Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

How to teach your children to read and understand the King James Version of the Bible
Fr. John Whiteford's News, Comments, & Reflections ^ | 06-09-2017 | Fr. John Whiteford

Posted on 06/25/2017 7:13:19 PM PDT by NRx

How to teach your children to read and understand the King James Version of the Bible



Why?

Before getting into the question of how you can teach your children to read and understand the King James Version, we should probably first discuss why you should want to do so.

If you are an English speaker, even if you are an atheist you should want your child to be familiar with the great works in the history of the English Language, and the King James Version is certainly close to the top of the list, if not at the very top.

Even some of the greatest skeptics were of this opinion:
“It is the most beautiful of all translations of the Bible; indeed it is probably the most beautiful piece of writing in all the literature of the world.”  -H. L. Mencken 
“The translation was extraordinarily well done because to the translators what they were translating was not merely a curious collection of ancient books written by different authors in different stages of culture, but the Word of God divinely revealed through His chosen and expressly inspired scribes.  In this conviction they carried out their work with boundless reverence and care and achieved a beautifully artistic result.” –George Bernard Shaw
"It is written in the noblest and purest English, and abounds in exquisite beauties of mere literary form."  -Aldous Huxley 
The influence of the King James Version on the English language has been huge, and there aren't many other texts that would be comparable in that regard.

It also happens to be a very fine translation. It is not perfect, but it has many advantages over most other options. See: An Orthodox Look at English Translations of the Bible.

Isn't it too hard?

For many centuries, even poorly educated people read and understood the King James Bible, because they made the effort to do so. For the most part, the King James Version is perfectly understandable for a modern reader. There are perhaps a hundred words or so that one would have to acquaint themselves with, if they were not already familiar with them. All of these words are found in a standard dictionary, and the intended meaning of the word in question will usually be listed as the primary or secondary meaning. There are also some handy guides online and in print that provide quick definitions with these words. And you could always look up a difficult text in the New King James Version, for clarification.

How?

First off, you have to teach them how to read, and teach them to love reading.

My wife and I home schooled our children, and the single best text we used was a book entitled "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons," by Siegfried Engelmann. It provides a parent with simple and clear instructions as to how to use the text, and it effectively teaches a child how to read phonetically, and also how to understand the many quirks we have in English spelling (something that is often not taught in public schools in our times). Most importantly, it works. I started teaching both of my children how to read with this text when they were three, and had them reading on a basic level within a few months.

The first books I had my children read were in a series of Bible story booklets from Concordia Press that are designed for beginning readers -- the closest thing that they have to what we used in print now is in a series called "Hear Me Read.".

You should regularly read to your children. For very young children, I found reading them stories that rhymed got their attention, and so I read them rhyming Bible stories. Concordia Press has a large collection of short Bible stories that rhyme -- many of which I remember from my own childhood.

As they got a bit older, I read them a comic book collection of Bible Stories (The Picture Bible), and as their reading improved, they would read it on their own. This gave them an overall understanding of the Bible in broad strokes, and helped to improve their own reading.

In addition to reading books directly connected to the Bible, reading other classic texts to your children helps to develop a love for reading.

We did not have our children read much of Shakespeare, because Shakespeare's plays were not meant to be read -- they were meant to be watched. We had them watch all of his major plays -- some in multiple versions, and they enjoyed them. And this helped to familiarize them with Elizabethan English, and in a way that was not at all tedious.

Finally, when their reading level got to the point that they could begin to do it, I had them read the Bible to me. This helped their reading and pronunciation, and it also gave me a chance to explain any words that were obscure, and to discuss the meaning of the text. We started with Genesis, and stuck to the narrative portions of the Law and the Historical books. We eventually brought in the Wisdom books, the prophets, and also the Gospels and Epistles.

A very important help to this whole process was to get an edition of the King James that had modern spelling, punctuation, and paragraphing -- and to have the same edition in everyone's hand, so we were literally all on the same page. At the time, we used the Third Millennium Bible, but what I would recommend now is using the Cambridge New Paragraph Bible with the "Apocrypha". This edition is laid out in a way that is much easier for contemporary readers, and the more I use it myself, the more I have come to like it.

