Archbishop Gorge Abbott and the KJV Apocrypha

Discussion in 'Sacred Scripture' started by AnglicanAgnostic, Jan 6, 2013.

  1. AnglicanAgnostic

    AnglicanAgnostic Well-Known Member

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    I have been informed (hopefully correctly) by a Mormon (who I love to tease in another forum) that in 1615 Abbott "forbade anyone to issue a Bible without the Apocrypha on pain of one year's imprisonment". I'm sure this has more to do with petty "copyright" issues than any big doctrinal issue, does anyone have a more fuller explanation?
     
  2. Toma

    Toma Well-Known Member Anglican

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    I am not fully-versed in that history yet, myself. It would be interesting to learn what's behind the story. It is repeated on many websites, including:

    http://www.handsonapologetics.com/King_James_Bible.htm
    http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~dchriste/faithfulmen/ChristensenDavid_CanonOT.html

    There's an interesting quote in the box at the top of the first site, and some conjectures about puritans in the second site.

    I tend to think Abbott might have made the ordinance because the Puritans were opposed to the fact that Apocrypha were read in Morning & Evening prayer along with the genuine inspired Word of God. He probably just wanted the readings to be available to all?