The Cornerstone Of The Reformation

From The Christian Reader:

The Cornerstone of the Reformation


by Eric Rauch



Since Christian Reader is a division of Tolle Lege Press and the 1599 Geneva Bible is the flagship product of Tolle Lege, it seemed proper to write a review of this product for those of you who aren’t familiar with it. Although it seems a bit strange to write a review of the Bible, this edition of the Scriptures is important for so many reasons that it does warrant an article to highlight some of its key features and its historical place in Christian history. Although most Christians are familiar with the King James Bible, very few are aware of the Geneva Bible. In fact, it was this historical ignorance, coupled with the frustrating lack of a usable facsimile version, that led to the founding of Tolle Lege Press in 2004. With that said, let’s take a closer look at this unique Bible.



The Geneva Bible is a Bible of “firsts,” and it set the standard for future English Bibles with its initial publication in 1560. The Geneva was the first Bible to be completely translated from the original languages. It was the first Bible to incorporate the Roman font, as opposed to the typical Gothic font; this made the Geneva considerably easier to read. It was the first “study Bible,” with notes, cross-references, and literal translations printed in the margin to aid and promote deeper individual study of the Scriptures. It was the first Bible to include chapter and verse numbers. It also was the first to italicize words that were not in the original languages, to let the reader know which English words were added for clarity and which ones were translated from the Greek or Hebrew. Finally, the Geneva Bible was the first to be printed in a small, portable format, which made it transportable and much more affordable than the oversized pulpit editions that were heavy and prohibitively expensive for the average individual or family.







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The Geneva Bible was designed to be read, the translators and printers of the Geneva wanted their Bible to be used, but more importantly, to be understood and applied to daily life. The publishers knew their audience, and they crafted their Bible with them in mind. The translators were not merely interested in translating a Bible into English as an academic exercise, and they certainly had no intention of creating a mere prop or an ornament to chain to the pulpit as a decoration. The Geneva translators understood that the Word of God is how God communicates to His people. The translators themselves had been radically changed by the words of the Bible—this was what started the Protestant Reformation in the first place—and they were convinced that the words of Scripture would continue the Reformation as the people of God’s Church got their own copies, written in their own language.



Another important fact about the Geneva Bible is that it was not commissioned or funded by any particular church or even—as was the case with the King James Bible—by the state. The persecution that was being waged by England’s Queen (aka Bloody) Mary against the Protestants caused many English and Scottish scholars to flee to the European continent. Many of them made their way to Geneva, Switzerland, where John Calvin was teaching and preaching a consistently Protestant view of the Bible. With this influx of scholarly wisdom and talent into Geneva, it soon became obvious what they should begin doing. In 1560, the completed Geneva Bible was made available for the very first time. Over the next 40 years, the Bible underwent various revisions, corrections, and additions, with the 1599 being the last major editorial change. Further printings (the Geneva continued to be printed and remained popular until at least 1644, long after the King James became available in 1611) were basically revisions of the 1599.



In his book, A Visual History of the English Bible, Donald Brake writes this about the historical and theological importance of the Geneva Bible:



When we consider the credentials of the men involved in this translation, there is little room left to quibble about the quality of its production. Some of the greatest theologians in Christian history, including John Calvin (whose Introduction to the 1557 New Testament appeared in English), John Knox, and Theodore Beza (known for publishing several Greek New Testaments), took part in the Geneva Bible project. Modern scholars have no problem admitting that it was one of the finest translations ever made. Charles Butterworth acknowledges the influence of the Geneva Bible when he writes, “In the lineage of the King James Bible, this volume is by all means the most important single volume.” He adds, “It was for fifty years (1570-1620) the household Bible of the English people.” It was the Bible of Shakespeare after about 1597 and the Bible of the Puritans coming to America. Even some of the translators of the 1611 King James Version continued to use it as late as the mid-1620s… The Geneva Bible became the cornerstone of the Reformation, and its influence on the KJV translators makes it one of the most important Bibles in English history. David Ewart writes of its influence on the King James Version, “Next to Tyndale, the Geneva Bible had the greatest influence on the Authorized Bible” (Brake, Visual History, pp. 149; 150-51).



Tolle Lege’s edition of the 1599 Geneva Bible follows in this rich tradition of making the Bible available to the people in their own language. Minor editorial changes have been made, printing mistakes have been fixed, and the spelling has been updated. The text of the new edition is virtually identical to the source edition, which was a facsimile of an actual 1599 Geneva Bible, but modern study Bible expectations have been included to make the new edition much easier to read and locate study notes and helps. A two-column, center-reference layout has been used; footnotes, annotations, and literal readings are found at the bottom of the page, rather than around the margins of the text. A glossary has also been included to help define some of the archaic Middle English words that have since fallen out of English usage, or have radically changed meaning. Several study helps and prayers have been preserved from the original, and new introductory material has been added which gives more in-depth information about the history of this important first version of the English Bible.