KJV Anniversary 2

Well, I’ve been browsing around and have found that there is a little more recognition that I believed. A British site called the King James Bible Trust has done a pretty elaborate job with written articles and videos. I will check it out further, but after my first visit, it seems that they just don’t quite hit the target.

In the first video we meet Neil MacGregor.

http://www.kingjamesbibletrust.org/

Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum. introduces us to the Holy Bible as a very influential book: He begins his narration by stating his “fascination” with the Bible in that it is one of the first British “things” to be made. It’s one of the first “things” that is made by the whole island to be used by the whole island. The fact that it is devised to be read by churches in England, Scotland and the whole English-speaking world, in diverse cultures, countries and churches, seems remarkable to him.

He continues, “It is, I think, one of the most unifying texts that has ever been made. It’s also, of course, in a sense, the official text of the British empire. It is, I think, one book the British took with them everywhere. And there are very few objects that have those kinds of connections. For several hundred years it was the one shared text of English speakers around the whole world. And it held that world together, I think, in a way that no other text could have and indeed very few texts have done anywhere. Very few empires have founding texts like that.”

Afterward the mayor of London extols the Bible as “one of the greatest pieces of world literature” and endorses it for the “supreme place it enjoys in our history and our culture.” Joan Baker, “author and broadcaster,” tells us that the KJV is “one of the greatest works of literature ever written and a great inspiration for us all.” An MP, Frank Field, and “chairman,” I assume, of the Trust, says that the Bible is the “single book which not just helped shape our nation but helped England in the world and gave the world one of its great languages.”

Lord, help us! What carefully worded statements of non-committal secularism! Is this the reason scores of churches in England have closed their doors and become community centers.? Every year in England, around twenty churches close their doors for good. Want to buy one? There are eleven available here.

http://www.churchofengland.org/clergy-office-holders/pastoralandclosedchurches/closedchurches/closed-churches-available.aspx

In an article on “Redundant Churches,” we learn that a painfully large number of Church of England congregations are dwindling in membership, some severely. Many churches are combining in an effort to at least keep one church going, leaving some buildings abandoned. “Closed churches can have a variety of uses. Depending on the listed status of a building, many can be converted for other uses. Several former churches are used as community or education centres, for example All Saints' Church, Bristol or All Saints Church, Harthill. Likewise, Holy Trinity Church, Chester now serving as the town's Guildhall or St Michael's Church, Chester as a heritage centre. St Peter's Church, Offord D'Arcy managed by the Churches Conservation Trust is used to host festivals, including a film festival.

St. Mary’s , Wythall, (right) is used as offices for an electric company.

“Others are used in more unusual ways; Old St Ann's Church, Warrington is an indoor climbing centre (one of several churches used in this way), other former churches may be art galleries, coffee shops and even pubs and clubs. Many are converted into residential properties.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redundant_church

God worked in great power in 1611 in inspiring those in a position to do so to make his Holy Word available in the native language of the country to a people starving for it. It changed history. Churches grew. England grew. God blessed England and used the growth of empire to spread his Word to all parts of the world. At its peak, the sun never set on the British Empire. God’s word was taken to Africa, Asia, North and South America, Australia. And God blessed his people.

In the following century the British and Scottish Missionary Societies began filling in the gaps by sending missionaries to the unreached people of the world.

The 1800's were rough on us all but in that century Secularists, fueled by Marxist philosophy, began a concerted assault on English spiritual life.

Now, in ever-increasing numbers, secularism is the religion of choice for our English, Scottish & Irish brothers. Many Christians are fearing “marginalization,” and the empire is tottering.

 http://www.christianpost.com/news/christians-illiberal-secularism-prevailing-in-uk-45001/

When the Holy Bible becomes to a people just great literature, inspirational reading, a means of unifying an empire, and a symbol of historical greatness and political power, one should not be surprised at the moral, spiritual, or political disintegration of the society.