2026 stands as the 250th anniversary of the birth of America and the publication of the Declaration of Independence. I was recently reminded of something important that happened 250 years before that (so 500 years ago) that also involved a document shipped to England after being worked on in another country. This event was the publication of the English translation of the New Testament by William Tyndale in 1526. Having recently read David Teem’s biography of Tyndale called, Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God an English Voice (one of the gifts I received for Christmas!), I wanted to share with you more about this important figure in church history and this work in particular, as Christians who read the Bible in English feel his impact whenever they read the Bible.
Tyndale’s Life
We don’t know exactly when William Tyndale was born, but we know for sure what he did and when and how he died.
He was born around 1494 and thus came of age during the reign of Henry VIII in England and the early days of the Protestant Reformation. He attended Oxford and likely Cambridge after that; most think that it was in Cambridge that he was exposed to “Lutheran” ideas. He seems to have been ordained as a priest in the Catholic Church, but rather than serving a church he became a tutor to children in the home of Sir John Walsh in Gloucestershire, England in 1521. His theological views, however, stoked some controversy as they were different from the leading clergy of the time, particularly his emphasis and focus on looking to Scripture.
In 1523, he left Gloucestershire and went to London, seeking permission to translate the Bible into English, as at that point the Bible was in Latin and not the everyday language of the people. Luther had recently translated the Bible into German, and Tyndale desired to make an English translation of the text that was not just in a language that people could understand but would be accessible to ordinary people. The bishop of London, a man named Cuthbert Tunstall, refused to grant such permission in 1524, at which point Tyndale would leave England and head to Germany to do this work; he would not return to England again.
For the next dozen years, he lived in various places throughout Europe and published numerous theological writings that argued for key Protestant ideas, such as Scripture as the sole authority for faith and practice and justification through faith alone and objected to the authority and actions of the pope. A key sparring partner in these theological writings was Thomas More; Tyndale also found himself at odds with Henry VIII because he opposed the king’s desire to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled so he could wed Anne Boleyn. Ironically, Boleyn was supportive of Tyndale’s writings and thoughts, and Henry VIII seems to have read Tyndale’s work, The Obedience of a Christian Man, which argued that kings had power from God and not from the pope; these ideas would be helpful to Henry in his break from the Catholic Church.
Boleyn and Tyndale would actually die in the same year (1536). Like his Savior, Tyndale’s death came about through betrayal. Someone who had befriended him while he was living in Antwerp handed him over to the authorities, leading to his imprisonment and ultimately his execution as a heretic when he refused to recant. His death was especially brutal, in that he was first stripped of his priesthood (which involved scraping off skin on his hands and anywhere in had been anointed at his ordination) before he was first strangled and then burnt at the stake. Traditions have his last words as being “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!”, praying for Henry VIII to come to believe the gospel. Regardless of whether he said these words on that occasion, it seems likely that he prayed such a prayer.
While Tyndale was technically executed for his theological views and not directly for his work in translating the Bible into English (as such an act was not illegal in the Netherlands), his work in translating the Bible both led to his theological views that differed from the established church and also reflected these differences so that played a role in his death. His translation work is by far the most important part of his work and also the aspect about which he was most passionate.
Tyndale’s Translation
He was not the first person to translate the Bible into English, as a century earlier a man named John Wycliffe had also done so. There were two major developments, however, in the time between Wycliffe and Tyndale that rendered Tyndale’s work more significant and led to his title as the father of the English translation of the Bible. One involved the English language itself, as Wycliffe’s translation is in an older kind of English (Middle English) while Tyndale’s is in the modern English. Second is that Wycliffe’s translation was from the Latin translation while Tyndale went back to the original languages – Greek for the New Testament and Hebrew for the portions of the Old Testament that he would later complete – in light of the renewed interest in those languages seen, for example, in the publication of Desiderius Erasmus’s Greek New Testament in 1516.
Tyndale first sought to publish his translation work of the New Testament in Cologne, Germany in 1525, but the authorities found out about this work and essentially “stopped the presses.” Only part of the work was ever printed and Tyndale would have to flee for his life. It was in 1526 that the whole New Testament was printed in Worms, Germany. Copies would be smuggled into England by that March, and it was immediately opposed by church officials, such as Cuthbert Tunstall (the one who would not allow Tyndale to publish it). This opposition was not just verbal, as they would confiscate and burn copies. The printed copies of Tyndale’s work were physically smaller than many other books of the time, potentially in part to help people hide and conceal it better in light of such opposition.
The opposition did not stop Tyndale from his translation work, as he would publish a revised version of the New Testament in 1534, making thousands of changes from more careful study and a desire to reflect the original language and convey it so that the “plowman” could understand. In addition, he worked hard to learn Hebrew and published translations of the Pentateuch, Joshua through 2 Chronicles, and Jonah. Tyndale’s work in translating the Old Testament was completed after his imprisonment by a man named Miles Coverdale, and 1535 saw the first publication of the Bible in modern English. That Bible was still an illegal Bible, but a few years later the king of England decided to authorize a Bible translation in English, fulfilling Tyndale’s original hope and standing as an answer to the prayer he is said to have offered at his execution – the king of England’s eyes had been opened and he now allowed the Bible to be translated! This first authorized translation is known as the Great Bible and utilizes much of Tyndale’s translation work.
Tyndale’s Impact and Legacy
Not only are we indebted to William Tyndale for having the Bible in English, but we also actually still read some of his words as many phrases in our Bible come from his initial translation work. In addition, even translations that do not directly use his words follow his spirit of continually seeking to improve the translation and to put it in languages that more people can understand. Tyndale is also credited for impacting the English language as a whole, as his New Testament is cited as the first use of many English words, such as broken-hearted, intend, and zealous (to name only a few). So even if you have never heard of him before, his life and work has and is affecting you.
We have so many English translations of the Bible today that we can take them for granted, forgetting that there was a time in which no English speaker would have the Bible in their native language and the amount of work and suffering that happened to make it possible. Tyndale’s translation work was not that of a scholar sitting in an ivory tower living a life of leisure, but of a man who was essentially a fugitive from his homeland. He would have to move around a number of times and may have lost some of his translation work in the process. He also had a tremendous work ethic, shown both in his work of continual improving the translation and in learning Hebrew. That example should be inspiring to us as we seek to follow Jesus and serve Him. Tyndale’s suffering for his beliefs and work reflects that of a man who truly cherished Christ more than this world and who sought to help others know the grace of the Lord Jesus no matter the cost.
It is my hope that the 500th anniversary of Tyndale’s New Testament inspires us to cherish and read our Bible more closely and to pray for people to rise up to translate the Bible into languages that do not have translations today – and for perseverance for those at work in that process.
Questions about the Bible or theology? Email them to Pastor Brian at Theology@WeAreFaith.org. You can also email to be added to the list that receives weekly emails with our blog posts
