William Tyndale: Shakespeare of Bible Translation
This message intends to deliver a clear caption of who William Tyndale was, his life and thought, and present impact on the mission of the Church.
Outline
✣ Brethren be folowers of me/& loke on them which walke even so as ye have us for an ensample. For many walke (of whō I have tolde you often/& now tell you wepinge) yͭ they are the enemyes of the crosse of Christ/whose ende is dāpnaciō/whose God is their bely/ & whose glory is to their shame/whiche are worldely mynded. But our cōversacion is in heaven/frō whēre we loke for a saveour/even the Lorde Jesus Christ which shal chaūche our vyle bodyes/that they maye be fashioned lyke unto his glorious body/accordinge to the workynge/wherby he is able to subdue all thynges unto him selfe. ✣
Key Sources:
Tyndale the translator of English
Early Influences
SOMETIME IN THE EARLY 1490s, probably between 1493 and 1495, a son to be named William was born to a Tyndale family that lived near the Welsh border. The Tyndales (who also called themselves Hutchins) were an important family in the west of Gloucestershire, but William, together with at least two brothers, apparently came from a lesser branch of the family.
Formal Training/Natural Gifting
A major force in the late 15th and early 16th centuries was the Renaissance; by the time Tyndale translated the New Testament into English, this wave of change was crashing across the entire European continent. It brought changes in art, in government, in economics, in literature, in learning—it even changed the way men thought about themselves: it stressed man’s ability to think clearly and behave morally, and said that man could and should press to achieve new heights in every field of endeavor.
Called “humanists” because of their emphasis on humanity’s potential, these people were tired of the hyper-spiritualized logic and fatalism that had previously dominated theology. Additionally, they opposed the reigning scholasticism, which assumed that everything needed to be divided and subdivided to be understood.
These rising Renaissance scholars had become exasperated by teachers and leaders seemingly content to do nothing but create new terms and have semantical arguments about them. They longed for a new world order based on the achievements of the Greek and Roman civilizations; hence they valued the original sources of Greek and Latin literature.
They longed for the day when educated men could pursue truth in peace, without arousing religious or nationalistic reactionism. Naturally, they were also critical of many of the abuses of traditional piety. Renaissance literature contains many satires about the failings of the church and the immorality of the clergy.
Although when Tyndale attended them the universities of Oxford and Cambridge were just beginning to be affected by elements of “the new learning,” he is almost certain to have been one of the students most attracted to their nascent forms. The groundwork was well-laid.
Undoubtedly he benefited from, and was apparently eager to use, the dictionaries, grammars and other linguistic tools that Renaissance learning was inspiring for the translation of Greek and Hebrew classics.
However, Tyndale was not so influenced by Renaissance thinking that he moved to the anti-supernatural, human-idolatry extremes of some Renaissance men. He denied that the Bible’s writers were merely duplicating ideological systems already established by pagan thinkers, or that pagan philosophers’ ideas had somehow crept into the Bible and irremediably distorted whatever truth it contained. He stressed the fundamental authority of Scripture.
Also, he was critical of Erasmus and others who advocated reforms but continued to identify themselves with an apostate church. He was greatly disturbed with Erasmus’s duplicity, for example, in the all-important matter of Bible translation; how could Erasmus keep advocating vernacular translations while still supporting those Roman Church authorities who were burning Tyndale’s English New Testaments? When Sir Thomas More accused Tyndale of mistranslating the text, Tyndale defended his work by telling More that he had only done in English what More’s “darling Erasmus” had done in Latin!
So Renaissance thinking was a significant, but not the entire, influence on Tyndale’s theology.
By the time Tyndale started writing his theological works, Luther had been leading the church-reform movement for about a decade. Certainly Tyndale must have heard about these events, and almost certainly he had opportunity to observe some of the results of Luther’s work during his visit to Wittenburg. From his translations and tracts, it’s obvious he had read some of Luther’s works and largely concurred with the contents of them.
