People’s Bible
The final item of business is a members’ business debate on motion S4M-01030, in the name of Dave Thompson, on the people’s Bible. The debate will conclude without any question being put.
Motion debated,
That the Parliament applauds the accomplishment of the People’s Bible in travelling over 5,500 miles since June 2011 and recording 18,320 verses in over 60 towns and cities in Scotland, including Fort William and Portree; considers that the People’s Bible has prompted Scots throughout society and across the country to discover and rediscover the Bible; looks forward to the Scottish finale at Stirling Castle in November; hopes that the People’s Bible will be a catalyst for renewed interest in reading the Bible, and believes that the transformative and lasting impact of the King James Bible on Scottish language, culture and education can be mirrored in the influence of the People’s Bible on the people of Scotland today.
17:22
This year marks the 400th anniversary of the bestselling English language book of all time. It is estimated that a billion copies have been printed since 1611, and the man responsible for it was none other than the king of Scots, James VI of Scotland. In recognition of his work, the book is known as the King James Bible. The Bible’s transformative influence is more entrenched in Scotland than just in relation to its multiple literary editions. The Bible is at the very heart of our history. It is the cornerstone of our society.
Neither our politics nor our culture, and neither our education nor our religion would be the same without the King James Bible. The sweeping scenes of Scotland’s history have been performed on a scriptural stage against the backdrop of biblical belief. The Bible has directed our movements, our behaviours and our beliefs as a nation. It is the script at the heart of history and at the heart of Scotland’s history.
Many have pored over it, reading, writing and realising that there is priceless treasure contained within its pages. The glorious speeches of the past few centuries envisioning democracy and equality are suffused in the cadences of the King James Bible. The Bible is the bedrock on which we have built our past, but will it be the foundations of our future?
The King James Bible is a prophet without honour in the country of its birth. It has all but disappeared from our schools, our media and our Parliament. The key player in our past, the great motivator of our people and the foundation stone of our values and ideals is hardly anywhere to be seen. However, the question is, at what cost?
This year the Scottish Bible Society decided to bring the Bible back. In June, an initiative known as the people’s Bible was launched. Its purpose was to produce a Bible written by the people for the people. This they have done, and earlier today a bound copy of Genesis was presented by representatives of the Scottish Bible Society at Westminster Abbey in the presence of the royal family.
The people’s Bible has travelled the length and breadth of Scotland, with members of the public encouraged to handwrite two verses of the Bible, until all 66 books were written.
More than 5,500 miles have been covered since June, taking in an awesome 60 towns and cities in Scotland. What has been uncovered so far? One primary 7 pupil had never seen a Bible before. Another 20-something man stopped short when he saw the exhibition stand and asked, in all seriousness, “What is a Bible?” The Bible Society has found a new generation to whom they are bringing the Bible.
At the beginning of the last century, the American President, Theodore Roosevelt, heralded the Bible as
“the most democratic book in the world”,
and so it still is. Scots from diverse backgrounds have penned their verses. Cameron Scott, the former “Big Brother” winner, wrote his verses in Orkney. A young girl from a council estate wrote hers in Glasgow. A grand total of more than 18,400 verses have been written in Scotland. Those verses, in the handwriting of the people who contributed to the project, will appear online for all to read in perpetuity. That thought caused one terminally ill gentleman to weep. He was overcome that his handwriting would be there for all to see, for all time.
The Scottish Bible Society claims that there has never been a better time to get into the Bible. With that in mind, it has republished the Bible in several new formats. There is one for new readers, selling at 99p and readable in an hour, and there is the old-style King James version, with a foreword by the Prince of Wales. Now, there is also the people’s Bible. The Bible is accessible to all. It is the great leveller of society. Roosevelt’s statement stands true.
The preface of the first edition of the King James translation reads:
“Translation it is that openeth the window, to let in the light”.
Eighty years of struggle and several martyrs were the labour pains that birthed an English edition of the Bible. Having the Bible in a comprehensible language is a privilege that we have forgotten. It is a prize that we no longer treasure. However, through the people’s Bible, some people have discovered the Bible and others have rediscovered it. One lady in Dundee returned to church after writing her verses; another chose to check out Christianity for the first time.
