God’s Battle Axe- William Tyndale

That we have the Bible in English owes much to William Tyndale, sometimes called the father of the English Bible. About 90% of the King James Version and 75% of the Revised Standard Version are from the translation of the Bible into English made by Tyndale. This great work cost him his life as he was strangled and burnt at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church on October 6, 1536.

William was born in 1494 near the Welsh border of England. Forty years earlier, two important events occurred in Europe, which would have a great impact on his life and work. In May 1453, the Turks had stormed Constantinople, and the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire fell to the Muslim invaders. Greek scholars fled westward and brought with them a scholarship, which had been almost forgotten in the West. Greek language studies of the classics increased, and the Scriptures began to be studied in the original Greek, rather than the Latin Vulgate. The invention of the printing press in 1454 was the second important development. The printing press would eliminate copyist errors and make the Scriptures more easily available in quantity editions. But to have the Bible in English was considered illegal by the Roman Catholic authorities.

In an attempt to restrain the influence of followers of John Wycliffe, a Christian reformer, the British Parliament passed a law known as,s ‘Constitutions of Oxford’ in 1408, which forbade anyone from translating or reading a part of the Bible in the language of the people without permission of the ecclesiastical authorities. Men and women were even burned alive for teaching their children the Apostles Creed, the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments in English.

Tyndale, however, had an unquenchable passion to make the Bible available to every Englishman. He was the first to oversee an English translation of the Bible, but that was before the invention of the printing press, and all copies had to be handwritten. Besides, the Roman Catholic Church had banned the unauthorised translation of the Bible into English in 1408. After studying at Oxford and Cambridge, Tyndale joined the household of Sir John Walsh at Little Sudbury Manor as tutor to his children. Walsh was a generous lord of the manor and often entertained the local clergy at his table. Tyndale often added spice to the conversation as he was confronted with the Biblical ignorance of the priests. At one point, he told one of priests, “If God spares my life, ere many years pass, I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost”.

Thereafter, Tyndale went to London to ask Bishop Tunstall if he could be authorised to make an English translation of the Bible, but the Bishop would not grant his approval. This did not deter Tyndale. With encouragement and support of some British merchants, he decided to go to another part of Europe to complete his translation, then have it printed and smuggled back into England.

In 1524, he sailed for Germany and eventually began the translation in Hamburg, starting with the New Testament. However, news of his activity came to an opponent of the Reformation who mobilised and raided the printing press at Cologne handling the work. Tyndale himself managed to escape with the pages already printed and made his way to the German city of Worms where the New Testament was soon published. Six thousand copies were printed and smuggled into England. The Bishops did everything they could to eradicate the Bibles to no avail. In particular, Bishop Tunstall had copies ceremoniously burned at St. Paul’s and the archbishop of Canterbury bought up copies to destroy them. Tyndale used the money to print improved editions!

King Henry VIII, then in the throes of his divorce with Queen Katherine, offered Tyndale a safe passage to England to serve as his writer and scholar. The godly man refused the offer, saying that he would not return until the Bible could be legally translated into English. He continued hiding among the merchants in Antwerp and began translating the Old Testament while the king’s agents searched for him all over Europe.

In 1534, Tyndale was betrayed by a false friend near Brussels, arrested by imperial forces and thrown into prison. After a year and half in prison, he was brought to trial for heresy- for believing among other things, in the forgiveness of sins and that the mercy offered in the gospel was enough for salvation. He was accused of maintaining that faith alone justifies. In August 1536, he was condemned to death by the Roman Emperor, Charles V on behalf of the King of England. The death penalty was executed on October 6, 1536, with his strangulation and burning at the stake. Tyndale’s last prayer was, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes”. The prayer was answered in part when three years later, that is 1539, King Henry VIII required every parish church in England to make a copy of the English Bible available to its parishioners.

Today, many of us read the Bible with ease in the privacy of our homes or wherever we deem fit. Of course, millions of others do not enjoy such privileges due to political or cultural constraints. I do not think that any of us spares a thought about the cost Tyndale paid to make the Holy book available to us. The least gratitude we can show him and others who died in the course of furthering the gospel is to read the Bible. That great book is not a furniture piece! In fact, any believer who fails to feed on the word of God is setting himself or herself up for deception in these end days. Read your Bible!

***** Culled from William Tyndale: Biography of the Father of the English Bible, https://www.christianity.com