And there were many links between the two men. As Luther first translated the New Testament into German, then the Old, so did Tyndale with the English. In his biblical translations, Tyndale straight-out used some of Luther’s introductions and marginal notes. Tyndale defended Luther against the accusations of Sir Thomas More. Furthermore, the Englishman emphasized many terms that Luther had stressed, such as law, gospel, grace and faith alone. The most prominent evidence of Luther’s influence on Tyndale is that some of the passages in Tyndale’s polemical and devotional works are fairly verbatim translations from Luther’s writings. The second half of Tyndale’s meditation on the Lord’s Prayer (see “A Dialogue on the Lord’s Prayer”) is a very close translation of one of Luther’s meditations. Certain parts of Tyndale’s Introduction to the Book of Romans, (which was published separately from the New Testament), his Parable of the Wicked Mammon and An Exposition of Matthew 5–7 were also translated from Luther.
However, it is easy to over-emphasize Tyndale’s dependence upon Luther. One should note that none of the works above were merely direct translation. In every one of them, Tyndale expanded, adapted and modified the original. Sometimes he even completely changed the sense of the original. One must also remember that Tyndale published approximately six other works that are in no way taken from Luther’s work.
Moreover, on several important points of theology, Tyndale deliberately distanced himself from Luther. For example, while Luther taught Christ’s “real presence” in the wine and bread, Tyndale stressed the Lord’s Supper as a commemoration of Christ’s death. And while Luther expressed his doubts about the authority of the book of James, Tyndale declared that it definitely should be included in the scriptural canon.
Tyndale’s theological independence from Luther can also be seen in his emphasis on the importance of good works in the life of the believer. The Englishman stressed that the Christian, prompted by the Holy Spirit and motivated by love, naturally produced good works. To illustrate this truth, he was especially fond of the biblical image of a tree producing fruit appropriate to its nature. Additionally, Tyndale wrote much more about God’s covenants and Christ’s promises than did Luther. And whereas Luther enjoyed music a great deal, both writing hymns and teaching Protestant congregations to sing, Tyndale was convinced that music tended to distract too much from the importance of preaching. To understand Tyndale as merely a translator of Luther is to do an injustice to the man’s independent mind.
Early Works
In 1521 he left the university world to join the household of Sir John Walsh at Little Sodbury Manor, north of Bath. It’s unclear exactly what role he played in the household—he may have been the chaplain or a secretary to Sir John—but most probably he was a tutor to the children.
Many of the local clergy came to dine at the Walshes’ manor, which gave Tyndale ample opportunity both to be shocked by their ignorance of the Bible and to become embroiled in controversy with them. To one such cleric he declared: “If God spare my life, ere many years pass, I will cause a boy that driveth the plow shall know more of the Scripture than thou dost.”
Here Tyndale was echoing Erasmus’ famous inscription in the preface to his Greek New Testament: “I would to God that the plowman would sing a text of the Scripture at his plow and that the weaver would hum them to the tune of his shuttle.”
Tyndale began to clearly feel the call to translate the Bible into English and distribute it. At this time the only English translation available was the hand-copied Wycliffe Bible, which was distributed clandestinely by the Lollards, the followers of the 14th century’s John Wycliffe (see CHRISTIAN HISTORY Issue 3). But this had never been printed. Furthermore, it was inaccurate in many ways, having been translated only from the Latin Vulgate, rather than from the original Greek and Hebrew.
Tyndale the reformer of England
Relationship to the Continental Reformers
Relationship to King Henry VIII
With his impressive size, his impressive clothes, his impressive pomp and ceremony, his Renaissance education and his unflagging self-confidence, he appeared larger than life to most of his subjects, and was seen as a major force to be reckoned with in the European balance of power. He was at least what our age would call “an achiever,” probably even “an over-achiever.” He could play multiple musical instruments, dance, hunt game, lead an army, win at a joust, control his nobles and spend money like it grew on trees. Whatever constituted the stage, Henry VIII dominated it.
