15th September, 2011

DAVID ADAMS

English scholar and outspoken church reformer William Tyndale was responsible for producing the first printed new New Testament in English.

Born in Gloucestershire in about 1494, Tyndale was educated at Oxford and, possibly, Cambridge and ordained a priest in about 1515, after which he returned to Gloucestershire to serve as a tutor to the children of a local knight. It was during this time that he was first accused of heresy after preaching at local churches and brought before authorities but, following what was reportedly a stormy meeting, no further action was taken against him.

Having the idea of translating the Greek New Testament into English – Tyndale was driven by the belief that all people should be able to read the Bible in their own language – he moved to London in 1523, hoping to garner support for his project from Cuthbert Tunstall, the Bishop of London.

WILLIAM TYNDALE as seen in Foxe's Book of Martyrs. PICTURE: Wikipedia.

Tunstall, however, seems to have ignored Tyndale who remained in London for about a year, preaching in places like St Dunstan-in-the-West in Fleet Street. In 1524, however, having decided his work was unlikely to get a warm reception from authorities in England, he left for Germany to continue his work in what he hoped would be greater safety. There he settled in Cologne (it has been suggested he visited Martin Luther in Wittenberg during his time in Germany but this remains disputed).

In 1525, printing of Tyndale's New Testament translationhad started but after he was reported to the authorities, he was forced to flee to the city of Worms with the work still incomplete. The following year, the first English New Testament – known as the 1526 Worms New Testament - was printed there. Copies of it were soon being smuggled into England, meaning anyone in England who could read, now had access to the text.

Roman Catholic authorities were quick to denounce and ban the work and a public burning of copies was held outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London. Further book burnings were held in England and on the continent where English agents hunted them down. Arrests of those in possession of the New Testment followed.

Tyndale, meanwhile, is believed to have moved to Antwerp for it was from there his next works, including The Parable of the Wicked Mammon and perhaps his most influential non-Bible text, The Obedience of a Christian Man, were published (both of these works were also subsequently banned in England).

At some stage Tyndale had learned Hebrew for he also began work on translating the Old Testament into English and, in 1530, copies of his initial efforts - a Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) - began appearing in England.

English authorities, including Sir Thomas More, continued their attacks on Tyndale and his works. As well as responding to their written attacks, Tyndale wrote a series of expositions on Bible books. During this time, he was also approached by an emissary of King Henry VIII who was apparently eager to have him return to England (so, no doubt, he could be kept under closer watch), but Tyndale refused the offer.

In 1534, Tyndale issued a revised version of his New Testament (it had already been through several printing runs). A further revised version was issued in 1535. That same year, he is believed to have finished translating the historical books of the Old Testament – from Joshua to II Chronicles.

It was in May that year that he was betrayed by an Englishman living in Antwerp, arrested and sent to Vilvoorde Castle in what is now Belgium where he was imprisoned for the next 16 months. Efforts made by friends to free him came to nothing.

Condemned as a heretic in August 1536, he was degraded from the priesthood and then, on 6th October, 1536, was strangled (this was done as a mark of favor for his having been a scholar) before being burned at the stake.

Tyndale's Old Testament translation remained unfinished at the time of his death but it was combined with the work of Miles Coverdale to be issued as a complete Bible in 1537.

Tyndale’s legacy continues today. His translations formed much of the basis upon which the creation of the King James Bible rested.

SOURCES AND FURTHER INFORMATION:

• David Daniel, 'William Tyndale', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

www.oxforddnb.com

• BBC's Historic Figures series - William Tyndale

www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/tyndale_william.shtml

• The Tyndale Society

www.tyndale.org/DeCoursey/life.html

• Foxe's Book of Martyrs

www.ccel.org/f/foxe/martyrs/fox112.htm

• William Tyndale, Christian History Today

www.christianitytoday.com/ch/131christians/scholarsandscientists/tyndale.html

FOR MORE SAINTS OF PAST AGES, click here...