From January 24 through February 22, the William H. Hannon Library is host to a traveling exhibition that explores the social, cultural, literary, and religious influence of the King James Bible over the four centuries since it was published. We are one of only 40 sites nation-wide that were selected to display Manifold Greatness: The Creation and Afterlife of the King James Bible, and we are delighted to be able to use it as a starting point for a month's worth of entertaining, thought-provoking programming.
On Thursday January 24, all are invited to the opening event for Manifold Greatness, where New Testament scholar and New York Times bestselling author Bart D. Ehrman will share his perspective on the question, "What kind of a text is the King James Bible?"
Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and is a leading authority on the New Testament and the history of early Christianity. He is the author or editor of more than twenty-five books, including four New York Times bestsellers (Forged, Misquoting Jesus, Lost Christianities, and Jesus, Interrupted), and his books have been translated into twenty-seven languages. Ehrman's work has been featured in publications such as Time, Newsweek, the New Yorker, the Washington Post, and he has appeared on NBC's Dateline, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, CNN, The History Channel, National Geographic, the Discovery Channel, the BBC, major NPR shows, and other top media outlets.
Attendees of this event will learn about why the KJV has received such praise and adoration over the centuries, and then turn to consider aspects of the translation that also need to be considered when assessing its greatness and value: the archaic language that at times can confuse modern readers; the inferior ancient manuscripts on which the translation was based; and the theological biases that occasionally led the translators to make the biblical text say something other than it originally meant.
This event is free and open to the public. Ehrman's talk will start at 6 p.m. in Hilton 100, and afterwards all guests are invited back to the William H. Hannon Library for a reception and exhibition viewing to celebrate the opening of Manifold Greatness.
Manifold Greatness was organized by the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C., and the American Library Association Public Programs Office. It is based on an exhibition of the same name developed by the Folger Shakespeare Library and the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, with assistance from the Harry Ransom Center of the University of Texas. The traveling exhibition was made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
We are grateful to the following LMU sponsors for their generous support of our programming.
- The Office of the Provost
- The Office of the Associate Provost for Undergraduate Education
- The Department of Theological Studies
- Campus Ministry
- Young Presidential Associates
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