Getting closer to the release of the “Top 10” most influential Christians, and with that we note here a man deemed by many to have shaped much of modern Christianity.
King James could translate chapters of the Bible from Latin to French, and then to English by the time he was 8 years old. Later on he was able to put the resources of the crown behind the work of translating and in 1604 appointed the fifty-four men who commenced in earnest with the work in 1607 with six companies working on various parts of the translation. In 1611 the translation was approved by all the companies, and the Authorized Version appointed by King James was to be read in all the churches of the nation. The influence of King James on the Christian church is so important and still of great relevance today because of the version of the Bible which bears his name which celebrated its 400th birthday in 2011. The King James Version continues to be one of the best selling and most loved English versions of the Bible of all time.
Next weekend we will discuss the man who just missed our Top 10, an enigmatic character for sure.
-Ken
Besides Shakesphere, King James is the other person that took English from a ‘peasant’ language to respected and now world dominant language.