400 years of the KJV
Seize the opportunity
2011 marks the 400th Anniversary of the publication of the Authorized (King James) Version of the Bible in 1611. There will be many special events surrounding this date, some at Hampton Court Palace where the decision to produce a new translation was taken in 1604.
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Read a 1611 Bible on-line
 The 2011 Trust website includes an option to read and search a reproduction of a King James Bible, printed in 1611, on its website. This is available through cooperation with the Nida Institute at the American Bible Society. Click on the image above right or go to:- www.2011trust.org/resources/Digitized-KJV-of-1611.
| The anniversary offers an opportunity to encourage people to think about our Christian heritage and for those who are not familiar with the Bible to discover it's treasure themselves. Schools may consider running competitions related to the occasion. Churches may put on special programmes, talks, films, exhibitions or even plan an event such as a Bible Reading Marathon. Why not "bless your local school" with a presentation of Bibles to pupils.
Over the coming months many new books, DVDs and other resources will be published and, in May 2011, a new revised Edition of the New International Version (NIV) will be published. We will be constantly updating this page to give customers information on the resources available and some of the special events planned.
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 The Biblefresh Handbook
Packed with creative suggestions to help Christians engage with the Bible in a fresh way in 2011 and to impact their local communities with the living message of God's Word.
Contributors include Krish Kandiah, John Stott, Bob Hartman, Rob Bell, Vaughan Roberts, Richard Foster,
Andy Croft and Tim Keller.
Click HERE for a review of the Biblefresh Handbook |
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The E100 Bible Reading Challenge
 The E100 Bible Reading Challenge is a scheme to help people develop systematic Bible reading skills by reading 100 carefully selected passages of the Bible. There are 50 Old Testament and 50 New Testament readings in blocks of five, selected to cover the major themes of the Bible.
Resources available at re:fresh books include a DL colour leaflet listing the readings and the Essential 100 book which has a page for each session, starting with a prayer, then the suggested reading, a brief reflection on the reading and another prayer. |
For reviews of Bible study aids - Bible dictionaries, handbooks etc. click HERE.
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Useful Links
Biblefresh: A partnership of over 50 Christian agencies, festivals, colleges and denominational bodies committed to seeing churches grow in their confidence in the Scriptures during 2011. Partners include the Bible Society, Evanglical Alliance, Scripture Union and London School of Theology. Biblefresh is developing resources for use in the run-up to 2011 and publishes a monthly Newsletter. www.biblefresh.com.
The King James Bible Trust is an educational and arts Trust which aims to celebrate the cultural importance of the King James Bible; its contribution to the English language and its impact on subsequent generations throughout the World. Partners include the Bible Society and Historic Royal Palaces. Among events planned are a lecture by Lord (Melvyn) Bragg in the Great Hall of Hampton Court Palace on 11 May 2011. www.kingjamesbibletrust.org
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 Own your own 1611 Bible
or give it as a prize or presentation
A reprint of the 1611 Edition of the King James Version could make an ideal gift, a prize for a Bible History competition, or just a resource for teachers. This is described as a "word-for-word facsimile" preserving the original 1611 edition word- for-word and page-for-page, with the original spelling and illuminated initials but clearer type. It has the original preface and translators notes, including an Almanac for the years 1603-1641, and a Table and Kalender (sic) giving psalms and lessons for morning and evening prayer. It is produced in a handsome hardback edition (genuine leather also available) with ribbon marker. There is a presentation page in the front and a number of essays on the enduring importance of the KJV and earlier translations. £26.99
Copies of the Tyndale New Testament (1526), Matthew's Bible (1537) and the Geneva Bible (1560) are also available to special order. |
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Relevant books
available from re:fresh |
 The Book of Books
The Radical Impact of the King James Bible
by Melvyn Bragg
"You may be a Christian. You may be anti-Christian, or of another religion, or none ... But whoever you are in the English-speaking world, I hope to pursuade you to consider that the King James Bible has driven the making of that world over the last 400 years" says Melvyn Bragg.
The Book of Books is divided into thee sections: The first nine chapters are a historic assessment, looking at events leading up to the production of the King James Bible and its impact on events in the centuries that followed, including the Pilgrim Fathers, the English Civil War and the Great Awakening. The second section looks at its impact on culture in this country and America, including the formation of the Royal Society, British and American literature. The third section looks at its impact on society including slavery and the American Civil War, education, attitudes to sex, socialism and democracy. The Author covers a great deal of ground that will not be found in many other books on the subject, he devotes particular attention to the part played by the Bible in the abolition of the slave trade and the American Civil Rights Movement.
Melvyn Bragg is not a man with a strong Christian faith. This is reflected in some of the views expressed, which can be disturbing. For example he suggests that the Bible's influence has sometimes been negative, especially when it is used to support preconceived positions on issues such as war, slavery and sex. He also presents the King James Bible itself as the dynamic behind change while, for the committed christian, it is the divine inspiration behind the original writers that sets the Bible apart from any other book.
