King James Bible unmatched for grandeur

May 14, 2011

My first acquaintance with the Bible came when it was called the St. James Bible. I learned later that it was King James who was responsible. I knew that King James came to the English throne from Scotland. He was a Presbyterian, spoke several languages, wrote poetry and knew his history. How he came to have a Bible named after him was a mystery. So I determined to learn more about him.

James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, but he never saw his Catholic mother after he was 1 year old. He knew that English life was torn by religious warfare. People who did not conform to the established faith were jailed or exiled or burned at the stake. Under the former king, Henry VIII, the Church of England was established and Catholics were persecuted. Then Henry’s Catholic daughter, Mary, became queen and Protestants were persecuted. James knew that his first job as king was to bring harmony to these warring factions.

So, in 1604, he called a conference of clergy that included Catholics, Puritans, Presbyterians and Church of England prelates. This conference determined that what was needed was a new translation of the Bible that all factions could accept. The English chancellor Robert Cecil and Richard Bancroft, the Archbishop of Canterbury, were charged with organizing a group of scholars to prepare a new text.

Six committees were appointed from Oxford and Cambridge, each group responsible for translating a section of the Bible. Cecil and Bancroft were careful to see that only Church of England scholars qualified for the translating. Years of discussions, often bitter, followed. Then, in 1610, the six groups submitted their final text to the Church of England bishops for review and corrections. The King’s privy council edited the book. Archbishop Bancroft then gave the final touches to the text and submitted it to the king’s printers in 1611, exactly 400 years ago.

The first copies were badly printed, filled with mistakes and poorly received by the public.

The language, however, was rich and fresh, a great advancement over previous translations such as the Great Bible and the Tyndale Bible. This was the time of William Shakespeare and John Donne and Francis Bacon. Their writing displays that the English language had reached a new level of brilliance. The new biblical version breathed a kind of majesty that matched those writers, and it has given to the King James version a lasting spiritual vitality.

King James had little to do with the work of the translators, but the Bible he launched is a real treasure. As this version slowly gained popular favor, it has become the best-selling book in the world.

Many newer biblical versions have been published, simplifying or updating the language or using newly discovered ancient manuscripts. Still, the King James version stands unmatched for its grandeur of language, communicating the spirit through the ages.

Now that I understand its history, my 60-year-old King James Bible is more precious to me than ever.

Larry Gruman is a member of Central Presbyterian Church and teaches courses in the Bible at several churches. This column is coordinated by Lane Interfaith Alliance to offer inspiration, share personal spiritual experiences and bring a deeper understanding of individual faith perspectives with the intention of blessing our community and the world. For information, visit www.laneinterfaithalliance.org or call 541-344-0430.