Queen Elizabeth II is ending 2011 after the pattern of 2010 - by paying special tribute to the King James Version of the Bible.
CHRISTMAS SPEECH 2010
The Queen’s message broadcast on Christmas Day, 2010, came from Hampton Court where, she told viewers, King James had “convened a conference of churchmen of all shades of opinion to discuss the future of Christianity in this country. This was to become the King James or Authorized Bible, which next year will be exactly four centuries old.”
In the course of this message the Queen highlighted the book’s “glorious language,” saying it has, “given many of us the most widely-recognised and beautiful descriptions of the birth of Jesus Christ.”
And the Queen went on to add that the KJV is: “Acknowledged as a masterpiece of English prose and the most vivid translation of the scriptures.”
SERVICE AT WESTMINSTER ABBEY
On Wednesday, 14 November 2011, the Queen attended a special service at Westminster Abbey marking the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible - the culmination of a year of events, including lectures, educational programmes and theatre performances, held around the world to mark this anniversary.
The Queen was accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and around 2,000 other worshippers.
During the service the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams described the King James Bible as an “extraordinary text” which remains of “abiding importance.”
He also commented that the landmark English translation of the Bible, designed in 1611 to be read aloud in public gatherings, should be celebrated for its determination to find words that express “the almost unbearable weight of divine intelligence and love pressing down on those who first encountered it.”
At the start of the service historic copies of the famous Bible translation were carried through the Abbey.
THE PEOPLE'S BIBLE
The Westminster Abbey event also celebrated the ‘People’s Bible’ - a hand-written version of the King James Bible completed by more than 22,000 people around Britain.
A bound copy of the Book of Genesis from the People's Bible was presented at the altar during the service.
The first two verses of the Bible have been hand-written by the Prince of Wales, with others completed by people including Prime Minister David Cameron, and representatives in more than 200 towns across Britain - from the Orkney Islands to the Isle of Man, and Jersey, Whitby, Swansea and Wrexham - took part in the project.
Wednesday’s service was the culmination of a year’s worth of events, organised principally by the King James Bible Trust, to mark the 400th anniversary of the text.
Professor Pauline Croft, a trustee of the King James Bible Trust, said: “People are always surprised how much of the language they use without thinking.”
Precisely.
LET PRACTICE FLOW FROM THE PRAISE
And another truth is this: if only the Bible was as much practised as it is praised, our country would not be in the middle of the moral crisis it now endures.
In light of the Queen's involvement in celebrating this 400th Anniversary of the KJV, it is appropriate that we should quote one of the typically majestic portions of this peerless volume (1 Timothy 2:1-3):
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour.”
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