• 2011 is the 400’th anniversary of the Kings James version of the Bible.
• We want to use this anniversary to encourage people to one again read the Bible.
• We are not promoting the KJB as such;
• But rather the reading of the Bible in a translation that is suitable for you!
‘Biblefresh’ is an initiative by the Bible Society;
• To encourage individuals and Churches to once again read, study, value the book!
• We come from a tradition that has always valued the Bible;
• And the teaching of the Bible is centre stage in all we do.
• So as a Church that values the Bible;
• We want to join in with that emphasis and reinforce it;
• And we are using this month to promote the personnel & public reading of the Bible.
• We have provided various resources e.g. ‘E100 Bible Reading Plan’.
• And over the next four Sunday Evenings ‘The Bible’ itself will be the topic.
• Tonight’s topic: Explanation – How we got our English Bible
• Followed by: Inspiration – Why the Bible is unique
• Application – Lessons from Ezra -Nehemiah chapter 8
• Illumination – Ways to read & study the Bible
Quote: Phillip Brooks:
• The Bible is like a telescope.
• If a man looks through his telescope he sees worlds beyond;
• But if he looks at his telescope,
• He does not see anything but that.
• The Bible is a thing to be looked through to see that which is beyond;
• But most people only look at it and so they see only the dead letter.
• Our prayer as Church Elders is that we might not meet with print on a page;
• But as we study and read God’s word individually & collectively;
• Once again God will speak to us;
• And build us up in ‘our most holy faith’.
The title of our talk tonight is: ‘How we got our English Bible’.
• Written over a 1,500 year span.
• Written over 40 generations.
• Written by over 40 authors from every walk of life:
• Written on three continents:
• Asia, Africa, and Europe
• Written in three languages:
• Hebrew, Greek and some Aramaic.
Now any translation from one language to another causes problems;
• e.g. Photo of sign ‘Welcum turist we spik inglish’
• Any translator always faces the same problem, the same difficulty.
• If you translate a text word for word, it does not flow,
• Often it does not read well in the translated langue.
• e.g. John chapter 1 verse 1:
• “In origin was the saying and the saying was towards God and God was the saying”.
• That is a word for word translation, but it is not easy to read or to understand.
• If you allow the translation to flow;
• It might not necessarily be an accurate translation.
• e.g. “Before there was anything the word existed, the word was and is the same as God”.
• Here you have the meaning but it is maybe not as accurate as other translations.
• So translations will always be flawed;
• If you want to find fault in ANY English translation of the Bible;
• You do not have to look too hard.
• If you show me any translation, within 1 minute I will show you an error.
Note:
• Only the original texts are error free.
• We no longer have the original text, the actual parchment Paul and others wrote on.
• Due to the perishable nature of the ancient scrolls made from papyrus,
• What we do have are over 5,000 New Testament ancient texts;
• That group together into families.
• From these we have four main codices;
• That scholars use to translate the Bible into other languages.
Ill:
• No series critic of the Bible would doubt their authenticity;
• They pass every test that any other ancient book or manuscript would face;
• And they pass them in a far superior way than other non biblical sources .
Quote: In the Encyclopaedia Britannica (3rd edition) we read:
"This argument is so strong, that if we deny the authenticity of the New Testament we may
with a thousand times greater propriety reject all the other writings in the world".
• The big difference between the Bible and all other ancient books is the word ‘faith’.
• Scholars accept the manuscripts as historical and accurate documents.
• Christians would say that’s good - but there is more;
• We add ‘faith’ into the melting pot and call these texts ‘inspired’.
• Quote: 2 Timothy chapter 2 verse 16:
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness”
Quote:
• Sir Frederic Kenyon the British palaeographer (one who studies ancient writings);
• And biblical and classical scholar.
• He occupied a series of posts at the British Museum (from 1889 to 1931).
• So aptly said:
"The Christian can take the whole Bible in his hand and say without fear or hesitation that he holds in it the true word of God, handed down without essential loss from generation to generation throughout the centuries."
Note:
• Our focus with to nights subject: ‘How the Bible came to us in English’.
• Picks up the story after the 66 books of the Bible have been brought together.
