October 25th

William Tyndal was born in 1494 and died on October 6, 1536, when he was only 42 years of age.  He studied at the University of Oxford where he received both his bachelors and masters degrees.  While at Oxford, he attended a Bible study held at The White Horse Inn where he and all in attendance began reading books written by Martin Luther concerning the Bible and a biblical understanding of the Gospel.  Of all the men who attended that Bible study, nine would end up as martyrs; William Tyndale would be one of the nine who would die for believing that scripture was the authority over the church instead of the Pope, and that salvation was by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Essentially, the protestant reformation was first a college movement before it became a global movement.  

Sometime after he finished school, Tyndale became a tutor for a large family and became a part of that family while preaching locally.  One day, a Roman Catholic priest visited the family and was heard to make some disparaging remarks about the Bible and commented that what the Pope said was more important than what the Bible said.  Tyndale responded to the priest by promising: I despise the Pope; I will cause a boy who drives a plow to know more of the scriptures than the Pope.

As Tyndale grew in his faith in Jesus, he recognized that most people did not understand the Gospel and what it really meant to be a Christian.  This was in large part because not only was it illegal for the Bible to be translated into English, but all books about the Bible were banned, and it was a crime for parents to even recite the Lords Prayer with their own children.  Tyndale believed that England could never be saved until the Bible was available in English. Why?  Because the Bible is clear that the forgiveness and salvation of the sinner is completely dependent on the grace of God.

In an effort to legally translate the Bible into English, Tyndale requested permission from the Roman Catholic Church from the Bishop of London to work on his translation of the Bible.  He was denied permission out of fear that an English Bible would do to England what the Luthers German Bible did for Germany.  

Because there was no place in England where Tyndale could safely work on his translation of the Bible, he went into exile in Germany to meet with Martin Luther to learn about the process of producing a translation of the Bible.  What is interesting is that Tyndale had no portraits done of him for the purpose of keeping his identity secret so that no one would recognize him; the only portrait that was done of him, was after his death. It is a fascinating picture that is very dark, with the only light shining on the face of Tyndale with a bible is his one hand and the finger of his other hand pointing to the Bible.  

Tyndale found a printer who was also willing to risk his life to print the Bible; the printer was close enough to a body of water to smuggle the Bible by boat into England.  Bibles were hidden in haybales and then sold on the black market in Europe.  Eventually the authorities raided the place where Tyndales Bible was printed, but just before it was, Tyndale grabbed what he could.  Essentially, he had to start over again and while doing so, made over three thousand editorial changes to his translation that included book introductions and cross references.  A second edition was mass produced and printed.

It is said that Tyndales English translation of the Bible was near perfect that nearly 90% of the King James Bible that we have belongs to Tyndales original work.  The Church was relentless in its pursuit to stop and silence Tyndale.  

The Catholic Church learned of a man by the name of Henry Phillips who lost all his money due to gambling and promised him a large amount of money that would replace what he had lost if he could find and then hang William Tyndale.  Phillips made his way into Germany, found Tyndale and befriended him to earn his trust, and then one day led him down a narrow alleyway into a trap where Tyndale was ambushed and arrested; wholly because he made available the Bible in English out of a desire for all of England to have Gods word in a language that they could understand. 

October is Protestant Reformation month, and it is because of men like William Tyndale that we have a Bible in our own language.  

I look forward to opening our Bibles together with you as we celebrate the same good news Tyndale longed for all of England to know.  This Sunday we will begin looking at each piece of Gods armor, beginning with the belt of truth. 

Grace,

Pastor Keith

Postscript: Julie wanted to share her gratitude for all those that attended Shirley Gibbs' service and assisted with the reception; she sincerely appreciated it.