Readings:
Psalm 1 or 15
James 1:21-25
John 12:44-50Preface of the Epiphany
PRAYERS (traditional language)
Almighty God, who didst plant in the heart
of thy servant William Tyndale a consuming passion to bring the Scriptures
to the people in their native tongue, and didst endow him with the gift
of powerful and graceful expression and with strength to persevere against
all obstacles: Reveal to us, we pray thee, thy saving Word, as we read
and study the Scriptures, and hear them calling us to repentance and life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the
Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
PRAYERS (contemporary language)
Almighty God, who planted in the heart
of your servant William Tyndale a consuming passion to bring the Scriptures
to the people in their native tongue, and endowed him with the gift of
powerful and graceful expression and with strength to persevere against
all obstacles: Reveal to us your saving Word, as we read and study the
Scriptures, and hear them calling us to repentance and life; through Jesus
Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one
God, for ever and ever.
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WILLIAM TYNDALE
PRIEST, SCHOLAR, MARTYR (6 OCT 1536)
William
Tyndale was born about 1495 at Slymbridge near the Welsh border. He received
his degrees from Magdalen College, Oxford, and also studied at Cambridge.
He was ordained to the priesthood in 1521, and soon began to speak of his
desire, which eventually became his life's obsession, to translate the Scriptures
into English. It is reported that, in the course of a dispute with a promminent
clergyman who disparaged this proposal, he said, "If God spare my life,
ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of
the Scriptures than thou dost." The remainder of his life was devoted to
keeping that vow, or boast. Finding that the King, Henry VIII, was firmly
set against any English version of the Scriptures, he fled to Germany (visiting
Martin Luther in 1525), and there travelled from city to city, in exile,
poverty, persecution, and constant danger. Tyndale understood the commonly
received doctrine -- the popular theology -- of his time to imply that men
earn their salvation by good behavior and by penance. He wrote eloquently
in favor of the view that salvation is a gift of God, freely bestowed, and
not a response to any good act on the part of the receiver. His views are
expressed in numerous pamphlets, and in the introductions to and commentaries
on various books of the Bible that accompanied his translations. He completed
his translation of the New Testament in 1525, and it was printed at Worms
and smuggled into England. Of 18,000 copies, only two survive. In 1534,
he produced a revised version, and began work on the Old Testament. In the
next two years he completed and published the Pentateuch and Jonah, and
translated the books from Joshua through Second Chronicles, but then he
was captured (betrayed by one he had befriended), tried for heresy, and
put to death. He was burned at the stake, but, as was often done, the officer
strangled him before lighting the fire. His last words were, "Lord, open
the King of England's eyes."
Miles Coverdale continued Tyndale's work by translating those portions of the Bible (including the Apocrypha) which Tyndale had not lived to translate himself, and publishing the complete work. In 1537, the "Matthew Bible" (essentially the Tyndale-Coverdale Bible under another man's name to spare the government embarrassment) was published in England with the Royal Permission. Six copies were set up for public reading in Old St Paul's Church, and throughout the daylight hours the church was crowded with those who had come to hear it. One man would stand at the lectern and read until his voice gave out, and then he would stand down and another would take his place. All English translations of the Bible from that time to the present century are essentially revisions of the Tyndale-Coverdale work.
The best summary I know of Tyndale's writings on grace is found in C
S Lewis's English
Literature in the Sixteenth Century, Excluding Drama, Oxford UP,
1954), pp 187-191. [Note: this book has been reissued as Poetry
and Prose in the Sixteenth Century.] I will go out on a limb
and say that any Christian who reads English and is interested in the
theological questions of the Reformation ought to read large portions
of this work. In particular, I recommend pages 32-44, 157-221 (or at least
157-165 and 177-192), and 438-463.
by James Kiefer
Since the above bio was written, a well-regarded biography of Tyndale has been written by David Daniell, who has also edited modern-language reprints of Tyndale's Bible , both New Testament and Old.. Also available are Wide as the Waters, an excellent overall history of the English Bible, including Tyndale's contributions, and God's Bestseller, which specifically focusses on Tyndale and the making of his translation..
Note: Clicking on any of the links above will take you to Amazon.com, where you may buy the book(s) if you wish.