Notes on “The Story of the Bible” Class No. 10
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Index
Preliminaries
Luke Timothy Johnson, Emory University, lecturer
Lecture 17: The First Efforts at “Englishing” the Bible
Official outline from The Teaching Company
16th century
- the Reformation was tied up in the actions of Henry VII
- Henry wanted a son to secure the dynasty
- became king in 1509
- was a devout Catholic
Henry VIII (1491-1547) was declared by the Pope to be a “Defender of the Faith” and resisted reform theology to his death
- however, his desire to divorce Catherine of Aragon let to a break with Rome in 1533
- he thought that he could not have a son with Catherine, with whom he had already had a daughter
- he also dissolved the monasteries to finance his endless wars with France
- Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) abetted Henry’s divorce and worked for reform
Edward VI (regent 1547-1553) was Henry’s son by Jane Seymour (3rd wife, married in 1536)
- guided by Cranmer
- under Edward England moved toward the Reformation
- Cranmer composed the Book of Common Prayer in 1549
Mary Tudor (1516-1558) was Henry’s daughter by Catherine
- became queen in 1553
- violent — “Bloody Mary”
- turned England back to Roman Catholicism
Elizabeth I (1533-1603) was Henry’s daughter by Ann Boleyn
- ruled 1558-1603
- turned England back to Protestant, equally violently
- 45-year reign gave her time to do this
Thus, this was the principle of Erastianism, i.e., the religion of the leader was the religion of the realm
John Wycliffe (1330-1384)
- book: On the Truth of the Sacred Scriptures
- distinguished “spiritual church” from “material church”
- had deep suspicion of institutions of church
- 1382 book: On Apostacy
- Church’s inability to set laws makes it the responsibility of the State
- there is no basis for monasticism in Scripture
- translated entire Bible into English
- predated Gutenberg, so this was by hand with little distribution
- extremely literal translation from Vulgate
- collaborators suffered persecution
- Lollardy (the Lollards)
- movement of dissent that led to the Reformation
- discontent with wealth of clergy, etc.
William Tyndale (1494-1536)
- giant among translators
- studied at Oxford and Cambridge
- Bishop of London refused permission to translate in 1522
- in 1524 moved to Germany where his ideas could be expressed
- began translation from Hebrew and Greek
- finally published in 1525
- attacked in England
- 1530 translated additional books
- 1528-1530 Henry VIII asked Thomas Moore to debate Tyndale
Thomas Moore (1478-1535)
- devoted to Henry until Henry’s divorce
- beheaded by Henry in 1535 over this
In 1535 Tyndale was arrested by William’s agents and burned at the stake
- at his death, Tyndale prayed “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes”
- this happened, and in 1537 Henry VIII allowed the English Bible to be distributed in his kingdom
About 80% of Tyndale is included in the King James version
- Tyndale coined many expressions
- the salt of the earth
- the powers that be
- my brother’s keeper
- a law unto themselves
- fight the good fight
- marvelous sense of rhythm
- ask and it shall be given you
- seek and ye shall find
- knock and it shall be opened unto you
- in Him we live and move and have our being
- the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
- Tyndale’s work is therefore foundational for the English Bible
- many quoted him even when they opposed him
Other English versions quickly appeared
- not rendered directly from Hebrew and Greek, but from earlier translations
Myles Coverdale (1488-1568)
- translation based on the Vulgate, on Luther, and on Tyndale
- 188 woodcuts
- supported by Henry’s then wife Anne Boleyn
- the “treacle” Bible due to peculiar translation of Jeremiah 8:22, in which “balm” is translated as “treacle”
John Rogers died as a martyr under Mary Tudor
- wrote under the pseudonym Thomas Matthew
- published the Matthews Bible
- licensed by Henry VIII
- hundreds of illustrations and thousands of annotations
- annotations advance one theological position of another
John Taveners version of Matthew’s Bible
The Great Bible (1539)
- sponsored by Thomas Cromwell
- some leaves were confiscated by French as acts of heresy
- another edition in 1540
- this is fundamentally the Coverdale Bible, translated from the Vulgate
- contained verses not found in the Greek
- 9" x 15" size, which was unusually large
- “the chain Bible” = chained in a prominent position in Church so it wouldn’t be stolen
- this is also called the Cranmer Bible, because Cranmer wrote the preface
- encouraged everyone to read the Bible for themselves
- he encouraged a reading for piety and good life, not arguments
- this Bible also had a wonderful frontispiece
- portrays Henry VIII passing Bibles on to bishops, bishops to curates and pastors, and those to ordinary people
- he concludes his preface with “God save the King”
Lecture 18: The King James Version
Official outline from The Teaching Company
The King James version is The Authorized Version
- the proliferation led to his version
- attempt to standardize chaotic state of affairs
The Geneva Bible (1560)
- translated by William Whittingham
- numbered chapters and verses
- introduction by John Calvin
- pro-Reform and anti-Catholic bias
- Prebspeterian
- 140 printings
- this is the Bible of John Bunyon
- it is also the Bible of William Shakespeare
- Puritans advance a more radical reformation
Bishops’ Bible (1568)
- authorized by Mary to counter the Geneva Bible
1582 Geoffory Martin and Richard Bristow produced a pro-Catholic Bible
Douay-Rheims or the Chancellor version
King James 1566-1625
- very elaborate and official process
- sets precedent for many other translation projects
- 1604 conference was instigation
- set out a table of principles
- it was to be a conservative translation
- to follow the Bishops’ Bible except where there were errors
- old terms to be used, e.g., “church,” not “congregation”
- also meant to be minimal
- no marginal notes except when the translation did not suffice
- also minimal cross-references
- also meant to be deeply collaborative
- 54 scholars in 6 teams
- each assigned chapters or sections
- if disagreement arose, those issues were submitted to the full assembly
- extradinarily wide-ranging exercise
- initial period took about 4 years
- 1609 review panel of 4 scholars
- basis = Masoretic Text of the Old Testament and Testus Receptus of the New Testament
- the scholars viewed their work as one of revision as opposed to originality
- Tyndale’s translation is actually the major contributor
- 80% of the King James version is the Tyndale version
- five revisions, the most commonly used is by Benjamin Blayney
- red letters added in 1899
This Authorized Version became “the Bible” for generations
- widely praised by numerous scholars
- even today it is widely recognized as a marvelous translation
- “one simply enjoys reading it because of the beauty of the English prose”
- however, in some cases the Geneva translation is simpler
- but the last printing of the Geneva Bible was in 1644
Deficiencies of the King James version
- the textual basis is inadequate
- the Greek basis is based on very few manuscripts, and those were recent (in that time)
- the knowledge of the languges and Hebrew and Greek have advanced immeasurably in the last 400 years
- the English language itself has also changed dramatically since the 16th century
- the English of the King James version is not the English of today
- example: “faith unfeigned” (Timothy 1:4-6)
- example: “vain jangling”
- and many other examles
New Revisions
- the American Standard Version
- the Revised Standard Version
- the New Revised Standard Version
- the New King James Version