Even theology was not beyond the exertions of this highly confident King. When Martin Luther questioned the reigning theology of the period, with its minimal piety and its idolatry of popes, priests, saints and symbols, Henry considered himself quite capable of rebutting the troublesome Saxon monk, and soon produced his Defense of the Seven Sacraments. This appeared in 1520, about one year after Luther’s writings began to achieve really-wide circulation, and was almost entirely Henry’s work. For a while at least, it was the predominant theological apologetic in England for the traditional Catholic faith.
despite it being severely against the English Catholic church’s law in that day to possess a copy of Tyndale’s Obedience of the Christian Man, Lady Anne Boleyn possessed a copy and passed it on to King Henry VIII, who loved it and said, “This book is for me and all kings to read.”
“What gracious words are these! I assure you,” said he, “if it would stand with the king’s most gracious pleasure to grant only a bare text of the Scriptures to be put forth among his people, like as is put forth among the subjects of the emperor in these parts, and of other Christian princes, be it the translation of whatsoever person shall please his majesty, I shall immediately make faithful promise never to write more, nor abide two days in these parts after the same; but immediately repair unto his realm, and there most humbly submit myself at the feet of his royal majesty, offering my body to suffer whatever pain or torture, yea, whatever death his grace will, so [long as] this be obtained. And till that time, I will abide the aspersions of all the chances, whatsoever shall come, and endure my life in as many pains as it is able to bear and suffer. And as concerning my reconciliation, his grace may be assured that, whatsoever I have said or written, in all my life, against the honor of God’s Word, and [if that be] proved, the same shall I, before his majesty and all the world, utterly renounce and forsake, and with most humble and meek mind embrace the truth, abhorring all error soever sooner at the most gracious and benign request of his royal majesty, of whose wisdom, prudence and learning I hear so great praise and commendation, than of any other creature living. But if those things which I have written be true, and stand with God’s Word, why should his majesty, having so excellent a guide of knowledge in the Scriptures, move me to do anything against my conscience?”
Relationship to Sir Thomas More
One of William Tyndale’s bitterest opponents, and one of the best-known men in 16th-century England—for his power, his intellect and his religious convictions. His was the central character in the prize-winning play and movie, A Man for All Seasons. A devout and intelligent Roman Catholic layman, he was appointed to the post of Lord Chancellor, then was commissioned by the king and the church to refute William Tyndale’s arguments and to discredit his character. He wrote nine books against Tyndale, filling more than 1,000 pages with arguments and invective against the reformer, and always defending the ultimate authority of the pope and the Roman Catholic Church (see “The Pen-and-Ink Wars,”).
Ironically, though More had many people executed because they denied the pope’s authority, his immovable commitment to that authority eventually led to his own death. When King Henry insisted on getting a divorce contrary to papal proclamations, then went on to declare that the pope no longer had authority in England, More told the king that he disagreed and would have to resign his post. Henry could not tolerate the public humiliation of having his closest advisor visibly questioning his wisdom, so he had More executed on trumped-up charges.
Our love and good works make not God first love us, nor change him from hate to love, as the Turks, the Jews, and the vain popish mean. No, His love and deeds make us love, and change us from hate to love. For He loved us when we were evil, and His enemies, as testifieth Paul in divers places; and chose us to make us good and to show us love, and to draw us to Him, that we should love again.
The father loveth his child, when it hath no power to do good, and when it must be suffered to run after its own lusts without law; and never loveth it better than then, to make it better, and to show it love, to love again. If ye could see what is written in the first epistle of John, though all the other Scripture were laid apart, ye should see all this.
And ye must understand, that we sometime dispute forward, from the cause to the effect; and sometime backward, from the effect to the cause, and must beware that we be not therewith beguiled. Sometime we say, “Summer is come, and therefore all is green”; we dispute forward, for summer is the cause of greenness. Other time we say, “The trees be green, and therefore summer is come”; we dispute backward from the effect to the cause, for the green trees make not summer, but make summer known.
