<書評>『In the Beginning, The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture』ISBN 0-385-72216-8 Alister McGrath (Anchor Books, 2001) Pages:338 pp.

[抄録] シェクスピアの作品群と欽定訳聖書(1611年発行)ほど英語の発達形成に大きな影響を与えてきた書物はないと言われてきた。何故に聖書なのか?特に、1611年発行の欽定訳聖書なのか?欽定訳聖書はいかなる英語で、どのような経緯で生まれたのか?欽定訳聖書やそれに先立ついくつかの英語聖書が英語史や英国の歴史に果たした役割とはなにか?翻訳者たちは誰なのか?彼らが直面した翻訳上の問題や困難さはどのようなものなのか?そのような問いに本書はバランスのとれた全体像を時系列で描写し、適度な専門性を用いて答えている。[Abstract] It has generally been said that no other books or literature have influenced the shaping of the English language more than the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible published in 1611. Why the Bible, especially the KJV ? What type of English does the KJV represent? What kind of roles did the KJV and other preceding English translations of the Bible play in the history of England, as well as in the English language? Who were the translators ? What seemed to have been the problems and obstacles facing those translators ? In the Beginnig written by prof. Alister McGrath answers these fundamental questions by covering the relevant topics chronologically