New Book Purchase

Among the numerous books I purchased this past month, one stands out for special mention. I recently acquired a facsimile copy of the 1560 Geneva Bible. This Bible predates the King James Version, and was the Bible used by the English Puritans. The early Puritans held the King James Version as suspect due to its quasi-Catholic origins and most particularly because it was produced by the very group were were actively persecuting the Baptist, Congregationalist, Presbyterian, and other non-conformist (i.e. Non-Anglican) sects. Humorously, most KJV-only Baptists are ignorant of the fact that the KJV version was produced by the very group that imprisoned and killed their fore bearers!

King James (the king, not the Bible) greatly disliked the Puritans, who believed the Church should be "pure". That is, they believed the Church should not be comprised of corrupt practices or unregenerate people (let alone unregenerate pastors!). Furthermore, the Puritans recognized a higher authority than the king of England; namely, God. As such, they had little trouble directly disobeying the king if they felt obedience was a violation of the clear teaching of God's word.

Generally speaking, the Puritans favored a Presbyterian (or to a smaller degree, congregational) form of church government. These forms of government restricted or altogether neutralized control of the church by an elite class of persons or a single authoritarian leader. This also was in marked contrast to the episcopalian form of government advocated by the king. The king(s) of England knew that his control could only be enforced by the presence of bishops who could completely control the churches. As such, not only did the Puritans and the king have stark theological differences, there were massive political differences as well.

The Puritans had their own Bible translation, the Geneva Bible. Not only was it small, and therefore inexpensive, but it also had extensive notes that explained biblical passages using Puritan theology. Since this Bible was the only book many people owned or read, it was effective in winning people over to Puritan theological beliefs and keeping them there.

To combat this "subversive" Bible, James and the bishops decided to create a new Bible translation. James authorized the new translation with a decree that included several guidelines for the translators. The most significant of these was the command to have no notes in the text (apart from short remarks about translation from Hebrew or Greek). This stricture prevented remarks linking the biblical text to unwanted theological perspectives and political positions.

After the King James Version was published in 1611, the Geneva Bible was banned in England. Indeed, James made ownership of it a felony. The King James Bible became the pulpit Bible for Anglicans and inexpensive copies were published for sale to the masses.

There are a couple of version of the Geneva Bible on the market. I purchased the 1560 version, which is the earliest. It is reproduced by Hendrickson publishers, and is a facsimile copy of an original 1560 edition. Furthermore, it contains the study notes that so distressed the Anglican King James. This was the version of the Bible that was brought to the United States on the Mayflower. I believe the other versions on the market are retype set. While this improves the readability (a "s" will actually look like an "s" and not an "f"), you miss the "feel" of the original. Furthermore, these other reprints are from later editions further removed from the original.

An excellent edition to any biblical study library, and with the study notes you will have a wonderful window into the spiritual world of the English Puritans.