Multimedia • Reference • Religion • Travel |
 In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture Alister E. McGrath 
 Description From The Publisher: The King James Bible is the most familiar and widely read Bible translation in the world, recognized for centuries as both a religious and literary classic. But the origins of this masterpiece are far from what one might expect, and its beginnings lie in murder, deceit, bitter political feuds, and religious conflicts so intense they threatened the unity of England. The struggle to translate the Bible into English was a passionate cause, in the name of which crusaders fought, were imprisoned, and were sometimes even executed_like William Tyndale, whose efforts to translate the New Testament into English led him to a gruesome death. Now, Alister McGrath explores the origins of this monumental work and delves into the forces that brought it into being, illuminating a particularly volatile and culturally rich period in European history. When Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 1450s, he was setting into motion an intellectual and cultural revolution that would have implications far beyond the literary world. The first book printed on this remarkable invention was the most important book in Christendom, the Bible, which was published in its Latin translation. Until Gutenberg, ordinary Christians had to go through an elite clergy to get access to the Scriptures that were the foundation of their faith. But this watershed event lit the spark of the Protestant Refomation, whose advocates ultimately demanded, among other things, that the Scriptures be translated into the vernacular languages of the people so that they might experience the Word of God for themselves. Named for the Scottish king who ascended the English throne in 1603, the King James Bible wouldn't be published until 1611, and it was not, in fact, the first Bible to be published in English; but its impact has been profound. Its language has been an inspiration for virtually every great writer since the seventeenth century, and has also provided the style and vocabulary for such different forms of expression as Negro spirituals and the Gettysburg address. For the lover of history, literature, or language, In the Beginning is a book that shouldn't be missed. In bringing the story of the King James Bible to light, it captures a vanished period of history in vivid, compelling detail, and will more than prove Roberth Lowth's famous assertion that the King James translation is the "noblest monument of English prose." Reviews "Alister McGrath has the teacher's gift for focusing on memorable details which illustrate wider issues. The book is spattered with brilliant little vignettes." —Dom. Henry Wansbrough, St. Benet's Hall, Oxford University
 Reader's Index Send us your favorite quotes or passages from this book. About the Author Alister McGrath is Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University and Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He is a consulting editor at Christianity Today, the general editor of The NIV Thematic Study Bible, and the author of numerous books, including The Journey, Theology for Amateurs, To Know and Serve God, and A Journey Through Suffering. He lives in Oxford, England. Table of Contents
Customer Reviews Write your own online review. Look for Similar Books by Subject  HistoryHow the Bible Was BuiltJourney from Texts to Translations The Bible in Translation How We Got the Bible
  | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  Copyright ©1996-2009 CenturyOne Bookstore. All Rights Reserved. All prices subject to change and given in U.S. dollars. Your purchase from CenturyOne.com will assist the CenturyOne Foundation in providing funding for various archaeological and research projects which seek to provide more information about the period of the First Century C.E., the origins of Christianity and the world of the Bible in general. All materials contained in http://www.centuryone.com are protected by copyright and trademark laws and may not be used for any purpose whatsoever other than private, non-commercial viewing purposes. Derivative works and other unauthorized copying or use of stills, video footage, text or graphics is expressly prohibited. |
