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The King James Bible has often been called the Book of Books both in itself and in what it stands for. Since its publication in 1611 it has been the best selling book in the world, and many believe, had the greatest impact. The King James Bible has spread the Protestant faith. It has also been the greatest influence on the enrichment of the English language and its literature. It has been the Bible of wars from the British Civil War in the seventeenth century to the American Civil War two centuries later and it has been carried into battle in innumerable conflicts since then. Its influence on social movements - particularly involving women in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries - and politics was profound. It was crucial to the growth of democracy. It was integral to the abolition of slavery and it defined attitudes to modern science, education and sex. As THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH explored the history of our language, so THE BOOK OF BOOKS reveals the extraordinary and still-felt impact of a work created 400 years ago.… (more)
User reviews
Although Bragg is not a Christian, and he clearly says so, he not only personally values aspects of his Christian heritage, he also wants those who have dismissed the impact of a Christianity mediated through the
The three sections of the book tell you what to expect. The first is a history of the English and then American experience with this translation, as it is conceived, accepted, adopted and promoted. The second section examines a range of cultural impacts on science, language and literature (most interesting, and a little out of the more irenic character of the rest of the book, is the chapter on Dawkins). Finally, there's a section on social impact which examines slavery, education, gender issues and social movements.
It's a popular book, with few notes, if any, a short bibliography for further reading and an index. Each chapter typically has one or two main companions (eg Christopher Hill: The English Bible and the Seventeenth-Century Revolution in a couple of the early chapters) who have guided his thoughts and with whom he interacts to present his interpretation. It is well written and, with each chapter encompassing a fair swathe of history, one gains an overview quickly. All this makes the book very accessible for the reader.
At times, I wondered if he was speaking more about the impact of evangelical Christianity per se, rather than just the particular Bible version, but I then realised that the point he was making is that KJV was THE Bible of the English speaking world, and so the influence on all these areas.
I heard him speaking in Australia at some function that was televised, and I was taken by his clear and engaging presence, so bought the book. I'm glad I did. I don't agree with his theological and faith perspective, and occasionally I find his conclusions irksome to my own, but I really appreciated the straightforward acknowledgement of the genuine historical and social impact of the Book of Books.
He takes the position that being Christian is being religious, and so believing in no God is not religious. A position I very much doubt. I believe that there is a God or that there is no God. I believe that I am created by God or I believe that I evolved out of something else. Religion gives answers to where I come from, where I am going to, and what I should do in between.
He misinterprets the Onan story: Onan was not condemned because he did spill his semen on the ground, he was condemned because he refused to make his dead brother's wife pregnant.
He also takes New Testament apocrypha and argues with those texts - despite the fact that these texts were not in the King James Version.
A very detailed book, worthwhile reading when being aware of his presuppositions.
The King James Version was the book that influenced many of the social movements of the 19th and 20th centuries, particularly those aimed at
It was also the book that helped to convice William Willberforce, among others that slavery was wrong although quite why they would need any book to tell them this I don't know.However during the American Civil War both sides would use the King James Version to justify their position, and it was also used to attempt to control people by telling them how they should live their lives especially when it came to sex.
As for Bragg's book, while it is an enjoyable read if I could have I would have given it two and a half stars instead of three. This is for two reasons, firstly given that he claims that this version of the bible is one of the most influential books of all time he gives very few pages to the actual creation of this book and secondly there were some, lets be charitable and call them typos, that really should have been picked up on before the book went to the printer - the most obvious one being when George Eliot changes sex within the space of a few sentences.