The Staggers

The New Statesman’s rolling politics blog

The trouble with the King James Bible

It's hardly sufficient that every copy will come with a brief introduction penned by Michael Gove.

By Andrew Zak Williams Published 03 December 2011 12:34

So, as reported, every school is to be sent a copy of the King James Bible. Quite right too, many believers will say: the Bible is, after all, the inspired Word of God.

But does that statement of faith possibly stand up to what we now know about the Bible's origins?

By the time the King James Bible was put together four hundred years ago, arguments were raging over which versions of many of the scriptures were the genuine ones. Since then, several discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls have aroused further doubts about those which made it into the KJV (King James Version).

This is hardly surprising. Take interpolations. This word is used to describe third parties inserting various passages into the books of the New Testament many years after they were originally composed.

I will mention just two examples because they go to the core of Christianity.

If you turn to the end of Mark in the King James Bible you will find an account of Jesus' resurrection along with stories of a few appearances which he made after the crucifixion. Yet the early manuscript copies of the gospel finish midway through a sentence -- crucially, before the resurrection has been mentioned.

What follows was added probably more than a hundred years later and so scholars cannot agree whether the original manuscript included the resurrection at all.

Or how about this? The central Christian dogma of the Trinity occurs primarily in two short verses in a letter in the New Testament, said to have been written by St John. When the letter was first written in Greek, the crucial verses were nowhere to be found.

Biblical scholar Bart Ehrman explains in his new book Forged that it was only some time after the letter was translated into Latin, that the passage was inserted and the doctrine of the Trinity became a crucial piece of Christian dogma: so much so that the passage was retranslated back and inserted into the Greek text to appear authentic. And that is the version which now appears in several Bibles including the King James Version.

Besides, thousands of Bible manuscripts survive from before the printing presses started to roll. Crucially, no two are alike. This is hardly surprising. Scholars have studied the way in which these texts developed over the centuries. They have discovered that scribes were copying from sources which were many times removed from the original manuscripts. Each new copy piled fresh errors or deliberate changes onto whatever corruptions were contained in the prior version.

Take the Gospel of Mark. The earliest manuscripts now available date from about 220CE and the earliest full version was transcribed around 350CE. We cannot possibly know how even these earliest surviving texts differ from the original gospel, written in about 70CE. After all, research has shown that the further back in time we go, the more errors were made in the copying process.

Quite frankly, when you read the King James Bible, you have no way of knowing whether any particular line would have been in the original manuscripts. This poses an interesting question for those who believe that all scripture is God-breathed: if God was not going to preserve the original manuscripts, why would he have bothered to inspire them?

But many believers disregard these difficulties. For them, the Bible offers the moral code of a just and merciful God. What is more, the King James Version expresses God's love in beautiful poetic language which would grace any classroom. Perhaps, they're right in part: sit back and admire the poetry with which God's words are expressed in just these 3 passages:

Samaria shall become desolate; for she hath rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.

Now therefore kill every male among the little ones, and kill every woman that hath known man by lying with him. But all the women children, that have not known a man by lying with him, keep alive for yourselves.

Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling

Yes, I suppose it is poetic. The vibrant and vivid language enables your mind's eye to see God exacting his revenge on pregnant women and infants. You can even picture the Hebrew soldiers killing all the non-virgin women and raping the others.

But what on earth will today's schoolchildren make of the God of the Bible? Perhaps, like most believers, they won't look at these troublesome passages.

Either way, it's hardly sufficient that every copy of the Bible being sent to the classrooms will apparently come with a brief introduction penned by Michael Gove.

Rather it should come with a slap in the face to those who think that it could possibly be the inspired and accurately-recorded Word of a loving God.

Andrew Zak Williams has written for The Guardian, The Independent, Skeptic and The Humanist.

Tags: Religion

More from Andrew Zak Williams

View the discussion thread.

