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by Gethin Russell-Jones
The history of Bible translations is an unhappy one. Think not of quiet libraries and friendly monks but of the smell of bonfires, cordite and burning flesh. It’s a messy and murderous business. This is a saga that contains the invention of world-shattering technology, international travel, religious persecution and a body count befitting a major war. And all in the name of ‘God’s Word’.
In this year which celebrates the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, it’s amazing that any English translations of the Bible have survived at all. Christians have treated other believers with unbelievable cruelty in seeking to defend or promote their version of the Bible.
The passing of time softens the impact of many an ecclesiastical blow, but in this year of bouquets and champagne receptions it’s worth remembering that this is a tale full of sound and fury.
Plough boys more important than priests
Before the King James Version saw the light of day in 1611, an array of other English translations had already been on the market. The granddaddy of them all was the Bible produced by William Tyndale in 1525. Tyndale was a Church of England clergyman from Gloucestershire who fell foul of ecclesial authorities after adopting and preaching Martin Luther’s reforming message.
As a result of persecution, he fled to Germany where he met the controversial reformer. By the end of 1525 he had published the New Testament in English. He laboured zealously to translate the vast majority of the Old Testament, but a complete Bible bearing his name appeared only after his death. And his intentions were incendiary. Speaking to a prominent cleric, he is reported to have said: ‘If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives the plough to know more of the scriptures than you do.’ Tyndale lived to see both the fulfilment of his dream and his untimely death. Arrested on the continent, he was hauled back to England, incarcerated for 500 days before being strangled and burnt at the stake in 1536. His final words were, ‘Oh Lord, open the King of England’s eyes’.
Many of Tyndale’s sentences still inhabit our language, including:
let there be light
the powers that be
my brother’s keeper
the salt of the earth
a law unto themselves
filthy lucre
it came to pass
gave up the ghost
His words still resonate today. For example, look at his translation of John 1:1–5 in old English:
In the beginnynge was the worde and the worde was with God: and the worde was God. The same was in the beginnynge with God. All thinges were made by it and with out it was made nothinge that was made. In it was lyfe and the lyfe was ye lyght of men and the lyght shyneth in the darcknes but the darcknes comprehended it not.
Tyndale’s rendition appeared virtually word-perfect in the later King James Version:
John 1:1–5 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Bible-bashing Britain
Tyndale was a very English revolutionary. Bookish and intellectual, he believed that people should be able to read God’s word for themselves and not through the interventions of priests who alone could speak Latin. The apex of the Bible, as far as he was concerned, was the message that individuals are put right with God through a personal faith in Christ.
But unbeknown to him, and indeed all the reformers, the entire edifice of traditional church life was being put to the sword. This emphasis on personal faith and conscience, would lead to the desire for free intellectual enquiry and research prompted by the new disciplines of science and linguistics. The Bible in English eventually inspired Robert Raikes’ (1736-1811) Sunday School movement which predated state education. Son of a wealthy philanthropist, he funded a series of schools which taught poor children to read through use of the Bible.
Enabling ordinary people to read the Bible for themselves meant that readers perceived new models of church community, other than the state’s hierarchical provision. Disparate groups like the Anabaptists, Levellers, Quakers and the Plymouth Brethren saw dynamic patterns of church life in the Bible which caused them to break away and face terrible persecution. In short, Tyndale’s Bible gave the masses a voice.
His example led to a rush of new translations. The Coverdale (1535) and Matthew (1537) Bibles appeared, both heavily influenced by William Tyndale’s version. In 1539, there was another theological tremor in Christendom as Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury commissioned another official Bible. This was distributed to every church, chained to the pulpit, and readers were provided so that the illiterate masses would not be deprived of its power. Known as the ‘Great Bible’ due to its enormous size, this was a large pulpit folio measuring over 14 inches tall.
Fast-forward several decades and witness the rise and fall of numerous monarchs, in addition to the publication of new translations of the Bible. These included the Bishops’ Bible (1568) and the Geneva Bible (1560). With marginal notes authored by the great Swiss Reformer, John Calvin, the Geneva Bible became the Bible of choice for the vast majority of the English speaking world. Even the Church of Rome produced its own English New Testament, called the ‘Rheims’ version named after the French university.
Here comes the AV
In 1603, James I became King of England. He was lobbied by a large number of protestant clergy, clamouring for a new translation. Whilst acknowledging that the Geneva Bible possessed the greatest scholarship and research available, they were wary of the strident anti- papalism of its marginal notes. The new King granted their request. Fifty scholars worked on this new version, and from 1605 – 1606, this large group researched the original languages in a bid to find a ‘translation to end all translations’. All the earlier translations were studied carefully, but the finished product, known as the Authorised Version (AV) owed its greatest influence to the Geneva Bible. This latter version contained more than 90 per cent of Tyndale’s work.
