Willian Tyndale
Picture credit: By Saffron Blaze - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15074001
Last Sunday, I visited a church in a small village called North Nibley in Gloucestershire. As I drove around a corner, I was greeted by a stunning view: atop a hill stood a massive monument dedicated to one of the most prominent Christians from England, William Tyndale. In my opinion, he is as significant as the great reformer Martin Luther.
Tyndale, a man of unwavering conviction, believed that the Bible should be the sole authority over the church and that every Christian should have a copy to read. Driven by this belief, he undertook the monumental task of translating the Scriptures from their original Hebrew and Greek into English. His bravery in the face of severe persecution and daily threats from the Catholic Church is truly inspiring. He had to live as a fugitive to complete his translation, constantly on the run.
After finishing the New Testament in 1525, Tyndale smuggled those copies back into England, where owning a Bible was illegal and could lead to execution. Tragically, this is precisely how he met his end. A few years later, while translating the Old Testament, Tyndale was arrested near Brussels, Belgium, and charged with heresy by the Catholic Church. For his punishment, he was dragged into the cobbled streets, strangled to death in front of a crowd, and then burned at the stake.
Picture Credit: By John Foxe - The Horizon Book of the Elizabethan World (which credits the Folger Shakespeare Library), American Heritage / Houghton Mifflin, 1967, p. 73, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4525883
While Tyndale's execution marked a tragic chapter in the history of the English-speaking people, it also signified a turning point. As Tyndale's smoke rose over Europe, God stirred the reformation winds. His death was not in vain. Even after he passed away, his translation work continued to inspire. More editions of the Bible were printed, including the King James Version (KJV) of 1611, which became the most published book in human history.
Our God can bring light out of darkness and new life even from horrific events such as William Tyndale's execution. Today, when you hold your English Bible, take a moment to thank God for William Tyndale. His legacy lives on in the pages you hold, a testament to his unwavering faith and dedication. The Bible, the book he risked his life translating, is still God-breathed and has stood the test of time.
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Robert
Thank you. Keeping this. Grateful.
William Tyndale was definitely a hero of the faith. If people want to know more about the Christians persecuted by the Catholic Church read Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Thank you Revd Robert.