KJV on MLK Day

If I may depart from the beautiful contemplations upon the KJV text offered in other posts, I would like, in honor of the day, to point out a couple of resources that I stumbled across this morning. By the way, I've started a bibliography of recent books and articles about the significance of the KJV and will plan to post what I accumulate closer to the end of the year. (I might even manage to read a couple.) One I found on a blog devoted to Church History called Grateful to the Dead which contains recent posts about the KJV. It highlights a sizable tome by David Daniel called "The Bible in English," apparently impressively living up to its subtitle, 'A goldmine of the KJV in America.' An earlier post on this same blog focuses especially on the influence of the KJV in African American churches. One minister-scholar reflected that in many African American churches, the KJV is the choice for more formal ritual aspects of corporate worship such as the Lord's Supper, Baptism and Foot-washing, and also seems the text of choice in moments calling for pastoral counsel and consolation. Two reasons were suggested: the familiarity of the texts in KJV and the solemn stately elegance of the language. As such, it may be one of few texts in America today that are both broadly familiar and characterized by stately elegance. Martin Luther King's "I have a dream speech" would be another. Perhaps not coincidental influence there. A rather beautiful reversal in view of the fact that basic literacy was withheld from slaves as a primary way to disempower them.