October letter from James

Letter from James

Dear friends,

Next year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. This is a remarkable piece of literature whose dignified language has commanded enormous respect and has helped to shape our culture. Compton's Encyclopaedia writes that the King James Bible is one of the supreme achievements of the English Renaissance period “It is rightly regarded as the most influential book in the history of English civilisation...the King James Version combines homely, dignified phrases into a style of great richness and loveliness. It has been a model of writing for generations of English-speaking people."

Many of its phrases are much loved and well known such as “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want” (Psalm 23.1); “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven”(Ecclesiastes 3.1); “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1.1); and “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling symbol” (1 Corinthians 13 .1).

The BBC plans a series of programmes to mark this occasion, and up and down the country numerous events are being held to celebrate this milestone. In one church there is going to be a reading of the entire King James Bible which will apparently last three days and two nights! This may be slightly ambitious for a parish of our size but in all seriousness if anyone can think of a way to mark this anniversary I would be delighted to hear from them.

Nowadays there are numerous different versions of the Bible. Children will often use the Good News Bible because of its accessibility; in St. Dunstan’s Church the New Revised Standard Version is used since it combines modern scholarship with dignified language; whilst at the other end of the scale you have versions such as ‘The Street Bible’. Written for the twenty first century using modern dialects, ‘The Street Bible’ has an engaging style that you’ll either love or hate. “First off, nothing. No light, no time, no substance, no matter. Second off, God starts it all up and WHAP! Stuff everywhere!” (Genesis 1)

Whatever your preference the Bible remains the number one bestseller. It is a very rare occurrence for it not to be miles ahead of its nearest rival in the bestseller list and it is estimated that 44 million Bible are sold each year. The Bible Society’s attempt to calculate the number of Bibles printed between 1816 and 1975 produced the figure of 2,458,000,000 – almost 2 and a half billion, and another survey for the years up to 1992, put it closer to 6 billion (roughly the world’s current population).

However you look at it the Bible is an incredible piece of literature whether in the King James or some other version. The American President Abraham said of it “I believe that the Bible is the best gift that God has ever given to man.’

Your friend, James