"In Principio..."

My exploration of the King James Bible Exhibit

Field trip!

'The Translators Presenting the Bible To James I', drawn by George E Kruger. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

I had already visited this exhibit once before, on the day our class attended the presentation in the Library next to Special Collections, but when I decided to use it for this field trip post, I realized it would be really helpful if I went back to review the information again.

The timing worked out well, what with our discussion in class today about several very relevant topics.

I could just list all the information I learned for you in an encyclopedia form, but that wouldn't be very interesting. And not incredibly helpful either, since you're not likely to remember much of it as soon as you click away from this post.

So, as a frame on which to hang all the knowledge I will present to you, I present the evolution of the King James Bible and its sources - in picture format:

Source

Some of these versions were mentioned in the exhibit, and some were not. The major Bible used before Wyclife's was the Vulgate, since it was the only Bible with in mainstream use...anywhere. It was translated from the original ancient manuscripts only a few decades after Rome legalized Christianity. St. Jerome is recorded as spending 23 years translating it into Latin.

However, as we all know, Latin really wasn't used as a vulgar (commonly spoken) language anymore after a while. It faded into French, Italian, Spanish, and other languages, but no one except the Catholic hierarchy and other learned men could actually speak the original Latin that the Vulgate was written in. It was unavailable to the populus at large.

This was a problem for Wycliffe, over in England, who had come to believe that the Church should not have unbounded temporal power over the State and the King. Therefore, he began his own translation, the first in English, published in manuscript (handwritten) form.

English Bibles had a convoluted path to take to get to where we have them today. One thing that I thought was especially interesting was how many times when there was a major change in political power, the new leader or the emergent group would want their own translation of the Bible; either they would commission a new translation, or they would "adopt" one that already existed.

I think that this was largely because of the need to establish a controlled cannon over scripture - one separate from or in concordance with whichever power was in control of the land at the time. The exhibit discussed how Henry VIII needed a Bible that would reflect his newly seized control over Christianity in England, mainly to give him the legitimacy that he needed in his new Church of England. In later years, the Geneva Bible became the preferred Bible of the commoners, because commentary had been added in the margins (much like some of our additions to the KJV today) that made it simpler for less learned people to understand it.

I also learned to appreciate the Bible I have now a lot more. It is truly a miracle that we have it today, in a language we can read, and even more importantly, that Joseph Smith's family was able to have a copy that he could read as a young boy. The reforms of years past, each striving for a better knowledge of the truth, for a restoration of knowledge into a language medium that would allow more and more people to read it, eventually paved the way for THE Restoration of the Truth of the Gospel.

Of course, not everyone was happy with the spread of the Word to the common people. It caused questioning of the authority of Catholicism, to which they often responded...harshly.

Related to that, I found a very interesting film scene or Martin Luther's life, taken from the same movie that Dr. Burton showed us a part of today in class.

His actual recorded words are very close to what was portrayed in this clip:

"Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Scriptures or by clear reason (for I do not trust either in the pope or in councils alone, since it is well known that they have often erred and contradicted themselves), I am bound by the Scriptures I have quoted and my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and will not recant anything, since it is neither safe nor right to go against conscience. May God help me. Amen."

(Source - Brecht, Martin. Martin Luther. tr. James L. Schaaf, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1985–93, 1:204–205.)

Afterwards, Martin Luther was declared an outlaw and "a notorious heretic." The Church made it illegal for anyone in Germany to give him food or shelter, and made it legal for anyone to kill him on sight.

(Source - Bratcher, Dennis. "The Diet of Worms (1521)," in The Voice: Biblical and Theological Resources for Growing Christians. Retrieved 13 July 2007)

So I'm very grateful for the courage of those who faced and sometimes suffered death and deprivation for the sake of Scripture, in which they so fully believed, making it possible for us now to truly believe as well.