Team Rector Writes for October

“A Priceless Heritage”

Dear Friends,

Like many people, I’ve enjoyed learning about the Tudor period of our English history. In fact, Tudor history – including the escapades of King Henry VIII and his six wives – was one of my favourite subjects at school and university.  

This year marks the 500^th anniversary of an event which took place took place during Henry VIII’s reign, and one which continues to affect both our English language, and the life of the Christian Church.  The event is the publishing of the first English translation of the New Testament by William Tyndale.  

Born in 1494 in a Gloucestershire village, Tyndale was a background radical during Henry VIII’s reign (he is mentioned in Wolf Hall but doesn’t get involved in the action). As a young Catholic priest in England, Tyndale was inspired by Martin Luther’s groundbreaking translation of the Bible into German, and with great determination he set to work doing the same for English speakers. Soon he was suspected of heresy and was told to stop his translating of the New Testament from the original Greek into contemporary English. His response to his persecutors has chimed down through history: ‘If God spare my life, I will cause a boy that drives a plough to know more of the Scriptures than you do.’

Aware of threats to his life, Tyndale left England and while in Germany he produced a New Testament in English which was published anonymously in 1526. His English translation was so good that, when the Authorised (King James) Version was published in 1611, over 80% of the New Testament text was from Tyndale’s translation. He has given us popular phrases such as ‘no man can serve two masters’, ‘he gave up the ghost’, ‘a law unto themselves’, ‘it came to pass’, and ‘the signs of the times’. Tyndale went on to work on an English translation of the Old Testament before he was arrested in 1535, condemned as a heretic, and sentenced to death on 6^th October 1536.   

Unlike 500 years ago, we now have many different English versions of the Bible readily available. Tyndale’s life and martyrdom remind us that such access to the Bible in English is a priceless heritage that we too easily take for granted. It was the great Indian leader Mahatma Ghandi who once remarked that “you Christians look after a document containing enough dynamite to blow all civilisation to pieces, turn the world upside down, and bring peace to a battle-torn planet. But you treat it as though it is nothing more than a piece of literature.”  

On Bible Sunday this year (25^th October) we can remember with thanksgiving Christian heroes like William Tyndale, who gave their life to help us read the Bible in English.

May this also spur us on day by day to ‘read, mark, learn and inwardly digest’ ¹ the priceless treasure of Holy Scriptures.  

Every Blessing,

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