Monthly Archives: May 2011
New books herald world’s most famous Good Book
By Tiffany McCallen — May 24, 2011
(RNS) Anyone who watched the recent royal wedding in Westminster Abbey heard words and phrases found in the King James Version of the Bible: “vouchsafed” and “thee” and “asunder.” It was a fitting setting as the world celebrates the 400th anniversary of the Bible commissioned by King James I, the successor to Queen Elizabeth I. […]
Lofty language of KJV is more common than you might think
By Tiffany McCallen — May 23, 2011
(RNS) Twelve phrases believed to have originated in the King James Bible, which celebrates its 400th anniversary this year: “Fight the good fight” (1 Timothy 6:12) “What comes out of the mouths of babes” (Psalms 8:2) “How are the mighty fallen” (2 Samuel 1:19) “To every thing there is a season” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) “Beat their […]
Oops! Printing errors in the original KJV
By Tiffany McCallen — May 23, 2011
(RNS) In the days before spell check, printer errors occasionally crept into the King James Version of the Bible. Here are some of the most notable: — In a 1612 edition, Psalm 119:161 read “Printers have persecuted me without cause,” instead of “princes.” Perhaps a Freudian slip by the copy editor. — A 1631 edition […]
Chances are thou keepest a KJV in thy house
By Tiffany McCallen — May 23, 2011
(RNS) If thou hast a Bible in the house and readeth it at least once a month, chances are strong it's the majestic King James Version of the Bible in Elizabethan English, according to a recent survey. Of the 89 percent of U.S. adults who own at least one Bible, two-thirds of them own a […]
How didst the KJV come to be?
By Tiffany McCallen — May 23, 2011
(RNS) The King James Bible, translated from ancient Greek and Hebrew in 1611, is, by virtually all accounts, the most awe-inspiring work of English prose ever written. Over the past four centuries, the KJV has sold more than 5 billion copies. Its exquisite English text has circulated the globe in the hands of missionaries and […]
Mormon embrace of KJV didn’t come early, or easy
By Tiffany McCallen — May 23, 2011
(RNS) Though many early Mormon texts and speeches mirror the English prose of the King James Bible, it was not always the Mormons' only authorized version ofHoly Writ. In fact, Mormon founder Joseph Smith had so many reservations about its language that he stated his new Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believed the […]
For many blacks, there’s only one Bible, and it’s the KJV
By Adelle M. Banks — May 23, 2011
(RNS) On Sundays, C. Elizabeth Floyd, shows up for worship at Trinity Baptist Church of Metro Atlanta, with her Bible in hand. But the large, black leather Bible with dog-eared pages and hand-written notes in the margins isn’t just any Bible: It’s the King James Version. And Floyd, like many African-Americans, wouldn’t have it any […]
Monday’s Raptureless Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — May 23, 2011
“It has been a really tough weekend.” Tracked down at his home in Alameda, Calif., that’s what Harold Camping had to say on Sunday, the day after the earth failed to quake and Jesus failed to meet believers in the air. “I’m looking for answers,” Camping told the San Francisco Chronicle. “I’ll be back to […]
Could another Bible unite Christians like the KJV?
By Tiffany McCallen — May 23, 2011
(RNS) 1604. England. Rebellious Puritans, establishment Anglicans and Roman Catholics are at each other’s throats. A new king fears his reign will combust in a powder keg of religious strife and anti-monarchical fervor. So King James I does what any sensible monarch would do: He orders up a new translation of the Bible. King James’ […]
The GOP Race
By Mark Silk — May 23, 2011
I’m fully prepared to believe that Mitch Daniels’ family proved to be the unleapable hurdle in his abortive run-up to the GOP presidential race. Imagine yourself as wife Cheri, having split for the coast to marry on old flame, your husband and young daughters left behind in Boone County, Indiana, and then returned to the […]
Star Trek’s Spock describes his Jewish roots
By Adelle M. Banks — May 20, 2011
ROCKVILLE, Md. (RNS) The V-shaped hand sign that made actor Leonard Nimoy famous as Mr. Spock may have seemed to be from a planet far away. But the "Star Trek" star who died Friday said he created it from childhood memories of his Jewish family.
Friday’s Religion News Roundup
By Daniel Burke — May 20, 2011
Stay away, folks. I’ve come down with a nasty case of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, I am pleased that RNS, as you may have heard, is going nonprofit, thanks to a generous grant from the Lilly Foundation. On the other hand, a lot of people are saying the world is going to end […]
Bob Dylan’s religious mystique endures
By Tracy Gordon — May 20, 2011
(RNS) Through the 1960s, Bob Dylan was hailed as a prophet, first of folk music, then of rock ‘n’ roll — at least by those who forgave him the heresy of having “gone electric.” But when rock’s best-known Jew famously declared Jesus to be the answer, many fans turned on him. For five decades, Robert […]
Getting rid of “social conservatives”
By Mark Silk — May 20, 2011
With the presidential election cycle getting up to speed, it’s time for reporters and yakkers like me to stop writing about “social conservatives” as if they were an identifiable segment of the voting population. I say this as someone who has happily been using the term since late 2008, when it looked like the religious […]
An important announcement from RNS
By Kevin Eckstrom — May 20, 2011
RELIGION NEWS SERVICE ENTERS NONPROFIT PARTNERSHIP WITH RELIGION NEWSWRITERS FOUNDATION New nonprofit news venture to expand and enhance coverage of religion nationwide with support from Lilly Endowment WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 18, 2011) Religion News Service (RNS), which for 77 years has been the nation’s leading syndicated wire service devoted to unbiased coverage of religion, ethics […]
