Our Precious King James Bible The King James Bible is universally acknowledged as the most wonderful literary work and the most life-changing power in the history of the English-speaking peoples. Here is what others have said about this hallowed book and its influence in history: "For nearly four hundred years and throughout several revisions of its English form [changes in spelling and punctuation], the King James Bible has been deeply revered among the English-speaking people of the world." Samuel C. Gipp, The Answer Book, p. 26. "The Elizabethan period, a term loosely applied to the years between 1558 and 1642, is generally regarded as the most important era in English literature. Shakespeare and his mighty contemporaries brought the drama to the highest point in the worlds history; lyrical poetry found supreme expression; Spencer's Faerie Queene was an unique performance; Bacons Essays have never been surpassed. But the crowning achievement of those spacious days was the Authorized Translation of the Bible, which appeared in 1611. "Three centuries of English literature followed; but, although they have been crowded with poets and novelists and essayists, and although the teaching of the English language and literature now gives employment to many earnest men and women, the art of English composition reached its climax in the pages of the Bible. "Now, as the English-speaking people have the best Bible in the world, and as it is the most beautiful monument erected with the English alphabet, we ought to make the most of it, for it is an incomparably rich inheritance, free to all who can read. This means that we ought invariably in the church and on public occasions to use the Authorized Version; all others are inferior."Ladies Home Journal, November 1921 [statement made twenty years after the American Standard Version was published]. "Priests, atheists, skeptics, devotees, agnostics, and evangelists, are generally agreed that the Authorized Version of the English Bible is the best example of English literature that the world has ever seen . . "Every one who has a thorough knowledge of the Bible may truly be called educated; and no other learning or culture, no matter how extensive or elegant, can, among Europeans and Americans, form a proper substitute. Western civilization is founded upon the Bible . . I thoroughly believe in a university education for both men and women; but I believe a knowledge of the Bible without a college course is more valuable than a college course without the Bible." Ibid. "The birth of the King James Bible was a death stroke to the supremacy of Roman Catholicism. The translators little foresaw the wide extent of circulation and the tremendous influence to be won by their book. They little dreamed that for three hundred years it would form the bond of English Protestantism in all parts of the world." Benjamin Wilkinson, Our Authorized Bible Vindicated, p. 88. "Who will say that the uncommon beauty and marvelous English of the Protestant Bible is not one of the great strongholds of heresy in this country?"Faber, quoted in Eadie, The English Bible, Vol. 2, p. 158. [Faber, of the Church of England, was a secret Catholic who was anxious to bring England back to subservience to Rome.] "The printing of the English Bible has proved to be by far the mightiest barrier ever reared to repel the advance of Popery, and to damage all the resources of the Papacy."McClure, The Translators Revived, p. 71. "It [the King James Bible] has not only been the stronghold of Protestantism in Great Britain, but it has built a gigantic wall as a barrier against the spread of Romanism." B.G. Wilkinson, Our Authorized Bible Vindicated, p. 88. "Small wonder then that for three hundred years incessant warfare has been waged upon this instrument created by God to mold all constitutions and laws of the British Empire, and of the great American Republic, while at the same time comforting, blessing, and instructing the lives of the millions who inhabit these territories. "Behold what it has given to the world! The machinery of the Catholic Church can never begin to compare with the splendid machinery of Protestantism. The Sabbath School, the Bible printing houses, the foreign missionary societies, the Y.M.C.A., the Y.W.C.A., the Women's Christian Temperance Union, the Protestant denominational organizations, these all were the offspring of Protestantism. Their benefits have gone to all lands and been adopted by practically all nations. Shall we throw away the Bible from which such splendid organizations have sprung?" Benjamin G. Wilkinson, Our Authorized Bible Vindicated, pp. 88-89. "For almost three centuries the Authorized, or King James, Version has been the Bible of the English-speaking world. Its simple, majestic Anglo-Saxon tongue, its clear, sparkling style, its directness and force of utterance have made it the model in language, style, and dignity of some of the choicest writers of the last two centuries. Its phrasing is woven into much of our noblest literature; and its style, which to an astonishing degree is merely the style of the original authors of the Bible, has exerted very great influence in molding that ideal of simplicity, directness, and clarity which now dominates the writing of English. It has endeared itself to the hearts and lives of millions of Christians and has molded the characters of leaders in every walk of life. During all these centuries the King James Version has become a vital part of the English-speaking world, socially, morally, religiously, and politically."Ira Maurice Price, The Ancestry of Our English Bible, pp. 276-277. "What is needed is a school that teaches the whole English Bible. What is needed is a school that will take men from the engine cab, from between the plowshares and teach them the Bible. What is needed is a school that is free from modernism. What is needed is a school that will teach a man how to go out with the Bible under his arms, faith in his heart, and in the power of the Holy Spirit begin in a vacant lot and build a church for the glory of God." J. Frank Norris. When Sir Walter Scott, the great author and literary expert, lay dying, he asked his son-in-law to bring him "the Book." With astonishment the young man replied, "Father, your library contains thousands of volumes, including your own works. To which book are you referring?" The veteran author immediately replied, "There is only one book which we all call the Book. Bring me the Bible." "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." Matthew 22:29 "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever." 1 Peter 1:23
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