Melvin Bragg on the King James Bible
Melvin Bragg has just said on BBC Breakfast that the establishment was very much against publishing the bible in English, as then everybody could read it. He then said asomething like they thought it would destroy society and that there is still a view in the establishment that the general public shouldn’t know anything.
He also said that once the bible was in English, then everybody could discuss religion.
So did the King James bible break the superinjunction of its day?
The Anonymous Widower 
The Bible was already in English by the time the King James version was published.
It was the concept of ordinary people, being able to read for themselves, rather than being told what the Bible contained. The vast majority couldnt read anyway as education wasnt universal.
Tyndale et al did a wonderful job.
Comment by Janet | April 27, 2011 |
My father was a printer and printing enabled the first general distribution of knowledge. Why do dictators always take control of the printed medium? Now many want to control the Internet, as it gives power to the people.
Comment by AnonW | April 27, 2011 |
The idea that ordinary “common people” couldnt possibly understand the complex things in the Bible, all kinds of ideas around that, and of course, if the ordinary common people could read the Bible in English, or have it read to them in English they would know that a great deal of what was being preached and taught was actually not in the Bible, in fact some of it contradicted the Bible. Power, as you say.
There is a world religion at the moment in a similar situation, only officially accepting their holy book in its original language and not liking the idea of it being translated into other languages, including English.
Comment by liz | April 27, 2011 |
Translations of anything is always a problem.
When I was at ICI in the late 1960s, I needed to read a lot of documents from Solvay, the Belgian chemical company, which were written in French. The first couple had been translated into English by a translator who didn’t understand chemical engineering, so after that I did them myself and understood everything much better. Make of that what you will, but I certainly understood my own translations better.
Comment by AnonW | April 27, 2011 |
[…] Bragg is doing a program on the King James Bible and he has been on television talking about it. But where is the program about the New River, which brings fresh water to London? […]
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