"And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed."–Luke 2:1 (King James Version, 1611)
As Libertyville Covenant reads The Story this year – the narrative portions of the Bible, stitched together in chronological order, without leaving out any of the good parts – we have been experiencing God's Word in a new way. The big events and big personalities are all there, but we don't have time to dwell on any one of them. Instead, with Pastor Dwight's help, we are noticing big themes: change, faithfulness, courage, repentance.
We also are thinking about different parts of the Bible as the church year progresses, and now here we are at Advent. In The Story “The Birth of the King” comes along in Chapter 22. Guess what: We're not there yet. Do we have to wait till spring to decorate?
Maybe you had the same experience that I did growing up. There may have been a tree in the living room, grandparents in the extra bedroom, and 3 to 4 feet of snow on the ground, but the documentary evidence that Christmas had arrived was a dinner-table reading of the story we find in the second chapter of Luke.
"And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city."
This past year marked the 400th anniversary of what we call the King James Version of the Bible, the book that most scholars agree had the largest impact not only on how English-speaking Protestants used Scripture, but also on how all English speakers used the language. Officially, the book was called the "Authorized Version," because King James I "authorized" a committee of scholars to produce a single new translation to replace the dozens of weak and conflicting ones that were in use in the British Isles.
In essence, he wanted there to be one story.
Biblical scholar Philip Jenkins says, "If it was to be one country, one church, and it was based on the Bible, then there had to be one Bible." Fair enough; that's kind of what kings had been doing since, well, the time of King David. Not that there are a lot of committees in I and II Samuel, but this king of England at least knew while he might be able to decree that all the world should read one translation, he would not be able to produce that translation himself. If you're interested in learning more, I recommend God's Secretaries by Adam Nicolson, which came out a few years ago.
Anyway, the 16th Century was a pretty good century for English. There was also this guy named Shakespeare, for instance, who lived and wrote during the very years of the Authorized Version (he died in 1616, so get ready for another 400th anniversary soon). The timing is so close, in fact, that most of us can't be sure if many of the most familiar phrases that dot the language today were from one or the other. (Here's a quiz from Christianity Today that you could try, for instance. It also throws in Aesop's Fables for a little further confusion: http://www.ctlibrary.com/ct/2011/may/kingjamesquiz.html.)
“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.' "
Scholarship, particularly during the past century, has put more accurate translations of the Greek and Hebrew Bibles into our hands. Linguists have given us others that sound more like the English we speak today. As you mark Christmas Eve or Christmas Day this year, you'll probably read Luke's Christmas story from one of those.
But read it you should. Despite what the calendar says, it won't be Christmas till you do.
