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Fires of Faith The Inspiring Story Behind the King James Bible
Since its original publication in 1611, the King James Bible has had immeasurable influence on religion, language, culture, art, and literature-yet its road to influence and acceptance was paved with darkness. International politics, subversion, lust, and bloodshed set the stage for the heroic "heretics" who sought to translate the word of God into the English vernacular. Fires of Faith crisscrosses a tumultuous Europe at the birth of religious freedom and chronicles characters central to the Reformation, including John Wycliffe, Martin Luther, King Henry VIII and "Bloody" Queen Mary I, culminating with the reign of King James I and his commissioned translation of the Bible. At the forefront of the saga is William Tyndale, the British religious scholar who directed the translation and ultimately became a martyr in the fires of faith.
- GenresReligionNonfiction
115 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2012
1 person is currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Brock Brower
16 books10 followersBy way of a short biography, I have been a writer, variously employed, over the last half century. I started out in magazines during the 50s, most prominently in Esquire, but then went with LIFE, largely covering politics throughout the 60s and early 70s. Over the decades, however, I've published in most of America's major periodicals, Harper's, Smithsonian, New York Times Magazine, New York, et al., way back, SatEvePost, and inevitably, Reader's Digest.
But in the late 70s, I turned to TV, and helped start "20/20" over at ABC—producing and writing for Hugh Downs ("We're in touch. So you be in touch.")—and later creating "3-2-1-Contact" for Children's Television Workshop. Since then, I've worked intermittently for the Ford Foundation, at the Justice Department as Attorney General Dick Thornburgh's chief (and only) speechwriter, and later at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on a series of policy initiatives,especially on early heathcare proposals and deficit "hawkery."
In due course, I've written eight books, including Other Loyalties, a collection of political profiles, and Putting America's House in Order, an early attempt in 1996 to address the debt/deficit problem that has finally overwhelmed our present economy. I have also written fiction for which I won an O. Henry Prize in 1968, as well as other literary awards since. And I am the author of three novels. My second novel, The Late Great Creature, was nominated for the National Book Award in 1973, and is being republished this month, forty years later, by Overlook Press, a NYC literary house determined to revive worthy books that have stood the test of even these parlous times.
But in the late 70s, I turned to TV, and helped start "20/20" over at ABC—producing and writing for Hugh Downs ("We're in touch. So you be in touch.")—and later creating "3-2-1-Contact" for Children's Television Workshop. Since then, I've worked intermittently for the Ford Foundation, at the Justice Department as Attorney General Dick Thornburgh's chief (and only) speechwriter, and later at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on a series of policy initiatives,especially on early heathcare proposals and deficit "hawkery."
In due course, I've written eight books, including Other Loyalties, a collection of political profiles, and Putting America's House in Order, an early attempt in 1996 to address the debt/deficit problem that has finally overwhelmed our present economy. I have also written fiction for which I won an O. Henry Prize in 1968, as well as other literary awards since. And I am the author of three novels. My second novel, The Late Great Creature, was nominated for the National Book Award in 1973, and is being republished this month, forty years later, by Overlook Press, a NYC literary house determined to revive worthy books that have stood the test of even these parlous times.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
May 16, 2019
This is the companion volume to the PBS miniseries produced at Brigham Young University. The authors, Brock Brower and Lee Groberg rely heavily on the top scholars on the coming forth of the King James version of the Bible. It focuses on Henry VII and Thomas More, and the martyrs such as William Tyndale, defied the king's edict against translating the bible into English. The book presents more factual details than the movie, which is usually the case. I recommend seeing the film first, because it is an award-winning production.
May 24, 2024
A basic overview of how we got the KJV. Apparently, this is a companion book to a TV documentary. First chapters provide history but the last two chapters are author's cheeky commentary. Book is poorly edited: stray characters floating around, lines of text do not flow into each other, and in at least one place the century is incorrectly identified. Book is loaded with photos, but mostly of closed vintage bibles; many photos have nothing to do with the text.
