The Story of Our King James Bible Getting Started

The canon of Scripture—or… Which books belong in the Bible? The word canon means “rule,” or “measuring stick” The debate was primarily about the NT Accepted books had to meet these requirements

1.Apostolic origin (or close companion) 2.Universal acceptance (acknowledged by the various Christian communities) 3.Liturgical use (read publicly in churches) 4.Consistent message with other Bible books

The Apocrypha Catholics call them “deuterocanonical” –A “second layer” of the canon –They exist only Greek—there are no Hebrew manuscripts of them Protestants call them “Apocrypha” –“secret,” or “non-canonical” –A term of insult Came to the early Church through Hellenistic Jews of Alexandria

Had originally been interspersed throughout the OT Protestant protests led to them being grouped together and published separately Some Protestants thought they were valuable for historical knowledge, and the Geneva Bible included it. The Church of England still uses it in public worship Was included in the KJV

Translation was done by committee (called a “company ”) There were 6 companies, two in the cities of Westminster, Oxford, and Cambridge The 1 st Westminster company: Genesis to II Kings –Chairman was Lancelot Andrews –A “high churchman” –Brilliant, as were all of his committee members

The 1st Cambridge company: –I Chr. -Song of Solomon –Chairman was Robert Spaulding –Two members of this committee had Puritan leanings (but all were Church of England) The 1 st Oxford company –Isaiah to Malachi –John Harding was the chair –John Rainolds was the “leader.” –Rainolds led the delegation at Hampton Court that sought a new bible

2nd Westminster company –NT epistles –Director was William Barlow 2 nd Oxford company –Gospels, Acts, Revelation –Director was John Perrine 2 nd Cambridge company –Apocrypha –Director was John Duport, a moderate puritan

Methodology One of James’ rules was that each man read every other man’s work—this was not practical, and not followed 40 copies of the Bishop’s Bible (unbound) were provided to the translators— the few sheets that remain are filled with notes

After the individual committees finished their work, there was a daily “general meeting” to go over it This committee met daily for 9 months Reading the new translation, and reading as many other sources as possible Dealing with difficult issues and making decisions

II Timothy 3.16 Wycliffe: All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and profitable… Tyndale: For all scripture gave by inspiration of God is profitable…. The issue originates in differing Greek texts