The Word of Gove

RE in schools is on the brink of collapse. Thanks to Michael Gove. Of course.

Gove it was who sent out free to schools, which in any case already owned them, copies of an Early Modern political paraphrase of the Bible, a political paraphrase of undeniable literary merit though of fairly limited literary influence.

It has not been taken seriously as an accurate translation, even by the standards of its time, since that once again came to be regarded as a pertinent question, which was not very long after the State, of which Gove would ordinarily profess to be sceptical, decreed it to be the very Word of God for popular and even for some scholarly consumption.

Still, it does contain many lovely turns of phrase, albeit its own rather than the Word of God's. What neither it nor the Word of God contains, however, and what improves neither it nor the Word of God, is a preface by none other than Michael Gove.

Yet such there was, and it must be said that the copies already owned by schools most certainly did not feature that. There was also a reference to Gove on the cover. All that was missing was a photograph of him.

But the beneficiaries of this munificence have in many cases never heard of Jesus. Meaning that while they may look at these presentation volumes, and perhaps even read the preface contained therein, they do not  turn the page and read on after the Word of Gove. Who, after all, could need any more?

Even King James's paraphrasists had to leave in the things that appealed to the original hearers of Jesus, and which so annoyed their rulers. We cannot be having any of that. So we do not.