77 comments

Mon, 2012-05-28 03:08 — Mikeami (not verified)

Where have I said that I am a Christian, Ian my love? Or indeed that I believe in God. What does it matter what I personally believe or do not believe? I might change my mind on Tuesday. Good God, I would defend even a socialist if he/she were attacked in the ignorant, loutish way you atheists use. But perhaps you are not an atheist.
firefox 13
firefox 12

Mon, 2011-12-05 22:09 — swatantra

Correct. Obviously something got lost in the translation. Like fact.
And many of the Gospels were hearsay., writen down over a hundred years after the event.
Doesn't it strike you as odd that the Bible is racist? Too many of the religios images are Western centric, when in reality, Mankind originated in Africa, and was certainly not white in the Garden of Eden, and Jesus shoud have had a Middle Eastern complexion, but looks more like a Pre Raphalite drop out. Its the fault of the Victorians but should be corrected now.

Sun, 2011-12-04 10:35 — swatantra

OK a seasonal question.
Explain the 'virgin birth' and Peter, the brother of Christ. Its an impossibility.

Mon, 2011-12-05 22:17 — bill gaw (not verified)

The original text (which can be transcribed by transversing the greek back to hebrew) states that Yeshua (Jesus)(as a mid-asian, semitic) could not be identified as he appeared to be like the anybody.

Sun, 2011-12-04 11:14 — Crispin Weston (not verified)

Blimey - what a lot of drivel!

Of course the claim to the literal truth of the bible is unfounded; and of course the morality of the bible, and particularly of the Old Testament, is blood-thirsty and vengeful.

The reason why children should be familiar with the KJ bible is that it is (a) beautifully written, and (b) a seminal cultural and linguistic artefact - and all the more so for having picked up much Greek and Roman moss on its path down to us. How can you, for example, understand nineteenth century literature or the rhetorical cadences of Churchill or Obama or the history of the Labour Party, without a passing knowledge of the old bible?

It is not a question of being are religious or not - it is a question of being educated.

Mon, 2011-12-05 22:32 — bill gaw (not verified)

The Hebrew text (called the Tanach) can be proven to be true by the testimony of today's discovery of the REAL SINAII mountain in MIDIAN in ARABIA. This fact,(and MANY others) can be googled by Dr. Knoller, as part of the Genises
controversy.

Mon, 2011-12-05 22:42 — bill gaw (not verified)

The PROOF of Yeshua's (Jesus) ministry can be found in The Hebrew
text, as the word YESHUAT (which means salvation. (i.e. delivered) is throughout the Tanach (Hebrew testament; mistakenly in error, called The Old Testament.

Mon, 2011-12-05 22:52 — bill gaw (not verified)

The text of TRUTH (my analagy) states, that without examining the Text, RIGHTLY INTERPRETING, it is
impossible to know why, what, where, when, and how it came to be.

Mon, 2011-12-05 22:58 — Lox (not verified)

Swatandra, I'll try to break this gently...most of the Christian images we're familiar with were made in Europe. A long time after Jesus died...are you starting to realise why all of the people in them look like white Europeans?
It's kind of chaotic inside your head, isn't it?

Sun, 2011-12-04 13:09 — Indu Pendent (not verified)

@Crispin Weston
Yes thats right.

But biggotted left wing education philosphy is to level everyone down. As the bible qualifies as a literary work, it and the moral framework it provides are off the agenda in state schools.

If you want to give your kids a good moral upbringing you need to take them out of the state system or go to a church school.

Sun, 2011-12-04 14:04 — Ian5

Mr Lindsay, Are you serious, the Dead Sea Scrolls are not the oldest surviving copies of many if not most of the books of the OT? Your mentor needs to go back to school. Whats his name banana man? Bring him on.

Fri, 2012-01-27 16:37 — Steff (not verified)

For anyone who hasn't read all the previous posts I just have to opcy in one by 'la potenza dell speranza' who wrote...
"That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence" - Case fucking closed as far as I'm concerned. If I ever have children they will NOT be educated in the UK and certainly won't be indoctrinated into Christianity or any other Hocus-Pocus! Michael Gove is a caricature of the archetypal, puritanical, posh-boy tory nincompoop who is so far detached from my perception of reality that his writing a foreword for the bible strikes me as extremely appropriate and entirely in keeping with his hideous, self righteous posturing persona. What a tremendous fucking prick!

