0:00:04 > 0:00:08It's an epic tale of the struggle between good and evil.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Telling stories of love and hatred,
0:00:13 > 0:00:14sex and violence...
0:00:15 > 0:00:18..self-sacrifice and betrayal.
0:00:20 > 0:00:22It's not just a good book -
0:00:22 > 0:00:23it's THE good book.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26Today is Bible Sunday, when many Christians celebrate
0:00:26 > 0:00:29the biggest-selling book in the world -
0:00:29 > 0:00:30The Holy Bible.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38Tonight, congregations from all over the country
0:00:38 > 0:00:43sing songs of praise inspired by some of the Bible's most beautiful poetry.
0:00:43 > 0:00:47And a performance from Grammy Award winners The King's Singers.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02Made of up 66 books written by many different authors
0:01:02 > 0:01:06between 2 and 3,000 years ago, the Bible as we know it today
0:01:06 > 0:01:10has been translated into more than 2,000 different languages.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14This year, we're celebrating the 400th anniversary
0:01:14 > 0:01:18of the most famous of all English translations -
0:01:18 > 0:01:22the beautiful words of the King James, or Authorized, version,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25were translated from the original Hebrew and Greek
0:01:25 > 0:01:29by a group of scholars based in Westminster, Cambridge,
0:01:29 > 0:01:30and here in Oxford.
0:01:30 > 0:01:35Colleges including St John's and New College provided
0:01:35 > 0:01:40their finest Old and New Testament scholars for this mammoth task.
0:01:41 > 0:01:46Interpreting the word of God in poetry and music is, of course,
0:01:46 > 0:01:48what hymns and psalms are all about.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52So let's begin with words based on Psalm 150, O Praise Ye The Lord!
0:04:02 > 0:04:06As a novelist and scriptwriter for film and television,
0:04:06 > 0:04:09Frank Cottrell Boyce knows what makes a convincing story.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12I think first and foremost,
0:04:12 > 0:04:14what's great about the King James
0:04:14 > 0:04:17is that wherever you open it, it feels like someone is talking to you.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19It may be someone from the past,
0:04:19 > 0:04:24and you might have to listen a bit harder than you would listen to me,
0:04:24 > 0:04:26but it's a person speaking to you.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29For any written thing to walk off the page into the real world -
0:04:29 > 0:04:31that's the thing you're aiming for,
0:04:31 > 0:04:34and I think the King James does that time and time again.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37For me, if there was nothing else left
0:04:37 > 0:04:41apart from the fact of Jesus' life and the story of the Prodigal Son,
0:04:41 > 0:04:43that would be enough, to me.
0:04:43 > 0:04:47I think the Prodigal Son is an astonishing thing.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50As a writer, it's miraculous. It's one paragraph long,
0:04:50 > 0:04:54but it's more emotionally complex than any Shakespeare play
0:04:54 > 0:04:55or any novel that you read.
0:04:55 > 0:04:59Everybody feels this sort of amazing rush at the end
0:04:59 > 0:05:02when the father runs to meet his lost son.
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Everybody recognises all the emotions in it - sibling rivalry,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07and love of a parent.
0:05:07 > 0:05:10It's this amazing moment in human thought,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12that you will call God "Father".
0:05:12 > 0:05:16He won't be some avenging thing that you've got to placate,
0:05:16 > 0:05:20it will be someone who's waiting for you, who's desperate to see you,
0:05:20 > 0:05:23who loves you more than you can possibly imagine.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29Time and again, the Bible speaks of the good shepherd
0:05:29 > 0:05:33searching for his lost sheep to welcome them home.
0:05:33 > 0:05:37Psalm 23 has been made into one of our most beloved hymns.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40Its familiar lines are a paraphrase of the words
0:05:40 > 0:05:43and imagery used in the King James Version.
0:08:11 > 0:08:15Right at the heart of Christianity is the Easter story.
