I went to see the exhibit in the library about the King James Bible several weeks ago. While I enjoyed seeing the old Bibles, I, like Will, found the display about the impact of the King James Bible on the English language and modern culture most interesting. I was reminded of the
university forum presented by Dr. Norton on the King James Bible. If you didn't get a chance to watch it, I would highly recommend it. In essence he talks about the impact of having a standardized Bible. Suddenly, people expected a particular tone for scripture and, to some extent, if it didn't match that, it wasn't just different, it was wrong.
In the display in the library there were several books of modern fiction that were highlighted as using Bible language. One must agree that there is a certain register that is recognizable as "scriptural" whether one is religious or not.
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| Dr. Norton |
There are very few things that have been constant in our culture for 400 years. Even the United States itself is less than 300 years old. Other things, like Parliament and the dictionary, have gone through numerous editions and updates; the King James Bible has remained largely the same. This increases it's power as a cultural reference point. Like nursery rhymes that we all know, portions of the King James Bible are so embedded in English collective thought that we recognize them with out conscious effort. Most notably of these are Genesis 1 and John 1.
I wanted to bring this to our attention as a blog group in connection to the learning outcomes for our course. How do you think that the prevalence and constancy of the King James Bible has affected learning as individuals and more largely as institutions?
I had never thought before about how old our edition of the Bible really is. Its kind of amazing, especially when you put it in perspective with the history of our nation. And I have to admit, it took me a few seconds to remember how John 1 starts, but then I totally agree. Those verses and a few others I would say people would recognize instantly as biblical if you quoted them to them. It is partly due to the vernacular now I think, and the changes from 400-year-old English to modern English. Good ideas, and I loved Dr. Norton's presentation.
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