So most of my posts are pretty serious, I realise this, but I want to give a fair reflection of myself as a person in this blog so I just thought I'd explain today why I love the King James bible!
There is a power and might in the words, in the archaic construction of sentences, the 'thee's and 'thou's, 'ye's and 'behold's that just makes it feel... holy! Is that weird?
The language is almost set apart for God. It's not like sitting down with the New Living Translation or one of the more contemporary, less literal translations. It's an effort to read, but the rewards are great.
I think it also carries a great deal of authority. The weight of the words, the atmosphere created by the dusty, old-fashioned language, is profound. The KJV inhabits most of the English-speaking, western world's psyche at a deep level. We've all heard something of it, we've all seen it in stitch patterns at our Grandma's or wherever.
I think it's this, more than anything else, that makes me love it. The tradition and the significance of it. No bible feels so powerful in your hand as a King James. Mine is a tiny black one with browning pages that smell fusty and old, I got it in a charity shop for £1 but it's one of my favourite bibles next to the one my girlfriend bought me my first Christmas as a Christian! I love finding a passage and reading it aloud to myself, just to feel the shape of the words, the texture and rhythm of it... but I am a poet so that might just be me!
I think God loves words, loves expressing himself. The King James is not for beginners, I can understand that it alienates people, it's not great to preach from, but it's magic!
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