One other thing I did was to have my children memorize the names and order of the books of the Bible, and then we would do something which I learned from Sunday School as a child -- "Sword drills". When we finished reading the Bible, I would call out random Scripture references, and we would see which child could find it first. This taught them how to navigate their way around the Bible.

For more information:

An Orthodox Look at English Translations of the Bible

A Simple Approach to Reading the Entire Bible

King James English and Orthodox Worship


TOPICS: General Discusssion; Orthodox Christian
KEYWORDS: children; childrenkjv; kjv; kjvchildren; pointless; reading
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-104 next last
To: faucetman
Memorization without understanding is USELESS. The message/meaning is what is important, not rote memorization.

My nine and ten year old self would have agreed vigorously with you. I spent two fairly miserable years in a private Baptist school with daily Bible study and we did memorize the Bible. Seemed useless and pointless.

But, it stuck with me and it has stuck with anyone I have ever asked about it. Bible verses arise unbidden out of my mind in certain situations to this day. A fuller understanding came later, but the memory remained.

Don't knock it until you've tried it. There's more than meets the eye to that practice.

61 posted on 06/26/2017 10:58:34 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 37 | View Replies]

To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

I’m still perplexed and oddly amused that Catholics seem to think Martin Luther had a hand in the KJV Bible, even here on FR where it should have been beaten into their heads by now.


62 posted on 06/26/2017 11:01:23 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 47 | View Replies]

To: Albion Wilde

Sorry, meant to add that it seems to me that the NLT changes the meaning.

Jesus is referring to Hosea 6:6.

“For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

Jesus is saying in Matthew, “*I* will have mercy, and not sacrifice.”

But the NLT changes it I want *you* to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.

That seems to be significant and illustrated what the other versions all have in common against the KJV, they denigrate the position and God-head of Christ.


63 posted on 06/26/2017 11:02:10 AM PDT by Bodleian_Girl (Don't check the news, check Cernovich on Twitter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: N. Theknow
“Don’t memorize something if you want to remember it. Learn it. Memorization is temporary. Learning is permanent.”

It's not temporary.

64 posted on 06/26/2017 11:06:07 AM PDT by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 56 | View Replies]

To: free_life

when there are easier reading and more literal translations available?


Name them.


65 posted on 06/26/2017 11:15:05 AM PDT by ravenwolf (If the Bible does not say it in plain words, please don`t preach it to me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Albion Wilde
New World (mis)Translation is ONLY used by the Jehovah's Witnesses. No Trinitarian church would get near it, it is considered “That” bad.
Another joke of a bible is the “Inspired” bible of Joseph Smith used mostly by the reorganized Mormon church. This is not the book of mormon.
66 posted on 06/26/2017 11:18:04 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 58 | View Replies]

To: odawg

People think that the NKJV is only the old KJV modernized, but it is an entirely new and corrupted translation.


That is true.


67 posted on 06/26/2017 11:18:07 AM PDT by ravenwolf (If the Bible does not say it in plain words, please don`t preach it to me.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 54 | View Replies]

To: NRx

So which Bible do the Orthodox use?


68 posted on 06/26/2017 11:25:48 AM PDT by piusv (Pray for a return to the pre-Vatican II (Catholic) Faith)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 41 | View Replies]

To: ravenwolf

But all translations are just an opinion of what the Greek and Hebrew say so it is rather meaningless. There is no punctuation or chapter/verse numbers in the original text.


69 posted on 06/26/2017 11:42:39 AM PDT by AppyPappy (Don't mistake your dorm political discussions with the desires of the nation)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 67 | View Replies]

To: Ruy Dias de Bivar

Just making it clear once again that I have never at any time endorsed the use of the so-called “New World” translation.


70 posted on 06/26/2017 12:07:38 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("We will be one people, under one God, saluting one American flag." --Donald Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 66 | View Replies]

To: Bodleian_Girl

I posted the very scriptural translation you posted, so what was your point in reposting it without comment?


71 posted on 06/26/2017 12:10:16 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("We will be one people, under one God, saluting one American flag." --Donald Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 59 | View Replies]

To: RegulatorCountry

I agree. Memorization is unpleasant in many ways, but the verses come back to you later when you need them. I have used memorization not only for the Bible, but also as the only way for me to become rapidly proficient in several foriegn languages.


