BIBLE FOR YOU!--No.2!--Reading of the Dedication of the King James Bible!
DO 2687
10/90
1. One of you pray for the class, OK? (Techi: Amen, Lord! Thank You Jesus! Thank You for this good Bible class, Jesus, that we can have with Grandpa. We pray that You'll please bless it, Jesus, & help us to really learn from it & to be good students, in Jesus' name, amen! Thank You Lord!)
2. Amen! Praise the Lord! Thank You Lord! Well, did you do a little homework today? (Techi: Yes, I looked to see how the Bible is arranged.) Good! Did you think of why we use the King James version? (David: Yes, I thought of that!) OK! David, tell us why you think we use the King James version. First of all, what do we know? What does "King James Version" mean? What king was he? (David: Well, he was King James, ha!) Of what country? (David: England.) Yes, & what's the date of approval of this issuance of the King James version? It should tell you right there in your Bible. This will be an open-Bible test tonight!
Dedication of the Bible to the King!
3. Most King James Version Bibles have an introduction by the translators where they're speaking to King James. (Techi: And it says something about Queen Elizabeth. Oh, here it is! "To the Most High & Mighty Prince James.") Shall we read it? It would be interesting! (Techi: It's long.) It's only two pages. You read one page & let David read the other page, okay?
4. (Techi: "To the Most High & Mighty Prince James, by the grace of God. King of Great Britain, France & Ireland, Defender of the Faith. The translators of the Bible wish Grace, Mercy & Peace through Jesus Christ our Lord. Great & manifold were the blessings, most dread Sovereign, which Almighty God, the Father of all mercies, bestowed upon us, the people of England, when He first sent Your Majesty's Royal Person to rule & reign over us. For whereas it was the expectation of many, who wished not well unto our Sion...") Unto our what? (Techi: "Unto our Sion.") That probably means the King.
5. They had a lot of enemies in getting out this new Bible, you know? So it shows you that it was quite a project & a lot of people fought it, that they didn't want this new Bible. I think this dedication is beautiful, really. Do you mind reading on? (Techi: No!) It's a faith increaser! Now if you don't mind, I'll need to interrupt you frequently to explain some of these difficult statements. Is that OK? (Kids: Yes.)
6. (Techi: "...that upon the setting of that bright Occidental* Star, Queen Elizabeth of most happy memory...") King James became King after Queen Elizabeth--he was the son of Mary Queen of Scots, a cousin of Elizabeth's--& this was the greatest thing he accomplished in his whole reign, this version of the Bible. We're now on the subject of why we use the King James Bible. OK? Go ahead! (*Occidental: Western.)
7. (Techi: "...some thick & palpable clouds of darkness would so have overshadowed this Land, that men should have been in doubt which way they were to walk; and that it should hardly be known, who was to direct the unsettled State ...") "Palpable clouds" means clouds you can almost feel. They got so much opposition! This King James version was to become such a great blessing throughout the World that the Devil really fought it! (Techi: But they got it out, thank the Lord!) Amen!
8. I think even the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was the head of the English Church, fought it because he didn't think it was wise to let the common people know everything the Bible said. He was afraid they might get out from under the control of the Church. (Techi: In other words, the Church wasn't obeying the Bible, ha!) No, ha!
9. (Techi: "...the appearance of Your Majesty, as of the Sun in his strength, instantly dispelled those supposed & surmised mists, & gave unto all that were well affected exceeding cause of comfort; especially when we beheld the Government established in Your Highness, & Your hopeful Seed, by an undoubted Title, & this also accompanied with peace & tranquility at home & abroad. But among all our joys, there was no one that more filled our hearts, than the blessed continuance of the preaching of God's sacred Word among us; which is that inestimable treasure, which excelleth all the riches of the Earth ...") That's right, Honey! We can't even estimate the treasure of God's Word, it's an "inestimable treasure!"
10. (Techi: "...because the fruit thereof extendeth itself, not only to the time spent in this transitory World, but directeth & disposeth men unto that eternal happiness which is above in Heaven.") Boy, they really used a lot of big words in those days, didn't they? But they knew what they were talking about! They kind of strung it out, but they were really being loyal to the Lord & to Heaven! Go ahead!
11. (Techi: "Then not to suffer this to fall to the ground, but rather to take it up, & to continue it in that state, wherein the famous Predecessor of Your Highness did leave it...")
12. There's a Scripture about that, that you're not to let one word of the Bible fall to the ground. (1Sam.3:19.) I took a classmate of mine to Sunday School once, this Jewish boy. He was kind of ribald* & a rah, rah, rah type of guy, & when we sang, "Standing on the Promises," he put the Bible down on the ground & jumped on it & said, "I'm standing on the Promises, ha!" I said, "Listen, you mustn't do that. God's Word says, 'Let not one word fall to the ground!'"--So he got off, ha! (Techi: Was he doing that for a joke?) Oh yes, he was a clown, just a clown. He didn't realise he was doing anything bad. Go ahead. (*Ribald: Joking in a coarse & vulgar way.)
13. (Techi: "Then not to suffer this to fall to the ground, but rather to take it up, & to continue it in that state, wherein the famous Predecessor of Your Highness did leave it...") Queen Elizabeth evidently was the one who started it, but he finished the project. (Techi: "...nay, to go forward with the confidence & resolution of a Man in maintaining the truth of Christ, & propagating* it far & near, is that which hath so bound & firmly knit the hearts of all Your Majesty's loyal & religious people unto You, that Your very name is precious among them. Their eye doth behold You with comfort, & they bless You in their hearts, as that sanctified Person, who, under God, is the immediate Author of their true happiness.") (*Propagating: Spreading from person to person.)
14. In other words, the King was a real blessing & the people appreciated what he was doing for them to bring the Word down to their level. There had been a few versions that had preceded the King James Version. John Wycliffe's was the first English Bible, but it was before the invention of the printing press. And there was William Tyndale's Bible in 1525 & a couple of others after that, but some were not complete & they were not done in such an organised way. The King James version had had a whole lot of men, a big commission of 47 men who translated it together; each one was given a different section to translate & the others then checked it out & they were checked & re-checked & cross-checked so that it was really well done. I'm giving away some of the reasons why we use it!
Dad's Old Bibles!
15. Take it easy on my old Bible! It's almost 30 years old! (David: Amazing! Did you buy it, or did somebody give it to you?) Sara Ulm's mother gave it to me as a Christmas present when we were at the World's Fair. Look at the cover. (David: Oh yes! New York World's Fair, 1964 & 65.) Yes, it was brand new then. And she gave it to me because my old Bible was falling apart, the one I had all marked up. I've marked this one up pretty much, too. Some places I've worn it out! (Techi: Where you've studied it?)--Yes!
16. (Techi: That's really nice! It's nice to see a really old Bible!) (David: Yes, it's amazing, you don't see that very often.) Guess how long I had the one before that!--Twenty-five years! (Techi: Really?) Yes. (Techi: I bet it looked like that, too! Amazing!) Well, it was almost like this.
17. I got it on my 19th birthday, given to me by the Youth Society that I headed at that old Congregational church on Northeast 2nd Avenue in Miami, the Church of the Open Door, where we had a youth meeting every Sunday night before the other meeting in the basement. So they took up an offering for my birthday present, & of course, the kids in those days didn't have much money. I think it was a little over $5, & that was a lot of money in those days! So I took it & I shopped & I went to every place in the whole city that sold Bibles. And believe it or not, it was sold in a department store, & it was only a little over $5--not this one, but the one I had before--& it was called some kind of a condensed concordance Bible.
18. In a lot of Bibles in the back they have a lot of different sections of helps, but this one had them all synthesized under one index so it was really good. The thing I liked about it best--the one before this--was that it had all the Words of Jesus in red. It's called a "Red Letter Bible." And then in the Old Testament all the prophecies about Jesus were also in red! I used that for the little booklet that we got out about the Future, the BOF!