• What we call the ‘Cannon’ of scripture.
• ‘Cannon’ is the rule of law that was used to determine if a book measured up to a standard.
• Remember the Old Testament was written mainly in Hebrew;
• A few parts in Aramaic.
• The New Testament was written in Greek.
ill:
• In New Testament times Hebrew was a ‘dead’ language,
• The language of commerce and literature was Greek.
• Just like you can go any where in the world today and find English being spoken;
• That was true of Greek in N.T. times.
LET’S LOOK AT A BRIEF FAMILY TREE OF HOW THE BIBLE CAME TO US IN ENGLISH:
• Note: We are not looking at every stage of development or even every translation;
• Only the key stages, the most important ones.
(1). The Vulgate. AD 404.
• I mentioned earlier that in New Testament times;
• Greek was the language spoken through the Roman empire.
• But Latin was the official language;
• Latin was used in the courts, in official writings, and by educated people.
• And as the Roman empire spread into Europe;
• Latin also spread and started to displace Greek as the common language.
Therefore it should come as no surprise that there was a need for Latin versions of Christian books:
• Parts of the Bible had been unofficially translated into Latin.
• In what was called ‘old Latin’.
• But as the need for Latin versions of Christian books appeared:
• In AD 382 Pope Damasus commissioned an experienced scholar called Jerome,
• To produce a more accurate Latin Bible.
• He revised the New Testament, comparing it with the Greek,
• But completely translated the Old Testament from Hebrew.
• He worked in a cave next to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem;
• And finished his translation in AD 404.
• His translation was called the ‘Vulgate’ (‘Vulgaris’ means ‘common’);
• Because it was written in the Latin spoken by the common people.
• The Bible was translated into Latin during the expansion of the Roman Empire;
• And the spread of Christianity.
• The Latin version of the Bible was used by Christians for a thousand years.
• It was this translation that was probably the first Bible to come to Great Britain.
Ill:
• This is the version that the Monks would so painstakingly copy by hand.
• Adding those illuminate initial letters and pictures.
• At long last the Bible was on our shores;
• But it was in Latin – not much good to the majority of the people in England.
• Also there was another problem with the Vulgate:
• There were different versions of it around;
• And as copies were being made they became increasingly inaccurate.
• ill: Chinese whispers game.
(2). Wycliffe’s Bible. c.1382.
• The first English translation of the whole Bible;
• Was produced by a man called John Wycliffe.
• John Wycliffe believed that the ‘sacred Scriptures are the property of the people’
• And should be produced in a language they could understand.
Quote: Prologue of the Wycliffe translation:
“The Bible is the Government of the people, by the people, and for the people”.
• Two friends Nicholas of Hereford and John Purvey, helped him complete the task.
• They worked as a team translating the Latin Vulgate into English.
• But their Bible was not very accurate;
• Since the Vulgate had been corrupted by centuries of copying.
Ill:
• It would have taken a farm labourer 13 years of his wages;
• To be able to buy a copy of Wycliffe’s Bible.
• Because it was hand-written.
• It is thought to have taken ten months to make one copy of Wycliffe’s Bible,
John Wycliffe:
• Was an English theologian, lay preacher, translator, reformist and university teacher;
• Who wanted to reform the Roman Catholic Church:
• The priesthood at the time was generally immoral and corrupt.
• And it was forbidden to read or own a copy of the Bible in English.
Ill:
• Wycliffe fell out with the Church over indulgencies.
• At the time of Wycliffe indulgencies were being sold for money!
In Catholic theology, an indulgence is the full or partial remission of temporal punishment due for sins which have already been forgiven.
The indulgence is granted by the Catholic Church after the sinner has confessed and received absolution.
The belief is that indulgences draw on the Treasure House of Merit accumulated by Christ’s superabundantly meritorious sacrifice on the cross and the virtues and penances of the saints.
They are granted for specific good works and prayers.
• So Wycliffe fell out with the Church over indulgencies.
• At the time of Wycliffe indulgencies were being sold for money!
• In seeking to bring about change;
• Wycliffe is referred to and called, “The Morning Star of the Reformation.”
