The Bible, Designed to Be Read as Living Literature: The Old and the New Testaments in the King James Version

As another reviewer astutely noted, this version of the Bible is well-suited to secular classrooms. In fact, that's where I met this book, as an assigned text in a course at UC Santa Barbara given by one of the wisest men I have ever been lucky enough to know. (Douwe Stuurman is how I remember his name, many years later.) What you get here is basically two (two!) classics in one! The Bible itself, and just about the only translation which has ever been hailed as a masterpiece: the King James Version. The book begins just as you would expect: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth," and, before five more pages have gone by, it is dealing with the mysterious facts of human sexuality ("they knew they were naked") and the downright evil of human murder ("Am I my brother's keeper?") This is an important book, quite obviously a cornerstone or foundation of that disappearing thing we call "Western civilization." I recommend this book heartily to all readers, but I would note that I am not making that recommendation from a fundamentalist perspective. Not at all. Please indulge me. Shakespeare is not literally true, in every syllable. But he writes magnificently, and he is very often, magnificently RIGHT. ("DON'T KILL YOURSELF OVER FIRST LOVE." "DON'T GIVE AWAY EVERYTHING TO YOUR CHILDREN BEFORE YOU DIE." "DON'T MURDER YOUR LOVING WIFE BECAUSE OF SOME LYING SNAKE." "DO NOT MURDER YOUR WAY TO POWER.") In somewhat the same way, the Bible is not literally true, in every syllable. But it is magnificently written, and it is often magnificently RIGHT. ("HONOR YOUR MOTHER AND YOUR FATHER." "DO NOT KILL." "DO NOT GET DIVORCED." "THE UNIVERSE HAS A BEGINNING, AND IT HAS AN END." "YOU ARE THE CHILD OF A GOD WHO LOVES YOU.") It is most certainly "food for thought." At the very least. But neither the Bible nor Shakespeare is suitable for a ten-paragraph "review." Some things do not boil down to Cliff's Notes.

Okay, let's start with what this book ISN'T. It isn't exactly a Bible; about one-fourth of the Scripture text is omitted entirely. (Which is a shame, because I really wanted to see Ezekiel 8 and 9.) Nor is it a product for believers; the editor who designed this edition is a firm liberal of the 19th-century style who believes practically every Socinean corruption of his day. It isn't even a new text, but a very practical edit of the King James Version. That said, what it IS is a surprisingly likable book. It's a radically new, easy, earthy way to look at Scripture in its genuine grandeur (omissions notwithstanding) that takes a lot of risks, but without playing any surreptitious tricks regarding belief. To Bates, it's just literature; but it's literature he takes very seriously. The chiefest elements of presentation at work (that being the key thing in this product) are omission, after all, along with some semantic revision and typesetting. Bates explains his choices well; the labor of love is ironic but evident. Meticulous attention to detail is everywhere, and makes the work a very satisfying volume to read. Excellent prefatory materials to the book as a whole and its constituent books individually offer superb yet sparse comment on the Bible in a very novel way. The job of making the Bible narrative an enjoyable, rewarding, and grand work of classicism is accomplished. So taking it for what it is, I like the thing a lot. But these other reviews are crazy.

The King James Version will always be read for it's literary quality. It's influence on Western culture is immeasurable. One cannot, for example, contemplate the Gettysburg address without resort to the KJV. That said, it is often difficult to read on its own. Each verse is a separate paragraph and punctuation hardly conforms to today's standards. The Bates edition helps incalculably in that respect. It does not, and nor was it designed to, replace a full biblical translation. What it does, however, it does very well. This would be an ideal text for secular classroom teaching.

This book is a true benefit to those who wish to read and understand the Bible, but have had trouble getting into it because of all the 'thee's and 'thou's' therein. Most of the stories are there, told in an easily readable manner, allowing the reader to grasp the book's teachings in an easy way. Though it doesn't purport to take the place of the Bible, it does lend itself to easing the reader into it, should the reader choose to do so. And, if not, at least it gives the reader a good foundation in Biblical teaching. I highly recommend it!