No wonder the churches are empty

It is a bit rich to hear the great and good of the Church of England singing the praises of the King James version of the Bible, published 400 years ago this year, writes Peter Rhodes.

Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, declared in his "big picture" speech: "As the King James Bible took hold of the imaginations of millions of people in the English-speaking world, it gave them just that - a big picture, a story in which their lives made sense."

So why has the glorious language and imagery of the Authorised Version been chucked out by the Church and replaced by the drivelling mundanity of modern translations?

For millions of us fortunate enough to remember the Authorised Version , the Christmas story has: " And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

A modern translation is: " Suddenly a great army of heaven's angels appeared with the angel, singing praises to God."

The first is magnificent, energetic, inspiring. The second reads like an entry in a police log.

No wonder the churches are empty.