A Bible to Unite Britain:

King James and His Version

After Elizabeth died with no direct heir, King James VI of Scotland took the English throne as King James I. In 1603, he convened a gathering of clergy and theologians at Hampton Court in an attempt to reconcile the various religious factions in England. The meeting served little to unite the parties, but a proposal was made that would change English history forever.

By this time, the Textus Receptus had undergone many revisions, and its text was now more reliable than that of earlier editions. It was becoming more and more apparent that the Bishops’ Bible was never going to replace the Great Bible in popular use. Something had to be done.

The Puritan leader, Dr. John Reynolds, proposed a new translation of the Scriptures, a revision of the 1602 edition of the Bishop’s Bible that would restore to the English text the faithfulness of the collected manuscripts.

Although it did not meet with universal acceptance, the king approved of their proposal and authorized the revision. The next summer, James approved a list of 54 scholars, including Anglicans, Puritans, and laymen, and the work began in 1607. In 1611, Robert Barker published the first edition. It was dedicated to King James. Parliament later recognized it as the new Authorized Version for exclusive use in the Anglican Church, as the Conference had intended.