0:08:15 > 0:08:19It's the ultimate example of devoted self-sacrifice.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23But who would have thought that a book with such a message of love
0:08:23 > 0:08:25at its heart could have caused so much strife?
0:08:28 > 0:08:32There's a connection in my mind between the historical context
0:08:32 > 0:08:35of the King James Bible and the Easter story itself.
0:08:36 > 0:08:41St James's Piccadilly is an oasis of calm amidst the noise
0:08:41 > 0:08:43and conflict of central London.
0:08:44 > 0:08:49Theologian Lucy Winkett is the rector of this busy parish.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54The King James Bible straddled two centuries of horrendous
0:08:54 > 0:08:59religious conflict in this country where Catholics and Protestants
0:08:59 > 0:09:03were attacking one another and burning one another.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06The King James Bible is right at the heart of that maelstrom
0:09:06 > 0:09:08of religious conflict.
0:09:13 > 0:09:19And the Easter story itself is a four-day story
0:09:19 > 0:09:23of dreadful political manoeuvring
0:09:23 > 0:09:29and abusive actions by religious leaders
0:09:29 > 0:09:33to bring this innocent person to the point of crucifixion.
0:09:33 > 0:09:38There is a kind of a link between those two stories,
0:09:38 > 0:09:40centuries apart as they are.
0:09:42 > 0:09:47As a courtier of King James I, the composer of our next hymn tune,
0:09:47 > 0:09:50Orlando Gibbons, experienced the political unrest
0:09:50 > 0:09:54that gave birth to the King's version of the Bible.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57In later centuries, wordsmith Charles Wesley
0:09:57 > 0:10:01and his brother John also lived through turbulent times.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Wesley's words remind us that, as Christians,
0:10:06 > 0:10:10we're required to reflect our faith in all aspects of everyday life.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37As well as presenting the BBC Proms,
0:12:37 > 0:12:40journalist and classical music enthusiast Katie Derham
0:12:40 > 0:12:43is also a member of the King James Bible Trust.
0:12:45 > 0:12:49By happy genius, the 47 scholars who sat down to translate
0:12:49 > 0:12:53the Bible into English happened upon forms of words
0:12:53 > 0:12:58that lent themselves to not just reading out loud, but to being sung.
0:12:58 > 0:13:02Composers have always wanted to set wonderful words to music,
0:13:02 > 0:13:05they are always looking for sources of inspiration -
0:13:05 > 0:13:07poetry, plays, dramas.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10Wonderful composers, music we're very familiar with
0:13:10 > 0:13:12if you enjoy going to church or listening to choral music,
0:13:12 > 0:13:16and they're all using these words from the King James Version.
0:13:16 > 0:13:18Let's take Handel, for example.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21Some of his most wonderful, famous anthems - Zadok The Priest,
0:13:21 > 0:13:25sung at every coronation - words from the King James Version.
0:13:25 > 0:13:26Messiah - we all know the Messiah.
0:13:26 > 0:13:29That's entirely from the King James Version.
