In 1611 the King James Version of the Bible was presented to the people of England, and the King ordered its use in all of England's Churches
In 1620 the Pilgrims set their feet on America's shores, armed with the Sword of the Spirit, the Geneva Bible. They were fleeing the persecution of King James and the official Church of England. The Geneva Bible that these Pilgrims revered had been published in 1560 by great leaders of the Reformation. These translators were English refugees in Geneva who had themselves escaped persecution and death at the hands of Queen "Bloody" Mary. It was that Bible, the Geneva Bible, that King James hated - hated for its Reformation commentary and for its popularity among the English people. King James was intent on ridding England of that Geneva Bible.
The Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower would have nothing to do with the recently published King James Version. Neither would most of their Puritan brethren still living in England. These seventeenth-century "fundamentalists" would stick with the tried-and-true Geneva Bible rather than embrace a new version handed down from a church they regarded as corrupt.
Did you think today's battles over Bible versions were something new? You will enjoy reading the account of the development of the King James Version, and seeing the parallels to modern day Christianity.
