

Sitting as a boy through long, boring sermons, I was surprised to find these words at the front of my Bible: “To the most high and mighty Prince James, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith. The translators of the Bible with Grace, Mercy, and Peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

They are, of course, the opening words to the preface of the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. (We call it that; however, the Bible itself simply says “appointed to be read in churches” and is known in England as the A.V.: authorized version.) The KJV was published in 1611; we celebrate this year its 400th anniversary.

No book in English has had more influence. It is a standing refutation of the remark that nothing good is ever produced by a committee.

This Bible was in fact produced by six committees (or “companies”), each given a portion of the scriptures to translate, with at least 50 scholars in all.

In fact, the Geneva Bible remained more popular in England for years after the KJV was published. It is a strange quirk of history that even though Massachusetts was settled by Puritans, the Bible our Puritans preferred was the King James. Thus, congregational settlers in New England and Anglican settlers in Virginia used the same Bible.

American writers from Hawthorne to Melville to Steinbeck to Faulkner all drank from the same biblical well. Only in the last 50 years or so have American churches abandoned the KJV. Today, many Christians - even many ministers - are unfamiliar with its well-worn phrases.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”

Hundreds of like passages could be quoted. The KJV somehow is both stately and direct, both majestic and down to earth. It delights in English’s abundance of one-syllable words.

As Miles Smith, the author of the Preface, wrote, “Translation it is that openeth the window, to let in the light; that breaketh the shell, that we may eat the kernel; that putteth aside the curtain, that we may look into the most Holy place; that removeth the cover of the well, that we may come by the water.”

Each of Smith’s four metaphors is plain English, yet each is, naturally, metaphorical. And metaphor is spiritual, for it sees a deeper truth in everyday reality. In fact, what Smith says about translation could be said about the scripture itself: it is an uncovering — a revelation — of God who is light, bread, temple and living water.

American history would not be the same without the KJV. We find it in Lincoln, constantly and with much depth (“judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether” [Psalm 19:9]); we hear it in Martin Luther King (“every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low; the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together” [Isaiah 40:4-5, with slight variations]); and even though the KJV is a Protestant Bible and the Catholics had their own 17th-century translation, John F. Kennedy, our only Catholic president, wisely chose the KJV - twice - in his inaugural address (“undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free” [Isaiah 58:6] and “rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation” [Romans 12:12]).

The 2011 anniversary remembrance will not bring back popular use of the KJV. Its authority is waning. Perhaps a valedictory from its own pages best speaks for the KJV itself: “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.”

The KJV was not the first Bible in English. A Bishops Bible was produced in 1568, and English Puritans (those wishing to rid the church of bishops) published, in Switzerland in 1560, an English Geneva Bible. In fact, the Geneva Bible remained more popular in England for years after the KJV was published. It is a strange quirk of history that even though Massachusetts was settled by Puritans, the Bible our Puritans preferred was the King James. Thus, congregational settlers in New England and Anglican settlers in Virginia used the same Bible....

....American history would not be the same without the KJV. We find it in Lincoln, constantly and with much depth (“judgments of the Lord, are true and righteous altogether” [Psalm 19:9]); we hear it in Martin Luther King (“every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low; the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together” [Isaiah 40:4-5, with slight variations]); and even though the KJV is a Protestant Bible and the Catholics had their own 17th-century translation, John F. Kennedy, our only Catholic president, wisely chose the KJV - twice - in his inaugural address (“undo the heavy burdens, and let the oppressed go free” [Isaiah 58:6] and “rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation” [Romans 12:12]).

The Catholic translation of the Bible into English that used to be commonly used was actually a 16th-century version, finished in 1582. The New Testament was published in that year in Rheims, but the Old Testament was not published until 1609-1610 at Douay (Douai), because of a lack of funds (so the translation is often called the Douay translation or the Douay-Rheims translation). In fact the translation used by Catholics in the mid-20th century was an 18th-century revision of the 16th-century translation.

The translators of the Authorized Version had the Rheims translation and sometimes adopted its renditions. The Douay-Rheims translators in turn seem to have made use of earlier Protestant translations.

Six transactions came before 1611 and Psalms 12 revealed that the 7th would be the perfect translation; the 1611 King James Holy Bible. All other 'bibles' are translations from corrupted scripture texts. God sternly warns us in Proverbs 30:5-6 Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto him that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, least He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

And the book of Revelation warns in 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man [or scholar] shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man [or scholar] shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life...

Woe to the scholars who add, change, remove words to the already perfect Word of God. No translation will surpass 400 years of better accuracy that that of the Living Word of God in the King James Bible. That is why scholarship always attacks the KJV Holy Bible. Each 'new' and so called 'improved' so called 'bibles' requires 40,000 word changes; then the next 'new' requires another 60,000 word changes, and so on until the whole 'bible' is completely changed. Woe to their judgments and God's wroth and righteous judgment against those responsible for changing God's Word.

Psalms 138:2 ...for thou [God] hast magnified thy WORD above all thy NAME.

The NIV (No Intelligence Version) is just one example of a corrupt translation with over 125,000 or more WORDS OF GOD changes: it is the most vile and corrupt translation. It deserves God's wroth, wrath, and righteous judgment for destroying a perfectly translated King James Holy Bible. And they will meet God when they die and are before God, He shall correctly reveal His perfect Living Word: but in judgment on those who 'dare' to change HIS WORD: woe to them... woe...woe...

I love the sound of the King James Bible, even though I'm Catholic. Not so much for the Scripture, but the way it sounds, when spoken. I got my first introduction to the KJV by singing Handel's "Messiah", then later, listening to "A Festival of Lessons and Carols" on NPR, beginning in the 80s, and down to the present. Since then, when I hear the readings of Isaiah, at Mass, during Advent, I'm hearing, instead the lyrical verses from the KJV, as I've heard them during the 'Lessons'.

It's not the validity, or biblical scholarship to which I'm attracted, but just the sounds of the words. It would do for anyone who is interested in studying literature, especially that since the 1500s, to have a working knowledge of the KJV, since it is referenced by many authors.

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