Saturday, June 09, 2012

An Interesting Theory

While relating the story of the discovery of a Shakespeare-era theatre in London, Walter Russell Meade propounds his theory that Shakespeare has fallen out of favour because the King James Version of the Bible isn't being taught to children in Sunday School, thus leading to unfamiliarity with the English language from Shakespeare's era.

And between the King James Bible and the works of Shakespeare, how many famous phrases and quotes came into the English language!

It should be noted that the late Christopher Hitchens, the intellectual atheist whose knowledge of literature seemed truly encylopedic, went out of his way to teach his children the King James Bible, not out of any religious impulse but because of its literary merit.

2 comments:

ProudHillbilly said...

I can see this. And as much as I appreciate and approve of translations there are some things I wish had been left alone. Like the 23rd Psalm.

Bob said...

@ProudHillbilly: on my desk as I type this is a nice little pocket-sized, leather-bound KJV from Holman that I bought from Amazon for just over $10. Incredible bargain.