Rating: 
Summary: Interesting subject told in a mostly interesting way
Review: I'm not a Biblical scholar or an authority on the history of the English language although both subjects are of interest to me. This is not a book for those looking to discredit Bible translation as a way to discredit Christian faith. Obviously, the author has a great deal of respect for those that took on this task. However, he doesn't shrink from telling all the "dirty laundry" associated with the translation and the acceptance of the KJV. If we think politics and religion get all mixed up today, we only have to read this to find that there is nothing new in the world.
All in all, I found this book interesting, easy to read (except for a few places), and enlightening.
Rating: 
Summary: Inaccurate and long winded
Review: Interesting and easy to read but the inaccuracies leave me questioning the rest of the book. Some of the places where his scholarship is lacking are when he states that Daniel "and his friends" were thrown into the lions den. (Daniel was alone) He give the duration of the Babylonian exile as fifty years and not seventy. He also allows personal bias to show through when he refers to the name "Jehovah" as a "term". He may not like or use the name, but it is a name and not a "term". I bought the book because it was supposed to be about the King James Translation and how the language has changed based on that translation. There are a lot of words in this book but not many of them about the effects of the translation on our language.
Rating: 
Summary: Sometimes patchy, sometimes great
Review: It can be argued that the King James Bible has had as large an effect on our language today as the work of Shakespeare. 'In The Beginning' has at its core the story of biblical translation, a topic you may think anything but fascinating. McGrath has done a good job in making this a compelling book. He starts, as one may expect, with the story of Gutenberg and his first printed bibles. Before arriving at the King James he covers Martin Luther, the rise of Protestantism in Europe, Henry the Eighth, more than one hanging, and several other bible translations and translators. Along the way he manages to dispel a few myths I had held about biblical translation and the King James in particular. I always thought that it was the King James version that introduced the idea of the main body in roman type and words inserted to clarify meaning in italics, but it was actually an earlier English translation known as the Geneva Bible that first implemented this idea. After explaining the technology, theology, politics and linguistics nuances that led King James to permit (but not fund) a new translation, McGrath tells us how the translation was accomplished organizationally before examining some of the nuances of the translation itself. Some of the language in the King James was archaic even when it was published; translators had been instructed to lift from previous translations all the way back to the partial translation of William Tyndale published 90 years earlier, and this at a time when the English language was going through the huge changes of the Elizabethan era. McGrath examines this aspect, pointing out such things as changes in verb endings and personal pronouns. I found the book patchy. McGrath does a much better job covering the story up until the translation. It is harder to get a feel for how the translation was accomplished and how the various teams worked, and when he comes to examine some of the nuances of the translation, the text makes much harder going. If this had not been a part of the topic that interested me a great deal, I may have lost interest.
Rating: 
Summary: Superb Look at How it Came to be; status since; modern view
Review: McGrath is fascinating and reliable investigator of whatever he probes into. This book on the KJV is surely in that vein that we have come to expect out of this profound author. Beginning with the Reformation and Luther's desire to provide the Scriptures into the people's hands and language (actually inheritance of John Hus), McGrath historically paints the movement of the Bible into English via Wycliffe, Tyndale, Coverdale, and Grafton. Fascinating stuff to be sure. Matthews' Bible to The Great Bible to the Geneva Bible, the transitions and history thereof make fascinating reading, and McGrath's writing aids and keeps the reader's interest. To get to KJV one becomes embroiled in politics, here the politics of the monarachy. This explains this translations beginning, and likely is a major contributor to its success to this day. As McGrath documents, even the goals of the translators were political in nature, not to deviate from previous translations unless they had to. Interesting that they really wanted to "update" the language, especially away from "Thee and Thou's", but couldn't because they were bound to the translation rules handed down to them. When many today speak of the need to maintain such language as "holy" wording more reverent than other pronouns, McGrath shows that this was not the case for the very translators themselves: "By the sixteenth century, the use of the singular form to address a single individual had virtually ceased in English, except in the specific case of family and inferiors. To address another as "thou" was thus to claim social superiority over him or her." "A careful study of the court records of the northern English city of Durham suggests that "you" had replaced "thou" as the normal form of address in spoken English by about 1575." "As is well known, the King James Bible retains the use of "thou" to refer to God, a human being, or even the devil." For modern Christians to insist that "Thou" and "thee" are more respectful titles for God, McGrath rejects on two points: (1) same forms used indiscrimately in early 16thC England; (2) usage if anything is derogatory. McGrath shows convincingly that even the translators believed that it was "a translation" and not the final translation; that the Greek manuscripts were not the oldest nor best; that the Hebrew needed much improvement; that the meanings changed so drastically that at many points, the average reader today, let alone fifty years ago, has no clue sometimes what is being meant, e.g. as McGrath illustrates with KJV 1 Th.4:15 "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep." To be sure, this work details the enhancement to the English language development contributed by KJV and Shakespeare, and its spread in American Christianity. This well written, fairly balanced work, presents the history of this remarkable translation with clarity and style.
Rating:
Summary: Well-Documented & Delightful Piece of Christian Literature!
Review: McGrath plunges in deep to the history of the King James Bible and delivers a beautiful, well-documented book. Excellent for study or reference.
Rating:
Summary: Illuminating Window of History
Review: McGrath provides a broad overview of how the King James Bible came to exist and how it affected language and culture. He spends a lot of time setting the scene - the King James translation doesn't really make an appearance until halfway through the book. McGrath starts at the beginning with the printing press and the legitimization of the English language and then works his way through the first vernacular translations and the religious/political tumult of the Reformation.