19. So I got that previous one when I was 19, in 1938, & this one I got in '64 or '65 when I was about 45. So I had it about 25 years! And it's now 1990, so the previous one is 50 years old! We've got it some place, it's all ragged & falling apart, the pages are falling out. In fact, I had it rebound twice in new leather because it was falling apart so badly. It was falling in sections. I used to have one half here & one half there & I'd read a different half at a time, ha! (Techi: You've kept this one pretty much together.) Yes, well, see, I studied mostly prophecy by the time I got to this one, but the other one I was studying all the way through the Bible, & oh boy, it was really falling apart!
20. So let's see, the one I had before I had for about 25 years, & this one from '64 to '90, that's 26 years, so I've had this one even longer. Go ahead, Son, sorry! (David: No, that's very interesting!) Are you sure you want to read this lengthy dedication? (Techi: Yes! You can't find a period in between some of these long paragraphs, ha!)
Church of England Breaks Off from Catholic Church
21. (David: "And this their contentment doth not diminish or decay, but every day increaseth & taketh strength, when they observe, that the zeal of Your Majesty toward the house of God doth not slack or go backward, but is more & more kindled, manifesting itself abroad in the farthest parts of Christendom, by writing in defence of the Truth, which hath given such a blow unto that man of sin, as will not be healed...")
22. In those days, guess who they thought the "man of sin" was.--The Pope! Ha! (Techi: Really? The Pope?) Yes! So they called him the "man of sin" because they hated Catholicism. They were Protestants. In fact, the Church of England pulled completely out of the Catholic Church, although they kept a lot of the ceremonies & everything. But when the Pope forbade Henry the 8th to divorce his Spanish Catholic wife & marry Ann Boleyn, & Henry went ahead & did it, the Pope kicked him out of the Church.
23. So the prelates* & the Bishops & the Church of England just decided to break off & be their own independent Church & not be Catholic any more. Their services are still very much like the Catholics, but they broke off & became independent, & as a result they wanted to have some head of the Church. The spiritual head of the Church in Britain is the Archbishop of Canterbury, he's the highest official. But the King or the Queen is the actual head of the Church of England.--"The Defenders of the Faith" is their title! Of course, you know Who is the Head of our Church, don't you? (Techi: Jesus!) That's right! OK! Well, anyhow, there was a big fuss about it. Thank God they broke off from Catholicism or we would have never had this Bible! (*Prelates: High-ranking church officials)
Dedication Continued!
24. (David: "...and every day at home, by religious & learned discourse, by frequenting the house of God, by hearing the Word preached, by cherishing the Teachers thereof, by caring for the Church, as a most tender & loving nursing Father." That's sweet!) Yes, that's sweet.
25. (David: "There are infinite arguments of this right Christian & religious affection in Your Majesty; but none is more forcible to declare it to others than the vehement* & perpetuated* desire of accomplishing & publishing of this work, which now with all humility we present unto Your Majesty.") They really loved their king, didn't they? (David: Yes, they really did!) (*Vehement: Forceful or energetic. *Perpetuated: Continued without interruption.)
26. (David: "For when Your Highness had once out of deep judgement apprehended how convenient it was, that out of the Original Sacred Tongues, together with comparing of the labours, both in our own, & other foreign Languages, of many worthy men who went before us, there should be one more exact Translation of the Holy Scriptures into the English Tongue; Your Majesty did never desist...") "They did never desist" means they didn't stop. (David: "...desist to urge & excite those to whom it was commended, that the work might be hastened, & that the business might be expedited in so decent a manner, as a matter of such importance might justly require.")
27. The reason these men used so many big words is they were very highly educated. They could read Greek & Latin & Hebrew & all that, so they were very smart men. (Techi: So they all got together & wrote this thing?) Yes, exactly. They wrote this dedication after they'd translated the whole Bible!--Out of Hebrew, Greek & Latin, mostly out of the Hebrew & Greek into English.
28. (David: "And now at last, by the mercy of God, & the continuance of our labours, it being brought into such a conclusion, as that we have great hopes that the Church of England shall reap good fruit thereby...") Yes! I think the whole World has!
29. (David: "...we hold it to our duty to offer it to Your Majesty, not only as to our King & Sovereign, but as to the principal Mover & Author of the work: humbly craving of Your most Sacred Majesty, that since things of this quality have ever been subject to the censures of ill-meaning & discontented persons, it may receive approbation* & patronage* from so learned & judicious a Prince as Your Highness is...") In other words, he didn't let anybody stop him, or any of their enemies stop them. (*Approbation & *patronage: Approval & support.)
