This episode initially addresses the challenge of literal word-for word translations of the Bible. Literal word-for-word translations don't always convey connotations and nuances behind the words themselves. For this reason, students of the Word should ideally use both literal translations and thought-to-thought translations. The episode also addresses King James' instruction that the KJV include no marginal notes outside of explanatory notes on the Greek and Hebrew. This requirement was obviously a swipe at the Geneva Bible, which had lots of antimonarchical and anti-ecclesiastical comments. King James went so far as to ban the Geneva Bible in 1616. James was nevertheless fair with Puritans (who had produced the Geneva Bible), including them on the translation committees so that the KJV was NOT a sectarian "establishment" translation of the Scriptures. By 1660 the KJV eclipsed the Geneva Bible in popularity, and for the next 200 years quoting from the Bible presupposed the KJV.
“It Helps to Know the Greek”
This episode contrasts the Bishop's Bible with the Geneva Bible, particularly over readability, accuracy, and overall lay-friendliness. The Geneva Bible is far superior. Roughly half of the episode highlights how more literal translations, coupled with word-studies on the original languages, are ultimately more rewarding. Matthew 5:48 commands us "to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect." The Greek is in the passive, so the translation should read "be ye made perfect.." This nuance is often lost in English translations and has significant implications on whether we try to fix ourselves or simply be available for God to complete us. Additionally "perfect," coming from "teleos," also means complete or mature. Knowledge of these nuances of the Greek greatly enhances comprehension of the text.
The Empire Strikes Back: the Bishop’s Bible
This episode further explains objections to the Geneva Bible by both bishops and monarchs, and analyzes the Bishop's Bible, the "establishment's" response. The commentary throughout the Geneva Bible advocated a presbyterian form of church government where a group of elders presided over the church. Bishops in England naturally opposed this arrangement, for it undermined the singular authority of the bishop. Monarchs also found presbyterian government objectionable, as the close fusion of church and state potentially undercut the monarch's role in governing the Anglican Church. In response, the "establishment" produced the Bishop's Bible in 1668 (revised in 1672). While it was a direct translation from Hebrew/Greek to English, the final work lacked cohesiveness since individual bishops translated passages of the Bible (instead of committee), and no uniform translation methodology governed the process. The Bishop's Bible was consequently not as popular as the Geneva Bible.
“Power Corrupts”: the Legacy of the Geneva Bible
This episode expands on the legacy of the Geneva Bible, which is not shaped by the translation itself but by commentary in the margins. The editors of the Geneva Bible had fled the reign of "bloody" Mary, the Catholic queen who zealously martyred many Protestants. The margin study notes reflect a consistent preoccupation with the concentration of secular power in the monarch and ecclesiastical power in the bishop, where tyranny is a likely result. Of course, with the fusion of church and state, in which the monarch also presides over the church, abuse is more likely. The "republican" tradition, captured by the maxim, "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" is largely derived from Calvinist emphasis on total depravity. Puritans, who relied on the Geneva Bible for the next century, often pushed back against the monarch and the bishop when abuses were evident. In the case of the latter, Puritans advocated a "presbyterian" form of church government, where power is shared among elders of the church. The English monarch who presided over both church and state was seen by many Puritans as the corrupt Protestant version of the pope, who had significant power in both arenas as well. The legacy of the Geneva Bible, via notes in commentaries, is a distrust of concentrations of power in both church and state, and this sentiment would later undergird "republican" ideology on the eve of the American Revolution.
The Geneva Bible: the First Direct English Translation
This episode mostly addresses the Geneva Bible, the first direct English translation of both Greek and Hebrew Scriptures. The Great Bible, the official bible of the Anglican Church, was a direct translation of the Greek NT but depended on the Latin Vulgate for translation into English. It was understandably less reliable. The Geneva Bible was published in 1560 in Geneva by Marian exiles, Calvinist Christians who fled persecution under queen Mary (1553-58) It was the first Bible translated by committee and incorporated verse distinctions. Commentary in the margins went beyond explicating meaning of words and cross references: it included anti-monarchical, anti-establishment, and anti-Catholic interpretations/applications. At least 2 of the 3 biases would be problematic to English monarchs, who headed up both church and state. King James not surprisingly despised the Geneva Bible.