Absolute genius of a put down and I agree wholeheartedly. Brought a smile to my face!!

Sun, 2011-12-04 17:54 — Fergus Pickering (not verified)

Crispin Weston, you are right, sir, and so is Mr Gove. If religion is a human invention, it is our oldest and most important. The myth has surely more resonance than that of the noble savage, which lies behind all forms of socialism and communism and which is such obvious tripe.

Sun, 2011-12-04 18:07 — jankaas (not verified)

"But biggotted left wing education philosphy is to level everyone down. As the bible qualifies as a literary work, it and the moral framework it provides are off the agenda in state schools."

what planet are you on? both my children attend state school, eldest in secondary now. throughout their schooling they have been taught about religion, including Christianity.

the idea that somehow 'lefties' have taken over the system and won't allow proper reflection on the rich and varied history of mankind is just a nonsense.

do get a grip, stop making things up

btw the state schools i refer to are in Brighton, which is about as anti-establishment and left wing as it gets. still, the Bible survives even here, as it should, as a work of literature and history.

Sun, 2011-12-04 18:08 — Ian5

Fergus you poor man, first you prefer fictional adventure over the real thing..Voyage of the Beagle v Treasure Island. Then you support Crispins comments, the trouble is large numbers of fundamentalists do believe in the literal interpretation of the bible...Young Earth , Intelligent Design all take it literally. Now which religion do we adopt on moral grounds, obviously not one requiring human sacrifice....Heck there goes Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. poor old Abraham. Oh you believe in a Christian society which is not a form of socialism...does Jesus know.

Sun, 2011-12-04 20:09 — Crispin Weston (not verified)

Ian,

Surely the fundamentalists do not go round with the King James Bible under their arm. Don't they prefer the Good News (Jesus loves you) version?

Even Richard Dawkins has something of a soft spot for the old Church of England and its fuzzy belief in a pantheistic (or what he calls an Einsteinian) God.

I really don't think anyone - least of all Gove - is trying to turn our children into religious fundamentalists. Rather, to give them an awareness of our common ethical, religious and literary inheritance.

As humans are social animals, we are all socialists in the word's widest sense. I would argue that liberal, well-regulated capitalism is the most efficient way yet discovered of running... society.

In its narrow sense, though, socialism is about egalitarianism. The argument that Gove and we who support him are making is that egalitarianism is incompatible with the pursuit of excellence - and that education should be about the latter, not the former.

Sun, 2011-12-04 20:19 — London Calling (not verified)

Comfort and solace from the bible? Some of us get it from drink and drugs but we don't send free samples into schools.

Sat, 2011-12-03 12:54 — Yaqub Rahman (not verified)

Great article. I'm amazed that anyone's faith can overcome these kinds of problems which we keep discovering about the bible's origins.

Sat, 2011-12-03 13:19 — Hugh Markey (not verified)

Surely the little tyke can't be serious. The King James' Bible is a packaged in such a way as to be a blatant piece of propaganda. No wonder the Puritans emigrated.
Queen Liz had a go at slanting the 'word of God' a little earlier but James takes the biscuit.
The message from the 'main man' is know your place and keep it. Or by Heck, the full majesty of God and Royal law will make you.
How is it that such a command is aspirational? Oh,Oh. Forget -King James was a Scot and so is Mr Gove.
And consider the danger of interpreting it's message.
For sticking with the believe about the divine right of kings, poor old King Charles lost his head and the Stuart line was quickly bundled out of history. Then William of Orange! Still, James and Bill had one thing in common - an appreciation of a well-turned calf(male).
If that's true then I'm a Dutchman!

Moses Supposes

Sun, 2011-12-04 22:58 — jonathan (not verified)

Our view of the bible depends largely on our faith position - poorly research articles will not change that. We either want to believe it is not the word or God - perhaps it is forged - or we accept it is.

What God says is "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

Sat, 2011-12-03 13:35 — David Lindsay

This article is very dated, although I suppose that it will please the aged soizante-huitards on here.

