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What does the King James Bible offer Catholics?
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September 22, 2020“Why should Catholics be interested in the King James Version of the Bible? And why should there be enough Catholic interest to justify an edition of the KJV for Catholic readers?”
These two thought-provoking questions introduce the new King James Bible for Catholics published by Walsingham Press in a two-volume set on September 19, the feast day of St. Theodore. The King James Bible for Catholics was an initiative by John Covert, a member of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, to republish the original 1611 King James Version bible, with minute changes and footnotes, for Catholics.
Father David Ousley, pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, a parish of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter in Bridgeport, Pa., outlines in the Introduction to The King James Bible for Catholics the importance today to Catholics of the KJV’s legacy of “good English,” which became the “common heritage of the English language.” He explains how it was a literal translation with an emphasis on accuracy. But he shares how it also accurately rendered ambiguity in the original Greek and Hebrew texts, allowing for some of the most powerful images of scripture.
He writes: “Most modern translations pick what they think is the most likely meaning. But so far as possible, the KJV prefers to convey the ambiguity. For example, ‘the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not’ (John 1:5). ‘Comprehend’ carries with it the sense of understanding (the powers of darkness didn’t get it), and also that the Light cannot be enclosed, limited, confined, and that the darkness cannot overcome the Light. The KJV does not choose one meaning, but conveys something of the richness of the Greek.”
Such richness has a powerful effect on the spiritual imagination. One of the indelible images of my own childhood, as a Catholic, was a family children’s service we held in Advent to commemorate St. John the Baptist. My father, who is a Catholic and former Episcopalian, read from The Prologue and First Chapter of John’s Gospel out of an old KJV. I vividly remember him reading aloud those very words “the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” by the light of a sole candle as we gathered around the kitchen table. Whenever the Last Gospel is read in a Divine Worship Mass, particularly around Christmastime, I remember his words and that brave candle illuminating the darkness.
The KJV has had a decisive influence on Christians in the English-speaking world, and thus (as Father Ousley notes) on the Ordinariates for the Anglican tradition Pope Benedict XVI established in 2009 with the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum coetibus. The language of the KJV he explained “forms our prayer and liturgical language” and “and is a key element of the Patrimony which the Ordinariates bring into the communion of the Catholic Church .” Divine Worship: the Missal, which was approved by the Holy See in 2015, incorporates texts from the KJV for Catholic worship.
As Father Ousley explains, the KJV is not authorized for public worship in the Ordinariates. The Ordinariate’s have no KJV lectionary for instance. The King James Bible for Catholics is not a “Catholic edition” of the KJV, “but rather the KJV for Catholic readers … suitable for study, whether by individuals or in groups.”
For Catholics, the King James Bible for Catholics, opens up some important ecumenical and evangelical opportunities to engage in sincere dialogue with Protestant Christians, particularly those who continue to have a strong adherence to the KJV, about following Jesus Christ in the Catholic Church. Too often that conversation derails on misinformed polemics (a number of which John Covert deals with here in addition to a frequently asked questions page). This work provides an opportunity to refocus an ecumenical dialogue between Christians (making use of a common biblical touchstone) where it should always be grounded: following Jesus Christ and living in fellowship with him every day in strict obedience to his Word as fully revealed by Christ’s Catholic Church.
Readers should continue over to Walsingham Publishing to read Fr. Ousley’s excellent introduction to The King James Bible for Catholics in full. English-speaking Catholics, including beyond the Ordinariates, should consider making a purchase themselves to discover what Father Ousley says is “one element of the Patrimony which the Ordinariates seek to share with the Church according to the exhortation of Pope Benedict XVI in Anglicanorum coetibus.”
A preview of the King James Bible for Catholics is here.
The King James Bible for Catholics is available on Amazon.com with free shipping for Prime members. Check Walsingham Publishing’s page for purchasing details.