And so a great irony. William Tyndale, the man who was persecuted and martyred for daring to translate the Bible into plain English, eventually became the inspiration for the greatest work ever produced in the English tongue. Some scholars have suggested that the so-called Authorised Version owes over 80 per cent of its content to Tyndale. In other words, ‘plagiarism’. Just as well there were no examination boards in those days.
However, this is no place for parsimony and mean-spiritedness. Even though the Geneva Bible remained the nation’s favourite for several decades, the AV eventually won the heart of the people – as it does today. When Prince William married Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey in April 2011, they did so in the language of the AV. Not under duress, apparently, but through their own choice. Somewhat surprising for two people born in 1982.
The Bible’s impact on culture
Virtually since its publication, the great and the good have queued up to applaud its achievements. Britain’s most dynamic prime minister, Winston Churchill, said: ‘The scholars who produced this masterpiece are mostly unknown and unremembered. But they forged an enduring link, literary and religious, between the English-speaking people of the world.1
Author and broadcaster Melvyn Bragg regards the AV’s impact on UK culture as greater than the bard of Stratford On Avon: ‘There is no doubt in my mind that the King James Bible – not Shakespeare – set this language on its path to become a universal language on a scale unprecedented before or since.’
The ultimate demonstration of the AV’s dominant position in British culture, however, is the place given to it by the UK’s most revered institution, the BBC. On the wall in the main entrance of Broadcasting House is a Latin inscription, whose words have been inspired by the AV’s translation of Philippians 4:8. It reads:‘This temple of the arts and muses is dedicated to ALMIGHTY GOD by the first Governors of Broadcasting in the year 1931, Sir John Reith being Director-General. It is their prayer that good seed sown may bring forth a good harvest, that all things hostile to peace or purity may be banished from this house, and that the people, inclining their ear to whatsoever things are beautiful and honest and of good report, may tread the path of wisdom and uprightness.’
The strangest accolade has come from atheism’s chaplain general, Richard Dawkins.
Speaking to the King James Trust he said ‘not to know the King James Bible is to be in some small way barbarian.2 Only in a small way, mark you. Still, quite a concession from a man who routinely points a blunderbuss at the Christian faith.
Such compliments are to be expected. The AV, probably more than Shakespeare, Bunyan or Milton, shaped the English language and endowed it with majesty and tone. But what of today? Setting aside its undeniable literary and cultural legacy, we need to ask whether the AV and the Bible in general still speak to the 21st century.
Not an easy question to answer. How do you measure spiritual life across a population? A poll commissioned by the King James Bible Trust at the beginning of 2011 revealed that a majority of those under 35 in the United Kingdom hadn’t even heard of the AV. The results revealed that 51 per cent of those under 35 have never heard of the King James Bible, compared to 28 per cent of those over the age of 35.
Disturbing, especially since the Bible is still the world’s bestselling book with an estimated 100 million sales annually.
Another starting point would be stated religious allegiance. Premier Radio recently commissioned polling organisation Comres to carry out a survey around the question ‘To which of the following religious groups do you consider yourself to be a member?’ The 2,064 respondents were given the choice of: Christian, Muslim, Hindu, Jew, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Other, Prefer Not To Say and None. The results were as follows: 56 per cent selected Christian, 35 per cent None, 2 per cent Muslim, 1 per cent Hindu and 1 per cent Jew, with 2 per cent saying they would prefer not to say. Less than 1 per cent of those surveyed were Sikh or Buddhist.
In many ways these are staggering statistics, suggesting that the secular humanist project is not working. But numbers are one-dimensional, measuring quantities and not significance. Greater depth is needed.
During a special reception held this year at the House of Lords, the Right Reverend Richard Chartres, Bishop of London, offered a thoughtful analysis of the Bible’s impact on British life. He said that King Alfred’s codification of Anglo Saxon law in the seventh century was prefaced by the Ten Commandments and that throughout this code there were numerous citations from the Mosaic Law.
He also drew attention to the concept of mankind being made in the image of God as crucially important in the history of human rights. Even the idea of tolerance is rooted in the gospel’s assertion that God stooped down to our level in order to rescue a fallen humanity. Speaking of today’s challenges, he said ‘Although it has become difficult to use the language of the Bible in this country, it will become more and more obvious that these values and these principles will be unsustainable without the Christian ground.’
This year’s celebrations have been many, rightly commemorating the extraordinary achievements of the Authorised Version. But we do well to recognise that this is a living legacy and not a museum of words. The Bible’s message continues to transform lives, shape nations and inspire acts of heroic kindness and service. Happy Birthday King James.
1. Source: The King James Bible Translators; Olga S. Opfell; Jefferson and London: McFarland, 1982
2. From the article Sure Foundations by Nick Spencer (p6) in The Tablet, 25 May 2011
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