Written by Sarah Wootten
In missions class during Vacation Bible School, the children will be learning about the life of William Tyndale and discussing Bible translation work that is still going on today. I thought it would be helpful for parents and VBS volunteers to have a better understanding of William Tyndale to help guide conversations or answer questions that may come up during the week.
Tyndale’s Desire for the Word of God to All People
“It was impossible to establish the lay people in any truth, except the Scripture were laid before their eyes in their mother tongue,” William Tyndale wrote in his preface to the book of Genesis (Lawson, pg. 8).
William Tyndale was born in the early 1490s in England. Coming from a family of successful farmers, Tyndale was able to attend both Oxford and Cambridge to pursue an education in linguistics and some theology. While at Cambridge, Tyndale studied the ideas coming out of the protestant reformation that was spreading all over continental Europe. He had access to Martin Luther’s writings and had several colleagues with whom he was able to debate and discuss these ideas. At Cambridge, Tyndale became committed to the reformation truths.
Upon the completion of his studies, he became a tutor for Sir John Walsh’s children in Gloucestershire. It was during this time that Tyndale developed a burning conviction that the evangelization of England would never be accomplished without a Bible in the common language. At the time, the Catholic church would only allow the Bible to be printed and taught in Latin. Anyone defying the church in this matter could be put to death. In the early 1500s in Coventry, England, several Christians were burned for owning portions of Scripture in English (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coventry_Martyrs). The certain danger didn’t deter Tyndale; his desire was for the English people to be able to read the Word of God so that they would know God’s truth.
Tyndale first sought official authorization from the church authorities to translate the Bible; however, they strongly denied his request. It became apparent to Tyndale that he would not be able to translate the Bible and remain in England. In 1524, he left England and moved to Germany. Tyndale was a fugitive.
The Work of Translating as a Fugitive
“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,” said William Tyndale to a catholic official (Daniell, pg. 79).
Although there was distance between him and those who sought his capture in England, the task of translating in Germany still wasn’t easy. Even though the country already had made much progress in the Reformation (Martin Luther’s Ninety-five Theses were published seven years earlier), the work of Tyndale was still illegal and punishable by death. He had to find:
- lodging from those sympathetic to the cause,
- printers who would be willing to risk their businesses to reproduce the work,
- smugglers on trade routes who would take the completed books of the Bible back to England, and
- time to study the Hebrew language, which he did not yet know.
The work set before Tyndale would seem impossible to most of us, but the Lord provided for Tyndale every step of the way.
In the spring of 1526, Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament was ready to be printed. Tyndale had found a printer earlier in the fall of 1525, but just as the work was started, they were discovered and had to flee. Finding a new printer in 1526 in Worms, 3,000 New Testaments were printed and smuggled back into England in bales of cotton.
The New Testaments were affordable and quickly spread across England. Of course, it was only a matter of a few months before the church officials found out about the illegal project. The officials came up with plan after plan to stop William Tyndale, but their early efforts proved futile. One official decided to purchase every Tyndale New Testament he could find and have them burned. While this may have temporarily stopped the spread of some New Testaments, it only further funded Tyndale’s work, leading to a revised edition of the New Testament with even more copies printed.
Church officials also paid for manhunts to track William Tyndale down. Their plans in 1528 and 1529 proved unfruitful. Tyndale knew the importance of his work, and he carefully maintained as much anonymity as possible so that the work would not be stopped. However, it became unsafe for Tyndale to remain where he was in 1529, so he set sail from Antwerp toward Hamburg. During the voyage, a rough storm caused their boat to wreck and Tyndale lost his unpublished, translated works of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The set back didn’t impede the work for long. Tyndale, with the help of Miles Coverdale, completed the Pentateuch in December 1529. The translation of the Pentateuch was published and then smuggled into England in January 1530.
Tyndale’s translation work carried on. In 1534 the second edition of the New Testament was published, which included approximately 4,000-5,000 edits from the first edition. In the winter of 1534-1535, Tyndale completed the third edition of the New Testament, which had far fewer edits. And during all this, he continued on with his translation work of the Old Testament, completing Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah sometime before mid 1535.
Tyndale’s Final Days
“Christ is with us until the world’s end. Let his little flock be bold therefore. For if God be on our side, what matter maketh it who be against us, be they bishops, cardinals, popes, or whatsoever names they will?” — William Tyndale (quote “The Collective Thoughts of William Tyndale: Introduction,” Master’s Seminary blog)
An Englishman, Henry Philips, was hired to hunt down William Tyndale and make sure he was brought into custody. Henry formed a fake friendship with Tydale, gaining Tyndale’s trust, before leading William to soldiers in an alleyway. Tyndale was held in a castle in Brussels for over a year. In a letter written during his imprisonment, he requested warmer clothing, a candle, and his Hebrew books so that he may pass the days in his studying. It has been told that while in prison, he saw his keeper and members of his keeper’s family come to saving faith. While imprisoned, he continued to work diligently to share the gospel with the lost.