No matter their background, people are being touched by the verses that they write. An ex-alcoholic who stumbled upon the people’s Bible exhibition at the Mitchell library in Glasgow was on his way to buy a bottle of vodka. Persuaded to write a verse or two, he stopped and chatted to the volunteers. He bought a burger instead. Another gentleman walking along Princes Street in Edinburgh was invited to write a couple of verses. He obliged. His story spilled out to the volunteer—a story of brokenness, addiction and homelessness. He finished by saying that writing those verses was an acknowledgement that, in the midst of suffering, there was light.
The word of God has shaped the Scottish people, and the people’s Bible has put the Bible back in Scotland’s history books. The general public have come into touching distance of this historic and inspired book. As society dips and dives into secularism, as fewer go to church and as public institutions distance themselves from faith groups, the Bible has not lost its transformative impact on our nation and Scotland has not lost its need for the word of God.
17:28
I congratulate Dave Thompson on securing the debate. I am slightly disappointed, however, that only two parties are represented as the chamber discusses what I believe to be an important subject.
We should pay tribute to the organisations whose aim is to make the Bible widely available in this country and overseas, including the Bible societies; Scripture Union, through which I came to personal faith; and the Gideons, who have presented me and, I am sure, many others with a New Testament such as the one that I am holding.
I thought that it might be useful to dispel a couple of myths or misunderstandings about the Bible and the Christian faith. The first is that, as some people think, the Bible is a set of rules and that we please God by obeying those rules. That is not quite true because, primarily, the Christian faith is about a relationship. We believe that, when God made the world, he had a close relationship with human beings, that that relationship was broken and that the reason why Jesus came was to restore that relationship.
It seems appropriate to read a verse out of the Bible in this debate. One I like, which I thought I would read, is part of Jesus’s prayer in John, chapter 17, verse 3:
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”
Jesus was emphasising the fact that a relationship is our highest aim in the Christian faith: to know God as our father. The Bible shows us how we should live when we have that relationship.
Another misunderstanding of the Bible is that God in the Old Testament is very harsh but in the New Testament is somehow different and more loving. When we look at the Bible we see that God is portrayed as loving all the way through, not just to his people but to all human beings. One story I find particularly moving is that of Jonah. Members might be aware that he was the one who was swallowed by the whale. God tells Jonah to go to an evil city called Nineveh to warn the people that they will be punished. Jonah goes and preaches and they turn to God. The result is that God is very pleased, but Jonah is very angry. That is a perhaps slightly amusing example of how the Bible often tells us that the prophets were imperfect human beings. At the end of that book, God shows that he is concerned about all the people, not just the Jews, and about the wider creation, even including the animals. In the final verse of that book, God says to Jonah:
“But Nineveh has more than 120,000 people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?”
I find that tremendously encouraging and moving, because I believe that that is also a message for today. Just as God cared for Nineveh, he cares for the great cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee and all the smaller ones, too. I find that message from the Bible tremendously encouraging.
17:32
I commend Dave Thompson for his motion and congratulate him on securing this evening’s debate. As he said, even in this secular world the Bible is still the most influential book in world history and it is still a bestseller across the globe. This is the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible and although Dave Thompson is technically correct to say that he was king of Scots, by the time the King James Bible appeared he had become king of the United Kingdom—or Great Britain, technically speaking, in those times. After going down to London, he famously made only one return visit to Scotland. No doubt he was too busy overseeing the creation of the new Bible.
The people’s Bible was a joint venture between the Scottish Bible Society and the Bible Society in England and Wales and it was an opportunity for the entire Bible to be written by hand, with individuals each contributing a pair of verses and making their mark in history. It was heartening to see the tour made by the people’s Bible across Scotland over the year.
In my region, it went through Perth and Kinross, to Clackmannanshire and to various stops in Fife. Its last stop in Scotland was on 13 November in Stirling castle, appropriately enough, because Stirling castle has many connections with James VI. He was raised and educated there so it was right that it was the last stop for the people’s Bible and the last chance for members of the public to get involved before the completed version was presented in Westminster abbey. I pay tribute to all the organisers and the individuals throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK who took part and contributed verses to this worthwhile initiative.
The Scottish Bible Society and its counterpart south of the border are to be commended for their outward-looking and innovative venture. They are aware that many people in Scotland are not connected actively to the Church or to religion and the Scottish Bible Society is trying to address that by thinking of new and exciting ways to bring scripture to the public and to a wider audience across the country. The people’s Bible was an energetic and exciting idea to raise public awareness of that very important book.
