Saturday, October 8, 2011

KING JAMES BIBLE

This year, 2011, marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible.  The Bible is not just a bestselling book but also, holy scripture and therefore, one wishes to honor this 400th anniversary but at the same time keep in mind the reverence that it is due.  The language of the King James Bible is so beautiful, that I defy anyone to find something that can surpass it.  There are other versions, of course,  but I find that when you are thinking of a verse from the bible, it is the King James version that readily comes to mind.  Do you remember the TV show "A Charlie Brown Christmas"?  Charles Schultz had to work very hard to get the television station to allow Linus to quote from the King James Bible.
I can just imagine how much harder it would be to try and do something like that now.

There is a small church in Wiltshire, England called St. Lawrence Church.  Inside this church  there is  an old bible which had a small sign stating that it was an actual 1611 King James Bible.  Someone decided to research it, and lo and behold (another King James expression?) it WAS!  I will try to show you the sign itself...
One of the men who was in charge of getting this documented had this to say: "When we took it for evaluation to the curator of a Bible Museum, one of the first things he said was whatever you do, you MUST display this so that people can read the Word.  That stuck with me, you know, the fact that it's what it says rather than what it is."

There is an exhibit about the King James Bible which is called "Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible".  This exhibit will travel for two years across the USA and the very last stop will be at Nancy Guinn Memorial Library in Conyers, Georgia! (Mark your calendars now,  it will be in May of 2013.) It is an amazing thing for this to come here.  One of the reasons given for the honor was this: Rockdale County, being one of the smallest counties in Georgia, boasts nearly 300 churches, or roughly, two churches per square mile.

There is a project by You Tube so that the King James Bible will be read in its entirety.  I love the idea of many people from around the world reading these chapters from the King James Bible, all people from all walks of life.   Please watch and listen to this wonderful actress reading from the Book of John.  I find this to be extraordinarily moving.

                                           "PEACE BE UPON YOU"
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

13 comments:

  1. I agree. A lovely post. The King James Bible is so much more evocative of the times and its language is so beautiful. I always use it and find all the more recent versions quite lacking in beauty. Some of them may be 'more accurate' translations of the original but they will never be THE Bible for me.

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  2. Hello Kay! I remember your lovely comments on my blog, and now I've found yours (thanks to Sharon Lovejoy) Enjoying it very much so far & looking forward to each new post. Sending love, Rachel

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  3. Sciptor,
    Thank you! Perhaps you could be persuaded to record one of the chapters and send it in to YouTube? I would do it myself, if I could figure out the technology. If you are interested, it is www.kingjamesbibletrust.org
    They have a list of what they have so far, and you could send them an email and let them know what chapter you have chosen. My son is supposed to help me with this but he is 21 and in college, so you know how that goes...

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  4. Rachel,
    Oh my goodness, you have made me so happy! You have the most beautiful blog and you are such a wonderful writer! I have left comments on your blog under Anonymous before I figured out that I could type my name at the bottom of my comment! I think I left a comment on your lovely Princess Diana post. Yes, I just looked at your blog and I am there! (Just a comment or two past the lovely Sharon Lovejoy!)
    Thank you for being a Member/Follower, or whatever you call it. I'm still new at this, and don't know how to put myself down as a follower. Wish me luck.

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  5. The language of the King James Bible is so wonderful, and has had such a profound effect on literature in English. If you ever come to England, there is a wonderful display in the British Library - including even older one's such as Cuthbert's.

    BTW the easy way to become a follower is to scroll up to the Blogger bar at the top of the page when you are viewing the blog in question and click Follow. Or you can copy the web address from the bar at the top of your browser, and then in your Dashboard click Add under Blogs I'm Following and paste the web address into the box that comes up.

    Great to discover your blog.

    Pomona x

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  6. Pomona,
    Thank you for your comment and thank you for the info on how to become a follower!
    I think I could spend weeks in London just visiting the museums. I've not been to the British Library but obviously, I would love to go there and see it! (Last time in London was 2006 and we spent a lot of time in the National Gallery and the British Museum, besides lots of music stores, our son was 16 at the time!)
    Thanks again for your comment. Your blog is beautiful! I feel honored by your visit. Please comment again! :-)

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  7. How exciting that the exhibit will come to Conyers! Have you read the book God's Secretaries, about how the King James (more properly, the Authorized) version came to be written. Qi
    Quite an interesting read.

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  8. I have not read that book, God's Secretaries, but I will now that I know about it. Thank you! And thank you for your comment. Hope you have a wonderful Autumn in your new home in Williamsburg. I wish you the best of luck!

    Something coming to Conyers, it's a miracle!

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  9. Oh my gosh! Just as I began to read your post, I went and found an article I had just read the other day about Patricia Routledge reading from the King James Bible. I copied it and was going to give you the link, when I read further and found your video. Thank you for posting it! I love her.

    And here is the link where she talks about it:

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/oct/02/patricia-routledge-king-james-bible

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  10. Dear Nan,
    I was listening to all the readings from the Book of John on the website of www.kingjamesbibletrust.org and just happened to find Patricia Routledge. Very happy surprise!Thank you for the link to The Guardian, I will go and read it now!
    Oh, and that comment from Penelopepiscopal is from Penny, a real priest! We were lucky to get her as a substitute priest sometimes...look at her blog, she has wonderful posts and photos!

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  11. If my memory serves me right, Patricia was reading at a Christmas Carol service.

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  12. I enjoyed this post. And your posts about Stone Mountain. Visiting via Scriptor Senex.

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  13. Rebecca,
    Thanks for your comment. Stone Mountain is beautiful, even with a bad photographer like me, one should see that!
    Also, glad you liked this post about the King James Bible, it is hard for me to write about the things I love the most.

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