The Geneva Bible (a Christmas gift to my son)
This is the first complete English translation of the Bible taken entirely from the original languages of Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. William Tyndale undertook the first such work, but he was martyred prior to completing the task, having initially translated the New Testament followed by parts of the Old Testament, namely the Tetrateuch through II Chronicles.
I thought this was a beautiful volume, being a facsimile of the first edition. I also wanted to select a complete version of the Bible which was closest to Tyndale’s incomplete translation, as its creators drew heavily upon his work. In addition to Tyndale, many scholars risked their lives and were exiled in order to bring biblical literacy to the masses. It was an important step toward liberating them from tyranny. Tyndale was reported to have told a learned man, “If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy who drives the plough to know more of the Scriptures than you do.”
Although independently translating the Bible was considered heresy in England at the time and treated as sedition under the law, it seems that Tyndale drew greater opposition for his views regarding clerical and totalitarian authority than he did from actual translation. When discriminating between terms, he rather chose the term that leaned toward egalitarianism (example: “congregation” rather than “church”). It was an ideal for which he gave his life; he refused to compromise. Other English versions of the era were more popular with the monarchy and the church because they rendered translations more flattering to established powers.
The Bible is one of the most important books of all time. Its historical and cultural significance is immense. As we have discussed (and debated) on many occasions, once its ideas were set free to infect the oppressed with dangerous humanist notions, the Bible ultimately led to the Age of Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution, among other modern innovations. Sure, reformation under the umbrella of biblical values didn’t always go as well as could be hoped, but I firmly believe that the Bible held the kernel of what has become most of modern humanism, social equality, and scientific advancement.
Paradoxically, publishing the Bible in modern languages led to modern people condemning the Bible. They justify this viewpoint by citing unsavory parts the Bible contains. This is a terrible error and a loss of intellectual enlightenment to those who view history that way. The Bible is composed of many different books, authors, and cultural perspectives; it doesn’t have to be an “all or nothing” proposition. Read the whole for the historical and cultural importance of understanding it and glean the best parts to inspire your own world view.
With love,
Your dad,
Ariel Hammon