In early October 1536, William Tyndale was hanged and then burned for his crimes against the state. His last reported words are a prayer that the Bible would continue to spread across England. William shouted while on the stake, “Lord! open the king of England’s eyes.” (Foxe, page 152)
In September 1538 — just shy of two years after Tyndale’s death — the king of England issued a decree that an English version of the Bible should be placed in every church in England, alongside the Latin version.
God answered Tyndale’s prayer.
Concluding Thoughts
“The Scriptures are the light and life of God’s elect, and that mighty power by which God creates them and shapes them according to…the very manner of Christ.” — William Tyndale (quote “The Scriptures in the Eyes of William Tyndale,” Master’s Seminary blog)
To those in English departments on secular university campuses, William Tyndale is appreciated for his translation work. His efforts resulted in an expanded English vocabulary and aided the standardization of English among its speakers. It has been said by one scholar that without William Tyndale, it would be hard to imagine there ever being a William Shakespeare (McCrum, page 81).
But for those of us who are English-speaking Christians, our gratitude for Tyndale reaches far beyond mere vocabulary and English synergies. Tyndale’s story is a great reminder of God’s love and providential care for His people, His church. We see God’s sovereignty and care for Tyndale on every page of his story. But Tyndale’s influence didn’t end in 1536; it continues on today.
As I’ve studied the story of William Tyndale, I have been brought to tears many times. I think of the sacrifice him and many others took to make the Bible accessible. Where would I be without a copy of God’s Word? I don’t have to imagine much, because for many years, despite being surrounded by Christians and being a regular church attender, I didn’t know many vital truths taught in the Scriptures. I was…
- looking to myself for righteousness rather than to Christ,
- thinking a repentant heart was simply saying “I’m sorry” then moving along,
- striving to earn God’s love and forgiveness, and
- not understanding that God can forgive even the worst of my transgressions.
Alongside the faithful teaching of various friends and pastors, God used His Word to show me how wrong I was. God used Philippians 3:1-10, Psalm 51, Ephesians 2:1-10, Matthew, Habakkuk, Malachi, and many other texts to teach me where my understanding of who He is and what He has done was incorrect.
God called faithful men in the past to sacrifice their comforts and their very own lives, so that I could have a copy of God’s Word. True, I don’t use Tyndale’s strict translation, but his work laid the foundation for the translation work that you and I have benefited from today. How many God ordained events occurred to give us His Word? God’s loving care for His church is shown clearly in the preservation of His Word for His people that they may come to know Him.
May we not neglect the Word of God that stands forever (Isaiah 40:8).
May we desire God’s Word more than riches (Psalm 19:10).
May we hide God’s Word in our hearts that we may grow in obedience to Him (Psalm 119:11).
May we declare God’s Word to the lost that they may come to faith (Romans 10:14-17).
May we support the work of Bible translation around the world…
…in our prayers
…as God gives opportunity
…and as God calls us to go
…with a grateful heart because God has blessed us richly through His Word.
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To learn more about William Tyndale, check out these resources that I have been using. I have NOT made it all the way through each resource, but have found each helpful in some capacity.
Stephen Lawson, The Daring Mission of William Tyndale (Reformation Trust Publishing, 2015) — a short, accessible biography: https://www.ligonier.org/store/the-daring-mission-of-william-tyndale-hardcover/
David Daniell, William Tyndale: A Biography (Yale University, 1994) — a longer, more thorough biography: https://www.christianbook.com/william-tyndale-a-biography/david-daniell/9780300068801/pd/68808#CBD-PD-Description
Master’s Seminary Blog Post Archive on William Tyndale: https://tms.edu/blog/tyndale-cat/william-tyndale/
Foxe’s Book of Martyers, (Revell, 1998) — chapter 6: https://www.wtsbooks.com/products/foxes-book-of-martyrs-john-foxe-9780800786649?variant=9789394518063
Stephen Lawson talk on William Tyndale: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T48ZVtcdEHM
John Piper talk on William Tyndale: https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/always-singing-one-note-a-vernacular-bible
Torchlighters — 30-minute cartoon on William Tyndale: https://torchlighters.org/heroes/william-tyndale/
Also referenced in blog post, but it’s not a book about William Tyndale; it’s about the English language:
Robert McCrum, Globish: How the English Language Became the World’s Language, (W.W. Norton & Company, 2010, first edition), page 81.
Corinth Baptist Church 