Happy 400th Birthday to the King James Bible -- The Most Influential Book in the English Language

Fox News ^ | May 2, 2011 | Larry Stone

[Alex Murphy]

While [King Henry VIII] was still Catholic, William Tyndale sought permission to translate the Bible into English so that even “a boy who drives the plow” might know Scripture. Permission was denied, and Tyndale moved to Germany where he completed the first translation of the English New Testament made from Greek. It was published in 1526, and over the next ten years 50,000 copies were smuggled into England. Tyndale was betrayed, captured, and in 1536 killed for the crime of publishing the New Testament in English.

Although his body was burned at the stake, Tyndale had unleashed an enormous demand for Bibles in “the vulgar English tongue.” A number of translations were printed, including the Bishops’ Bible and the immensely popular Geneva Bible, which was the Bible Shakespeare read and the Bible Puritans carried to New England.

Elizabeth I, who reigned from 1558 to 1603, sought to bring peace among religious factions. But more importantly for our story, varied creative forces came together then to form the most splendid age in English literature. James VI of Scotland was a product of this season of creativity. When James VI became king of all Great Britain and Ireland in 1603, he called a conference to try to settle differences between Anglicans and Puritans. Out of this conference came the decision to create a new translation of the Bible.

[SNIP]

The King James Bible is the best-selling English-language book of all time. It has been in print continuously for 400 years. It has helped form our language; it has given context to our literature; it has inspired our music; and for centuries it was the one book a family would own and read before all others

[vladimir998]

You wrote:

“Given that I have written multiple posts saying that the objective of the Catholic Church was to prevent scripture from falling into the hands of commoners, and that they would give permission, at times, to approved people to read in the vernacular, and given that I pointed out that at times this permission had to come from the Pope himself, I can only conclude you haven’t read my posts.”

I have read your posts. That’s exactly how I know you’re wrong on so many points.

“Please do not erect straw men that you can then beat up.”

You create straw men. I do not.

“I have repeatedly posted that the goal of the Catholics was to prevent commoners from reading scripture in their own tongue.”

You posted that - and provided no evidence that there ever was such a policy to keep commoners from reading the Bible in the vernacular as I demonstrated.

“Indeed, you attacked me in a post saying I wasn’t like the commoners of old England”

Pointing out that you are probably a high school graduate or better is an attack? My gosh, the anti-Catholic worldview is truly amazing.

“- so at one point you understood my argument.”

You really had no argument to speak of. I understood what you were saying. That doesn’t mean you presented an argument. What is clear is that you cannot refute any of the info I posted from Gasquet. Instead you attack him (and hear you are complaining I attacked you for saying you were not a commoner. Oh, the horror!). You even created a straw man about him: “No historian believes Gasquet because Gasquet was a nutjob trying to convince people that the Wycliffe Bible was Catholic, and that no contemporary ever noticed it.”

Now, look at the quotes about him which you posted. None of them suggested he was a “nutjob”. None of them. Nor were any of them necessarily talking about anything that we are discussing. And how ironic that one of the historians you relied on - David Knowles - for your conclusion that Gasquet was a “nutjob” (even though he never says any such thing) actually lived under the constant care of a headshrinker for the last however many years of his life.

You can dismiss Gasquet’s conclusions all you like, but what you’re doing is dismissing the evidence even though it cannot be ignored by anyone seeking the truth.

I created no straw men. You did. You do it routinely.

[fortheDeclaration]

Amen and amen! Well said!