• Wycliffe believed if the common people had the Bible in their own language,
• They would demand a reformation of the church
• Wycliffe trained up a group of men called the ‘Lollard’s’;
• Who went everywhere preaching and circulating Wycliffe’s English Bible.
Ill:
• On 28 December 1384, Wycliffe was stricken with a stroke,
• And died on the last day of the year.
• 44 years later Wycliffe was declared to be a stiff-necked heretic;
• And under the ban of the Church.
• It was decreed that his books be burned and his remains be exhumed.
• The exhumation was carried out in 1428.
• When, at the command of Pope Martin V,
• His remains were dug up, burned, and the ashes cast into the River Swift,
• Which flows through Lutterworth.
(3). Tyndale’s New Testament. 1525.
• William Tyndale is one of my heroes of the faith;
• Every Christian ought to read his life story!
• William Tyndale, often referred to as the "Father of the English Bible".
Quote: Tyndale’s once saying in the face of opposition from a prominent clergyman,
"I defy the Pope and all his laws. If God spare my life, ere many years, I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost."
• Tyndale produced the first printed English New Testament.
• Tyndale translated the New Testament from the original Greek,
• Like Wycliffe he criticised and spoke out against the practices of the Roman Church,
• Tyndale faced constant opposition;
• And spent most of his days on the run as a fugitive of the Church of England
• His Translation and printing had to be done on the Continent;
• From where it was smuggled back to England.
Ill:
• If you were a farm labourer and wanted to buy a copy of Tyndale’s N.T.
• It would have cost you 1 week’s wages.
• Because of the invention of the printing press the Bible could now be mass produced:
• 100,000 copies of Tyndale’s New Testament were smuggled into England.
Ill:
• The Church was against anyone having the Bible in any language except for Latin;
• The believed it should only be read and interpreted by the priests.
• The Bishop of London a man called Cuthbert Tunstall;
• Went to Antwerp and arranged to buy the entire stock of Tyndale’s N.T.
• These books were them transported to England and destroyed by burning;
• Outside St Paul’s Cross, St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.
As dreadful and shocking as it might seem to us today:
• Tyndale was pleased this had happened;
• Two reasons why.
• (1). The new cash would allow him to correct & reprint many more copies of the N.T.
• (2). He wrote; ‘The whole world shall cry out upon the burning of God’s word’.
In my opinion (for what it’s worth) Tyndale’s translation of the Bible has to be the best:
• His brilliant translation;
• Has been the basis of almost all English versions for the past 400 years.
• Did you know that the King James Version is over 81% word for word same.
• Many of the classic phrases in the KJB are straight from Tyndale’s Bible.
Ill:
• When Tyndale could not find an English word which exactly expressed the Greek or Hebrew:
• He made up a new word.
• i.e. ’Broken hearted, scapegoat, godly, ungodly’ and even the word ’Beautiful’.
• Many scholars believe that Tyndale;
• Has had a greater effect on the English language than Shakespeare!
Much of Tyndale’s work was done while he was ‘on the run’:
• Tyndale was hated by the church and monarchy and could not return to England,
• The home he still loved and missed terribly.
• He spent his remaining days as a "fugitive" in Germany,
• Where he couldn’t even walk the streets in daylight for fear of being captured.
• He later settled in Antwerp,
• He was eventually betrayed by a friend and arrested not far from Brussels:
• He was strangled at the stake and then burnt to ashes.
• His last recorded words were:
• "Lord, open the King of England’s eyes".
• That prayer was answered in a strange way:
• King Henry 8th quarrelled with the Roman Catholic Church:
• Because it would not grant him a divorce.
• So he established the Church of England.
• An English church needed an English Bible and the rest they say is history.
• Tyndale’s prayer was answered 2 years later.
• The king commissioned Miles Coverdale to edit a new version of the Bible;
• Based on translations from the original languages.
• This was the first Bible in English appointed to be read in churches’.
• In 1538 11,000 copies of the Great Bible also called the chain Bible;
• It was chained to the pulpit to stop anyone stealing it!.
• Were chained on public display in churches.
(5). Geneva Bible. 1560.
• During Queen Mary’s reign (1553-58)
• Protestant Christians were forced to flee to the Continent,
• Some fled to Geneva, Switzerland.
