Until the twentieth century the dominate English language Bible translations in the United States would have been the King James Version, which was used by Protestants, and the Douay-Rheims (as revised by eighteenth century English Bishop Richard Challoner), which was used among Roman Catholics. While the translations themselves were fairly similar Catholic and Protestant editions of the Bible were presented differently. Differences over the Bible led to riots and violence in mid-nineteenth century America. In 1885 the Revised Version of the Bible was published, the first translation other than the King James to see widespread use among Protestants.

How Bibles Differed

The Douay-Rheims that was published in twenty-one editions by D.J. Sadlier in New York and Boston between 1842 and 1880 is illustrative of how Protestant and Catholic Bibles differed. The Sadlier produced 1845 edition Douay-Rheims, to focus on one particular example, included a blessing from New York Bishop John Hughes before the text, and textual annotations by Richard Challoner which connected the Biblical text to the teachings of the Roman Catholic church. Before both the Old and New Testaments were warnings that private interpretation of scripture should be done only in “due submission to the Catholic church.”

The King James Version often included a translator’s introduction, but typically did not have textual annotations. There were a few editions of King James that did include translation notes, but this was not common in the nineteenth century. King James and Douay-Rheims Bibles also differed because the Catholic scriptures contained the apocrypha, Protestant Bibles did not.

Bible Battles

Disputes about which version of the Bible to teach from in the public schools bitterly divided Protestants and Catholics. In the 1830s Philadelphia required the reading of the King James Version in its schools. Catholics objected, claiming that using a Protestant version of the Bible in public education was exclusionary. Catholics were also concerned about the fact that school children were required to pray Protestant prayers, while Protestants disliked Catholics because many Catholics were Irish immigrants. In 1844 conflict in Philadelphia led to a series of riots which killed over a dozen people.

Tensions between Catholics and Protestants also flared up over this issue in other places. There were a series of legal battles over Cincinnati’s choice to use the King James Version in its public schools. In 1872 this led to the Ohio State Supreme Court removing the Bible entirely from public schools. This was a typical solution to the problem, many localities stopped using the Bible in public education because of these kinds of disputes.

Other Interesting Bibles

Though the King James, Douay-Rheims, and later the Revised Standard Version were the main Bibles used in the United States, there were other important Bibles that appeared in the nineteenth century. One that is worth mentioning is the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible, by the leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (the group popularly known as the Mormons). The Joseph Smith translation was not a real translation, Smith inserted entirely new verses into the King James Version to expand it in places that he felt required clarification or further elaboration. Smith did not complete the project before he died, so it ultimately saw little use.

Also, worth mentioning is Noah Webster’s effort to modernize the spelling in the King James Version. Like many efforts to revise the King James this met with a lukewarm public reception.

Twentieth Century and Many Translations

The existence many competing Bible translations is mostly a twentieth century development. There are now multiple evangelical translations, mainline Protestant translations, a Jehovah’s Witness translation, several Jewish translations, and a variety of Catholic translations. A huge variety of editions exist, from academic study Bibles to Bibles with annotations intended to debunk Christianity. Religious choice now extends to what version of the Bible to use.

It’s worth noting that everything I’ve written here pertains only debates about Bible translation. There were vigorous debates about Biblical interpretation throughout the nineteenth century on topics that included slavery, temperance, science, and a host of other issues.

Suggested Reading:

Fessenden, Tracy. “The Nineteenth-Century Bible Wars and the Separation of Church and State.” Church History 74, no. 4 (2005): 784–811.

Green, Steve K. The Bible, The School and the Constitution. New York: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Gutjahr, Paul C. An American Bible: A History of the Good Book in the United States, 1777-1880. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999.

Gutjahr, Paul C., ed. The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in America. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Hanson, Paul D. A Political History of the Bible in America. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2015.