William Tyndale: Lesson 3 - To London

Introduction:

Last week, we talked about how William Tyndale had dinner with a not so nice priest of the Roman Catholic Church.

This priest proclaimed that it were better to have the pope’s authority than God’s Word in English.

William responded that he would work hard to get God’s Word into English so that everyone could be able to know It!

However, the priest did not like this response and threatened William by stating that William would likely die in trying to get God’s Word into English.

How would William respond to this stern warning?

Would he give up his quest to translate God’s Word into English?

How do you think that you might respond?

William Tyndale did not let the words of the priest phase him.

He still believed that the people needed God’s Word in their own language because the Scriptures are truth and lead us to eternal life and forgiveness of our sins.

So, William Tyndale had a tough decision to make.

Either he remains as a teacher with the Walshs’.

Or, leave teaching the Walsh children to focus on his work of translating the Bible into English.

What do you think that William did?

He left the Walshs’ for London, England.

In London, William came to live with a cousin of Lady Anne, Thomas Ponytz who was a merchant.

It was through Thomas that William would meet Sir Humphrey Monmouth who would give William the money that he needed to finance translating and printing the Bible into English: housing, food, paper and ink.

So, William now has the money that he needs to do the work of translating the Bible into English.

However, it’s still against the law to translate the Bible into English.

Even with the money to do the work, William would be breaking the law if he were to translate the Bible into English and publish it on his own.

What would William do?

William Tyndale knew that the law included an important exception when it came to translating the Bible into English.

To translate the Bible into English, a person needed the permission of a Bishop.

A bishop was a leader in the Roman Catholic Church that is higher than a priest but lower than the pope.

However, most of the bishops thought just like the priest that William spoke with at dinner with the Walshs’: the pope’s authority was final!

But, would their even be a bishop who would give William Tyndale permission to produce an English translation of the Bible?

Well, William Tyndale learned of the Bishop of London named Cuthbert Tunstall.

Bishop Tunstall was a man who learned Greek just like William Tyndale.

William thought that he could appeal to Bishop Tunstall based on their mutual interest in the Greek language that the New Testament was written in!

However, William could not just walk into Bishop Tunstall’s office.

Bishop Tunstall was a busy man and very important.

William would need to receive from Bishop Tunstall an invitation to visit with him.

How would William get such an invitation?

William’s friend and financial supporter, Sir Humphrey Monmouth was able to send to Bishop Tunstall a letter of recommendation for William.

One day, William received a letter back from Bishop Tunstall that the Bishop would meet with him!

You can only imagine William’s excitement to receive this news!

How would you feel if you received a letter like this where you were going to see someone that you wanted to meet with?

The day finally came for William’s meeting with Bishop Tunstall.

When William arrived at the Bishop’s office, the Bishop was nice and welcomed William in.

The Bishop had already looked over some of William’s translation work and then got to business.

William requested of the Bishop his permission to translate the Bible into English with the Bishop’s full blessing and authority.

However, the Bishop did not respond as excited as William had hoped.

In fact, Bishop Tunstall was afraid of what people would do with God’s Word in their own language.

Would people use God’s Word to hurt other people?

Now, Bishop Tunstall has a decision to make.

Will he give approval to William to translate God’s Word into English with all of his great learning?

Or, would he deny William’s request?

Conclusion: In 2 weeks, well look together at the decision Bishop Tunstall makes and how William responds. For now, next week is our Mega Nerf War so we won’t be looking together at William Tyndale’s life until the following week.