Featured Questions of Geneva Bible use.

Geneva--authorized in Scotland

The Geneva Bible was the authorized version in Scotland. Daniell noted that a copy of the 1579 edition of the Geneva Bible printed in Scotland “was ordered to be in each parish kirk [church]” (Bible in English, p. 295). KJV-only author Robert Sargent acknowledged that the Geneva Bible “became the official version of Presbyterian Scotland in 1579” (English Bible, p. 197). Samuel McComb observed that the Geneva Bible “became the version sanctioned in Scotland both by Church and State” (Making, p. 46). William Whitley asserted that the Geneva Bible “became the Scotch Authorized Version” (Jacobus, Roman Catholic and Protestant Bibles, p. 34). John Eadie noted that editions of the Geneva Bible printed in Scotland had been “dedicated to him [King James VI] in 1576-9” (English Bible, II, p. 178). In his introduction to the facsimile edition of the 1560 Geneva Bible, Lloyd Berry wrote: “The Bassandyne Bible, as it was known, was a reprint of the second edition of the Geneva Bible, the folio of 1561, and contained a dedication praising James VI (later James I of England) for having authorized its publication” (p. 21). David Norton noted that “his [James] approval was invoked on the title page of the first Geneva Bible printed in Scotland” (KJB: a Short History, p. 82). William Beloe indicated that the 1610 edition of the Geneva Bible printed at Edinburgh by Andro Hart had on it: “Cum Privilegio Regiae Majestatio” (Anecdotes of Literature, Vol. 2, p. 332). MacGregor observed that “the first generation of Scotsmen to enjoy the benefits of the Reformation was reared exclusively upon this version” (Literary History, p. 145).
The Church of Scotland was a more spiritual or godly church during the 1500's and early 1600's than the compromising Church of England. Compared to the Reformation in England and Ireland, MacCulloch pointed out that “the Scottish Reformation proved the most thoroughgoing” (Reformation, p. 368). Bradstreet noted that “the leaders of the Scottish Church were true Reformation saints with a strong doctrine of grace apart from ecclesiastical works” (KJV in History, p. 84).