From an old schoolmate and friend of mine: He just advised me what I need to know about THE HOLY BIBLE Authorized (King James) Version:
Are you aware of the history of the King James Version of the Holy Bible? Do you understand why it is called the "King James Version"? King Henry VIII married his brother's widow (Catherine of Aragon) because his brother did not have children and he believed it was his duty. She gave birth to a daughter, Mary (later known as Bloody Mary because she killed so many Protestants). When it seemed that Catherine could not give him a male heir, he lost interest in her and started sleeping around. One of his conquests, Anne Boleyn, got pregnant and he wanted her child (hopefully a son) to be his legitimate heir, but the Pope wouldn't allow him to divorce Catherine because she was the niece of the Holy Roman Emperor. When the Archbishop of Canterbury died, it was suggested that the King request Fr. Thomas Cranmer to be the new Archbishop of Canterbury because he was a reformer. He is the one who gave the king the idea to separate from Rome which led to the formation of the Church of England. When King Henry VIII died, his son from his 3rd or 4th wife (who died in childbirth) became King James I. Since King James was not even a teenager yet, a board of regents were appointed to govern and watch over the boy king. They left all matters regarding the Church of England to Archbishop Cranmer. When Thomas Cranmer was a priest, he got in trouble for having meetings with Martin Luther (who had been excommunicated) and John Locke, fellow reformers. After having full autonomy over the Church of England, Archbishop Cranmer instituted reforms, partly based on Martin Luther's theses that he posted on the cathedral doors. Included in them was that worship should be in the local tongue, so the Archbishop had clergy translate the Latin Bible into English, because he had full authority from the regents who represented King James, and to lend credibility to his work, he named English Bible the King James Version. Personally, I prefer the New International Version (NIV) because it was written by scholars who studied the original Latin, Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew texts (the original languages of the Bible) and translated from those languages into English.
