Geneva Bible in the United States

Post Reply
SteveF

Geneva Bible in the United States

Post by SteveF » Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:37 pm

Hi, I was wondering if anyone knows about the history of the Geneva Bible in the U.S.? I’ve leaned quite a bit about its history in England. The only two things I’ve read about it in the U.S. are:

-it was the translation brought over by the Pilgrims on the Mayflower because they didn’t trust the KJV translation (they thought there was too much interference from the monarchy in the KJV)
-it may have been the translation present at the signing of the U. S. Declaration of Independence and the U. S. Constitution

My question is when and how did the Geneva Bible fade out of the picture in the U.S.? I’ve been trying to piece it together.

In England, even decades after the KJV was released, the Geneva Bible was the choice of the people. The King ordered that only the KJV was to be printed at his presses. He also ordered that the KJV was the only translation that could be read in the churches. So even though people were still reading the Geneva Bible at home for a long time, it makes sense that it would eventually fade away.

In the U.S. however, I’m not sure how the Geneva translation faded away. I know the translation was slanted towards Reformed Theology and was considered subversive from the monarchy’s point of view. I’ve wondered if that had anything to do with it. I’m just guessing because I haven’t found any concrete info.

I’m not as familiar with U.S. History as many of you likely are (I learned Canadian history growing up... Image ). Does anyone have any insights or speculative thoughts on this?

Thanks

User avatar
Allyn
Posts: 433
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:55 am
Location: Nebraska
Contact:

Re: Geneva Bible in the United States

Post by Allyn » Mon Mar 23, 2009 1:50 pm

SteveF, I have the Geneva Bible and a whole set of PDFs on it. I would be happy to share them with you.

User avatar
Michelle
Posts: 845
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 12:16 pm

Re: Geneva Bible in the United States

Post by Michelle » Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:43 pm

Allyn, what are the PDFs about?

User avatar
TK
Posts: 1477
Joined: Mon Aug 25, 2008 8:42 pm
Location: North Carolina

Re: Geneva Bible in the United States

Post by TK » Mon Mar 23, 2009 2:47 pm

i know there is a Geneva Bible commentary online-- i think at crosswalk.com.

RC Sproul pushes it (at least he used to).

TK

User avatar
Allyn
Posts: 433
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:55 am
Location: Nebraska
Contact:

Re: Geneva Bible in the United States

Post by Allyn » Mon Mar 23, 2009 3:35 pm

Michelle wrote:Allyn, what are the PDFs about?
The history of the Geneva Bible all in it original language. I bought the Bible through American Vision. I think there are over 15 pdfs and all very lengthy. I know I will never read them all.

SteveF

Re: Geneva Bible in the United States

Post by SteveF » Thu Mar 26, 2009 4:22 pm

SteveF, I have the Geneva Bible and a whole set of PDFs on it. I would be happy to share them with you.
Michelle wrote:
Allyn, what are the PDFs about?

The history of the Geneva Bible all in it original language. I bought the Bible through American Vision. I think there are over 15 pdfs and all very lengthy. I know I will never read them all.
Hi, if anyone is interested, Allyn has started posting these on his webpage. The first two files are already there

http://www.livebytruth.com/Vol1.pdf

http://www.livebytruth.com/Vol2.pdf

He will be posting more in the future so you can check back at a later date to find the rest. The link will be the same except for the ending which will be Vol3.pdf, Vol4.pdf etc.... right up to Vol25.pdf

Thanks Allyn!

User avatar
mikew
Posts: 480
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:52 pm
Location: so. calif
Contact:

Re: Geneva Bible in the United States

Post by mikew » Thu Mar 26, 2009 5:26 pm

Here's a link to the history of the Geneva Bible. It falls short of answering the original question of what happened to the popular use of the Geneva Bible. I found this on a yahoo search so I can't attest to the accuracy.

http://www.masters-table.org/forinfo/Ge ... istory.htm

Maybe something from there will get you closer to the answer you wanted.
Image
Please visit my youtube channel -- http://youtube.com/@thebibledialogues
Also visit parablesofthemysteries.com

User avatar
Allyn
Posts: 433
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 11:55 am
Location: Nebraska
Contact:

Re: Geneva Bible in the United States

Post by Allyn » Sat Mar 28, 2009 4:54 pm

SteveF wrote:
SteveF, I have the Geneva Bible and a whole set of PDFs on it. I would be happy to share them with you.
Michelle wrote:
Allyn, what are the PDFs about?

The history of the Geneva Bible all in it original language. I bought the Bible through American Vision. I think there are over 15 pdfs and all very lengthy. I know I will never read them all.
Hi, if anyone is interested, Allyn has started posting these on his webpage. The first two files are already there

http://www.livebytruth.com/Vol1.pdf

http://www.livebytruth.com/Vol2.pdf

He will be posting more in the future so you can check back at a later date to find the rest. The link will be the same except for the ending which will be Vol3.pdf, Vol4.pdf etc.... right up to Vol25.pdf

Thanks Allyn!
You're welcome.

They are all online now. All 25 http://www.livebytruth.com/Vol1.pdf through Vol25.pdf

Post Reply

Return to “Church History”