Let It Go Among Our People: An Illustrated History of the English Bible from John Wyclif to the King James Version

by Charles C. Ryrie, David Price

2004 marked the 400th anniversary of the decision, taken in January 1604 at the Hampton Court Conference, to produce a new Bible, the King James. However, the history of the English Bible is not widely known. Let It Go among Our People is the story of the birth of the English Bible, the development of its literary style, and its tumultuous political history. In England, unlike almost every other country, it was illegal to translate the word of God into the vernacular. This ban lasted one hundred and twenty-seven years. Overcoming the political and ecclesiastical resistance to an English Bible was a dangerous and difficult task. Lives were lost not only for producing English Bibles, but also for the act of owning or reading them. The authors also analyse the language used in the Bible, viewing the whole as literature whilst studying its translation, and comparing important passages in different versions. Such close study of the text itself is warranted because the English Bible has had a profound effect on English language, literature, politics and ideas and has left a lasting impression on the language we speak today. No other language, save perhaps German, can boast that its vernacular translation of the Bible is a literary masterpiece in its own right. This in-depth and fascinating study is finely illustrated from manuscript, incunabula and other early books to help to trace the development of this religious, literary and historical masterpiece.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

Charles Caldwell Ryrie (born 1925) was a Christian writer and theologian. He graduated from Haverford College (B.A.), Dallas Theological Seminary (Th.M., Th.D.) and the University of Edinburgh, Scotland (Ph.D.). For many years he served as professor of systematic theology and dean of doctoral studies at Dallas Theological Seminary and as president and professor at Philadelphia College of Bible, now Philadelphia Biblical University. He was a premillennial dispensationalist, though irenic in his approach. He was also the editor of the popular Ryrie Study Bible.

Reviews

[Lukerik · Rating 3 out of 5]

A handsome book. We're definitely in Christmas stocking territory but this is a proper book. It's a brief history for laymen. Obviously the product of scholarship with a proper bibliography etc but doesn't read like it, being written with some spunk. Where they have to use jargon they always gloss it. As well as the history proper they also stray in literary criticism. I found those parts the most interesting. They delve into the various relationships of influence between different Bibles with parallel texts for comparison and also touch a bit on some knotty problems of translation.