The Blessing of Scripture
Tyndale,
born in England about the time Columbus sailed to the new world, was
educated at Oxford and Cambridge and then became a member of the
Catholic clergy. He was fluent in eight languages, including Greek,
Hebrew, and Latin. Tyndale was a devoted student of the Bible, and the
pervasive ignorance of the scriptures that he observed in both priests
and lay people troubled him deeply. In a heated exchange with a cleric
who argued against putting scripture in the hands of the common man,
Tyndale vowed, “If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy
that driveth the plough, shall know more of the Scripture than thou
dost!”
He
sought the approval of church authorities to prepare a translation of
the Bible in English so that all could read and apply the word of God.
It was denied—the prevailing view being that direct access to the
scriptures by any but the clergy threatened the authority of the church
and was tantamount to casting “pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6).
Tyndale
nevertheless undertook the challenging work of translation. In 1524 he
traveled to Germany, under an assumed name, where he lived much of the
time in hiding, under constant threat of arrest. With the help of
committed friends, Tyndale was able to publish English translations of
the New Testament and later the Old Testament. The Bibles were smuggled
into England, where they were in great demand and much prized by those
who could get them. They were shared widely but in secret. The
authorities burned all the copies they could find. Nevertheless, within
three years of Tyndale’s death, God did indeed open King Henry VIII’s
eyes, and with publication of what was called the “Great Bible,” the
scriptures in English began to be publicly available. Tyndale’s work
became the foundation for almost all future English translations of the
Bible, most notably the King James Version.
(April 2010 General Conference)
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