So we dispute backward: the man doth good deeds, and profitable unto his neighbor; he must therefore love God. He loveth God; he must therefore have a true faith and see mercy. And yet my works make not my love, nor my love my faith, nor my faith God’s mercy. But contrary, God’s mercy maketh my faith; and my faith, my love; and my love, my works. And if the pope could see mercy, and work of love to his neighbor, and not sell his works to God for heaven, after Master More’s doctrine, we needed not so subtle disputing of faith.
Context of Tyndale’s translation
Gutenberg Press
But if Gutenberg—or someone like him—hadn’t designed and built the first commercially effective printing facility ever, in Mainz, Germany in 1450, then Tyndale would have had to publish his translation of the New Testament into English by means of hiring scribes to copy it by hand. And even the fastest of scribes could not have produced in one year the number of copies of the New Testament that a Gutenberg-like press could produce in just a few weeks.
Without Gutenberg, production and distribution of Tyndale’s translation would have been severely slowed down by merely technical problems, not to mention all the resistance Tyndale received from official Roman Catholic and government sources.
But because Gutenberg devised the means to print a Latin version of the Bible with movable type in an original edition of 150 copies on heavy paper, plus 30 on fine vellum, Tyndale was able to print thousands of copies of an English version of the Bible on regular paper, and get them distributed all across his native England. And while we are certainly indebted to Tyndale for his steadfastness against the official resistance, both we and Tyndale are indebted to Gutenberg for his steadfastness against resistance of a different sort.
It is difficult to piece together the details of Gutenberg’s early life, but it is not hard to imagine this son of a scribe spending his days watching his father at work, and anguishing. The scribe’s job saw him bent over his writing table for hours on end, sometimes in minimal light, with infinite pains copying long and intricate manuscripts over and over again for the nobility, clergy and lawyers—and all by hand. A single book could take months to copy, and then it might start all over again.
So Johannes apparently watched his father, and thought, and came to a paradoxical resolution. While he appreciated the beauty and craft of his father’s handiwork—the intricately illustrated initial letters and the carefully aligned rows of graceful text—he was also moved with compassion over the drudgery of his father’s work and determined to do something to bypass the excruciating slowness of the process. He was inspired by the majesty of the craftsman’s finished product, a book, but was somehow more inspired with the idea that he could by some means produce hundreds of beautiful pages in the time his father produced one. And without the errors and deviations from copy to copy that always appeared in scribes’ work, even his father’s, no matter how painstaking they might be.
Erasmus’ Novum Testamentum
Corruption in Christendom
That he did this in an era when the English Catholic church had in effect a law that made it a crime punishable by death to translate the Bible into English, and when on one day in 1519, the church authorities publicly burned a woman and six men for nothing more than teaching their children English versions of the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments and the Apostles’ Creed?!
Tyndale’s 1525 English Translation
Miles Coverdale
A translator/scholar who Tyndale befriended at Oxford, he later helped Tyndale with his always continuing revision work on the New Testament translation. After Tyndale’s death, it was an entire English Bible with Coverdale’s name on it that Henry VIII officially approved to be spread “among all the people.”
Thomas Cromwell
He succeeded Sir Thomas More as chancellor to the king, and tried to be a friend to Tyndale when the reformer was sitting in prison. He is best-known for carrying out King Henry’s order to suppress the monasteries in England, then for being executed by the king soon after the last monastery had surrendered. A man of Protestant sympathies, he attempted to get Tyndale set free from Vilvoorde prison by contacting the governor of the prison. He was obviously not successful, but he was successful in convincing the king to approve distribution of the English Bible translated by Tyndale and Coverdale.
Tyndale the champion of the common people
The Word Incarnates
Leveraging Technology for God’s Glory
Two Williams and the English Language
Shakespeare: 1564-1616
William Tyndale: 1494–1536
Conclusion
For it became him/for whom are all thinges/and by whome are all thinges/after that he had brought many sones unto glo ry/that he shuld make the lorde of their salvacion parfecte thorow sufferynge.
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
