THE GREATEST ENGLISH CLASSIC A STUDY OF THE KING JAMES VERSION OF THE BIBLE AND ITS INFLUENCE ON LIFE AND LITERATURE BY CLELAND BOYD McAFEE, D.D. AUTHOR OF "THE GROWING CHURCH" "MOSAIC LAW IN MODERN LIFE" "STUDIES IN THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT" [Illustration] HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON COPYRIGHT. 1912, BY HARPER & BROTHERS PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA CONTENTS LECTURE PAGE Preface v I. Preparing the Way--The English Bible Before King James 1 II. The Making of the King James Version; Its Characteristics 44 III. The King James Version as English Literature 89 IV. The Influence of the King James Version on English Literature 130 V. The King James Version--Its Influence on English and American History 195 VI. The Bible in the Life of To-day 241 PREFACE The lectures included in this volume were prepared at the request of the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, and were delivered in the early part of 1912, under its auspices. They were suggested by the tercentenary of the King James version of the Bible. The plan adopted led to a restatement of the history which prepared for the version, and of that which produced it. It was natural next to point out its principal characteristics as a piece of literature. Two lectures followed, noting its influence on literature and on history. The course closed with a statement and argument regarding the place of the Bible in the life of to-day. The reception accorded the lectures at the time of their public delivery, and the discussion which ensued upon some of the points raised, encourage the hope that they may be more widely useful. It is a pleasure to assign to Dr. Franklin W. Hooper, director of the Institute, whatever credit the work may merit. Certainly it would not have been undertaken without his kindly urgency. Cleland Boyd McAfee. Brooklyn, New York, May, 1912. THE GREATEST ENGLISH CLASSIC THE GREATEST ENGLISH CLASSIC LECTURE I PREPARING THE WAY--THE ENGLISH BIBLE BEFORE KING JAMES There are three great Book-religions--Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism. Other religions have their sacred writings, but they do not hold them in the same regard as do these three. Buddhism and Confucianism count their books rather records of their faith than rules for it, history rather than authoritative sources of belief. The three great Book-religions yield a measure of authority to their sacred books which would be utterly foreign to the thought of other faiths.