During the time before the King James Bible, how did people know what was in the "Bible"?

Question

Also how many people during feudal times in Europe actually went to church?

how was the scriptures in the Catholic Church different (more books, less books?) than the published version in the 1600's?

Answer 1

Protestantism had the idea that the Bible was the sole source of doctrine (see sola scriptura) and as such should be translated into the local vernacular. The act of Bible translation into any vernacular was a political as well as a religious statement, and remained so whether the Bible translation was a private endeavour, or sponsored by a monarch and his government, though at the particular place in question secularism was not the norm. Martin Luther published the first such translation into vernacular, German, in September 1522. The English translations made by John Wycliffe's followers, and later by William Tyndale, were the opening salvos of the Protestant Reformation in England and Scotland. Translating the Bible into English meant defending the idea that everyone should have direct access to the word of God, and not depend on the church's authority for interpretation.

By the time the King James Version was written, there was already a tradition going back almost a two hundred years of Bible translation into English. Many of the vernacular translations of the time were said to be filled with "heretical" translations and notes and were thus banned by the Church. The English translation of the Bible authorized by the Roman Catholic Church was the contemporary Douay-Rheims version which was a strict translation of the Latin Vulgate.

The original printing of the King James Version included the Apocrypha, so named in the text. It contained all the books and sections of books present in the Latin Vulgate's Old Testament but missing in the Hebrew. Under the Thirty-Nine Articles, the doctrinal confession of the Church of England established in 1563, these books were considered non-canonical but were to be "read for example of life and instruction of manners".[3] This section also includes apocrypha from the Vulgate's appendix. (For more information, see the article on the biblical canon.) These texts are printed separately, between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament. Verses unique to the Septuagint's version of the Book of Esther and the Book of Daniel (The Prayer of Azariah, Bel and the Dragon, Susanna) were placed here, rather than included in the texts of those books. From approximately 1827, many editions have omitted this section, and the most common contemporary editions rarely include them.
The original printing also included a number of variant readings and alternative translations of some passages; most current printings omit these. (One American edition that does still print these notes is the Cornerstone UltraThin Reference Bible, published by Broadman and Holman.) The original printing also included some marginal references to indicate where one passage of Scripture quoted or directly related to another. Most current printings omit these.



The original printing contained two prefatory texts; the first was a rather fulsome Epistle Dedicatory to "the most high and mighty Prince" King James. Many British printings reproduce this, while a few cheaper or smaller American printings fail to include it.

The second, and more interesting preface was called The Translators to the Reader, a long and learned essay that defends the undertaking of the new version. It observes that their goal was not to make a bad translation good, but a good translation better, and says that "we do not deny, nay we affirm and avow, that the very meanest translation of the Bible in English, set forth by men of our profession... containeth the word of God, nay, is the word of God". Few editions anywhere include this text.

The first printing contained a number of other apparatus, including a table for the reading of the Psalms at matins and evensong, and a calendar, an almanac, and a table of holy days and observances. Much of this material has become obsolete with the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar by the UK and its colonies in 1752 and thus modern editions invariably omit it

Answer 2

Hi Howard,

In Europe during the dark ages and fuedal middle ages almost all people went to church. For one thing it was virtually compulsory, and travelling monks 'made the rounds' as it were to every small hamlet throughout Britain and continental Europe every day.

The earlier books called 'The Holy Bible' were collated by the early Roman Catholic Church and the first collected work was put together by the emperor Constantine around 400 a.d.
The Bible itself has changed many times over the centuries including the removal of 'the Apophrycal Literatures' that were removed by the R.C. heirarchy when certain passages condracticted others and were no longer tenable.

So...there were, originally, many more books in the Bible than there are now. Most people, however, were unable to read, so the 'word' was passed on orally by the clergy and by the orders of monks and nuns.

After the disagreement between the Royal family and the Roman Catholic church (principally over the desired 'divorce' by Henry 8th) and the dissolution of the monasteries a new Bible was needed to more closely fit the desires of the non-Roman Catholic beliefs (the Church of England) Hence the King James Bible and its later variations.

Once there was a choice of church in England the requirement to attend became less insistant and attendance has fallen. Presently there are not many more than 1 million people attend church each week, from a total population of more than 60 million.

