The Feast Day Of Lancelot Andrewes

Lancelot Andrewes (1555-1626), Bishop of Winchester, was on the committee of scholars that produced the King James Translation of the Bible, and probably contributed more to that work than any other single person. It is accordingly no surprise to find him not only a devout writer but a learned and eloquent one, a master of English prose, and learned in Latin, Greek, Hebrew and eighteen other languages.

From James Kiefer at the Lectionary.

Before the day was done, I had to write about Lancelot Andrewes - and don't you love that extra "e" in his family name? - because I read a wonderful book called God's Secretaries, by Adam Nicolson, on the history of the writing of the King James Bible.

In my humble opinion, the KJB is a literary masterpiece. I'm told by those who know more than I that the translation is not as accurate as later versions, and I believe them, but the literary quality of the language is unmatched by any subsequent translation.

Imagine! A literary masterpiece written by a committee! However, the author says that the masterpiece came forth precisely because of its being written by a committee of scholars.

As Nicolson says:

The translation these men made together can lay claim to be the greatest work of prose ever written in English. That it should be the creation of a committee of people no one has ever heard of - and who were generally unacknowledged at the time - is the key to its grandeur. It is not the poetry of a single mind, nor the effusion of a singular vision, nor even the product of a single moment, but the child of an entire culture stretching back to the great Jewish poets and storytellers of the Near Eastern Bronze Age. That sense of an entirely embraced and reimagined past is what fuels this book.

Thanks be to God for Andrewes and the fellow members of the committee. The KJB served the church well for many a year. Now we have superior translations, but nothing even close to it in quality of expression.

READINGS:

Psalm 63:1-8 or 34:1-8
1 Timothy 2:1-7a
Luke 11:1-4

PRAYER (traditional language)

O Lord and Father, our King and God, by whose grace the Church was enriched by the great learning and eloquent preaching of thy servant Lancelot Andrewes, but even more by his example of biblical and liturgical prayer: Conform our lives, like his, we beseech thee, to the image of Christ, that our hearts may love thee, our minds serve thee, and our lips proclaim the greatness of thy mercy; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

UPDATE: Since I have seen references to Lancelot Andrewes as a "prayer warrior", I have included one of his prayers.

Faith

Coming unto God,
I believe that He is,
and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him:
I know that my Redeemer liveth;
that He is the Christ the Son of the Living God;
that He is indeed the Saviour of the world;
that He came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am chief.
Through the grace of Jesus Christ
we believe that we shall be saved
even as our fathers withal.
I believe verily to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.

Note: This entry is largely a repost from last year.