Showing posts with label 400th anniversary of KJV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 400th anniversary of KJV. Show all posts

To an old friend...

Monday June 6, 2011

    It was first published 400 years ago on May 5, 1611.

    It was called the Authorized Version (or Authorised, for our British friends), the King James Bible, and the King James Version.

    I’m celebrating its 400th birthday just a bit late, but with a package full of thanks and love.

    I got my first one at birth, a tiny little pink KJV New Testament, a gift from our church.

    At seven years old, on Christmas, my parents gave me a deep red leather one – the King James Version of the Bible.

    I carried it until my college days. Oh, there was a brief flirtation with the Good News for Modern Man and the Living Bible…but I came back to that red leather KJV, until I found the NIV. (I did a little research and was pleased to find that the man who provided the vision for the NIV was a lifelong devotee of the King James who found that it just didn’t connect with his friends.)

    But I celebrate the King James Version today for what it gave me in those formative years.

    I know it’s somewhat difficult and formal. But it’s beautiful.
    I spent a lot of time in church as a child, and I’m convinced my love for words comes directly from that beautiful text.

    I heard it read, I read it, I underlined it, I memorized it – complete with ye instead of you and –eth at the ends of verbs.

    • What else have you read that makes a statement and then says, ‘Yea, doubtless”?

    • “I thank my God every time I remember you” (Philippians 1:3, NIV) is really nice, but “I thank my God upon every remembrance of you” is simply lovely.

    • And how beautiful is this? “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
    Oh, I know – we all have our preferences. You may have had trouble with that version or bad memories associated with it, it may have “turned someone off” that you know, or you just may have prefer another. (I spend most of my time in the NIV these days, but for pure poetry you can’t beat KJV. Many of the verses I memorized years ago are still in that version in my head.) My sons love the ESV these days, but so far I’m hanging on to my NIV, with the red leather KJV just in the distance.

    This isn’t a persuasive post, though – it’s a celebratory one.

    When I pulled out the old red leather, I could just see myself in that little Indiana church, sitting with my family sometimes, with my friends other times. For awhile I circled the numbers of verses so I’d know that I’d read them – with a goal to read the whole Bible, I suppose. (This was before the Read the Bible in a Year programs.) I underlined what really spoke to me and wrote dates beside. The front and back pieces are filled with quotes and sayings that tell a lot about my teen years. It’s a real trip down Memory Lane.

    But the significant thing is, by those teen years, I adored words and the Word. I’m convinced that the poetic turn of the KJV evoked the love that plays such an important part in my life today. And I’m thankful for that.

    Happy Birthday, KJV – I still love you.


    Linking up today with Michelle at Graceful for Hear it on Sunday, Use it on Monday.

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