McGrath expertly shows how religion and politics intertwined to spawn the King James translation. He also clearly lays out the challenges faced by the translation team. But I thought his efforts to show how the KJV impacted culture and nations were less effective. He does have some good examples of how the careful translation of Hebrew phrases led to many idioms becoming adopted into common use in English - such as "sour grapes", "from time to time", and "to fall flat on his face." I also found it fascinating that the language of the KJV was considered a bit archaic from the start, and that it was not really accepted as the definitive translation until much, much later.
It's amazing to me that the emphasis on an accurate translation in many cases led to beautifully poetic passages with a minimum of awkward phrasing. While it is clear that the author appreciates the KJV, he also explains quite nicely how new translations will always be needed because of our constantly evolving language.
This is a clearly written, engaging history - the tone is more conversational than academic. He is a bit repetitive, and uses "but we'll talk about that later" transitions a few too many times, but these are minor quibbles. The author brings history to life and makes it easy to understand why events played out the way they did. The broad strokes of IN THE BEGINNING should appeal to the casual reader who would like to see a big-picture history of the times that led to a string of printed Bibles cumulating in the King James Version. It is definitely more readable than the more tightly focused yet rambling GOD'S SECRETARIES by Adam Nicolson, which deals more closely with the personalities directly involved in the project.
Rating:
Summary: Catering to all Readers
Review: McGrath's book provides a wonderful in depth study of the origins and impact of the King James Bible. For such in-depth subject matter, the reading is fairly easy. McGrath does not assume that the reader is a Bible scholar, and thus provides needed information about the text to bring a novice up to speed. However, McGrath also caters to the scholar's needs by continuing to the next step and providing the minute analysis expected in such a work. In fact, it almost seems he carries his analysis too far on a few occasions, which might bore the average reader and is possibly his book's only flaw. Despite this, McGrath's book pooves to be interesting and a worthwhile read for someone interested in the Bible's history.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent information, poor editing
Review: McGrath's work is thorough, interesting, and informational. Anyone with an interest in the development of the English language and of the authenticity and modern deliverance of the bible would (and should!) enjoy this book. However, McGrath's style leaves some things to be desired. He repeats himself, sometimes within a few pages, and relates the same quote verbatim on more than one occasion. And while I find his witisisms a pleasure in such a scholarly book, I could stand for fewer editorializations (most especially concerning the rediscovery and reurgence of false christian doctrine, presumably the Nag Hammadi.) All told, I thoroughly recommend "In the beginning".
Rating:
Summary: Lively read with information I didn't know about the KJV
Review: The King James Bible has had a central place in my life and I am delighted to know so much more about its religious and political, historical, and etymological contexts. Alister McGrath, a Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University, has done us a wonderful service in providing us with this lively and informative book.
The book first provides a history starting with the medieval Church and the issues that led to the Reformation and the issues of providing the Bible in the languages of the people rather than preserving the Bible to the Priests in Latin. The history of getting portions of the Bible in English and the connection of all subsequent translations to the Wycliffe efforts are fascinating. Before reading this book I did not know about the Geneva Bible and its connection to the Puritans and why its marginal notes made it unacceptable to the Crown. It was also interesting to read about the origins of printing and the huge technical feat it was to print the Bible and the deep implications mechanical printing had for society.
Mr. McGrath also demonstrates that the King James Bible was not immediately accepted and what the language issues were that caused some of the resistance. Its triumph wasn't complete until the Restoration during the reign of Charles II. However, it was only in the 19th century that the KJV became "The Bible" without rival or peer. Of course, by then the language was antiquated and it wasn't long until the movement arose for a modernized version of the KJV and this led to the idea of completely new English translations. Today, there are so many English translations you could fill shelves of your library with them.
I was also fascinated to read the discussion of the language used in the King James Bible and why it would have seemed strange and a touch archaic to the readers in 1611. And I did not know that the Apocrypha was included in the original version and left out subsequently due to cost and the rejection of those books by certain branches of Protestantism.
The book has a fascinating section that provides Psalm 23 in various English translations. There is also a quick reference timeline and a helpful reading list and index.
If you have any interest in the King James Bible I believe you will find this book fascinating. It is not a difficult read and is printed in a handsome style.
Rating:
Summary: Lively read with inforamtion I didn't know about the KJV
Review: The King James Bible has had a central place in my life and I am delighted to know so much more about its religious and political, historical, and etymological contexts. Alister McGrath, a Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University, has done us a wonderful service in providing us with this lively and informative book. The book first provides a history starting with the medieval Church and the issues that led to the Reformation and the issues of providing the Bible in the languages of the people rather than preserving the Bible to the Priests in Latin. The history of getting portions of the Bible in English and the connection of all subsequent translations to the Wycliffe efforts are fascinating. Before reading this book I did not know about the Geneva Bible and its connection to the Puritans and why its marginal notes made it unacceptable to the Crown. It was also interesting to read about the origins of printing and the huge technical feat it was to print the Bible and the deep implications mechanical printing had for society. Mr. McGrath also demonstrates that the King James Bible was not immediately accepted and what the issues were. Its triumph wasn't complete until the Restoration during the reign of Charles II. I was also fascinated to read the discussion of the language used in the King James Bible and why it would have seemed strange and a touch archaic to the readers in 1611. And I did not know that the Apocrypha was included in the original version and left out subsequently due to cost and the rejection of those books by certain branches of Protestantism. The book has a fascinating section that provides Psalm 23 in various English translations. There is also a quick reference timeline and a helpful reading list and index. If you have any interest in the King James Bible I believe you will find this book fascinating. It is not a difficult read and is printed in a handsome style.
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