60 People Who Shaped the Church by Alton Gansky

Author:Alton Gansky [Gansky, Alton]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: BIO018000, REL015000
ISBN: 9781441244628
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2014-03-31T04:00:00+00:00

A Personal Mission

Tyndale did not begin as a reformer or rebel. He was born in western England around 1494 and took the path to priesthood. He studied in Oxford and Cambridge. He had a remarkable intellect and was able to speak seven languages and work in both biblical Hebrew and Greek. He grew increasingly disappointed in the lack of biblical knowledge held by priests of his day. Most priests at that time rarely read the Bible.

In his early thirties, he approached the bishop of London seeking funds and a place to make an English translation of the Bible. The bishop refused outright, a stance Tyndale found consistently throughout the church in England. What Tyndale was proposing was considered a criminal act.

In 1524, Tyndale traveled to Germany, where he lived in Hamburg, Cologne, and Worms, carrying out his translation work. In 1525 he finished his first translation of the New Testament. Over the next five years, six editions were done and fifteen thousand copies made and smuggled into England.

Tyndale’s translation caused quite a stir, infuriating King Henry VIII, Cardinal Wosley, and Sir Thomas More. More captured the rage of those in church leadership over the translation and its distribution when he stated: “Not worthy to be called Christ’s testament, but either Tyndale’s own testament or the testament of his master Antichrist.”

Tyndale became a wanted man and his translation an illegal item. Efforts to keep it from the English people included buying up all the stock, which of course provided the funding for additional publishing and distribution of the translation. It took the help of friends to smuggle Tyndale from place to place, keeping him out of the hands of his enemies and allowing him to continue his work. He managed to translate the first five books of the Old Testament and a few other books from the Hebrew into English before his capture.

Despite the demands of his translation work, Tyndale still considered himself a priest of the people and structured his workweek to include time helping the poor, visiting religious refugees who had fled England, and visiting the homes of merchants, joining them for supper and reading the Scripture before and after the meal.

It may be that his servant heart was what ultimately led to his capture and execution. Several agents from different sources searched for Tyndale, but he had been able to avoid them all—all except Henry Phillips. Phillips came from a prestigious family but was a scoundrel who had gambled away his money. He found Tyndale in Antwerp and befriended him, worming his way into the translator’s confidence. He even became one of the few who had the privilege of seeing Tyndale’s papers.

In May of 1535, Phillips had things set in motion. He was able to convince Tyndale to cancel a previous lunch engagement and have lunch with him. Tyndale agreed. Phillips led him into the arms of arresting soldiers.

He was taken to the Castle of Filford, where he spent the next year and some months imprisoned. He was tried by ecclesiastical authorities as a heretic and found guilty.

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