For many fundamentalists, the voice of God sounds curiously like a Shakespearean actor from the 1930’s. For that matter, so does the voice of everyone else in the Bible from Adam to Zechariah.

Whether it’s the daily Bible reading on the radio, the cassette tapes enshrined in their plastic cases, or the original LP albums, Alexander Scourby is the voice of the King James Bible. Fundamentalists accept no substitutes. Not even James Earl Jones’ fine work recording the Bible can hope to compete with the long tradition of the original recordings. They are the Authorized Version.

Alexander Scourby’s skill is such that even the genealogies somehow take on a new and invigorating air when he gravely intones them. Perhaps Moses and Joshua and Boaz may not really have sounded like Scourby — but until we get to hear the originals, it would be hard to find a better substitute.