THE ENGLISH VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE, IN CONNEXION WITH THE ANCIENT TRANSLATIONS, ESPECIALLY WITH THOSE MADE BY THE REFORMERS IN GERMANY. BY REV. C. D. GINSBURG, LL.D., VICE-PRESIDENT. To understand the rise and the literary merits of our Authorised Version, it is absolutely necessary that we should not only trace the origin and development of the English translations of the Scriptures which preceded King James's Bible of 1611, but also examine the state of the Sacred Volume during the three epochs, as follows, first, the state of the Bible up to the time of the invention of printing in Europe; secondly, its state from the invention of printing to the commencement of the Reformation on the continent; and thirdly, its state from the Reformation to the publication of the Authorised Version in 1611. Without such a review of its condition during these three great epochs, it is impossible to form a correct opinion about the literary merits. of our present English Bible, or to decide between the conflicting statements which are repeatedly made both in the standard histories of the world and in ephemeral periodicals, as to whether or not the Sacred Volume was designedly withheld from the people at large before the Reformation. I must remark at the outset that the design of this essay is not theological nor controversial, but simply to exhibit in its true light, before the Literary and Philosophical Society, a literary chapter of history which has been darkened and misrepresented by ignorance and prejudice. Having thus emphatically disclaimed all polemical intentions, I shall now proceed with my brief description R |