A Book To Die For
On 6th October 1536 in Vilvoorde, Brussels, a 42 year old, well educated Englishman was executed by strangulation and his body burned. His name was William Tyndale. He was a linguist, a Biblical scholar, a translator and a Protestant Reformer. Above all he was passionate to make the Bible accessible to every Englishman by using the vernacular of the day. His opinion was controversial and not acceptable to the church authorities. As a result, in 1521 he was brought before the Chancellor of the Diocese of Worcester, who described Tyndale as a 'learned but blasphemous clergyman’. The verdict was, 'We had better be without God's Laws than the Pope's'. To which Tyndale allegedly replied, 'I defy the Pope and his laws and if God spares my life ere many years, I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of Scripture than thou dost.'
In 1523, Tyndale left Worcester for London determined to seek permission and funding from the Bishop of London to translate the Bible directly from the Greek into English. Both permission and funding were refused.
His passion for the work, and motivated by the advent of the printing press, Tyndale left England for Germany. He stayed in Hamburg, then Wittenberg, where he began work on his translation. The first edition was printed in Cologne in 1526. This year, 2026, we celebrate five hundred years of having the New Testament in English. Sadly, the opponents of the Reformation heard of his activity and had the press raided. No printer in England would agree to print the work, so further copies were printed in Worms. Six thousand copies were made and smuggled into England by putting pages in-between other legally permitted books. The translation was condemned by Bishop Tunstall, who issued warnings to booksellers selling the book. Tunstall bought up all available copies and had them burned in public. In 1529 Cardinal Wolsey had Tyndale condemned as a heretic. Tyndale remained living in Germany, where it was not illegal to print a Bible, even in English, and where no conviction could be made against him.
In 1530 Tyndale boldly wrote to Henry VIII opposing the King's wish to secure the annulment of his marriage to Catherine of Aragon on the grounds that it was unscriptual saying '...that the Word of God should not be subject to the final arbitration of a single man'. Henry was not pleased! Tyndale was betrayed to the authorities of the Holy Roman Empire. In Antwerp in 1535 he was seized and arrested and held captive in the castle at Vilvoorde for eighteen months. Here, sensing that his life was in danger, many tried to persuade him to change his views, not only about Henry's annulment, but also his views on justification only by faith.
In 1536 he was brought to trial, charged and found guilty of Lutheran Heresy. Tyndale's martyrdom was not a direct result of his NT translation into English. But his desire to get the work done, and his belief that the Bible was God's authoritative word, led the church authorities of the day to look for other reasons linked to his beliefs for which they could execute him. He gave his life for proclaiming the truths contained in God's word. While tied to the stake, Tyndale's final words were ''Lord, open the King of England’s eyes. In translating the New Testament I am only doing my duty.'' This is Tyndale's legacy.
Five hundred years later, the Bible still carries, for some, the risk of persecution, imprisonment and even death. How do we share Tyndale's passion for making the Word of God accessible to all? We may help by supporting one of the many Christian organisations involved in Bible translation, distribution and even Bible smuggling. This is good. However, one of the best ways of making the Bible accessible to all we meet in our daily lives is to live by its teachings, for it is 'God's power unto salvation'. People we meet are reading us (just like we read them)! As they read, may they get glimpses of the Bible, God's word, and God Himself being alive and active in our lives.
The disciples on the road to Emmaus walked with a stranger. As they walked, the stranger shared the Scriptures with them. Later, sharing a meal together they recognised the man as Jesus and said to each other, 'Were not our hearts burning within us as he shared the scriptures with us?'.
As we walk with people day by day let us share the scriptures, God's Word. May our lives be a means of opening Scripture to all that we meet so that their hearts will burn within them and they will see Jesus.
Alison Edwards