• Where a community was established and a new translation was undertaken.
• It was the first whole Bible to be translated into English;
• Completely from the original languages.
• The Geneva Bible preceded the King James translation by 51 years.
• It was the primary Bible of the 16th century Protestant movement.
Ill:
• It was the Bible used by William Shakespeare, Oliver Cromwell,
• John Milton, John Knox, John Donne, and John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress.
• It was also one of the Bibles taken to America on the Mayflower,
Note:
• It was the first Bible to have verses.
• We assumed the Bible always had them but they did not!
• It was also the first Bible to have Roman type face.
• Which again we take for granted as the norm.
• It is often called the ‘Breeches Bible’ because of the translation of Genesis 3:7.
• “They sewed fig-tree leaves together and made themselves breeches”.
(6). Authorised Version. 1611 (King James Version).
• In the reign of King James the First;
• It was decided that there were too many translations;
• And the King did not like the notes in the Geneva Bible.
• That ran contrary to the teachings of the established Church.
• A new Bible was needed which the King would authorise.
• Hence the name ‘The Authorised Version’.
• The AV was not a new translation;
• It is actually a revision of the Bishop’s Bible begun in 1604.
• It was to prepared by 50 academics and Church men.
• They were divided into 6 groups:
• 2 groups worked in Oxford university, 2 in Cambridge university & 2 in Westminster.
• Their instructions were to follow the Bishop’s Bible as far as possible;
• And modify it only where necessary.
• Their aim, as they themselves stated:
“Was not to make a new translation nor to make a bad one into a good one,
but to ‘make a good one better, or out of many good ones, one principal good one’”
• It has been the most widely used English Bible for over 300 years.
• It has been called ‘the noblest monument of English prose’.
(7). Other English translations
• Because there was improved knowledge of the Greek manuscripts,
• Many inaccuracies in the Authorised Version were known.
• Also as with all language;
• In time the English of the A.V. had become dated and needed revising.
• In 1952 the REVISED STANDARD VERSION was produced;
• This was the first major attempt to use 20th century English;
• And modern scholarship in a translation.
• In 1970 the NEW ENGLISH BIBLE.
• Became the first major translation of the Bible standing outside the Tyndale tradition.
• It broke free from many familiar Biblical renderings;
• But it was not as widely accepted as was anticipated.
• In 1976 the GOOD NEWS BIBLE. (Today’s English Version).
• This was a simple English translation of the Scriptures;
• It was produced for people learning English as a second language.
• The Good News Bible.
• Was the first to have its type set by computer.
• In 1978 the NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION was produced.
• This was a completely new translation from the best Hebrew and Greek texts.
• It was the aim of more than one hundred evangelical scholars;
• From many countries to produce the Bible in contemporary language;
• That could be used in public worship and private study.
• It has become a very popular translation.
• And is widely used in the UK and across the world.
Question:
• Which translation is the best?
• Which translation should you use?
Answer:
• When it comes to best everyone will have an idea of what ‘best’ means.
• It comes down to personal preference.
• I guess this might be answered in our third study:
• ‘Ways to read & study the Bible’
• I always suggest people use a translation that is ‘a word’ translation;
• And not a paraphrase.
• Paraphrases like ‘The Message’ give some understanding and insight;
• But ‘a word’ translation will give a more accurate rendering.
• I would also suggest you use a modern version;
• Such as the N.I.V or New King James Version.
All the great translators of the Bible:
• Wycliffe, Tyndale, Martin Luther;
• All believed that the scriptures should be in the everyday language of the common people.
• Remember that God has no problem speaking my language!
• The English of 2011.
Ill:
• The first Wycliffe Bible Translators was founded in 1942;
• By a man called William Cameron Townsend.
• He was a missionary to the Cakchiquel Indians of Guatemala,
• Townsend had caught the vision for translation;
• When a Cakchiquel man challenged him:
• "If your God is so great, why doesn’t He speak in my language?"
• Townsend resolved that every man, woman and child;
• Should be able to read God’s Word in their own language!
Quote: Luke chapter 24 verses 45-46:
44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