0:13:34 > 0:13:38# And the glory The glory of the Lord
0:13:38 > 0:13:42# And the glory The glory of the Lord
0:13:42 > 0:13:45# Shall be revealed
0:13:45 > 0:13:47# Shall be revealed
0:13:47 > 0:13:49# Shall be revealed
0:13:49 > 0:13:53# And the glory The glory of the Lord
0:13:53 > 0:13:57# And the glory The glory of the Lord
0:13:57 > 0:14:01# Shall be revealed
0:14:01 > 0:14:02# Shall be revealed
0:14:02 > 0:14:07# And the glory The glory of the Lord
0:14:07 > 0:14:10# Shall be revealed
0:14:15 > 0:14:20# And all flesh shall see it together
0:14:20 > 0:14:25# And all flesh shall see it together
0:14:25 > 0:14:31# For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it
0:14:31 > 0:14:35# And all flesh shall see it together
0:14:35 > 0:14:42# For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it
0:14:42 > 0:14:45# And all flesh shall see it together
0:14:45 > 0:14:48# And all flesh shall see it together
0:14:48 > 0:14:56# For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it
0:14:59 > 0:15:03# And the glory The glory of the Lord
0:15:03 > 0:15:08# And all flesh shall see it together
0:15:08 > 0:15:11# The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it
0:15:11 > 0:15:14# And the glory The glory of the Lord
0:15:14 > 0:15:16# Shall be revealed
0:15:16 > 0:15:17# And all flesh
0:15:17 > 0:15:18# And all flesh
0:15:18 > 0:15:20# And all flesh
0:15:20 > 0:15:22# Shall see it together
0:15:22 > 0:15:27# For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it
0:15:27 > 0:15:32# The glory, the glory of the Lord shall be revealed
0:15:32 > 0:15:34# And all flesh
0:15:34 > 0:15:35# And all flesh
0:15:35 > 0:15:37# And all flesh
0:15:37 > 0:15:39# Shall see it together
0:15:39 > 0:15:42# The glory, the glory The glory of the Lord
0:15:42 > 0:15:46# And the glory The glory of the Lord
0:15:46 > 0:15:52# Shall be revealed
0:15:52 > 0:15:54# Shall be revealed
0:15:54 > 0:15:57# And all flesh shall see it
0:15:57 > 0:16:01# Together, together
0:16:01 > 0:16:07# For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it
0:16:07 > 0:16:12# For the mouth of the Lord
0:16:12 > 0:16:16# The mouth of the Lord
0:16:17 > 0:16:25# Hath spoken it. #
0:16:30 > 0:16:33Ready? And...
0:16:33 > 0:16:35THEY SING
0:16:35 > 0:16:38The King James Bible Trust held a competition
0:16:38 > 0:16:40to encourage young composers.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43Chris Totney won the Royal School of Church Music category
0:16:43 > 0:16:45for a simple four-part anthem
0:16:45 > 0:16:48with words taken from the King James Version.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54I think it's very important to bring music into the Christian faith.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56The sort of choirs that would sing my piece
0:16:56 > 0:17:00are parish church choirs, possibly even school choirs,
0:17:00 > 0:17:02and amateur choirs who would like
0:17:02 > 0:17:05to include a sacred piece of music in their concert, maybe.
0:17:05 > 0:17:09I love the fact that something so ancient as the King James Bible
0:17:09 > 0:17:11can speak to people today.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16The words "the mystery of Christ" really made a statement,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18and encouraged one, I thought,
0:17:18 > 0:17:21to ponder what that sort of thing might mean.
0:17:23 > 0:17:26I think the opportunity to write this composition
0:17:26 > 0:17:30has probably deepened my own faith.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34That's probably because faith, for me, is based on experience,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38and I'm very lucky in an environment like Dauntsey's School
0:17:38 > 0:17:44to be able to work in so many different walks of the school community,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47whether it's a classroom situation, musical activities outside
0:17:47 > 0:17:50of teaching time, just making a difference to an individual
0:17:50 > 0:17:53or whether it's enjoying a concert performance.
0:17:55 > 0:18:03# I have long time holden my peace
0:18:05 > 0:18:09# Now will I cry... #
0:18:19 > 0:18:23The texts I chose for this piece, there are actually three of them.
0:18:23 > 0:18:28One from Isaiah, one from Revelation and one from the Book of Colossians.
0:18:30 > 0:18:35I just love the way that they go together as one seamless story.
0:18:35 > 0:18:37It's as if there's this person who has been waiting
0:18:37 > 0:18:40very patiently to find the right moment to speak,
0:18:40 > 0:18:43and when they finally do speak out, then Jesus leads them
0:18:43 > 0:18:47to the water's edge and leads them over
0:18:47 > 0:18:51across the water of life and into a new world
0:18:51 > 0:18:54where they can go out and serve and be helpful to others.
