March 26 - THE Bible

March 26 – THE Bible

Yes, you’ve met him a couple of times in the last week. He was the son of Mary Queen of Scots. While living in Scotland, he was Prince James – James VI. When he moved down to England to reign after Elizabeth’s death, he became James I.

The Puritans were hopeful … ever so hopeful that he would grant them favor. The church in England hadn’t yet committed itself to Calvinism and they were definitely hoping that James, coming from Presbyterian Scotland would be on their side.

James, however, believed that he had been given a “divine right to rule.” He kind of like that whole “Defender of the Faith” title and placed himself as the head of the Anglican Church. Those Presbyterians – well, they preferred independence and that might get in the way of the king having divine rights.

Now, there were a BUNCH of Puritans in England, so James couldn’t just dismiss them out of hand. IN 1604, there was a meeting between the Puritans and the bishops. James pretty much told them that they weren’t going to get anything they wanted. In fact, he let them know that he wanted them out of England.

What they did receive was his approval for a new Bible translation. What they didn’t realize is that James wanted to get rid of the Geneva Bible, which was clearly Calvinistic in its translation and in its helps. It was time for a translation of the Bible into English that would appeal to James.

He brought together fifty-four scholars, who worked with both the original texts (as they had them) and earlier translations. They worked for nearly three years on King James’ version of the Bible and it hit the presses in 1611. A highly accurate translation of the Bible was now available to everyone in England, endorsed by the King.