Other initiatives have taken place during the year. Later this month, the Perth branch of the Scottish Bible Society is holding a Bible-reading marathon over three days—three complete 24-hour periods. I have been asked to participate for an hour, which I am happy to do. Over the course of the three days, the Bible will be read from start to finish in a public place—on the steps of the North church in the centre of Perth. It will be important for people in Perth to witness that; it will reflect the importance of the Bible and the importance of the anniversary that we are celebrating as this year comes to a close.
Dave Thompson said that perhaps the Bible was better known to previous generations than it is to many people today. Various academics have told me that, whereas with previous generations of students they could include biblical references in their lectures that would automatically be understood, many students today just look on blankly.
John Mason mentioned his favourite passages in the Bible. I have always based my approach to politics on the prophet Samuel’s dealings with King Agog of the Amalekites. If any members are not familiar with the passage to which I refer, I suggest that they look it up—1 Samuel, chapter 15. It is better read in the original King James version, where the language is so much better.
I close by commending the Scottish Bible Society for all its work, and I again thank Dave Thompson for giving us the opportunity to discuss these issues.
17:36
I, too, commend Dave Thompson for bringing the issue before us. Rather than repeat what has been said before, as is usual, I will add a few thoughts.
When I went back and considered how the King James Bible came to be written, I found, of course, that it was steeped in practical politics. Henry VIII was of one political persuasion, and supposedly of one religious persuasion. He was followed by Mary, of another. Then, with Elizabeth, they seemed to be back where they had started. Nobody was terribly happy with the translations of the Bible that they had, or with what those translations told them about the way in which kings—and, for that matter, queens—were supposed to interact with the public. Everybody could see an opportunity to get things rewritten—although there were some genuine textual concerns as well. King James therefore stepped in and did a good thing. He said to use the familiar language from the Geneva Bible and the Bishops’ Bible—if it worked and was right—but to be prepared to make changes if necessary.
We would have had a wonderful version, but for the fact that the archbishop—one Richard Bancroft—decided that he had to have the last word. That is apparently why in 1 Acts, chapter 20 the word “bishopric” found its way into the translation. I do not remember seeing it recently.
There were no footnotes, which is something that parliamentary draftsmen and Government report writers might bear in mind. If it cannot go in the basic text, perhaps it should not be in a footnote. That would be quite a good rule. Also, there were no pictures. That perhaps suggests that more modern versions were to come, because there have always been people who cannot read. There still are.
The authorised version was supposed to replace the Bishops’ Bible in the readings of the Church of England, but it was never actually authorised and only got there because the other one was no longer published. Apparently, it took until 1674 before it replaced the version used in Scotland.
Others have mentioned the book’s influence. It must have been the most influential version of the most influential book in the most influential language in the world. It remains so.
I note that people are hand writing the people’s Bible. I have not contributed and I begin to realise why, as I attempt to read my handwriting. It would be most unreasonable to inflict it on other people. I think that we should stick to a printed copy, and I hope that other people’s handwriting has been better than mine.
Let us reflect on what the Bible gives us. It is the Almighty’s dealings with his creation—and, in particular, with his people. It is a history book. Uniquely, it marks the change from BC to AD, or CE, as I think we now have it. Life actually changed then. It speaks about a long-term plan; it speaks about a completed task; and, mercifully, it tells us that our relationship with the Almighty is not dependent on our own efforts. It is the best news that we have in print and it is far better than anything that will ever come out of this place, in Government policy or otherwise. I commend it to the good people of Scotland as something well worth reading. I thank all those who have brought it to our attention.
17:39
I thank Dave Thompson, as others have done, for bringing the debate to Parliament. It has been a credible way of commemorating not just the people’s Bible project but the important anniversary that we celebrate.
An Old Testament preacher once memorably told his student:
“Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.”
Ironically, his comment is preserved in a book.
A few hundred years later, an author called Luke explained the reason for his two-volume work in the following terms:
“It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, that thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.”
A Roman prisoner called Paul, anticipating his imminent execution, asks his younger disciple Timothy to
“bring with thee … the books, but especially the parchments.”
It is obvious that from its earliest days the Christian church has recognised the importance of written texts to its life and witness, in particular the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments.
Nigel Don indicated some of the history of how the Bible came to be written in the vernacular in this country. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James version of the Bible. The desirability of a new translation of the Bible was first raised in 1601 by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Burntisland, attended by James VI. A few years later, he commissioned the production of a new translation.
Of course, that was not the beginning of biblical scholarship in Scotland. The monastic tradition goes as far back as Iona, and in the scriptoria of our monasteries the Bible was copied out by hand, in much the same way as in the project that we are celebrating today.
James VI had an inclusive and moderate approach to biblical scholarship—an approach that he did not apply to all his areas of policy as king. His publication became known as the King James—or authorised—version of the Bible.
Nigel Don referred to the absence of footnotes in the King James edition. My understanding is that that was a deliberate policy to exclude the possibility of debate about the interpretation of certain verses of the Bible.
It is difficult to overstate the importance of the King James Bible, and the Bible more generally, to the English-speaking world. Dave Thompson and John Mason spoke powerfully of the effect that the Bible had on their faith. The King James edition’s robust narrative style and the power and beauty of its poetry have given a rich legacy to the English language, along with many familiar phrases and expressions, such as “a coat of many colours”, “the powers that be” and “fight the good fight”.
The Bible in general, and the King James version in particular, has had and continues to have a significant impact on Scottish history and culture. I wish to illustrate that by referring to a couple of areas in which the King James Bible has had an influence.
The first is education. Scotland’s ancient universities were established, in part, to encourage the systematic study of Christian teaching generated particularly by the study of biblical texts.
Later, the reformation of 1560 had profound implications for Scottish culture and especially for education. I realise that the way in which I phrased that omitted to describe Edinburgh as an ancient university. I hope that no one objects.
The reformation gave expression to a particularly dangerous idea, which was the right to question the authority and teaching of the church in light of the teaching of the Bible—a right that could be exercised only if there was widespread access to education.
It is interesting to note that the ideal of a national system of education, from parochial schools to universities, was set out by John Knox and others in “The First Book of Discipline”. The revolutionary ideal—a kirk and a school in every parish—took many years to implement; nevertheless it expressed a recognition of the importance of education, both for its own sake and to give everyone the opportunity to read the Bible. It also fostered a respect for education and learning that, as others have observed, resulted in 18th century Scotland boasting the highest standard of literacy in Europe.
The emphasis in the reformation on education and the right to challenge authority, whether the authority of the church or others, was a significant factor in the development of the enlightenment in Scotland.
The Scottish enlightenment was centred in the universities of Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen and its leading thinkers, such as David Hume, Adam Smith and Hugh Blair, taught Europe and America how to think and talk about the new areas of study, including economics, sociology and engineering.
Of course, the biblical tradition in Scotland has given rise to irreverent comment about the role of preaching in Scotland’s culture, not least the apocryphal story of the Scottish preacher who indicated that his sermon would be on the verse
“And it came to pass”,
with particular emphasis on the word “And”. There is also the story of the man from Scotland who was found on a desert island after some years on his own. He had built not one but two churches with his own hand, and he explained to his rescuers that one was the church that he went to and the other was the church that he did not go to.
All that aside, and some of that mockery aside, as Voltaire commented:
“We look to Scotland for all our ideas of civilisation”.
A bible in the vernacular has played an enormous role in that.
Of course, the other area, aside from religion itself, on which the Bible has influence in Scotland is literature. The implementation of the ideal of a national system of education produced the literate public that was needed for that.
We can see the prevalence of the Bible in something such as Burns’s “Cottar’s Saturday Nicht”. As Murdo Fraser pointed out, there is allusion to the Bible throughout our literature.
James Robertson, in his short story “Bible Talk”, comments:
“‘In anither thirty year,’ Tam said, ‘maist folk willna ken the Bible. No like we dae. Naebody’ll ken the language, the stories, the allusions. I honestly dinna ken hoo they’ll mak sense o the warld. Literature, for instance. Hoo can ye read literature if ye dinna get aw thae allusions?’”
The Scottish Government recognises and values the transformative and lasting impact of the Bible in general and the King James version of the Bible in particular. For that reason, we welcome and recognise the work that the Scottish Bible Society and the Bible Society in England and Wales have done to promote the project.
Meeting closed at 17:47.