Tolkien and the Old Testament

[Steve Hayes]

On Wed, 14 Nov 2018 16:37:20 -0500, John W Kennedy

The KJV, for professional
purposes, as noted by another post, certainly -- but the KJV had a
massive cultural influence

Although, as I also said, C. S. Lewis casts considerable doubt on that
notion in his “The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version”. The Book
of Common Prayer really has more influence, even (through its influence
on other service books) among non-Anglicans.

I somehow doubt that.

Some time in the 1960s (before the Jerusalem Bible came out) the
Church of England produced a Revised Psalter. It was based on the
psalter in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), which was Coverdales
version. Apparently C.S. Lewis had a hand in that -- see here:

https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2017/08/07/the-revised-psalter/

The revision produced a much syndicated article in which well-known
(at the time) literary characters castigated the CiofE for "tampering"
with the wording of the much-loved King James version by changing
things like "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want" into "The Lord
is my Shepherd, therefore can I lack nothing."

Actually in that phrase, the Revised Psalter had changed nothing. It
was exactly as Coverdale wrote it, and Coverdale's version was older
than the KJV.

So it seems that all the literary types who had commented on the
Revised Psalter were far more influenced by the KJV (or AV if you
prefer) than theyb were by the BCP.

The syndicated article in which their complaints were registered
continued to be reprinted up to 20 years after it first appeared,
presumqably when some downtable sub needed some filler from the morgue
to make up a page.

In 1970 there were still plenty of people in the
USA insisting that God Himself had specified every single letter in
the KJV (if the concept of "printer's proofs" had been explained to
them they would doubtless have claimed that God Himself reviewed and,
where necessary, revised them),

Still true.

and I suspect the Douay was just as
much beloved among the RC (even if they were not subject to the same
level of hysteria over the very /thought/ of changing the Sacred
Text).

Not in the same way, because the official version was and is the
Vulgate. And Roman Catholics place less emphasis on the Bible, itself,
than Fundamentalist Protestants do.

[John W Kennedy]

Post by Steve Hayes
On Wed, 14 Nov 2018 16:37:20 -0500, John W Kennedy

The KJV, for professional
purposes, as noted by another post, certainly -- but the KJV had a
massive cultural influence

Although, as I also said, C. S. Lewis casts considerable doubt on that
notion in his “The Literary Impact of the Authorized Version”. The Book
of Common Prayer really has more influence, even (through its influence
on other service books) among non-Anglicans.

I somehow doubt that.
Some time in the 1960s (before the Jerusalem Bible came out) the
Church of England produced a Revised Psalter. It was based on the
psalter in the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), which was Coverdales
https://apilgriminnarnia.com/2017/08/07/the-revised-psalter/
The revision produced a much syndicated article in which well-known
(at the time) literary characters castigated the CiofE for "tampering"
with the wording of the much-loved King James version by changing
things like "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want" into "The Lord
is my Shepherd, therefore can I lack nothing."
Actually in that phrase, the Revised Psalter had changed nothing. It
was exactly as Coverdale wrote it, and Coverdale's version was older
than the KJV.
So it seems that all the literary types who had commented on the
Revised Psalter were far more influenced by the KJV (or AV if you
prefer) than theyb were by the BCP.
The syndicated article in which their complaints were registered
continued to be reprinted up to 20 years after it first appeared,
presumqably when some downtable sub needed some filler from the morgue
to make up a page.

How many of them were practicing C of E?

Heck, the American Book of Common Prayer of 1979 actually /added/ the
KJV of “The Lord is my Shepherd”, not in the Psalter proper (where
revised Coverdale still rules), but specifically for alternative use at
funerals, lest non-Episcopalians be upset.

But that’s a single quarter of a page, and hardly typical.

And when it comes to the history of English literature, I am only a
village idiot compared to Lewis. Here is hhis essay:
https://www.biblicalstudies.org.uk/pdf/kjv_lewis.pdf

Post by Steve Hayes

In 1970 there were still plenty of people in the
USA insisting that God Himself had specified every single letter in
the KJV (if the concept of "printer's proofs" had been explained to
them they would doubtless have claimed that God Himself reviewed and,
where necessary, revised them),

Still true.

and I suspect the Douay was just as
much beloved among the RC (even if they were not subject to the same
level of hysteria over the very /thought/ of changing the Sacred
Text).

Not in the same way, because the official version was and is the
Vulgate. And Roman Catholics place less emphasis on the Bible, itself,
than Fundamentalist Protestants do.