October 6, Commemoration of
WILLIAM TYNDALE,
TRANSLATOR, MARTYR (d. 1536)
The story of the Bible in English is a long and involved and
even exciting one. Many names and deeds are associated with putting the Bible in
the hands of ordinary English-speaking people, among these are John Wycliffe, Miles
Coverdale, and even Martin Luther in a roundabout way. Most in this saga were
at least arrested and persecuted, and many were tortured, and some executed for
heresy. What was the heresy? The heresy was that they were trying to put the word
of God into the hands of ordinary people. (At this time only bishops and
scholars could read the Bible—in Latin. Even many priests were biblically
illiterate.)
The fact that this was considered heretical and even a
capital offense is part of one of the darkest periods of the history of the
Christian Church—a period in which, in England alone, 288 people were burned at
the stake in four years for the crime of being protestant.
One reason that the hierarchy of the Church in the middle
ages did not want the Bible in the language of the people is that the people
would then discover the true nature of the Christian faith: That it was a
matter of following a humble peasant who came to love and save them by dying on
a cross. They would discover that forgivenss is a free gift and does not cost
either money or effort. They would discover that the word of God comes to them
directly and need not be protected by bishops and priests. And they would
discover, in the words of one author, that “It doesn’t say anything in here
about popes and bishops living in palaces!”
Many names are connected with this project, but it is no
exaggeration to say that William Tyndale gave us our English Bible. Tyndale, a
quiet and humble scholar, was influenced by Martin Luther’s theology, and by
Luther’s ground-breaking (and dangerous) translation of the scriptures into the
German language—the language of the people. Tyndale’s goal was neither academic
accomplishment nor personal recognition, but to get the Word of God into the
world. (Along the way, he contributed much to our language: The words “elevated,”
“high,” “donation” “gift,” and dozens of others come to us by way of Tyndale’s translation.)
Perhaps the most important contribution and symbol of Tyndale’s Bible is his rendering
of the Lord’s Prayer. What we have come to call the “traditional” Lord’s Prayer
is William Tyndale’s translation. Perhaps those of us for whom that prayer is
any part of our lives can bow the head a bit more deeply next time we pray it—as
we contemplate the fact that Tyndale died for those words.
Because… for the
crime of producing a good, readable Bible in English, William Tyndale was
hunted for decades, and then executed—by a church aligned with the state, by a
state aligned with the church. His dying words were, “Lord, open the King of
England’s eyes!” Within a year of Tyndale’s death, the King decided and decreed
that there would, after all, be a Bible in English. The result is what we now
call “The King James Version.” Much of it is Tyndale.
“I will cause a boy
that driveth the plough to know more of the Scriptures than thou doest
(William Tyndale, to a priest who opposed his translation project.)
(William Tyndale, to a priest who opposed his translation project.)
Very good and very readable books on Tyndale and the development of the English Bible:
- William Tyndale, by David Daniell
- Wide as the Waters, by Benson Bobrick (on Tyndale's predecessor in English translation, John Wycliffe, who died a natural death, but whose body was dug up and burned by the Church for good measure!)
- God’s Secretaries, by Adam Nicolson (On how the sublimely beautiful King Jame's Version of the Bible was put together by a committee!)
