Holier Than Thou

During my mere half-decade Christian experience from the tender second half of my teen years, the King James version of the bible was the ultimate Word. There was no explanation of its origin nor, indeed, of the source texts. If anything, in true cult fashion, we were discouraged from investigating matters of archaeological relevance and steered instead toward unconditional belief. Even to the least astute amongst King James Pentecostals, the presence of a particular version of the bible prompted curiosity over what other versions might exist (we were told but to not worry that Roman Catholics had a few extra unnecessary books). What might other versions contain and why was it excluded from our text of choice? Were we missing out on something or fortunate to be spared clandestine evil incantations courtesy of the good king's scholars?

All that was needed to convince me & my fellow converts of this Bible's authenticity was the use of medieval-cum-Shakespearean English. It just felt holy. If you prayed in contemporary English, our prayers were holier-than-thine! I am amused thoroughly nowadays how people with no training in literature except for a passing exposure to Shakespeare in high school can switch seamlessly into ancient King James parlance when summoning the holy spirit and imploring it for modern electrical gadgets.