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Illustrated with reproductions from early editions of the King James Bible, Bible: The Story of the King James Version offers an authoritative history of this renowned translation, ranging from the Bible's inception to the present day.--From publisher description
This book explores the 400 year political, ecclesiastical and cultural history of the King James Version of the English translation of the Bible. I was fascinated to observe that many of the debates that accompanied this translation, such as Protestantism versus Catholicism, Presbyterianism versus Episcopalism, the place of evangelicalism, and the nature of divine inspiration, are still issues that Christians today grapple with.
Gordon Campbell's "affectionate biography" has been published to mark this anniversary alongside a new edition of the Bible itself. Both are published by Oxford University Press, one of the King James Version's original printers. Campbell is an academic treading a delicate line between book history and storytelling, and at times dry textual detail predominates. Yet he remains fully aware of the dangers of this, and successfully makes the case for his own scholarly rigour. A section titled "Punctuation", for example, acknowledges that the prospect of such a discussion "may make the reader's eyes glaze over", but also notes that "the issue has long been a battleground, and cannot be ignored, though it can be treated with merciful brevity".
Illustrated with reproductions from early editions of the King James Bible, Bible: The Story of the King James Version offers an authoritative history of this renowned translation, ranging from the Bible's inception to the present day.--From publisher description