30. (David: "...whose allowance & acceptance of our labours shall more honour & encourage us, than all the calumniations & hard interpretations of other men shall dismay us.") "Calumniations" are evil things that their enemies have said against them in order to destroy their good reputation.
31. (David: "So that if, on the one side, we shall be traduced...") Traduced means to speak falsely against someone. (David: "...Traduced by Popish Persons at home or abroad who therefore will malign us.") They really had it in for the Pope! The Popes & the Catholic Church were pretty bad in those days.
The Gutenberg Press!
32. (Techi: Is this King James the one who married all the wives?) No, that was Henry the 8th. And then Queen Elizabeth eventually took over, Henry the 8th's daughter. I'm not an expert on English History, but I think this King James was the son of Mary Queen of Scots, a cousin of Elizabeth's. Does it say what year it was in the heading? It was 1611 anyway. Actually I should have asked you to see if you knew. (Techi: I didn't.) The first edition was published in 1611--they worked on it for several years--& this first edition was the one that they were presenting to the King at this time, the complete translation. And it was probably a huge book with pretty colourings & engravings & all kinds of fancy titles. (Techi: It was probably printed on thick paper.) Yes.
33. Gutenberg, the German inventor of printing, invented his printing press around 1450, & his first printed book was the Bible!
34. They laid out the page like this. They engraved all the letters & everything on blocks of wood & then they painted the ink over the block of wood. They put the blocks of wood into the mold in the press above, they put the page of paper down below & then they worked this great big lever down to push the writing with the block of wood that had ink on it onto the paper. Then they lifted up the lever & there it was printed!
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Gutenberg was originally a goldsmith & he developed his process of printing by using movable type made from punch-stamped matrices (or molds), a press similar to a wine press, & oil-based printing ink. That first Bible he printed contained 1,284 pages, each with 2 columns of text containing 42 lines to a column. Each page held about 2,500 individual pieces of wood type, set by hand. Six presses worked on the Bible simultaneously, printing 20 to 40 pages of type a day.
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35. That was the Gutenberg Press, the first printing press ever invented as far as we know. Did you ever hear of Gutenberg? Remember that name because I'm going to ask you some time! (David: The Bible was one of the first things printed on it?) The first book Gutenberg ever printed was the Bible. Of course, he printed it in Latin, the Latin Vulgate, over 150 years before the King James Version was completed.
36. (Techi: I thought they had to write the Bible by hand.) In the earlier days they did. Up until the time that the first printing press was invented, all Bibles had to be written by hand. (Techi: Like in Latin & stuff?) The first Bibles were in Hebrew, the Old Testament, & they had to very scrupulously print each character by hand with pen & ink! They had no punctuation, no space. Paper was so precious that they couldn't even spare space between the words! So it was a little difficult to read. (Techi: Especially in Hebrew!) And they were so expensive they had to be chained to a post in the Hebrew synagogues to prevent them from being stolen. They cost the equivalent of thousands of Dollars in those days, & only the rich people could afford them.
37. So this was another step in the right direction to try to bring the Bible down to the level of the common man. (Techi: That's what Martin Luther wanted to do with the Bible in German.) Yes, & he did. And the most popular & best translation in Germany is still the Martin Luther translation! OK! Go ahead! You don't mind my interrupting with these little embellishments, do you? (David & Techi: No, they're very good.)
Catholics' Bible-Reading!
