An Introduction to the Bibles of the English Reformation

 The Bible is by far the most sold Bible in the History of the World. The King James Version of the Bible alone has sold over 1 billion copies. The Bible's impact upon history, literature, art, linguistics, politics, and science is beyond compression.  What many takes advantage of now, however, is the fact that the Bible is more accessible to us than ever.
 This post will focus on some brief history of Bibles during the English Reformation. In future posts, I will reflect on these individual Bible translations with more care and attention.  My intent here is not to get into the Roman Catholic vrs. Protestant debates, but merely reflections on English translations of the Bible. I will leave it to theologians and historians to debate the context of the English Reformation, especially of whether or not it was morally right. Again, this post will merely focuses on the work of English Bibles.
 As we look at translations of the Bible from Latin or Greek into English, it is important to keep in mind the fact that it took much more work to produce copies of the Bible then it does today. Gutenberg's Printing Press was just the beginning for the publication of the Bible.
 As an introduction, the Bible had been used almost exclusively through the Latin Vulgate for the previous 1000 years before the time of the Protestant Reformation. Illuminated Manuscripts of the Bible had been used my monks from one Monastery to the next. With the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, everything suddenly changed.
 While parts of the Bible had been translated into English during Medieval Times, the entire Bible had never been. John Wycliffe's translation of the Bible from The Latin Vulgate to English, set the foundation for the English versions of the Bible, though many later versions of the Holy Scriptures, were based upon the Greek rather than the Latin text.
 The English Lutheran William Tyndale, was perhaps most influential on the history of the English Bible. He translated nearly all the Hebrew and Greek text of the Old and New Testaments into English. Tyndale, would go on to be burnt at the stake under the reign of  King Henry VIII of England. Protestants commonly claim that Tyndale was put to death for trying to get the Bible into the hands of all English people, not just the clergy of the church, whom many of the reformers felt were corrupt.  Roman Catholics on the other hand, commonly claim that Tyndale's execution was based on the fact that many of the notes of his Bible attacked the teachings of the Catholic Church, and that therefore, Tyndale was not simply put to death for writing an English Bible. Whichever of these two views the reader takes, what is universally agreed, is that William Tyndale was heavily influential upon the coming English Reformation.
 In 1534, Henry VIII cut ties with Rome. He had Roman Catholics and Protestants alike put to death, and made all submit to him as the head of the church. While most historians believe he started the Anglican Church, others say it would be not started until Elizabeth I. Henry VIII was the first English monarch to authorize a full translation of the Latin Scriptures into English. The Great Bible, alike to The Coverdale Bible, became in frequent use among the English clergy thereafter until the later Bishops Bible.

Called The Great Bible for it's massive size, this English translation of the Holy Scriptures, would pave the way for the most influential book in history, The King James Version of the Bible. 

The Geneva Bible was full of many reformed notes that attacked popes beginning with Gregory VII. The notes of the Geneva Bible also attributed the Whore of Babylon, found in The Book of Revelation, to the Catholic Church. 

 Building on a number of English Bibles, including Tyndale's Bible, The Geneva Bible, The Douay Rheims Bible, and The Bishop's Bible, The King James Version of the Bible would be more moderate than other Protestant Versions, yet still clearly Protestant. It's preface would attack ''Papist'', a derogatory term for Roman Catholics, yet it would retain the use of Charity, rather than love, in 1 Corinthians 13.





 To be continued....


Further Sources: The Nortan Anthology of English Literature, English Literature by Benjamin W. Griffith.