Posted on 03/28/2011 4:52:28 PM PDT by afraidfortherepublic
A little English village church has just made a remarkable discovery.
The ornate old Bible that had been sitting in plain view on a table near the last row of pews for longer than anyone could remember is an original King James Bible - one of perhaps 200 surviving 400-year-old original editions of arguably the most important book ever printed in English.
In fact, the Bible at St. Laurence Church in Hilmarton, England, was sitting right under a hand-lettered sign saying it was an original.
The sign said it had been found in "the parish chest" in 1857, that the cover had been added, and that it was the second of the two impressions published in 1611 - the year of first publication.
But no one knew whether to believe it, parish council member Geoff Procter said. As the anniversary of publication in 1611 approached, they decided it was worth investigating.
"We had no way of knowing whether it really was a 1611 Bible so we had to get it verified somehow," he said.
He and two other church members took it to a specialist, the Rev. David Smith at the Museum of the Book in London.
Smith knew immediately what he was looking at, Procter said.
"We put it on his table and he opened it and immediately he said, 'Yes, this is a 1611 Bible,'" Procter remembered.
(Excerpt) Read more at religion.blogs.cnn.com ...
The church recently discovered that its old Bible was a rare 400-year-old original King James Bible.
Video at link. 400 year old Bible
Even though I’m a Catholic, I think this is exciting news. Furthermore, I think that it is astounding that my ancestors emigrated to Virginia before this book was printed. (They weren’t Catholic). Putting history in context is surprising sometimes. I’m glad the parishioners still have access to their “Good Book”.
for your information
This is indeed remarkable. I wonder if they might also have Obama’s Birth Certificate.
Geoff Procter of St. Laurence Church in Hilmarton, England, reads from the churchs King James Bible.
Good one! After all, his baby daddy was a British citizen.
BTTT
The sign hanging above the Bible, announcing its origins.
Only the one printed in 1611.
Amazing.
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After all the hubbub, this Bible’s going to need a lot more protection than that little chain. It’s miraculous that it’s survived this long.
We need to go back to the original texts...
It sounds like they knew what they had. They just didn’t know how valuable it was.
When they found out that it was rare, then they had to have it authenticated.
How's your ancient Greek?
With all the hubbub about original Greek manuscripts I have seen little to indicate that there are any major doctrinal issues resolved or raised by various texts proposed.
On the other hand, I do think that it is telling that the original Greek used by the Apostles was NOT classical Greek. Instead, it was "street Greek" called Koine or common Greek. In other words they chose language understood by the man on the street. How many people out there speak King James English today?
I think it behooves the Church to maintain scriptures in the language of the people; i.e., current vernacular. That's why I recommend the English Standard Version or the New American Standard Bible. I personally like to read the New King James version. It has a lot of the archaic words replaced. Each of these is a translation not a paraphrase.
The bottom line is that the best Bible for you is the one you will READ! :) It doesn't do you any good sitting on the shelf.
Thanks. Interesting post. Good to see some of them are still around.
"I'll give ya $200 Bucks for it."
I don't understand comments like that. Dude, its a Bible. Isn't the Catholic church Christian? Are you saying Catholics don't believe in the Bible?
A-hah, and I thought only Catholics chained bible.
LOL! You owe me for a keyboard.
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