Posts Tagged ‘holy bible’
History of the King James Bible
The King James Bible developed out of a desire for one universal, English-speaking translation of the Bible. When Queen Elizabeth died in 1603 and left her throne to King James VI of Scotland, one of the first things he did was commission 54 men to write a new version of the Bible. He had been born at a time between the Geneva Bible and the Bishop’s Bible, and felt that there were too many translations circulating around. He ordered the writers to make this new version as close to the original Greek and Hebrew as possible.
In July of 1604, the 54 men (though only 47 participated) were split into six groups, and each given a section of the book to translate. Four years were spent on this preliminary translation, and the final version was finally done in 1611. It included a title page describing the translation process, a new title page for the New Testament and a dedicatory epistle to King James, commissioner of the King James Bible.
Spreading the Word of God Near and Far
Last spring my church, The Sanctuary of Universal Life, organized a missionary project to help build clay huts for the families of who had lost loved ones to the deadly and vicious disease malaria. Our journey began in a small village outside the African Congo. Traveling only by bus or foot once we had reached our new continent of exploration, we journeyed through rainforests and deserts in an effort to reach out to as many shelter-less people as we could. After three weeks of hard labor and nearly sleepless nights we had built more than 85 huts from the ground up.
Once the strenuous work had been completed, we stayed an additional week to spread the word of God. During our twice-daily prayer sessions, all the villagers gathered around Pastor Boba Fett in awe of his pressed white robes and authoritatively squeaky voice. For hours on end they sat atop a tattered, burlap blanket and listened. Before parting ways with our newly beloved Christian pen pals and heading back to the land of the mighty, we granted their wish of a concrete wisdom of the Lord. And thus, we gave them bibles.
Inspiration on the Road
My job as a salesman requires that I travel more than 200 days out of the year. As a result, I miss a significant amount of quality time with my family. Although I’ve struggled with the thought of missing my son’s baseball games and my daughter’s dance recitals, I know that my income is helping them to live safe, comfortable lives. Whenever I begin to miss my wife and kids, I turn to the Holy Bible for strength.
There are plenty of biblical parables that remind us about the importance of family, and the simple act of reading helps take my mind off of external matters. Typically I can find a Bible in a motel room’s desk drawer, but I like to carry my own just in case. It’s also good to have a pen and paper handy so that I can take notes on the passages that I find to be especially inspirational.