Friday, June 20, 2014

Funny Friday ~ King James I Takes On Smoking

King James IV of Scotland and I of England
(b. June 19, 1566 d. March 27, 1625)

On smoking:
"A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harmful to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black, stinking fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke of the pit that is bottomless."
Such a command of the English language. Makes one want to speak and write more eloquently, doesn't it.

One can read more about King James here or in one of David Starkey's fantastic history books. They're very enlightening. James I is the King that brought us the King James Version of the Holy Bible as England tore itself loose from the bondage of Catholicism. We owe him a great deal. 

Rideth Safeth,


13 comments:

  1. We DO owe him for having the 'English speaking people' Bible translated. I also think the language as they spoke it, is beautiful.

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  2. Well put, King James, and right on!

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  3. As Joseph told his brothers, "You meant it for evil, God worked it for good." I've read King James I was a homosexual yet God used him in a might way to influence all of Christendom forever.

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  4. @Sandra ~ I'm so big fan of royalty and know of many of their foilables. Happily, the rumor of homosexuality is a not true. It was slander brought about by Anthony Weldon, an enemy of King James I.

    Thank you for everyone's comments today. :)

    QUESTION: I have been told that King James was a homosexual. Is this true?

    ANSWER: No.

    EXPLANATION: King James I of England, who authorized the translation of the now famous King James Bible, was considered by many to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, monarchs that England has ever seen.
    Through his wisdom and determination he united the warring tribes of Scotland into a unified nation, and then joined England and Scotland to form the foundation for what is now known as the British Empire.

    At a time when only the churches of England possessed the Bible in English, King James' desire was that the common people should have the Bible in their native tongue. Thus, in 1603, King James called 54 of history's most learned men together to accomplish this great task. At a time when the leaders of the world wished to keep their subjects in spiritual ignorance, King James offered his subjects the greatest gift that he could give them. Their own copy of the Word of God in English.

    James, who was fluent in Latin, Greek, and French, and schooled in Italian and Spanish even wrote a tract entitled "Counterblast to Tobacco",which was written to help thwart the use of tobacco in England.

    Such a man was sure to have enemies. One such man, Anthony Weldon, had to be excluded from the court. Weldon swore vengeance. It was not until 1650, twenty-five years after the death of James that Weldon saw his chance. He wrote a paper calling James a homosexual. Obviously, James, being dead, was in no condition to defend himself.

    The report was largely ignored since there were still enough people alive who knew it wasn't true. In fact, it lay dormant for years, until recently when it was picked up by Christians who hoped that vilifying King James, would tarnish the Bible that bears his name so that Christians would turn away from God's book to a more "modern" translation.

    It seems though, that Weldon's false account is being once again largely ignored by the majority of Christianity with the exception of those with an ulterior motive, such as its author had.
    It might also be mentioned here that the Roman Catholic Church was so desperate to keep the true Bible out of the hands of the English people that it attempted to kill King James and all of Parliament in 1605.

    In 1605 a Roman Catholic by the name of Guy Fawkes, under the direction of a Jesuit priest by the name of Henry Garnet, was found in the basement of Parliament with thirty-six barrels of gunpowder which he was to use to blow up King James and the entire Parliament. After killing the king, they planned on imprisoning his children, re-establishing England as a state loyal to the Pope and kill all who resisted. Needless to say, the perfect English Bible would have been one of the plot's victims. Fawkes and Garnet and eight other conspirators were caught and hanged.
    It seems that those who work so hard to discredit the character of King James join an unholy lot.

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  5. Great post ---We can all use some truth now that all we hear is lie after lie. Some one needs to bring history back in line with the truth.
    I have a King James version with New International version side by side Bible. It is nice to look at both in one book.

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  6. Well said!

    You two enjoy the weekend.

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  7. Very interesting! Thanks for an informative post and an interesting continuation in comments. I had not heard that rumor about King James, but I certainly have heard it used against others also no longer able to defend themselves.

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  8. Great post about King James.
    I do hope that you are enjoying this (the first day of summer)...and that you have a beautiful weekend.
    Hugs and love,
    Jackie
    June 21, 2014

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  9. Sparky, I'm a shameless royalty lover, too! I don't care if it's the rich vs poor...it's lovely! :-)
    I never knew anybody cared about smoking back in the day...very interesting. thanks! XXX

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  10. Well I learn something new every day. I use only the King James version- always have and probably always will. But I know very little about King James and you have inspired me to do a little research. Thanks!

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  11. I find the Royals fascinating. Tudor history is actually my favorite, especially Henry VIII and his children. My husband is supposedly a direct descendant of Henry through one of his many bastard's, Richard Edwardes (now Edwards) of Wales. I'm related to last wife Queen Katherine Parr, through her mother Maud Grene (now Green or Greene). That's as close as I get.

    Thank you everyone for your lovely comments. ~:)

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