My goodness, the canon chancellor of St Paul's Cathedral is full of charity this Christmas-tide (A fetish for the Bible, 21 December). Fellow Christians who love the language of the King James Bible are reprimanded for showing "nostalgia for some golden age". Those Anglican churchgoers who, like him, have been public-school educated (Rev Fraser was at Uppingham) are accused of being "bores" if they remember hearing the Bible read first in chapel. As for "thou/thy" and the "-eth" forms of English syntax disappearing by 1610, the former were still used right through the 17th century by poets such as Donne, Herbert, Vaughan and Marvell; and the latter usage may even be found in Lancelot Andrewes's own sermon before the king on Christmas Day 1622.
May we enquire of St Paul's Cathedral why heightened or "dignified" public speech should, now of all times, be regarded as out of place? Why should this version of the English Bible, one might ask the former Oxford philosophy don, be dismissed as "something irrationally reverenced" (OED definition of fetish)?
John Weston
Richmond, Surrey
? May this "windbag actor" (ex-RSC and National theatre) defend the King James version against some of the more obvious slights on its merits. Firstly, any modestly competent Greek scholar (which I assume Giles Fraser to be and which I struggle hard to become) will know that the KJB is much more accurate and succinct than most, if not all, modern translations which regularly, and patronisingly, paraphrase. And as any nodding acquaintance with Shakespeare's work will testify (and here I claim a shred of expertise), the use of "thou" and other "biblical" language was commonly used and understood by the illiterate groundlings in the theatres of the time. Indeed even a superficial acquaintance with early 17th-century drama will prove beyond doubt that the language of the KJB was so current and accessible that the greatest writer of all time emerged precisely for this reason.
Ian Flintoff
Oxford
? Giles Fraser argues that the King James Bible "has always been about performance". Anyone who saw Alec McCowen's solo rendition of St Mark's Gospel in the 1980s would concur with Rev Fraser's comment. McCowen's performance proclaimed the KJB at its best: vibrant, compelling, witty and ? most important ? relevant to contemporary life.
Alistair Budd
London
? In his otherwise excellent piece on the political manipulation behind the King James version of the bible, Giles Fraser omits the telling fact that the name "James" does not appear in the original Greek New Testament text. It was inserted in place of the name "Jacob", presumably to bolster the historic authority of the English monarchy. It's time we changed the name back.
Roger Lewis
Exeter, Devon
Student politics Mergers and acquisitions La Liga Niclas Alexandersson Global economy Crime
No comments:
Post a Comment