For something more serious, see http://davidaslindsay.blogspot.com/2011/11/1611-and-all-that.html

Sun, 2011-12-04 23:00 — Ian5

Crispin@ Grove is of no consequence, I've a soft spot for carols from Kings , but I would require that the KJB and any other religious tract stays stay within the confines of RE curriculum or the library, let Chaucer and Shakespere stand for our language. True it can not be avoided in the history, but it need not be read, and the evils of Christianity should also be made clear in that history.

Sat, 2011-12-03 13:47 — Lucy Nichols (not verified)

David Lindsay, you're a charlatan. The article clearly isn't dated - in fact, it is based largely on the findings reported in the "Forged" book which was published only a few months ago. I've just checked out the piece which you recommend instead as being something "more serious", only to discover that - surprise surprise - it was written by you! Worse than that, it is a religious apologetic text full of the kind of vague waffle which passes for critical thought in your circles.

Sun, 2011-12-04 23:05 — Ian5

@Jonathan, What God says is "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."

So it is the word of god then.. a vain god as well by the sound of it.

Sat, 2011-12-03 13:50 — David Lindsay

And yes, I can spell "soixante" correctly. Since I have had to come back in order to correct that, I might as well stay and correct this article itself.

All right, Staggers, is *this* short enough not to count as spam? I didn't want to link to my own site again, but I am going to have to (a post three times the length of the comment that I have tried four times to put up), because you seem determined to feature an article quite as contentious as this, but with no opportunity to answer it, only for a Roman holiday on the part of a sub-Radio Four comedian and someone who appears to believe in the revelation the Qur'anic way.

See instead, http://davidaslindsay.blogspot.com/2010/05/throw-no-shadow.html, because apparently any attempt to post such material directly onto here is spamming.

Sat, 2011-12-03 13:58 — David Lindsay

And now the link doesn't work from this site. Surprise, surprise. Let's try again - http://davidaslindsay.blogspot.com/2010/05/throw-no-shadow.html

As it says in that, should the New Statesman ever give you the opportunity to read it, "Academia is at last moving away from this sort of thing [exemplified by this article]. When will the Catholic Church in practice, since of course She has never adopted it, and cannot do so, in principle?"

It seems pointless to ask when the New Statesman will do so. Marxism Today will never die. Eurocommunism and the wider New Left are triumphant over the party and movement that was founded out of (Nonconformist) Radical Liberalism, (Anglican) Tory populism, Christian Socialism, and Catholic Social Teaching and Distributism. The name for that triumph is "New Labour", and you are stuck in it.

Sun, 2011-12-04 23:42 — Des Demona (not verified)

Any divine being who demands unfailing worship sounds like a bit of a prick. Unless of course you are L Ron Hubbared who made it plain he was just after the money.

Sat, 2011-12-03 14:29 — David Lindsay

I have just sent in exactly 650 words by way of balance to this dilettante gallery-playing. Don’t hold your breath, but don’t say that I haven’t tried.

Tue, 2011-12-06 14:49 — Ian5

Bill, aside from spouting BS, what else do you do... "the original text can be transcribed by transversing the greek back to Hebrew" , well read the Greek, or are you saying something was lost in the original translation that will magically appear corrected in the Hebrew.... NUTS. And why word the word of god need to be interpreted....

Sat, 2011-12-03 14:32 — ThomasGC (not verified)

The KJ bible is often named as a source of rich pottic English, but if that is the aim of this Government initiative it should be made clear from the start.

Other than that, let the whole bible be seen for what it is: a mythology based on centuries of pre-Christian stories, retold and twisted to suit those seeking influence over the masses. The changes in the nature of god in OT and NT is clear evidence that his is a hotchpotch of stories, cobbled together across the centuries.

Sat, 2011-12-03 14:53 — Stephen Gibbs (not verified)

Another modern-mind schooled in facticity at a loss with an ancient text. All is story, all is interpretation, all is poetry, all is metaphor; it is the nature of our human existence - we only exist by language constructions. We can attest any story by whether its import rings true to life; regrettably for the literal minded life can't be embalmed.

