He not
only denied their requests, but had the English Bible revised into
the King James version, which was published in 1611. This was to
replace the popular Geneva Bible written by English protestant
refugees from Catholic Queen Mary's reign, which he did not like
because some of its commentary was not highly favorable to kings.
Religion was much discussed by all and scripture was frequently
quoted. James didn't believe a king had to live by the law; he
hadn't as king of Scotland. He tried to imbue into England the
idea of a divine right of kings to rule that he had held in
Scotland. The established church quickly endorsed and preached
this idea.
The selection of the clergy of the parish churches was now often
in the hands of the parishioners, having been sold to them by the
patron lord of the manor. Some patrons sold the right of selection
to a tradesman or yeoman who wished to put in his son or a
relative. Some rights of selection were in the hands of bishops,
the colleges, and the Crown. The parish clergyman was appointed
for life and removed only for grave cause. Most parishoners wanted
a sermon created by their minister instead of repetitious homilies
and constant prayer. They thought that the object of worship in
church was to rouse men to think and act about the problems of the
world.
In 1622, the king mandated that clergymen quote scripture only in
context of the Book of Articles of Religion of 1562 or the two
Books of Homilies and not preach any sermon on Sunday afternoon
except on some part of the Catechism or some text out of the
Creed, Ten Commandments, or the Lord's Prayer.
Pages:
686
687
688
689
690
691
692
693
694
695
696
697
698
699
700
701
702
703
704
705
706
707
708
709
710