The Geneva Bible : The Forgotten Translation

THE GENEVA BIBLE

The Forgotten Translation

By : Gary DeMar

When Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary) became queen of England in
1553, she was determined to roll back the Reformation and
reinstate Roman Catholicism. Mary had strong ties to
Catholic Spain. She married Philip II of Spain and induced
the English Parliament to recognize the authority of papal
Rome. Mary met with a great deal of resistance from
Protestant reformers in her own country. Mary showed no
signs of compromise. The persecution of Protestants
followed.

The era known as the Marian Exile drove hundreds of English
scholars to the Continent with little hope of ever seeing
their home and friends again. God used this exodus
experience to advance the Reformation. A number of English
Protestant divines settled in Calvin's Geneva: Miles
Coverdale, John Foxe, Thomas Sampson, and William
Whittingham. With the protection of the Genevan civil
authorities and the support of John Calvin and the Scottish
Reformer John Knox, the Church of Geneva determined to
produce an English Bible without the need for the imprimatur
of either England or Rome - the Geneva Bible.

Translation Work Begins In 1557

The Geneva translators produced a revised New Testament in
English in 1557 that was essentially a revision of Tyndale's
revised and corrected 1534 edition. Much of the work was
done by William Whittingham, the brother-in-law of John
Calvin. The Geneva New Testament was barely off the press
when work began on a revision of the entire Bible, a process
that took more than two years. The new translation was
checked with Theodore Beza's earlier work and the Greek
text. In 1560 a complete revised Bible was published,
translated according to the Hebrew and Greek, and conferred
with the best translations in divers languages, and
dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I. After the death of Mary,
Elizabeth was crowned queen in 1558, once again moving
England toward Protestantism. The Geneva Bible was finally
printed in England in 1575 only after the death of
Archbishop Matthew Parker, editor of the Bishop's Bible.

England's Most Popular Bible

While other English translations failed to capture the
hearts of the reading public, the Geneva Bible was instantly
popular. Between 1560 and 1644 at least 144 editions
appeared. For forty years after the publication of the King
James Bible, the Geneva Bible continued to be the Bible of
the home. Oliver Cromwell used extracts from the Geneva
Bible for his Soldier's Pocket Bible which he issued to the
army.

The miracle was that God did it at the time He said He
would, for the purpose of ridding the world of the degrading
influence of the Sodomites. PM dismisses the notion of
divine intervention, offering no explanation as to how only
Lot and his family knew to escape the impending destruction.

A THREAT TO KING JAMES

In 1620 the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth with their Bibles
and a conviction derived from those Bibles of establishing a
new nation. The Bible was not the King James Version. When
James I became king of England in 1603, there were two
translations of the Bible in use; the Geneva Bible was the
most popular, and the Bishops' Bible was used for reading in
churches.

King James disapproved of the Geneva Bible because of its
Calvinistic leanings. He also frowned on what he considered
to be seditious marginal notes on key political texts. A
marginal note for Exodus 1:9 indicated that the Hebrew
midwives were correct in disobeying the Egyptian king's
orders, and a note for 2 Chronicles 15:16 said that King Asa
should have had his mother executed and not merely deposed
for the crime of worshipping an idol. The King James Version
of the Bible grew out of the king's distaste for these brief
but potent doctrinal commentaries. He considered the
marginal notes to be a political threat to his kingdom.

At a conference at Hampton Court in 1604 with bishops and
theologians, the king listened to a suggestion by the
Puritan scholar John Reynolds that a new translation of the
Bible was needed. Because of his distaste for the Geneva
Bible, James was eager for a new translation. "I profess,"
he said, "I could never yet see a Bible well translated in
English; but I think that, of all, that of Geneva is the
worst."

A THREAT TO ROME

In addition to being a threat to the king of England, the
Geneva Bible was outspokenly anti-Roman Catholic, as one
might expect. Rome was still persecuting Protestants in the
sixteenth century. Keep in mind that the English translators
were exiles from a nation that was returning to the Catholic
faith under a queen who was burning Protestants at the
stake. The anti-Roman Catholic sentiment is most evident in
the Book of Revelation: "The beast that cometh out of the
bottomless pit (Rev. 11:7) is the Pope, which hath his power
out of hell and cometh thence." In the end, the Geneva Bible
was replaced by the King James Version, but not before it
helped to settle America.

Back in Geneva

Calvin knew that the job of reforming a city seemingly bent
on destruction would not be easy. "There is no place in the
world that I fear more," he confessed. Immorality was at an
all-time high, with gambling, street brawls, drunkenness,
adultery, and public indecency common everywhere. But not
all was dark. When he arrived on September 13, 1541, a
change had come over the city. The people actually wanted
him to return. The city officials bestowed honors on him and
apologized for the way he had been treated. The Council
members assured Calvin that they would cooperate with him to
restore the Gospel and moral order. The businessmen were
equally relieved to learn that Calvin might return. Calvin
was overwhelmed by the outward display of affection and
decided to return to Geneva. On September 16th he wrote to
Farel: "Your wish is granted. I am held fast here. May God
give His blessing."

Calvin's Contributions

Calvin continued his work of reformation, not by a
heavy-handed use of the civil magistrate, but with the
preaching of God's Word and the building of the Church.
Church government was lacking, not only in Geneva, but all
over Protestant Europe. Calvin understood that only the
Church, not the State, could define orthodox theology and
bring about true long-term reform. According to the Bible,
the State and the Church were jurisdictionally separate.
Each had its God-ordained area of jurisdiction and authority
- one civil (the State) and one ecclesiastical (the Church).
Even so, Calvin insisted, both Church and State were
ordained by God and obligated to follow His laws as they
applied to their specific appointed jurisdictions.

Calvin's view that God reigns everywhere and over all things
led him to develop the biblical idea that man can serve God
in every area of life - church, civil government, education,
art, music, business, law, journalism. There was no need to
be a priest, a monk, or a nun to get closer to God. God is
glorified in everyday work and family life. Calvin's
teaching led directly to what has become known as the
"Protestant work ethic." Individual initiative leads to
economic productivity as Christians work out their faith in
their callings before God.

Stricken with tuberculosis, Calvin preached his last sermon
on February 6, 1564. Although bedridden until his death on
May 27, 1564, Calvin continued to work, extending his legacy
in the lives of those who sat under his teaching.

Thanks to the Institutes of the Christian Religion, his
printed sermons, the Academy, his commentaries on nearly
every book of the Bible (except the Song of Solomon and the
Book of Revelation), and his pattern of Church and Civil
government, Calvin shaped the thought and motivated the
ideals of Protestantism in France, the Netherlands, Poland,
Hungry, Scotland, and the English Puritans; many of whom
settled in America. The great American historian George
Bancroft stated, "He that will not honor the memory, and
respect the influence of Calvin, knows but little of the
origin of American liberty." The famous German historian,
Leopold von Ranke, wrote, "John Calvin was the virtual
founder of America." John Adams, the second president of the
United States, wrote: "Let not Geneva be forgotten or
despised. Religious liberty owes it most respect."

From American Vision's Biblical Worldview February 1997
(Used by permission)

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