Bible Translation and Church Fragmentation

In order for the famous King James Bible and the numerous subsequent English Bibles to exist, English-speaking church and state officials had to accept that such a cause was neither blasphemous nor dangerous. Initially, the idea of translating the Bible into English brought with it controversy and difficulty. Bibles were printed out of the country at first, sold illegally, and William Tyndale, the first person to begin a Bible translation project, was killed for his work. With time and the unique situation of Henry VIII establishing the Anglican Church, however, the idea was accepted. Then the above issues became mere bumps in the road in comparison to the broad changes which Bible translation would bring about.

The effects of widely available English Bibles are felt even (and perhaps especially) today. One of the concerns which figures of authority had at the time was about how the laity would interpret the Bible, and official attempts were made to discourage or restrict interpretation. Such attempts failed, and different people ended up reading the text differently as expected. Variety in interpretation led to a number of changes. At the most basic level, the Bible’s availability encouraged reading and therefore resulted in increased literacy rates. More people reading led to more people forming opinions and discussing. Sometimes these discussions turned sour and ultimately led to schisms in the church. Groups broke off then and continue to do so today, allowing for the vast range of Christian denominations. On the other hand, debate also encouraged studying the Bible with a scholarly eye. The advent of Higher Criticism in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw the Bible treated as a historical document rather than a sacred text. Secular Biblical scholarship has obviously proceeded from there.

In the end, Henry VIII and the church leaders of his day were right to be suspicious of the implications of English Bibles. The spread of the English Bible ended up causing problems for the preservation of the English Church as it was because of the internal disagreements and availability to criticism which necessarily came along with it. However, without the English Bible and the interpretations of the English-speaking world, we would not see today the same diversity of Protestant Christianity.