2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. This is a significant milestone, in that the Bible has helped shape what is best in Western civilization.
        The Bible is the world’s bestseller. The King James Version in particular is bestselling Bible; thus, it is the bestseller of the world’s bestseller.
        The Bible in general and the King James specifically have had a tremendous impact on our world. Even secular sources will occasionally acknowledge this.
        For example, a few years ago (April 2, 2007), TIME Magazine had a cover story on why the Bible should be taught (with caution) in the public schools.
        David Van Biema wrote that cover story and writes this: "Should the Holy Book be on the public menu? Yes. It’s the bedrock of Western culture. And it’s constitutional---as long as we teach but don’t preach it."
        He also notes: "Simply put, the Bible is the most influential book ever written. Not only is the Bible the best-selling book of all time, it is the best-selling book of the year every year."
        Recently, the leading book promoting atheism by a prominent skeptic is Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion (2006). The Oxford professor makes his case against theism of all kinds. He seems to be an equal-opportunity-basher in terms of criticizing all faiths in general.
        And then, after page after page and after chapter after chapter of blasting the Christian faith and Islam; after saying terrible things about the Bible, suddenly, he takes a break---near the end.
        He essentially says (and I’m paraphrasing), "Oh by the way, I have nothing against the Bible as literature. In fact, it’s great as literature. And you’re not very culturally literate if you are not familiar with the Bible."
        Dawkins writes, "The King James Bible of 1611---the Authorized Version---includes passages of outstanding literary merit in its own right, for example the Song of Songs, and the sublime Ecclesiastes (which I am told is pretty good in the original Hebrew too). But the main reason the English Bible needs to be part of our education is that is a major source book for literary culture" (p. 341).
        Dawkins goes on to cite scores and scores of phrases from the Bible that are common in our parlance, such as "Be fruitful and multiply," "East of Eden," "Adam’s Rib," etc.
        This does not mean he in any way respects the Bible as the Word of God or anything close. He concludes this section: "We can give up belief in God while not losing touch with a treasured heritage." That strikes me as a fruitless venture.
        In the meantime, I quote him because here is today’s leading atheist arguing for something close to our heart: you cannot be a truly culturally literate person without a knowledge of the Bible.
         The King James Version of the Bible has a fascinating history in and of itself. In some ways, the king was trying to create a copy of the Bible to compete with the Geneva Bible (1560), which was spreading like wildfire among the Puritans and other Christian non-conformists. (It was short notes in the margins of the Geneva Bible that bothered him the most---for example, stating that on occasion, there is a time to obey God but not the king.)
        King James I disagreed with Presbyterians and the Puritans. He once said famously: "Presbytery agreeth with monarchy like God with the Devil."
        Winston Churchill notes that his slogan was "No Bishop, no King." James, the human head of the Church of England, could control the Church through his bishops.
        Thus, the religious nonconformists were troublesome to him. He even said of those Puritan types, "I will make them conform, or I will harry them out of the land or do worse."
         The king was galled by the success of the Geneva Bible. His goal in creating the Authorized Version was to usurp it. He made sure there were no Presbyterians or Puritans working on his committee of fifty-four scholars who created the new Bible, released in 1611.
        Eventually, the King James Version did succeed in leaving the Geneva Bible.
        Whatever his particular motivation, the monarch ended up creating the world’s most beloved edition of the world’s best-seller.
        Reid Buckley, brother of the late William F. Buckley, Jr., trains professional speakers. He said this about the world’s most beloved Bible: "Any born English-speaking son or daughter of the Christian West, who has not savored, indeed, soaked him- or herself in the King James Version of the Holy Bible is irreparably ignorant and culturally deprived."
         If one has never been "soaked" in such a way, the 400th anniversary is as good as any year to start.