William Tyndale’s Passion
Read time: 5 mins / Author: Paul Records
Did you know that in a different age, tucked away in the pages of history, it was against the law to read the Bible? A study of the various Inquisitions put into action across Europe by the Catholic Church between the twelfth and sixteenth centuries gives light to this. They were efforts within the Catholic Church to “purify” itself, but really they were a way for a religious system that at the time was very corrupt to maintain its monopoly on the Bible.
In thirteenth-century Europe, the Bible was written in Latin, but the common man of the day could not read Latin. It was the language of pious priests and turgid scholars of the day. Anybody found translating the Bible into English was treated as a criminal. People who knew the Bible and could quote the Bible in English were persecuted, tortured, and even executed. Certain historical records indicate that inquisitors brought suspected people before religious leaders to be questioned. If these “suspects” confessed to being liars, drunkards, immoral, or thieves, they were released. But if they could quote any part of the Bible, they faced execution. Parents were burned alive at the stake for teaching their children the Lord’s Prayer in English.
During this time, people in England had such a hunger for the Bible that they smuggled copies of the New Testament into the country in sacks of food from Germany. People found possessing a copy of the Bible were marked as outlaws.
It was in a world like this that a man named William Tyndale was born. Driven by the idea that God meant all people to understand his Word plainly, he risked his life to work tirelessly to translate the Bible into English—the common language. King Henry VIII’s bounty hunters furiously pursued him across Europe for translating and distributing portions of the Bible. Leaving England, William Tyndale did most of his work in secret in Germany. As a reason for his passion, he stated, “I perceived that it was impossible to establish the laypeople in any truth, except the Scriptures were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue.” *
On one occasion, a priest irritated at Tyndale’s persistent rant about the authority of the Scriptures said, “We were better without God’s law, than the Pope’s.” To this, Tyndale replied, "I defy the Pope and all his laws, and if God spare my life, in the coming years, I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than you.”* Of course, this attitude and passion got Tyndale in trouble.
Eventually, he was tracked down, caught, and burned at the stake. History says that with his last breath, he cried out, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!” Interestingly, nearly seventy-five years later, a king of England, King James I, authorized a translation of the Bible that all of Europe and the world could read – the King James Version of the Bible.
William Tyndale willingly gave his life so that his world and the generations after would have the freedom to gleam from the Scriptures plainly and clearly.
The many trials of the Inquisitions have come and gone. The days of Tyndale are no more. In all its shapes and sizes, the Bible is freely available in many parts of the world. According to the Wycliffe Bible Translators, 1,276 language groups have access to the New Testament in their native language, and 513 language groups have access to the Bible in the language they understand best.*
This gracious availability of the written Word did not come easy. It was birthed through immense struggle, persecution, and sacrifice. Despite this, many in the world today neglect the Bible.
This life-establishing Word, forever strong and preserved since ancient times, sits on shelves and dashboards and decorates coffee tables.
This mighty and glorious Word has become a bookend in the business of our lives.
In an interview with Assist News Service, Ron Rhodes quotes a recent poll indicating that 35% of born-again Christians do not read the Bible at all.
Among those who say they read the Bible, the vast majority only read it during the one hour they attend church each Sunday.
Today, fundamental Christian truths are virtually unknown to a majority in this nation. Our research indicates that if current trends of biblical illiteracy continue, by 2040, the Bible will be a “thing of the past” for most people who claim to be Christ-followers.*
For the sake of illustration, imagine that you were brought into a thirteenth-century court of an inquisitor. Marked as a possible heretic, priests begin to barrage you with questions.
Do you have a Bible in your home?
Can you quote the Scriptures?
What kind of life are you living?
Standing there, how would you answer? Do you know enough of the Bible to be dangerous, or are you one among the masses of people tossed by the whims of popular culture? If you lived in that day, would you deserve the death of a martyr? Is your hunger for the Word enough that it would drive you to break the law?
Would you take the mark of an outlaw to smuggle copies of the Bible to those you know?
Standing on that day with crooked and corrupt fingers pointed in your face, how would you answer?
IN OUR HEARTS
A survey by the Barna Research Group concluded that just half of all self-identified Christians firmly believe that the Bible is accurate in all the principles it teaches.
The survey writes, “America’s Christians know less and less about the Bible. Americans revere the Bible—but, by and large, they don’t read it. And because they don’t read it, they have become a nation of biblical illiterates.”* One Barna poll indicated that at least 12% of adults believe Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife. Also, many respondents indicated that Billy Graham preached the Sermon on the Mount. Another survey of graduating high school seniors revealed that over 50% thought Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife.
Speaking to the Pharisees in Matthew 22:29, Jesus said their error was that they did not know the Scriptures or the power of God. Though they were deeply religious and experts of the Old Testament Law, the true essence of Scripture evaded them.
The Word was in their heads but not in their hearts.
Alongside the tragedy of biblical illiteracy that plagues modernity, there is hope. That hope is you and me. We have an opportunity to spread the light of Christ throughout a dark world. It doesn’t have to be as bad as it is. With God’s Word hidden in our hearts, we can make a difference. As David wrote in Psalm 119:11, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”
Every time we open the Bible and share its truths with friends or family, we turn the tide. We should know the Word not just for ourselves but also for the sake of others.
Countless people around us need the salvation message it carries.
They live in darkness, and they wait on us.
Let’s not hesitate.
A plaque accompanying a memorial of William Tyndale in London.
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FOOTNOTES
*Benson Bobrick, Wide as the Waters (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001), 90.
*David Teems, Majestie: The King behind the King James Bible. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010), 225.
*Statistics given by the Wycliffe Bible Translators at http://www.wycliffe.org/about/statistics. Wycliffe also states that there are 6,800+ languages spoken in the world today. Of these, there are 2,000+ language groups without any access to the Bible. In these 2,000+ language groups, there are about 239 million people who have no access to the Bible. Though Bible translation is progressing at a more rapid rate today than ever before, an overwhelming amount of work has yet to be done.
*The Center for Bible Engagement, http://www.centerforbibleengagement.org. Retrieved October 31, 2012.
*http://www.barna.org. The Barna Group is a huge source of religious surveys and statistics.