0:21:08 > 0:21:11That refrain, "let there be light",
0:21:11 > 0:21:13is just one of the many phrases
0:21:13 > 0:21:16made famous by the King James Version of the Bible.
0:21:16 > 0:21:21I'm surprised every time by how fresh the language is,
0:21:21 > 0:21:22how rich and lyrical and beautiful it is,
0:21:22 > 0:21:26but also how very "un-churchy" it is in many ways,
0:21:26 > 0:21:28and how many phrases that we use in everyday language
0:21:28 > 0:21:31have come from this document
0:21:31 > 0:21:36that was translated by committee - imagine that! - by 47 scholars
0:21:36 > 0:21:37400 years ago.
0:21:37 > 0:21:42Phrases that we use every day - "casting pearls before swine",
0:21:42 > 0:21:44"the apple of his eye", "Jezebel",
0:21:44 > 0:21:47"as old as the hills", "an eye for an eye".
0:21:49 > 0:21:52And I think it fertilised English culture,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54and I think a lot of the things we love,
0:21:54 > 0:21:56whether it's a cup final or a coronation
0:21:56 > 0:22:01or whatever it is, there's bits of the King James DNA in there.
0:22:01 > 0:22:03It's got a kind of rhythm of speech
0:22:03 > 0:22:05that sounds like someone talking,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08and then suddenly a ringing phrase will come out of it -
0:22:08 > 0:22:11"abide with me, because the evening is coming"
0:22:11 > 0:22:14and just the way it will suddenly give that little twist
0:22:14 > 0:22:17where the phrase will just lodge itself in your head
0:22:17 > 0:22:19out of something very ordinary.
0:23:56 > 0:24:02# Abide, O Lord
0:24:02 > 0:24:10# Abide with me. #
0:24:16 > 0:24:19After the invention of the printing press,
0:24:19 > 0:24:23scribes no longer had to copy out the Bible by hand,
0:24:23 > 0:24:26and the scriptures could be mass-produced across the globe.
0:24:26 > 0:24:30A new project commissioned from the Queen's scribe,
0:24:30 > 0:24:34the Saint John's Bible, will be the first illuminated manuscript Bible
0:24:34 > 0:24:37to have been made since the Middle Ages.
0:24:39 > 0:24:41I am now the ultimate cliche.
0:24:41 > 0:24:46The bald-headed old guy who sits at his desk and is writing a Bible.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50Calligrapher Donald Jackson and his team have now completed
0:24:50 > 0:24:53their millennium project for the Benedictine monks
0:24:53 > 0:24:56of Saint John's University in Minnesota.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00Ever since I was a small boy, when I was encouraged to do calligraphy
0:25:00 > 0:25:03and decorated letters at school,
0:25:03 > 0:25:07one of the ideas at the back of my mind was I would love
0:25:07 > 0:25:10to write and illuminate the whole Bible.
0:25:12 > 0:25:16It's a calligrapher's dream. It's a calligrapher's Sistine Chapel.
0:25:18 > 0:25:23How do you make something look sacred, as in a sacred text?
0:25:23 > 0:25:25That is my job, to interpret that
0:25:25 > 0:25:29in a way which you can read clearly in a modern day.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34What calligraphy has, which type does not have,
0:25:34 > 0:25:38is it has connection. It has a sense of touch.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41You are maybe not aware of it intellectually,
0:25:41 > 0:25:46but on one level you are drawn to the fact that somebody's breath
0:25:46 > 0:25:47went into every mark,
0:25:47 > 0:25:51somebody's hand made every shape.
0:25:53 > 0:25:56Some of the stories and some of the texts
0:25:56 > 0:26:00seem so insane to a modern person.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04They have so little relevance on the surface.
0:26:04 > 0:26:07But once you delve into it, the one thing
0:26:07 > 0:26:11I would say about the whole experience
0:26:11 > 0:26:17is how utterly pin-sharp relevant are those Bible stories,
0:26:17 > 0:26:20those texts, for the present day.