Where I now live, in Spain (a Roman Catholic Country) the attendance rate is much higher, from a population approximately half (33 Million)

Hope that helps a little,

BobSpain

Answer 3

In the Middle Ages in England all the churches and cathedrals had stained glass windows depicting stories from the Bible and of the life of Jesus Christ. In addition to this, most churches and possibly the cathedrals too, had wall paintings of Biblical epics. Because the mass of the people were illiterate, this is how they learnt about the Bible.

During the summer months religious plays were performed outside the cathederals - think they're called 'Mummers' or some such name. These same plays are performed still today - bringing the Bible stories to the people.

For the most part, the stained glass remains. However, most of the wall paintings were simply white-washed over during and immediately after the English Civil War of the 17th century. One or two wall painted churches survive, I think in Norfolk - they are indeed very rare.

In addition to the stained glass and the wall paintings there were the carvings, especially at the cathedrals.

Head for Canterbury and live the Canterbury Tales. Read Geoffrey Chaucer's book[s].

If you can find out how and where Geoffrey Chaurcer died, you will have broken one of England's greatest mysteries. Simply, we do not know what happend to him. In his own lifetime he was a famous 'star' and friend of the King. Who dunnit?

Answer 4

They didn't know what was in the Bible - it was read to them at Church, this is what gave the Priests so much power. Most people couldn't read and had no access to books so the Priests could tell them what they liked!

The invention of the printing press and translation of the Bible into English gave many more ordinary people access to the Bible, and was seen as a scary, controversial change as it began to take some of the power away from the church - people could now read the Bible themselves and make up their own minds about it - which in the Church's view led to "heresy", as obviously the "common man" wouldn't be "intelligent" enough to interpret it correctly

In the Middle Ages in Europe, communties were centred around and by churches. Churchmen were the most powerful men in the world, like politicians are today. Churchgoing was pretty much compulsory. The emergence of a secular society where people are free to beleive what they want and make a choice about religion came much much later!

Answer 5

Common people were told what the church wanted them to know. Bibles were the most copied. Today we have sparse records of the Roman centuries even though they were great
writers and had vast libraries. Much of it was discounted as Paganism and lost to us today. Church was the only common assembly usually permitted weekly. Those who did not attend church lost community protections and sometimes life itself.
Bible scripture borrowed from other cultures. Rome "T" shaped execution crucifix was reinvented into a cross by early Church.

Answer 6

One cannot have God for his Father, who will not have the Church for his Mother, and likewise, one cannot have the Word of God for his faith who will not have the Church for his teacher. It is the infallible teaching authority of the Church, as promised by Christ, which alone preserves God's Word from erroneous interpretation.

Christ did not say, "Sit down and write Bibles and scatter them over the earth, and let every man read his Bible and judge for himself." If Christ had said that, there would never have been a Christianity on the earth at all, but a Babylon and confusion instead, and never one Church, the union of one body. Hence, Christ never said to His Apostles, "Go and write Bibles and distribute them, and let everyone judge for himself." That injunction was reserved for the Sixteenth Century, and we have seen the result of it. Ever since the Sixteenth Century there have been springing up religion upon religion, and churches upon churches, all fighting and quarreling with one another, and all because of the private interpretation of the Bible.

Answer 7

I think you mean before the Bible was translated into English, how did people know what was in the Bible? Well, of course many people would go to church, there was a great amount of artwork, and scholarly people studied Latin and so would know the Vulgate (or Latin Bible). Certainly a number of Biblical phrases date back before it was translated into English, even if when the translation did occur (I think there were other version before King James) there were a mass of new phrases.

Answer 8

the latin vulgate...they didn't...and word of mouth. for crying out loud, before the reformation, most people didnt even understand the masses...they were in latin. it took the catholic church up until the 1960s to change that, because they had to.

its a sorry mess. no wonder why the church is dying. it has been sick for an awful long time.

Answer 9

There were other English translations before that (such as Wycliff) and there were the translations in other European languages that some people could read.

Answer 10

i'm sure d bishops n priests preached something.whether it's d word of God or wht they thought was d word of God,ppl did go to church.only d noble class.d peasants didn't or could not somehow.but they had their own church.small.not as lavish as d ones d nobles prayed in.