 Begat - The King James Bible & the English Language by David Crystal
Would you Adam and Eve it? The King James Bible has "contributed far more in the way of idiomatic or quasi-proverbial expressions than any other literary source" according to David Crystal. In Begat he shows how words and phrases from the KJV found independent life in the work of poets, playwrights, novelists and politicians and how, more recently, thay have been taken up by journalists, advertisers, Hollywood and hip-hop.
Hardback, 327 pages.
A Visual History of the King James Bible
by Donald J Brake and Shelly Beach
 From the author of A visual history of the English Bible (See below) comes a new book focusing on the King James Version. The format is similar, with a wealth of illustrations, and an easy, accessible style. Many of the illustrations are identical in the two books but where the Visual History of the English Bible covers the history from medieval manuscripts to contemporary translations, the new book narrows its field of vision to the KJV. The book still discusses the work of earlier translators including Wycliffe, Tyndale, Coverdale etc., the Geneva Bible and the Bishops’ Bible, and the controversies and conspiracies of the day. It provides a brief pen-portrait of each of the men involved in the translation, the manuscripts on which it was based, factors which influenced its production and the issues involved in printing and revision of the early text. Donald Brake is an American collector of rare Bibles and an authority, frequently quoted in the footnotes of other works on the subject.
The Legacy of the King James Bible by Leland Ryken
 Why has the King James Version had such an influence? Why do people still love it today despite all the modern translations?
After four chapters which describe the backgroud to the King James Version, Professor Ryken looks at the reasons for its endurance. He discusses issues of verbal equivalence and dynamic equivalence, and looks in detail at the influence of the KJV on language, education, religion and culture. He examines the translation for its literary, prose and poetic content and looks at its influence on more recent writers.
Leland Ryken was literary stylist for the English Standard Version of the Bible.
When God Spoke English by Adam Nicolson
 Who were the people who worked on the King James Bible?
In this book, previously published under the less catchy title Power and Glory: Jacobean England and the Making of the King James Bible, Adam Nicolson paints a detailed - and often far from flattering - picture of some of the leading men involved. He also includes a complete listing in an appendix.
At the end one is left wondering at the miracle that such a collection of saints and scoundrels could produce such a magisterial work that has endured for four centuries. ...But then the Bible itself tells the story of some rogues who God used for his greater purposes!
This book is not one for dipping or easy reference, but that is no reason to reject it. Nicolson admits that he is neither an atheist nor a churchgoer, but he is clearly a man who loves to savour words - whether his own or those of others.
Adam Nicolson presented a BBC documentary When God Spoke English, shown on BBC 4 in March 2011.
The People's Bible by Derek Wilson
 In The People's Bible, Derek Wilson describes the forces that influenced the decision to undertake the project at the Hampton Court Conference in 1604, including the various English translations prior to this event. He profiles the men who worked on the KJV and their approach to the task. He also examines the impact of the KJV in the turbulent years that followed and beyond. He discusses the motivation behind subsequent revisions and translations. In examining the literary and cultural impact of the KJV, he sometimes challenges long-held notions but concludes that it is the message of Scripture - the lively oracles of God - that matters more than the specific version.
A Visual History of the English Bible by Donald L Brake
 This 350-page hardback book provides a handy overview of the story of our English Bible. Starting with early hand-written texts it devotes chapters to John Wycliffe, Gutenberg and the development of printing, Martin Luther, William Tyndale, Miles Coverdale, The King James Version and subsequent revisions. It looks at other early translations, modern translations and principles of translation.
The book is written in a style that will suit a non-academic readership and could provide a valuable resource for anybody planning special events around the 400th Anniversary of the KJV. As the name implies, it is lavishly illustrated with over 100 photographs of ancient texts and pictures of people mentioned. It also includes useful charts and timelines.
How we got the Bible by Neil R. Lightfoot
First published in 1963 and now in its third edition, How we Got the Bible gives a helpful overview of how both the Old and New Testament were brought to us. It is particularly helpful in its discussion of the significance of early New Testament manuscripts – not only the Sinaitic, Vatican and Alexandrian codices but the Bezae and Ephraem codices, the Chester Beatty and Bodmer Papyri and much more, with illustrations of some documents and fragments. There is a discussion of the different Greek texts. Chapters look at the canon of the Old and New Testaments and the apocryphal books and then discuss early English translations and more recent translations. Each chapter has a summary and review questions.
Travel with William Tyndale by Brian H Edwards
Anybody who is familair with Day One's "Travel with..." guides will know that these are highly readable little books that present the lives of great Christians like Bunyan, Spurgeon, William Carey, Wilberforce and Tyndale in the form of travel guides that transport the reader from location to location with old pictures, modern photographs, maps and other information that enable the modern reader to retrace, literally if he so desires, the scenes of the action.
Travel with William Tyndale is written by the Series Editor, Brian Edwards (Former Minister of Hook Evangelical Church), who also wrote God's Outlaw, a biography of Tyndale which spawned the successful film of the same name (See below). It traces Tyndale's life and work from his Gloucestershire roots to Oxford, Cambridge, London, Antwerp, Vilvoorde and other parts of Europe.
There is also an associated children's activity book with photocopiable activities and text for classroom or group use.
God's Smuggler
by Brother Andrew with John & Elizabeth Sherrill
 God's Smuggler shows how Christians in more recent times have risked their lives to bring the Bible to people in countries where Christianity is outlawed. A best seller for more than 40 years (it was first published in 1967) it is the true story of a young Dutchman who risked his life and freedom to bring the Bible to people behind the Iron Curtain.
Secret Believers, a more recent book by Brother Andrew, tells the story of people born and brought up in Muslim countries who have become Christians, and the opposition and persecution they face. It is written as a novel but based on fact.
The Story of the Bible by Tim Dowley (New 2010 Edition)
One of Candle's Essential Bible Reference series for young people*, this attractively-produced 32-page book is an ideal resource for schools. In concise, fully-illustrated spreads, it traces the story of the Bible from the original writers and their writing materials through the preservation and transmission of the texts to the work of the translators of the English Bible and beyond.
 The Story of the Bible includes material on the development of writing, the language of the Bible and the significance of the Dead Sea Scrolls. There is a brief summary of each book of the Bible, references to key passages and "fascinating facts". The story of the King James Version is set in the context of translation into other languages such as Spanish (1417), French (1523), Italian (1471) and Russian (1581).
Single copies £1.99.
Ask about bulk quantities.
*Click HERE for information on other books in the Essential Bible Reference series.
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DVD - The Story of the English Bible |
 This 52-minute documentary traces the history of the King James Version. It discusses the background to Wycliffe's translation of the Latin Vulgate, the work of John Huss in Prague, Gutenberg and the development of printing, Erasmus and the Greek New Testament, Thomas Bilney, Martin Luther and, of course, William Tyndale.
Although the narrative style is rather stilted, the filming is good and does not fall into the common trap of spending too much time in the contributors' studies. Contributors come from Bob Jones University and various reformed churches in the UK.
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DVD - KJB The Book that Changed the World |
 This 90-minute drama -documentary is presented by actor John Rhys-Davies (Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones) and produced and directed by Norman Stone (1987 version of Shadowlands). It looks at the publication of the King James Bible in the context of the reign of James 1 and the political and religious ferment of the time. There is no reference to the work of men like Wycliffe and Tyndale but the film focuses on the Hampton Court conference of 1604 and the subsequent work of the translators. There is an interesting digression into the Gunpowder Plot (1605) and a powerful description of the impact of the KJV on the English-speaking world.
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DVD - John Wycliffe The Morning Star |
 This is a 75-minute dramatic presentation of the work of John Wycliffe. It gives an impression of his teaching on subjects such as salvation, transubstantiation and the selling of indulgences which brought him into conflict with civil and ecclesiastical authorities, before he set about the great work of translating the Latin Vulgate into the English vernacular.
The DVD offers English, German, Spanish and Portuguese options language and includes additional resources including a study guide with notes for teachers and questions for students. It also includes printable worksheets in PDF format.
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DVD - God's Outlaw, The Story of William Tyndale |
 God’s Outlaw is a 95-minute colour film of the inspirational story of William Tyndale, who paid the ultimate price for bringing us the Bible in English. Forbidden by the Catholic church to carry out his translation work in England, he fled to the Continent and moved from City to City to evade capture until betrayed by a friend, brought back to England, strangled and publicly burnt.
At his execution he prayed “Lord open the King of England’s eyes.” Within two years Henry VIII had decreed that every church in England should display a Bible in English. It is said that 90% of Tyndale’s work found its way into the King James Version of the Bible. This has carried through into more recent versions, based on the AV, including the Revised Standard Version and the English Standard Version.
An inspirational film that should be seen by anybody who does not know the background to our English Bible … and those who do as well!
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DVD - The William Tyndale Story (for 8-12 year olds) |
 Part of the 'Torchlighters' series by the Christian History Institute and International Films, this 30-minute animated story follows the life of Tyndale as he works to translate the Bible into English, moving from town to town to escape imprisonment. It features the voice of Russell Boulter (The Bill) as William Tyndale.
In addition to the 30-minute film there are interviews with Russell Boulter and Tyndale scholar, David Daniell, plus a teacher's guide with background information, a timeline of the period, reproducible student handouts, discussion questions, puzzles activities and more.
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