Tiny church finds original King James Bible

Hilmarton, England (CNN) - A little English village church has just made a remarkable discovery.
The ornate old Bible that had been sitting in plain view on a table near the last row of pews for longer than anyone could remember is an original King James Bible - one of perhaps 200 surviving 400-year-old original editions of arguably the most important book ever printed in English.
In fact, the Bible at St. Laurence Church in Hilmarton, England, was sitting right under a hand-lettered sign saying it was an original.
The sign said it had been found in "the parish chest" in 1857, that the cover had been added, and that it was the second of the two impressions published in 1611 - the year of first publication.
But no one knew whether to believe it, parish council member Geoff Procter said. As the anniversary of publication in 1611 approached, they decided it was worth investigating.
"We had no way of knowing whether it really was a 1611 Bible so we had to get it verified somehow," he said.
He and two other church members took it to a specialist, the Rev. David Smith at the Museum of the Book in London.
Smith knew immediately what he was looking at, Procter said.
"We put it on his table and he opened it and immediately he said, 'Yes, this is a 1611 Bible,'" Procter remembered.
Smith identified it thanks to a printing error - a place in the Gospel of Matthew that should say Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane and spoke to his disciples instead says that Judas, who betrayed Jesus, entered the garden.
That the St. Laurence Bible had that error, but not another one in the Book of Ruth, enabled Smith to pinpoint exactly when the book had been printed, Procter explained.
"We realized that this is quite an important find," he said, and last month the church quietly announced the discovery in the diocese newsletter.
They hesitated before going public, Procter said.
"It was one of those discoveries that we wondered if we should tell everybody or tell nobody," he said. "And we thought that as it was the 400th anniversary, we should talk about it."
St. Laurence Church is far from the only one talking about the King James Bible this year - the Globe Theatre in London is planning a reading of the whole thing in the days before Easter, and a literary festival has already done one. Cambridge University has an exhibition, and the King James Bible Trust lists dozens of special events planned this year to mark the anniversary.
The reason is simple, said Moira Goff of the British Library.
The King James Bible is "so embedded in us that we can't overstate the significance of it," she said.
It's the source of dozens of phrases and concepts that have become part of the English language - "an eye for an eye," "born again," "eat, drink and be merry," "God forbid."
The church recently discovered that its old Bible was a rare 400-year-old original King James Bible.
Experts point out that the King James is based on at least two earlier major English translations, so its creators were editors as much as originators of these phrases, but it is the King James Bible that the great English writers knew, Goff said.
"It's passed entirely into the English language, into the thinking of English speakers around the world," she said.
Its influence has been greater than that of Shakespeare, she argued.
"I think it's permeated the language in ways that we can't count as we can count Shakespeare, influencing people's religious thinking, influencing people's social thinking in a way that Shakespeare probably does now - but that's a more recent development," she said.
"It's the Bible that was read to people in church every week," she explained. "The great literary figures from the early 17th century onwards, this was their daily reading. It passed into their works," she said, citing John Milton and John Bunyan among others.
But the King James Bible shouldn't be reduced to merely its influence on writers, she said.
"I think we have to be very careful in looking at the Bible only as a work of literature. It is also Holy Scripture and I think that makes it a different sort of book than the great works of literature," she said. "It will be read by people who will possibly never read Shakespeare or Milton."
The St. Laurence discovery is very unusual, she said. Perhaps 200 copies of the 1611 printings of King James Bibles are known to exist, she estimated. No one knows how many were printed, she added, but she guessed that the number was probably around 1,000.
Most of the surviving copies are in institutions, such as major libraries at universities, colleges and cathedrals in the United Kingdom and United States, she said.
"Some of them may be in private collections," she added, saying there is no way to know how many such copies there might be.
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/28/tiny-church-finds-original-king-jame...
Tip o' the hat heads up research MrKillswitch88

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[prairiemark]

Guess it had the apocryphal books if it was an original KJV Bible.