Mon, 2011-12-05 00:54 — Fergus Pickering (not verified)

It would appear from these posts that atheism is in a bad way or that all the posters are about fifteen years old. I tell you what, friends. Go and piss on a holy picture. That should do the trick. But best do it in private. God is not mocked. Oh, and if I had made the heavens and the earth in seven days, I would feel fairly chuffed with myself.

Mon, 2011-12-05 00:57 — Mrs.Josephine Hyde-Hartley (not verified)

Yes but everyone's entitled to an opinion, even though there may be some who wouldn't know the inspired word of the loving God if it slapped them in the face.. Perhaps that's why so many have all but ignored the integrity and identity of that woman of Samaria at Jacob's well.(the one who isn't married to her man - ha ha.) The bible doesn't even tell us what she's called -even though Christ reveals his true identity to her..

So much misinformation.. and so little time to harvest it appropriately..There are even some who publish the wrong fact that Mary was Joseph's wife.. I saw this mistake in a children's nativity story book in my local library. Of course there's no easy way or place to point out the fact that hey actually there's no evidence whatsoever in the Bible that tells us Mary was married to Joseph.

So I think it's a good idea to put the Bible back into schooling -especially to counteract those who go about telling others that Mary was Joseph's wife. Do they think we're all soft or just stupid, like them?

But what about hospitals? I remember there was a fuss made concerning the provision of bibles by the Gideons to people who happen to be hospitalized. But they used to give Gideon bibles out in schools anyway..

Perhaps there's been a deal done with the Gideons -or there ought to be one, if it's cheaper.

Sat, 2011-12-03 15:12 — Andrew J Chandler (not verified)

'The Problem with the KJB' is not with the origins of the Biblical 'cannon', but with the purpose of the edition, which was one of Establishment propaganda, largely anti-Catholic and anti-puritan. It was based on the Bishop's Bible, rather than the more accurate Genevan Bible, and so was designed to uphold the authority of Bishops and Kings, rather than that of the word itself. It was not a translation, but rather an editing of earlier translations. You only need to read the 'Dedication' of 1611, reprinted in my copy from 1819, to understand this. It refers to both 'the labours of many worthy men who went before us' as well as to 'the censures of ill-meaning and discontented persons' and 'the culminations and hard interpretations of other men...Popish persons at home and abroad' on the one hand, and '...self-conceited Brethren, who run their own ways..' on the other.

Tue, 2011-12-06 16:37 — Des Demona (not verified)

@ Bill Gaw
1)No. But I don't think you can compare an intense and possibly irrational human feeling between two people with a belief in the advocation of an entire religious system.
2)Don't fully understand how physical beauty can be described as Hokum? We all have individual aesthetics.
3)Not sure you can categorise all acts which go agains perceived morality as evil. Though sall not kill is spposed to be onee of the commandments but look to any battlefield and you'll quickly find a padre blessing the soldiers before battle. Heck the Germans had Gott mit Uns on their belt buckles! Is your point that if there is evil then there must be a God? Because I don't find that a convincing argument. Kinda like saying without butter there would be no bread.
5) Starvation is hokum? Oh dear. Have I been trolled? Oh well, I think I've wasted enough time.

Sat, 2011-12-03 15:27 — jankaas (not verified)

"a post three times the length of the comment that I have tried four times to put up"

and

"And now the link doesn't work from this site. Surprise, surprise. Let's try again"

and

"I have just sent in exactly 650 words by way of balance to this dilettante gallery-playing. Don’t hold your breath, but don’t say that I haven’t tried."

you just don't get it do you David Lindsay? the real God doesn't approve of your lies and distortions, and will keep censoring your nonsense.

Ramen.

Tue, 2011-12-06 15:41 — bill gaw (not verified)

Evidentally there are some that cannot see the forest for the trees; and it would do nothing to explain to these "some" that intelligent design was performed by
a perfect mind called CREATOR: i.e. Elohim Almighty

Sat, 2011-12-03 15:50 — Al4

Mr David Lindsay, truly there are other, far more important, things to devote so much time and energy to.