For a better but longer KJV history, see "God's Secretaries"
For a better but longer KJV history, see "God's Secretaries"
June 13, 2018
Beautiful to look at. Perhaps easier read when watching the associated documentary. Very dense; sometimes it felt like a truck dumping a load of names, names, names. The writers also often resorted to unusual turns of phrases that may have sounded great in context of the documentary, but sounded weird when reduced to the written word. Lots of good information, just unfortunately packaged.
February 5, 2013
The book's greatest virtue is that it looks really nice on a coffee table. It's a pretty book--nice pictures, glossy pages, good pull quotes.
But I can't see how this book earns a 4.5/5 star rating. Sure, it is packed with interesting information. HOWEVER, it crams 500 years of history into 100 pages. This could work, of course, with appropriate audience adaptation--for the person who knows little or nothing about Tyndale, Guttenberg, Luther, Calvin, or Henry VIII. That is the market this book should try to reach (and I thought it was). Admittedly, my history in this area is weak, so I picked up the book in hopes to refresh and strengthen my narrative understanding of how the bible came to be.
Unfortunately, the book mostly name drops hundreds of names with little to no explanation about most of them. The author uses people, places, and events that are not well known (to supplement the more well-known events), but in a way that is too hard to follow. What the book does is try to speak to a biblical historian about stuff they already know and never address any of the meat that others (like me) would like to know. It's a superficial account with very little narration--almost like a catalog of facts. I feel like this is the study guide to a semester-long course, highlighting people and moments so that the reader can try to cram it all in. Ironically, there is too much and too little at the same time. The book would be much better if there were another 100 pages to give more of the story.
Sadly, as is, I feel like this book was developed as an afterthought to the documentary it was based on, used simply as a cash cow because the research and images were already collected for the movie. It doesn't do justice to the reader. I'll be on the lookout for a better book that covers the same subject matter.
But I can't see how this book earns a 4.5/5 star rating. Sure, it is packed with interesting information. HOWEVER, it crams 500 years of history into 100 pages. This could work, of course, with appropriate audience adaptation--for the person who knows little or nothing about Tyndale, Guttenberg, Luther, Calvin, or Henry VIII. That is the market this book should try to reach (and I thought it was). Admittedly, my history in this area is weak, so I picked up the book in hopes to refresh and strengthen my narrative understanding of how the bible came to be.
Unfortunately, the book mostly name drops hundreds of names with little to no explanation about most of them. The author uses people, places, and events that are not well known (to supplement the more well-known events), but in a way that is too hard to follow. What the book does is try to speak to a biblical historian about stuff they already know and never address any of the meat that others (like me) would like to know. It's a superficial account with very little narration--almost like a catalog of facts. I feel like this is the study guide to a semester-long course, highlighting people and moments so that the reader can try to cram it all in. Ironically, there is too much and too little at the same time. The book would be much better if there were another 100 pages to give more of the story.
Sadly, as is, I feel like this book was developed as an afterthought to the documentary it was based on, used simply as a cash cow because the research and images were already collected for the movie. It doesn't do justice to the reader. I'll be on the lookout for a better book that covers the same subject matter.
January 30, 2015
I loved the way this book looked, the pictures, the lay-out, etc. But I didn't like the way it read. As a casual history buff, I was disappointed by how much you already needed to know to enjoy the book. I ended up skimming a lot. There was a lot of names/words that the author assumed were common knowledge, but weren't, at least for me.
February 4, 2013
I really liked that although it covers what the movie does, it goes into depth what happened after. I really enjoyed it, I will definitely have to read it again to help remember. It is wonderful history.
May 14, 2013
Amazing book! The points it makes at the end are especially thoughtful and thought-provoking. Very well thought out and done. It is truly an amazing, miraculous and faith-filled tale of the KJV Bible. I would love to find out more now about the how other language got bibles translated!
March 10, 2014
Good overview of the history of the Bible and those that gave their lives for it to bring it to the common man
August 5, 2014
Fantastic resource for studying the KJV and the Reformation. Goes along great with the DVD of the same name.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews