Here in the UK there have been all sorts of celebrations.
For local celebrations, one church in my city had a read-through which I think took nearly a week, being read aloud 24 hours a day - by people who just went in and volunteered to read a few verses or chapters or for a period of time.
Other churches have been handwriting the whole KJV - again, shared between all the congregation and anyone else who cares to come along.
A few years ago an author of a book about how the King James Version was written was on C-SPAN.
He said that the King James Version's English was old-fashioned English at the time it was written and by using language that was a few generations out-of-date the writers were following the tradition of Wycliffe and the Latin Vulgate.
Can they not find better prose than this flat pancake of a paean to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible?
"The King James Bible deserves to be recognized for its contribution to American society. It really has been the vehicle that formulated our language and programmed our thinking for centuries. There is no equivalent piece of English literature."
Really? Seriously, that's it? A hideously passive clause, followed by valley girl conjecture, followed by a full body slam? Really? Seriously?
Egad.
There must be at least 400 GSC'ers who can produce better prose than that for this august occasion.
My celebration of the 400th anniversary began in January this year, when I purchased a replica of a first edition from greatsite.com, which advertises itself as the world's largest dealer of rare and antique bibles. Originals, as you can imagine, sell for megabucks; this replica was a few hundred dollars. You should see this replica! Oh my. It weighs about 30 pounds and stands about 18" tall. Each page was photographed from an original and printed on linen paper, then bound in birch boards and finally covered in red leather. Oh my!
It's very cool, Human. I have no shelf big enough to hold it, so it's sitting on my bedroom floor temporarily. To give you a visual on the size, here's a picture of one that I copied from the greatsite.com web page. Bibles this size were sometimes called pulpit Bibles; they were often chained to the pulpit to prevent theft.
You can get a 1611 version at amazon.com. I have given away a number of them to such people as an intellectual agnostic who appreciated the "historical significance" and I give with the hope that God's goodness will ooze from the pages and seep into his heart. The full "introduction and preface is especially precious to me.
Recommended Posts
Twinky
Here in the UK there have been all sorts of celebrations.
For local celebrations, one church in my city had a read-through which I think took nearly a week, being read aloud 24 hours a day - by people who just went in and volunteered to read a few verses or chapters or for a period of time.
Other churches have been handwriting the whole KJV - again, shared between all the congregation and anyone else who cares to come along.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
lovematters
A few years ago an author of a book about how the King James Version was written was on C-SPAN.
He said that the King James Version's English was old-fashioned English at the time it was written and by using language that was a few generations out-of-date the writers were following the tradition of Wycliffe and the Latin Vulgate.
It's still my favorite version.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
OperaBuff
Egads.
Can they not find better prose than this flat pancake of a paean to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible?
"The King James Bible deserves to be recognized for its contribution to American society. It really has been the vehicle that formulated our language and programmed our thinking for centuries. There is no equivalent piece of English literature."
Really? Seriously, that's it? A hideously passive clause, followed by valley girl conjecture, followed by a full body slam? Really? Seriously?
Egad.
There must be at least 400 GSC'ers who can produce better prose than that for this august occasion.
My celebration of the 400th anniversary began in January this year, when I purchased a replica of a first edition from greatsite.com, which advertises itself as the world's largest dealer of rare and antique bibles. Originals, as you can imagine, sell for megabucks; this replica was a few hundred dollars. You should see this replica! Oh my. It weighs about 30 pounds and stands about 18" tall. Each page was photographed from an original and printed on linen paper, then bound in birch boards and finally covered in red leather. Oh my!
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Human without the bean
That's pretty cool Operabuff.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
OperaBuff
It's very cool, Human. I have no shelf big enough to hold it, so it's sitting on my bedroom floor temporarily. To give you a visual on the size, here's a picture of one that I copied from the greatsite.com web page. Bibles this size were sometimes called pulpit Bibles; they were often chained to the pulpit to prevent theft.
kjv.tiff
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kit Sober
You can get a 1611 version at amazon.com. I have given away a number of them to such people as an intellectual agnostic who appreciated the "historical significance" and I give with the hope that God's goodness will ooze from the pages and seep into his heart. The full "introduction and preface is especially precious to me.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kit Sober
There's a movie out on dvd "KJB" which gives [some of] the story of the genesis of this "special" book. Pretty neat.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.