11 - Presentations of the text, 1525–1625

Summary

And here let the minister of Christ and dispenser of the mysteries of God have a due and weighty consideration to read this high treasure of God's word with all reverence and gravity, truly, distinctly and sensibly: so let the hearers also with all meekness and lowliness receive this word that is thus grafted and grounded amongst them by the great mercy of God, which word is able to save their souls.

(Fol. *i)

So writes Matthew Parker in the Bishops' Bible. He addresses only church reading, and says no more about it than anyone might have expected in specifying ‘reverence and gravity’ in the reader and ‘meekness and lowliness’ in the hearer. ‘Truly, distinctly and sensibly’ perhaps takes us further. The first two words correspond with all the translators' desire for accuracy and clarity, while the third indicates sensitivity, though what sort of sensitivity can only be guessed at. If Parker had in mind a literary or even dramatic sensitivity to the tone of a passage, that would be remarkable, and a real ground for speculation on the literary effect of the aural Bible in the Reformation.

But there are no other such passages, and it is perhaps best to treat Parker's words as a salutary reminder of the importance of the Bible as an aural experience: at all times there are probably more hearers than readers of the Bible. Sometimes they hear the incomprehensible sounds of a foreign language.