As I pondered the request to write a series of short articles on the wonders of the Bible, I thought where should I start? Then ‘eureka’, I found it; the very existence of the Bible translated in the vernacular is a wonder in itself!
Brave men
Early translations from the Greek, Hebrew and Latin were the property of the established Roman Catholic Church and available only to designated priests and monks.
Protestant reformers like John Wycliff (1320-1384) and William Tyndale (1494 1536) were passionate in their belief that the Scriptures should be available to everyone in their native language. John Wycliff, who produced an admirable English translation from the Latin, was promptly condemned as a heretic and excommunicated.
A hundred and ten years later, William Tyndale a brilliant linguistic scholar, educated at Cambridge University, shared the same aspirations as John Wycliff.
He proclaimed: “I defy the Pope and all his laws. If God spare my life ere many years, I will cause the boy that drives the plow to know more of the Scriptures than you.” Tyndale, aware that the Church of Rome claimed to be the only authority of Scriptural interpretation, knew that if he persisted in his stated objective his life would be in great danger. Nevertheless, this courageous man continued to translate original Hebrew and Greek manuscripts into English. In addition, he added marginal notes challenging accepted church doctrines. The wrath of the powerful and influential Cardinal Wolsely was aroused. Tyndale was excommunicated from the church and hunted as a branded heretic. Miraculously he managed to escape over to Belgium and went into hiding; from where he worked tirelessly at translating.
Providentially it was the age of the new printing press. Bibles were rapidly printed and loyal friends of Tyndale smuggled hundreds of Bibles into England. Even though the penalty of owning a Bible was death, people clamored to buy one. Bookstores and private homes were raided by the authorities, resulting in huge bonfires of Bibles burning across the country. The paranoia raged, due to fear that the common people would read the Scriptures and develop their own belief systems contrary to accepted church doctrine.
Betrayal
Sadly William Tyndale was betrayed and executed just outside Antwerp in 1536. As he was being tied to the stake prior to being strangled and burnt, his last words resonated loudly “Lord, open the eyes of the King of England” (The king being the notorious Henry the Eighth).
It would appear that the prayer was answered, because only four years after the martyr’s death, no less than four translations, heavily based upon Tyndale’s work were published in England. One was The Myles Coverdale, or Great Bible as it is sometimes called. Amazingly, Thomas Cranwell, secretary to King Henry, had commissioned it on behalf of the monarch. The clergy were ordered to chain a Coverdale Bible in every church in the land: “Set up in some convenient place within the said church, that ye have care of, whereas your parishioners may commodiously resort to the same and read it”
Taking his cue from his forerunner on the English throne, King James first requested 54 independent scholars to produce a new English Bible. Once again, the work of Tyndale was the basis. These men completed the task in 1611 and the world was introduced to an outstandingly beautiful literary masterpiece; known as the Authorized or King James Version, it is still admired and beloved today.
The fact that the Bible is on the all-time best sellers list, attests to the desire of people to own one. But whether it is read is a very different matter. Many consider it only as a good luck talisman.
Yes, the survival of the Bible, despite concentrated attempts to destroy it, is indeed a wonder. How well blessed we are to be able to read it without fear of persecution.
Have you read your Bible today?
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