[AnotherBroMark]

@prairiemark I think you know they were isolated alone between the OT and NT until eventually being removed altogether. The pope had standing orders to kill anyone found with a bible not containing them. He had them inserted in the Roman Catholic OT as though they were canon. I think you know this. I have seen jjpetkusiii hand you your hat in rather grand fashion. I know you know this.

[WayOfTheMaster454]

If Judas was the one praying in gethsemini, was Jesus the one who led the mob to arrest him?

[AnotherBroMark]

@WayOfTheMaster454 A known mistake in earlier editions showing it to be original...just like your attempted hack at spelling..

Gethsemane (Greek Γεθσημανἰ, Gethsēmani Hebrew:גת שמנים, Aramaic:גת שמני, Gath-Šmânê, Assyrian ܓܕܣܡܢ, Gat Šmānê, lit. "oil press") is a garden at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem most famous as the place where, according to Biblical texts, Jesus and his disciples are said to have prayed the night before Jesus' crucifixion.

wiki

[tjbrook88]

Great story!

[boggymark1]

"This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one" (1John 5:6-8).

There are no "errors" in the King James Bible as a matter of fact.

[boggymark1]

REPOST

@randywatchingbush

Millions of regenerated believers in the Son of God around the globe already know that the King James Bible, translated from pure Scriptural texts, is verbally inerrant in the lingua franca of the world today.

αρα η πιστις εξ ακοης η δε ακοη δια ρηματος θεου

Translated perfectly into the King James Bible, that Koine Greek text reads: "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).

[boggymark1]

@randywatchingbush I don't seek out totally bogus popish propaganda or irrational slanders of the dead.

Here are the historical facts: The greatest of the Stuart monarchs was the father of eight children UNLIKE YOU by his beloved wife, Anne of Denmark, to whom he wrote love poetry. A serious Biblical scholar, King James VI of Scotland and I of England led a godly life and reigned in peace.

Of course, there are no "errors" in the inerrant King James Bible, but where will you spend eternity?

[boggymark1]

The author and finisher of my faith is the Lord Jesus Christ.

ερευνατε τας γραφας οτι υμεις δοκειτε εν αυταις ζωην αιωνιον εχειν και εκειναι εισιν αι μαρτυρουσαι περι εμου

Translated into the inerrant King James Bible, those ancient and Greek words of the Son of God read: "Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me" (John 5:39).

If one refuses to believe the Holy Scriptures, then he will not believe the Lord Jesus Christ.

[randywatchingbush]

@boggymark1 do a search on King James and his 2 male lovers whom are buried beside him till this day.Search King James Bio and read it.He was Born on in 1566 & was The 6th king of scotts ,he brought you 66 books in a bible you Memorize in your HEAD and must take w/Your HAND to read,do the math and See a Truth hidden from men for 400 years or ignore this message.The Bible is an Idol and IF you "Receive IT" instead of The Seal of The Spirit your damned and unable to BUY and Sell w/Jesus in Spirit!

[randywatchingbush]

What happened to all the people who lived and died w/no bibles before 1611?Were they dispatched to hell for NOT having"The Word of God'!? This satanic doctrine of the bible being how we Know god is from satans ministers and its Blasphemy!These merchants Know it too but they have not a conscience towards Truth as they don't know him.They know they can become rich and be loved by men so they become 'pastors' for Hire and they work for men NOT God.Jesus did NOT give you bibles,men did w/ill intent.

[randywatchingbush]

Jesus is The ONLY "Word of God" that exist and there's no such thing as the "written word of god."The bibles is an Idol of today's apostate "churches" and it was intended to be just that.King James was a Queen and Hes still buried between his 2 male lovers in England.Constantine had the 1st "bibles' created and KJ made the 2nd batch of bibles w/some new twist.Jesus Christ did NOT come to bring us bibles, He came to bring The Promise of The Spirit of Truth to lead men to ALL Truth, not bibles.

[karenlovesyahweh]

Defintely a snake on the front cover...a snake wrapped around a cross! WTF...right in front of your face... Wake up people......

[BrianYahwehStalkers]

is that a snake on the front cover of Queen Gotha's bible? Yes queen of england copy wrote it and she's a devil worshiper