38. (David: "If, on the one side, we shall be traduced* by Popish Persons at home or abroad, who therefore will malign us, because we are poor instruments to make God's Holy Truth to be yet more & more known unto the people, whom they [Catholics] desire still to keep in ignorance & darkness ...") (*Traduced: Slandered or made a mockery of)
39. The Catholics were trying to prevent the reading of the Bible because they didn't think anybody but the Priests had any right to read the Bible or to interpret it, etc. In fact, until recent times, Catholics were not even allowed to read the Bible, or at least strongly discouraged from doing so. However, in more modern times, the Catholic Church came out with a modern translation in English & they printed a statement by a modern Pope, that for every 15 minutes that they read the Bible each day, they would get 300 days absolution* from Purgatory. In other words, they could keep working their way out of Purgatory if they read the Bible enough during their life. If they'd add up all those 15 minutes they read the Bible, all of those 300 days for each 15 minutes, they'd only have to stay in Purgatory a certain number of days, less these days they worked off. So I'd say that was trying to encourage them to read the Bible! Ha! Go ahead, Son, I'm sorry. Those are things from the top of my head. (Techi: They're really good, Grandpa! Don't stop!) Thank the Lord! (*Absolution: Freedom from or forgiveness from)
Dedication Continued!
40. (David: "...or if, on the other side, we shall be maligned by self-conceited Brethren, who run their own ways, & give liking unto nothing, but what is framed by themselves, & hammered on their anvil...") Do you think it sounds like church people were pretty much then like they are today? (David & Techi: Yes!) In other words, they had their own stubborn ways & interpretations & went their own way.
41. (David: "...we may rest secure, supported within by truth & innocency of a good conscience, having walked the ways of simplicity & integrity, as before the Lord; & sustained without by the powerful protection of Your Majesty's grace & favour, which will ever give countenance to honest & Christian endeavours against bitter censures & uncharitable imputations*.") (*Imputations: Charging someone with a fault.)
42. Praise God! See, they had to be supported all that time by the King, the several years it took them to translate the Bible. They had to be given housing & food & support, etc., so they're thanking the king for all that.--That he didn't let anything stop'm!
43. (David: "The Lord of Heaven & Earth bless Your Majesty with many & happy days, that, as His Heavenly hand hath enriched Your Highness with many singular & extraordinary graces, so You may be the wonder of the World in this latter age for happiness & true felicity, to the honour of that great GOD, & the good of His Church, through Jesus Christ our Lord & only Saviour.") Praise God! Thank You Lord! Isn't that wonderful? (David: That is wonderful.)
44. This Bible really became the greatest blessing to the Church down through the hundreds of years since then. So that was about how long ago? What's the date again? (Kids: 1611!) So from 1611 to 1990 is how long? 1600 to 1900 would be how many years? (David: 300.) Only we're 90 years beyond 1900, right? So it was almost 400 years ago. Think of that! Thank God for this Bible because it has been a great blessing to the World! It's the most widespread & published, & there are lots of other reasons why we use it!
Shakespeare!
45. Another interesting point is, guess who was still alive when they were translating the Bible? I'll bet they asked him a lot of questions & got his help on some of it. (Techi: I know! Shakespeare!) Shakespeare, right! Shakespeare built the Globe Theatre about that time & didn't die until three or four years after this Bible was published. So I'll bet he even gave them help on it. I'm sure they would have consulted him because he was such a specialist in Elizabethan English. They call that English that they spoke at that time, the English of Shakespeare, Elizabethan English.
Revised Versions--Believers & Unbelievers!
46. Can you give me any reasons why we chose to use the King James version when there are all kinds of modern versions out now? There was only one version that came out in the early 1900s, almost 300 years after this one. They didn't pervert the King James version until then, & what they came out with was a new translation called "The Revised Version." It was translated mostly by unbelieving Modernists, so that they didn't even call Mary a virgin, they just called her a "young woman" & that kind of thing.
47. So the next one that was translated was translated by whom?--What kind of men? (Techi: Christian Scientists?) No, not Christian Scientists, they have another Bible, but by Modernists.--That means unbelievers.
48. At the time of King James, nobody had ever heard of a higher critic or a Modernist or somebody who didn't believe in the Bible. They probably would have burned him at the stake or chopped his head off!--Which those Modernists probably deserved. Everybody believed the Bible word-for-word in those days & they wouldn't have thought of doubting a word of it!
49. So what would we call those King James people today? (Techi: Real Christians.) Real Christians, believers! But there is a special term that is used in theology & amongst Christians for the people who believe in & try to live the Bible.
