Book Review: The Treasure of God's Word

The full title is The Treasure of God's Word: Celebrating 400 Years of the King James Bible. The word Treasure is accurate. I selected this book from Booksneeze.com, and I am glad that I did. Visually, it is a gorgeous book, with a burgundy cover and gold lettering. It just feels cool to the touch and good in your hands. To someone like me who just loves to hold books, it was wonderful.

There is no denying that the King James Bible was an extremely influential piece of history. It had a huge impact on the English language, as well, granting some uniformity among the chaos that was the language of England at the time. This book is divided into sections discussing King James' desire for a uniform translation of the bible as well as what the translators were attempting, and spends some time on the revisions that came after. In between are 'chapters' from the King James Bible, titled "God's Love", "God's Comfort", etc., where verses are gathered together. The language is simple, lyrical, and very obviously meant to be read aloud to the English people.

Even a nonbeliever can still appreciate the musical nature of the passages in the King James Bible, and this book captures some of that essence. Reading some of the passages, I could almost picture myself as a member of a congregation in 1611, which sounds kind of silly when I say it out loud. But it's a measure of the impact that the King James Bible had on society that I am able to visualize that experience and it's a small measure of the beauty of this book.