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The Outlaw's Bible: Geneva Bible of Pilgrims!

The anti-Tyrant Bible

Here is a book that was banned....the Bible! King James hated it, which is
why he had printed the "authorized version"--because the Geneva was not
authorized by the tyrant! But those "rebel" Pilgrims continued to use it,
finding the notes essential....see why
---------

Owing to the marginal notes and the superior quality of the translation, the
Geneva Bible became the most widely read and influential English Bible of
the 16th and 17th centuries. It was continually printed from 1560 to 1644 in
over 200 different editions. It was the Bible of choice for many of the
greatest writers, thinkers, and historical figures of the Reformation era.
William Shakespeare's plays and the writings of John Milton and John Bunyan
were clearly influenced by the Geneva Bible. Oliver Cromwell issued a
pamphlet containing excerpts from the Geneva Bible to his troops during the
English Civil War. When the Pilgrims set sail on the Mayflower they took
with them exclusively the Geneva Bible.
The marginal notes of the Geneva Bible enraged the Catholic
Church, since the notes deemed the act of confession to men - the Catholic
Bishops - as unjustified by Holy Script. Man should confess to God only; man
's private life was man's private life. The notes also infuriated King
James, since they allowed disobedience to tyrannical kings. King James went
so far as to make ownership of the Geneva Bible a felony (sic!). He then
proceeded to make his own version of the Bible, but without the marginal
notes that had so disturbed him. Consequently, during King James's reign,
and into the reign of Charles I, the Geneva Bible was gradually replaced by
the King James Bible.

Geneva Bible of the Pilgrims now Available
http://globalcorp.com/geneva-bible/index.html
 

James_Newman

New Member
It is a well kept secret that at least one King James bible actually came over on the Mayflower.

http://www.pilgrimhall.org/PSNote9.htm

Among the books in Pilgrim Hall are four Bibles of unusual interest. One belonged to Governor William Bradford, the Pilgrim Governor, and one to John Alden. These are among the very few objects existing today which we feel reasonably sure "came over in the Mayflower." Of the history of the two others we know little, but they are Geneva Bibles, the version most commonly used by the Pilgrims. John Alden’s Bible, rather surprisingly, is the "King James" version authorized by the Church of England’ but he also owned a Geneva Bible, which is now in the Dartmouth College Library.
 
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