50. What would you give as a general term or classification for our kind of Christians? What do they call people who believe every word of the Bible, & the World makes fun of them? Well! I'm teaching you something! That's good when you don't know, that's the reason for this class! You've heard me say that word a thousand times! (Techi: I'll probably laugh when I hear it because it's easy!)
51. They kind of scoff at us, people like us & the Christian Missionary Alliance, the Pentecostals, the Evangelical Baptists. We're all known as a general class & they use it now as a deprecating term, in other words, a slur.--And they're using it more & more like that all the time. Come on! It begins with "f."
52. (Techi: Faithful?) Faithful, that's true, but it begins with "fun." Come on! Come on! (Techi: Fun?) Yes! "Fun-da" ... (Techi: Fundamental!) Fundamentalists! (Techi: Oh, I never equated that with people like us!) Here, I've been saying this word all this time & you guys never even knew what it meant! Fundamentalists. We are the fundamentalists of the Christian religion, I mean all of us, including all of the Evangelical churches like the Pentecostals & Christian Missionary Alliance & the Nazarenes. There are all kinds of them, even Baptists.
53. And what does it mean when you say "a fundamentalist"? It comes from another word, literally "foundation." It literally means today that they believe every word in the Bible. And they know they should practice it, too. Does that sound like us? Now, don't you forget that "fundamentalist" word, because I'm going to ask it on a test! You should write that down in your notebook. I'm going to ask you questions on all these things, & taking notes will be a good study help for you. So don't forget to bring your notebook to class each time! Write at the beginning of your notebook, "Grandpa's Bible Classes"! (Techi: GBC!) OK!
54. (Techi: How do you spell it?) "F-u-n," fun. "D-a." Can you spell "mental"? (Techi: Yes, "m-e-n-t-a-l.") All right, add "ist." "I-s-t." Have you got it, David? (David: Yes, Sir!) Fundamentalist. Now put "equals." What is a "fundamentalist"? What's the main thing about them? (Techi: A person who believes...) ...the entire Bible, that every Word is true, & that it's truly the Holy Word of God. The Fundamentalists believe all of it. OK! We had quite a lesson so far. Do you want to ask any questions?
55. I try to make my tests easy! I won't say, "What is a Fundamentalist?", I'll say, "What is someone called who believes every Word in the Bible?" I like one-word answers. They're easier for you to write & easier for us to correct!
Next Lesson Will Be Why We Use the KJV!
56. We never did get around to saying why we use the King James Bible, but time's up! (Techi: We can go longer.) Do you like this lesson? (David: Yes!) Honey, if I go over that, then there is no limit. I won't know where to stop! (Techi: OK! Ha!) (David: We're going to study up on it now.)
57. Now remember, in the next lesson we're going to study why we like the King James version best. We used to have seven reasons. I don't know if I can remember all seven reasons now. But on a test I'll ask you for at least three reasons why we prefer the King James Bible over any other Bible.
58. However, I have allowed our editors & compilers a little leeway where, if it's hard to understand the King James version because of language that is no longer in use, they can quote one of the more modern translations in our pubs.
59. (Techi: You know, there is a new Bible that is the translation of the King James Bible, only into modern English, no variations.) Yes, the New King James Version. If you can't very well understand the King James old English or it's not clear, they use that.
60. All right, who's going to pray now? (David: I can. Amen! Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord! Thank You Jesus for this good class with Grandpa. Thank You for all You taught us about the King James Bible, Jesus, & all about the times back then, & we thank You so much for that, Lord. And please help us to do our homework & research more about it, in Jesus' name. Thank You Lord!)--Amen!
61. And you even studied the King James proclamation! It was a proclamation of the translators to King James, a letter to King James. I'm sure he appreciated all their compliments & thanks, etc. There are very few people I've ever heard of who ever even read that! (Techi: I hadn't read it until one time I read it with you.) I read it once & I was inspired by it, so I thought people ought to remember King James & what a wonderful guy he was & about how he sponsored that translation, because it's been a blessing to us ever since!
62. Probably none of us would have even been saved if it hadn't been for the King James Bible! Because you base your Salvation on some verse in the Bible, right?--This Bible, the King James, the one you know! OK! Now next time I hope we're going to get on to why we prefer the King James translation. God bless you!