Featured KJVO vs any other translation(s).

I suppose this would books in which there may be some (many?) kinds of interpretations. OTOH, what Bible books don't have any or all kinds of interpretations? (Beats me since from Genesis through to Revelation I've seen LOTS of interpretations, ranging from ridiculous to serious, (& usually contradictory!) ones. How about you?

 

The 1611 KJV WAS "authorized" by King James (hence its title) VI of Scotland who was declared to be King James I of England after Tudor Queen Elizabeth I of England died in without any clear successor to the throne of England. And even then there was much controversy about Parliament's choice since it spelled the end of the Tudor Dynasty which was begun by Henry VII (1485-1509) after the very divisive contest between the rival Houses of Lancaster and York from 1399 until 1485. The Moreover, even when Parliament DID declare James VI / James I as king, within the English religious establishment there were still many who claimed that Parliament had a hidden agenda in that the Tudor House merely created "The House of Tudors was engaged in a political struggle with RCC Spain & (at that time) RCC England over which nation would receive the wealth of the newly-discovered New World lands of Central & South America. The "Church of England" was basically a creation of Henry VII's supporters in the island nation .Back in those days, marriages usually between nations were merely marriages based on how much prestige & subsequent wealth would be obtained by such a union of national monarchs. When Henry VIII's wife failed to supply the House of Tudor with an heir to the throne, Henry VIII looked elsewhere (Ironically, it took Henry VIII 8 times to finally find a woman who DID produce a living successor to the English throne--Edward VI (r. 1547-53). Then came a succession of English monarchs culminating with the RCC Mary I (r. 1553-8) ("Bloody Mary") who openly either chased or even martyred many "Church of England" officials as she could. (see the original "Foxes' Book of Martyrs" for some of these people.) When Elizabeth I came on the English throne in 1558, England did undergo a "renasissance" of its own with such men as Shakesphere, etc. OTOH, Henry VIII simply wanted a sanction to marry his divorced wife Catherine Parr, about whom RCC Pope deemed this marriage to be "Biblically" null and void. However, even within the ranks of the newly-created "Church of England," there were some who wanted to retain all the trappings of the RCC, and others who sought to radically (for that time period anyway) reform the C of E. AND THEN, Parliament's choice of James VI / I didn't actually have a truly "Biblical" reason for its decision. James VI/I simply was tired of having Scottish "Reformers" such as Henry Knox, etc., constant hounding him based on the antics of many OT kings of Judah and or Israel (of which the House of Stuart oftentimes emulated. Thus when James VI/I DID arrive in England, he welcomed a revision of the Bible, but only because he was tired of the treatment he'd faced in Scotland. Hence, James VI/I "authorized" what is now called the 1611 KJV. Some die-hard KJVO folks claimed that, in fact, the 1611 KJV was "authorized" by God Himself, but when asked to supply any documented reason(s) for this claim, most of them are noticeably silent.

 

These are some of the books I recommend for studying this 1611 KJVO issue: God's Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson. (2003: New York NY 10022. HarperCollins Publishers), How We Got the Bible, 3rd Edition, Expanded and Revised. by Neil R. Lightfoot (2003: Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287. Baker Book House Co.), The Bible in Translation: Ancient & English Versions by Bruce M. Metzger (2001: Grand Rapids, MI Baker Academic). There are other works available, but I've found these three works do provide a good introduction to this issue, both pro and con. Additionally, a good survey of the times in which the 1611 KJV came about PLUS just a very good summary of English history in general is Kings & Queens of England : From the Saxon Kings to the House of Windsor by Nigel Cawthorne (2009, New York, NY 10016. Metro Books, publishing arm of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc.). Hopefully these works will help someone to get a deeper understanding of this issue---Which, IMHO is more of an unnecessary diversion for 21st Century Christianity. IMHO, we have so much better things to which we MUST dedicate our attention; in fact, strange as it may seem to some, this divisive issue may, in reality, one of Satan's tools designed to divert our attention to the many more urgent issues that Jesus Himself has commanded us to do in Acts 1:8 .

 

Here are some relatively new works that, IMHO, might help us understand this 1611 KJV0 vs Modern English translations: How we got the Bible, Third Edition: Revised & Expanded. (2003