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Title: The Bible in English by John D. Long ISBN: 0-7618-1115-X Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield (Non NBN) Pub. Date: 04 June, 1998 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $51.00

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Average Customer Rating: 3 (2 reviews)

Rating: 1
Summary: Not recommended...
Comment: I've read a number of books on this topic, and this is one of the strangest. The author is a professor of business who decided to write a summary of what he had recently read of the history of the English Bible, focusing particularly on Wycliffe and Tyndale.

I should first say that I'm not a scholar in the field of biblical studies--but it is quite obvious that the author of this book isn't, either. He continually makes "gee-whiz" observations that detract from the content. Granted, the topic is not the author's field, but do we really need to hear "gosh, I never knew that before!" every ten pages? I found his constant personal observations to be intrusive.

It does not appear that anyone who is a scholar in this field reviewed this book before its publication (surprisingly, given the name of the publisher). The book contains a number of errors. Some are obvious and minor, like misspelling an author's name here and there even though it is correctly cited in one instance ("Geddis MacGregor" instead of "Geddes MacGregor"). More significantly, the author occasionally makes notable errors of fact, which reduced my confidence in him. If I may mention one:

He states that if Jesus was reading the Old Testament in Hebrew, He was probably reading a version written in "uncial" (see page 13). That is impossible because uncial is a style of handwriting used in Greek and Latin manuscripts starting in about the third century A.D.! You can verify this by looking up the word "uncial" in any good-sized English dictionary. Yet the author of this book cites in his bibliography "The Ancestry of the English Bible" by Ira M. Price (a well-known work in this field), which clearly explains such matters.

There are numerous good books on this and related topics, although unfortunately some of the best older ones are out of print. I recommend a forthcoming book: a biographer of William Tyndale named David Daniell has written a book titled "The Bible in English" (I believe the U.S. edition is expected out in September 2003) and based on Professor Daniell's reputation, I would expect this to be excellent. Of older books, the best is "The History of the Bible in English" (1978) by F. F. Bruce (third edition; earlier editions were titled "The English Bible"). Anything by Bruce is good. Bruce's book was published by Oxford University Press but is on the verge of going out of print. Of current books, "Wide as the Waters" by Benson Bobrick, and "In the Beginning" by Alister McGrath (on the King James version).

Rating: 5
Summary: Wonderful review of the remarkable contribution of Wycliffe.
Comment: This book was a superb review of the remarkable contribution made by John Wycliffe to the placement of the Scriptures in the hands of the English-speaking peoples. The author's style is earnest and crisp. The book is easy to read and documents clearly the magnitude of Wycliffe's life work and the great cost he paid in accomplishing the work. I thoroughly enjoyed reading Professor Long's treatment of one of the greatest accomplishments of the second millenium. Long's clear command of the language speeds the reader along.