JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Battle of Two Bibles: When and How Did the King James Bible Gain Its Popularity over the Geneva Bible?

  • Published In: Renaissance & Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme, 2023, v. 46, n. 2. P. 71 1 of 3

  • Database: Historical Abstracts with Full Text 2 of 3

  • Authored By: HSING-HAO CHAO 3 of 3

Abstract

This article addresses two questions: "When did the King James Bible gain a foothold of popularity among the English people?" and "How did the Geneva Bible lose its popularity to the King James Bible?" By reviewing the post-1611 printing of these two versions of the Bible and examining the texts of the Paul's Cross sermons and the parliamentary sermons between 1612 and 1643, I find that the King James Bible was already more popular than the Geneva Bible by 1620, and that the rising trend of the popularity of the King James Bible had become irreversible by 1630. By 1640, the battle of the two Bibles was long over. I also refute the assumption that the political authorities' suppression of the Geneva Bible caused its defeat. Rather, I argue that the decrease in consumer demand for exegetical notes led to the demise of the Geneva Bible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Renaissance & Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme. 2023/04, Vol. 46, Issue 2, p71
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:History
  • Publication Date:2023
  • ISSN:0034-429X
  • Accession Number:175182323
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Renaissance & Reformation / Renaissance et Réforme is the property of Iter Canada and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Looking to go deeper into this topic? Look for more articles on EBSCOhost.