Tue, 2011-12-06 15:51 — bill gaw (not verified)

So,,, to get back to the original subject, the FIRST SCROLL of TORAH,
which was in a Hebrew tongue,,,,WAS
INSPIRED as a guide book for all mankind. This TORAH came to be known as Scripture authored by the
creator of the universe.

Tue, 2011-12-06 16:00 — Des Demona (not verified)

Elohim Almighty

Watch the movie again - it was Bruce wasn't it?

Dear me, such a lot of argument about yet another milleniums old piece of hokum. If people want to believe in that stuff well let them. Like Scientology or Zoroatorism, or or Islam, or Buhdism, or Shinto or....one of any number of tomes advocating the way and the truth.

But lets not waste too much debate on their various merits.

Tue, 2011-12-06 16:11 — bill gaw (not verified)

Do you think love is hokum? Do you think a rose of beauty is hokum? Do you think evil (muder, rape, corruption, etc.) is hokum? Do you think desease is hokum? Do you think starvation is hokum? Blindness!!!

Sat, 2011-12-03 16:59 — mike cobley (not verified)

Okay, just to recap - the original texts were written in ancient Hebrew, then translated into ancient Greek, then translated into Latin, then translated into English under the aegis of King James the 6th.

Anyone who knows anything about translation knows that different languages have different alphabets, sounds, inflections and connotations, not to mention the whole cultural baggage attendant thereupon. To then say that the King James bible is the literal word of God implies that, in addition to the original writers, all the translators were likewise divinely inspired!

Hmm, nah. Dont buy it.

Sat, 2011-12-03 17:26 — Fergus Pickering (not verified)

The King James' Bible is mostly Wycliff, is it not? You know, the chap who was burned if I've got his name right. The man was obviously a genius, like Shakespeare. Both were divinely inspired, why not? Read any story you like in any modern version and then read it in the Authorised version. Have you done that? Which is better? If you don't say it the way I want you to, then you are a cloth-eared limb of Satan and your opinion is not worth an old halfpenny.

Tue, 2011-12-06 16:39 — Ian5

Love hokum, no its a chemical process occurring in the brain triggered by external stimulus.

disease hokum, no its the result of the flawed evolution of the animal body, it can be part of the arms race as in viral infection or faults in coding. (simple explanation).

Evil, oh several causes, none hokum, nor any paranormal either. Chemical imbalance in the brain is one cause, love above gone wrong.

Mon, 2011-12-05 12:35 — Sue Megarry (not verified)

Excellent and well-researched article.
It's amazing that after more than 50 comments, there isn't a single explanation from a believer in response to any of the specific factual points made by the writer, Andrew Zak Williams. For the likes of "Jonathan" above to simply quote a bible line saying that we should know that God is God is hardly sufficient.

Sat, 2011-12-03 18:01 — swatantra

Hope it goes into the Fiction Catelogue of the School Library next to The Child's Garden of Verses Compendium of Poetry and Aesops Fables and Lambs Tales from Shakesspeare. Very instructive and educational.
And for just a few an oasis of solace, rather like the Gideons leaving theres in every hotel room.
Sort of moralising you get from a Tory govt. Better would have been a copy of Darwins Voyage of the Beagle, a cracking boys own adventure and detective story. Recommended.

Sat, 2011-12-03 18:22 — Freeman2

Would it make the slightest difference if the story of the resurrection or the doctrine of the trinty appeared in the first and original documents. It would still be bollocks.

Sat, 2011-12-03 18:31 — Fergus Pickering (not verified)

Dear me, but the wit and wisdom here astounds me. Something which has given comfort and solace for 2000 years is bollocks, fiction etc etc. And if anyone thinks Darwin's book is a cracking adventure story then he obviously hasn't read much. Try Treasure Island, my old fruit. Or The Thirty Nine Steps

Sat, 2011-12-03 18:36 — Ian5

Mike, are you forgetting the ability to speak in tongues, think it extended to writing as well... Personally think all versions have less validity than the Hitler diaries, at least some of that pile of trash was historical fact.

Voyage of the Beagle, now your talking.