2011 is the 400th anniversary of the publication of the
‘Authorized’ or ‘King James’ version of the Bible. The significance of
this event can hardly be exaggerated. The ‘Authorized Version’ (AV) has
had a profound influence on the spirituality of generations of English
speaking people and also on the development of the English language
itself.
Of course there were a number of translations of the Bible into English
before the AV, the first major one appearing in the time of John
Wycliffe in the late 14th century. In the wake of the Reformation in
the 16th century various versions appeared including those by William
Tyndale and Miles Coverdale, and in 1568 the ‘Bishops’ Bible’ was
published. For Roman Catholics there was the Douai-Reims Bible which
was available in full in 1609.
The Authorized Version was one of the results of the famous
Hampton Court Conference of 1604. The work of revision was ordered by
King James I and was entrusted to a committee of 54 scholars. They took
the ‘Bishops’ Bible’ as the basis for their work and the fruits of
their labours finally appeared in 1611. Within a generation the new
translation had replaced former versions and for over 300 years the AV
became the
Bible for much of the English speaking world. The AV was so
influential that it wasn’t until the latter part of the 19th century
that a new translation was attempted.
The profound influence of the AV has been described thus: ‘With good reason it has been termed ‘the
noblest monument of English prose,’ and it has entered, as no other
book has, into the making of the personal character and the public
institutions of the English-speaking peoples. We owe to it an
incalculable debt.’ (Bruce M Metzger – Preface of the New
Revised Standard Version of the Bible).
And so in 2011 we celebrate 400 years of the Authorized Version. Here
in Llandudno we will be marking this anniversary in various ways: our
local Bible Society committee is arranging a number of events including
a reading of 50 well loved psalms at Holy Trinity Church on Saturday
October 22nd. And on Sunday November 20th we will be using the AV for
all our readings in Church that day. Please do make a note of these
dates.
However, whilst thanking God for the Authorized Version and its
importance in our heritage, we also need to acknowledge that things
have moved on. Many Christians now use modern translations of the
scriptures for their bible reading and there are many churches in which
the AV is seldom or never used during public worship. Some may deeply
regret this, but there are important reasons why contemporary versions
of the Bible are to be preferred:
1) English has changed considerably since the AV appeared. Much
of the Bible can be difficult to understand at the best of
times and 17th century English can make this even harder. When Our Lord
spoke to his disciples he used the language of his own time – not that
of 400 years earlier. And the scholars who produced the AV would surely
expect us to read the scriptures in versions appropriate for our own
time.
2) Since the 17th century many more ancient manuscripts of biblical
books have been discovered, and these often shed new light upon the
meaning of many parts of these ancient texts.
There are many different versions of the Bible available today, some
undoubtedly better than others and in my opinion probably the best is
the New Revised Standard Version. This is the version which appears on
our weekly bulletins and which is used during our Sunday morning
worship at Holy Trinity. However, when it comes to our private bible
reading, it’s a very good thing to use several different versions of
the Bible. This helps us to remember that translating the Hebrew and
Greek of the original texts is never easy and that no one translation
is perfect. It’s good to compare the different versions.
So let’s make 2011 not just a celebration of the 400th anniversary of
the AV but also a year in which we get to know the Bible better in
whatever version we choose. The Bible is God’s gift to us and He wants
us to use it! A good New Year’s resolution would be to make a real
commitment to a daily prayerful reading of scripture.