0:26:20 > 0:26:25So often you look and read a page out of the Bible
0:26:25 > 0:26:29and it's just like looking at the nine o'clock news.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32There's war, there's threats,
0:26:32 > 0:26:35they're full of love, they're full of hate.
0:26:35 > 0:26:39For instance, the parables about forgiveness.
0:26:40 > 0:26:44I always felt that that Prodigal Son needed a good smacking -
0:26:44 > 0:26:46in other words, it made me angry.
0:26:46 > 0:26:53While I was doing that, it was a very short time after 9/11,
0:26:55 > 0:26:59and I found myself saying, "What is impossible to forgive?
0:26:59 > 0:27:03"What would I find it almost impossible to forgive?"
0:27:03 > 0:27:06And I found myself putting in an image, a reference,
0:27:06 > 0:27:11of the Twin Towers in gold in the background
0:27:11 > 0:27:14of the illumination for the Prodigal Son.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16How do you forgive the unforgivable?
0:27:16 > 0:27:21And it came to me as I did it,
0:27:21 > 0:27:25the words "you are going to have to love your way out of this one.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27"You can't hate your way out of it."
0:27:29 > 0:27:36# This is the truth sent from above
0:27:36 > 0:27:44# The truth of God, the God of love
0:27:44 > 0:27:51# Therefore don't turn me from your door
0:27:51 > 0:27:59# But hearken all, both rich and poor
0:28:01 > 0:28:08# The first thing which I do relate
0:28:08 > 0:28:14# Is that God did man create
0:28:14 > 0:28:21# The next thing which to you I'll tell
0:28:21 > 0:28:29# Woman was made with man to dwell
0:28:31 > 0:28:39# Thus we were heirs to endless woes
0:28:39 > 0:28:45# Till God the Lord did interpose
0:28:45 > 0:28:53# And so a promise soon did run
0:28:53 > 0:29:01# That he would redeem us by his son
0:29:03 > 0:29:11# And at that season of the year
0:29:11 > 0:29:17# Our blest redeemer did appear
0:29:17 > 0:29:24# He here did live and here did preach
0:29:24 > 0:29:32# And many thousand he did teach
0:29:34 > 0:29:42# Thus he in love to us behaved
0:29:42 > 0:29:49# To show us how we must be saved
0:29:49 > 0:29:57# And if you want to know the way
0:29:57 > 0:30:05# Be pleased to hear what he did say. #
0:30:13 > 0:30:14Blessed Lord,
0:30:14 > 0:30:19who hast caused all holy scriptures to be written for our learning,
0:30:19 > 0:30:23grant that we may in such wise hear, read, mark,
0:30:23 > 0:30:25learn, and inwardly digest them,
0:30:25 > 0:30:28that by patience and comfort of thy holy word,
0:30:28 > 0:30:32we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope
0:30:32 > 0:30:38of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our saviour Jesus Christ.
0:30:38 > 0:30:39Amen.
0:30:40 > 0:30:44The Bible is so much more than just a dusty old book -
0:30:44 > 0:30:47the way God's word has been revealed throughout the ages,
0:30:47 > 0:30:50by the Old Testament prophets, by Jesus himself,
0:30:50 > 0:30:51and by those who followed him,
0:30:51 > 0:30:55still has a massive influence on millions of people
0:30:55 > 0:30:56all over the world.
0:33:27 > 0:33:29Next week on Songs Of Praise,
0:33:29 > 0:33:31my special guest is the tenor Alfie Boe.
0:33:31 > 0:33:33In a classic rags-to-riches story,
0:33:33 > 0:33:37Alfie was talent-spotted whilst working in a car factory.
0:33:37 > 0:33:39Now he's a West End star.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42He talks to me about the importance of his faith,
0:33:42 > 0:33:45and he performs some of his favourite hymns and songs.
0:33:52 > 0:33:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:33:54 > 0:33:56Email subtitling@redbeemedia.com