CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT.
Not only was King James the first monarch to unite Scotland, England and Ireland into Great Britain (as he liked to call it), but he commissioned what many consider to be the greatest piece of religious and literary work in the world--the Authorized King James Version of the Bible, aka the Authorized Version. King James gave his subjects the greatest gift he could--the Holy Bible so that they could be saved and fed from the Word of God.
In January of 1604, the King called the Hampton Court Conference in order to hear of things "pretended to be amiss" in the church. At this conference, Dr. John Reynolds, a Puritan, requested of the King a new translation of the Bible because those that were allowed during the reigns of Henry the VIII and Edward the VI were corrupt.
The King loved the idea and by July of 1604 the King had appointed 54 men to the translation committee. These men were not only the best linguists and scholars in the kingdom but in the world. Much of their work on the King James Bible formed the basis for our linguistic studies of today.
The translators were organized into six groups and met respectively at Westminster, Cambridge, and Oxford. This group of great scholars had qualifications such as have not been rivaled before or after them. They spent most of their lifetimes in the pursuit of God and knowledge. One translator, Dr. Lancelot Andrews, mastered at least 15 languages and by the time he was 6 years old, he had read the entire Bible in Hebrew. Others on the translation committee were just as qualified. Some wrote foreign language dictionaries and lexicons, they commonly debated in Greek, they translated and edited great works and wrote their own. These are but a few of their fantastic accomplishments. They not only knew the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek biblical languages but also the related languages that shed light on them such as Arabic, Persian, Coptic, Syriac, Latin, Chaldee, Spanish, French, Italian, and Dutch.
These men were not only world class scholars, they were Christians who lived holy lives as Deans and Presidents of major universities such as Oxford, Cambridge, and Westminster. Some prayed 5 hours a day.
Their translation work did not go without opposition. According to the translator's notes in the preface of the King James Bible, the Catholic religion was dead set against translating the Bible into the common tongue. Popery proved to be the translator's chief enemy. The translators wrote of the Catholic religion:
"So much are they afraid of the light of the scripture, that they will not trust the people with it...Sure we are that not he that hath the good gold, that is afraid to bring it to the touchstone, but he that hath the counterfeit."
Despite the opposition of the Catholic religion, the work continued and the end product was nothing short of miraculous. Many consider the commissioning of the Authorized King James Version of the Bible the crowning achievement of King James the VI and & I.
Upon its publication, the King James or Authorized Version eclipsed all previous and subsequent versions. It is the best-selling book of all time. Today there are a plethora of Bible 'versions available--yet for many Christians the 'King James Bible of 1611' is the absolute and final word of God.
We will use a quote from the Merit Student's Encyclopedia:
"The greatest English Bible is the Authorized, or King James Version...The King James Bible became the traditional Bible of English-speaking Protestants. Its dignified and beautiful style strongly influenced the development of literature in the English language. The influence can be seen in the works of John Bunyan, John Milton, Herman Melville and many other writers."
Actor Charlton Heston had this to say about the King James Bible in his autobiography:
"...the King James translation has been described as the only great work of art ever created by a committee...The authors of several boring translations that have followed over the last fifty years mumble that the KJV is "difficult" filled with long words...Over the past several centuries it's been the single book in most households an enormous force in shaping the development of the English language. Carried around the world by missionaries...Exploring it...was one of the most rewarding creative experiences of my life."
The Authorized King James Version of the Bible has been cherished and read by Christians the world over since 1611 when it was published. Sir Winston Churchill said, "The scholars who produced this masterpiece are mostly unknown and unremembered. But they forged an enduring link, literary and religious, between the English-speaking people of the world."
The Authorized King James Bible is not only heralded by Christians for its doctrinal accuracy, but it has been recognized by the secular as the "Monument of English Prose" for it is most beautiful in style and prose. In fact, the King James Bible has been listed in Norton Anthologies "The World's Best Literature" for decades.
PHYSICAL AILMENTS.
Though King James had a life filled with accomplishments, he was a man acquainted with grief. He was a sickly man who had physical handicaps in his legs and a tongue that was too large for his mouth. As a result of his unsteady gait, the king had numerous falls, accidents and injuries. He suffered from crippling arthritis, abdominal colic, gout, inability to sleep, weak/spasmic limbs, nausea, frequent diarrhea, and kidney pain. Some believe that he may have had congenital diseases of the nervous system. Sometimes the pain was so great that the king became delirious.
To add to his ill-health, the king suffered from depression from the loss of his beloved wife Queen Anne in 1619. She was preceded in death by their eldest son, Prince Henry in 1612. The King was no stranger to pain and sorrow. The sun set on King James the great monarch on March 27, 1625 at Theobolds Park in Herts, England. He was 59 years old when he died and was buried at Westminster Abbey. Unlike many Scottish monarchs, King James died in his bed at peace with his subjects and foreign countries. He also passed Royal power on, intact, to an adult son which was also quite unusual.
Though he died almost 400 years long ago, the King's legacy, the King James Bible continues to flourish and to bring men, women, boys and girls to a life-saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Basilicon Doraon