72 posted on 06/26/2017 12:12:20 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("We will be one people, under one God, saluting one American flag." --Donald Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 61 | View Replies]

To: Albion Wilde

The campaign against rote memorization sounds so literate and high-minded, but anyone old enough to remember memorizing multiplication tables knows how very useful it is. That knowledge is retained for life and it’s extremely useful. I don’t even have to think about the answer to 8 x 7, it’s 56. That retained knowledge arises when needed. The same is true of memorized Bible verses, they arise when needed and in my experience, it’s always the applicable ones to a given situation.


73 posted on 06/26/2017 12:15:19 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 72 | View Replies]

To: Bodleian_Girl
Pardon me, I just read your explanation. I disagree with your interpretation, which is apparently because you are working backwards from today's use of the verb "will"; however the scholars considered the use of the verb at the time the KJV was written, and translated forward.

Re the KJV original, consider this sentence I am writing as an example of the usage: A mother sees her kids playing ball inside and says, "I will not have this nonsense in my house!" That is the sense in which Jesus is saying "I will have mercy..." He is not merely stating what will happen in the indeterminate future by indeterminate persons, he is issuing a command to his followers. In this way the New Living translation makes the meaning clear who is to do what, and that they will do it because he said to do it. It will not occur by accident and he is not just foretelling its occurance in a crystal ball.

74 posted on 06/26/2017 12:19:44 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("We will be one people, under one God, saluting one American flag." --Donald Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 63 | View Replies]

To: RegulatorCountry
I agree. The (Methodist Episcopal) church I was raised in was not big on catechesis or teaching children to memorize, but its hymnal of those old days was full of lyrics taken right out of the psalms and gospels. So when I hit a bump in the road in later years, the songs came back with words I didn't even know I had effectively memorized. On realizing this, I set out to learn the Word thoroughly, starting with writing out the entire New Testament by hand. I'm moving on to the Old Testament next. I also participate in comprehensive Bible study classes. Life becomes so much more clear when you know the

Basic
Instructions
Before
Leaving
Earth

75 posted on 06/26/2017 12:29:21 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("We will be one people, under one God, saluting one American flag." --Donald Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 73 | View Replies]

To: Albion Wilde

Methodist Episcopal? That’s a new one to me.


76 posted on 06/26/2017 12:37:17 PM PDT by piusv (Pray for a return to the pre-Vatican II (Catholic) Faith)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 75 | View Replies]

To: Albion Wilde

I actually can agree with that.


77 posted on 06/26/2017 12:48:56 PM PDT by Bodleian_Girl (Don't check the news, check Cernovich on Twitter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 74 | View Replies]

To: piusv

The canon of sacred texts is affirmed by sacred tradition and also various decrees from the Quinisext Council which was not recognized by Rome but is considered a canonical element of the 5th and 6th OEcumenical Councils in the East. In general we accept the same books as those found in Catholic Bibles but we also recognize 3rd Maccabees (and in the case of the Georgian Church 4th Maccabees), 3rd Ezra (and in the case of the Georgian Church 4th Ezra), Psalm 151 and the Letter of Jeremiah (which in the Roman Church is called chapter 6 of Baruch).

The only English language edition that I am familiar with and that is Orthodox, is the Orthodox Study Bible.


78 posted on 06/26/2017 2:04:46 PM PDT by NRx (A man of integrity passes his father's civilization to his son, without selling it off to strangers.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 68 | View Replies]

To: NRx

Interesting. I knew that there were other differences, but I never knew that we used different bibles.


79 posted on 06/26/2017 2:23:30 PM PDT by piusv (Pray for a return to the pre-Vatican II (Catholic) Faith)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 78 | View Replies]

To: piusv
Methodist Episcopal was the largest mainstream church in the U.S. before the Methodists merged with the Evangelical United Brethren in 1968 to form the UMC. The liturgy was much closer to the traditional Anglican than the present UMC mess. You realize that John Wesley was an Anglican priest when he started Methodism, right?
80 posted on 06/26/2017 5:26:54 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("We will be one people, under one God, saluting one American flag." --Donald Trump)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 76 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-20 ... 41-6061-8081-100101-104 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson