Why did King James not allow margin notes in his Bible?

Answer 1

A:

To the Catholic Church, its traditions and teachings are of equal importance to The Bible in revealing the word of God. For this reason, the Bible must be read within the context of broader instruction. The view of the Catholic Church is that parishioners ought to rely on the clergy and theologians to explain the Bible to them, for fear they arrive at a different interpretation and go astray. This helps explain the Church's preference for Latin and its long opposition to translating the Bible into the vernacular. It is also the reason Catholic Bibles contain margin notes or footnotes - to ensure that everyone is guided in their reading.

Protestant thinking is that if the Bible is the word of God, it should be read in the context of its words alone, without the addition of meaning that comes with margin notes and footnotes, which simply get in the way of literal interpretation. Without these notes, any incorrect or inappropriate bias from an editor is avoided. This does not mean people should not seek guidance for difficult passages, but that they can read the Bible and take the ordinary meaning of the words as they see them.

AnswerThe previous version of the Bible before the King James Bible was the "Geneva Bible" and it had footnotes, some of which said the 'Divine Right of Kings' was unbiblical and wrong. Obviously King James didn't agree with this, so a new translation with a stipulation of no footnotes was required.