Customer Reviews

History of the Bible in English

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F.F. Bruce's History of the Bible in English is probably still the best book on its theme. Bruce traces the history of the Bible in English from Anglo-Saxon paraphrases through Wycliffe, Tyndale, King James, up to the 1970s. He gives informative, yet relatively concise, histories of each translation and how and why they were made. The book was originally published in 1961 to coincide with the release of the New Testament of the New English Bible, then a second edition came out in 1970 to coincide with the publication of the full New English Bible. The third edition appends a chapter with brief summaries of the versions of the 1970s -- NIV, NASB, Living Bible, and Good News Bible chief among them. His treatment is scholarly, yet utterly readable, and packed with information. Now 25 years old, the third edition is getting a bit dated, but it is still the best book on the versions it covers. (Oxford University Press USA used to publish this book in the US, but it has now gone out of print.)

Great detailed overview of the English Bible. You cant go wrong with F. F. Bruce (it is one of my goals to own everything he has written). I would have given it 5 stars, but it is outdated. Since it was written decades ago, it does not include any discussion on recent translations and the scholarship behind them. I would love to know what Bruce thinks about the NIV, NRSV, ESV, etc..., but that info is not available. However, that is the ONLY problem with this book. What he does discuss is more than worth the cost of the book. DO NOT HESITATE TO BUY if you are considering this book.

NOTE: If you favor the KJV, you may not like the conclusions in this book since Bruce does not ascribe to that line of thinking. However, even KJV advocates will gain much from this book since the KJV holds such a prominent place in the history of the English Bible. Also, this book will serve to inform you of a well thought out and written explanation of the other side of the argument.