Appreciating Our Bibles

Choices Galore

We take the availability of English translation for granted

knowing the history behind our English Bibles helps us to appreciate what we have

We have a plethora of translations that vary in their audience and their translation philosophy

Knowing this bloody history adds value to our Bibles

Two men were very crucial in this process

Opposition

The Catholic Church did not want the Bible translated into English

They had control over the Bible and would tell the common folk what it said

They did not want people to formulate their own doctrines

They did not want denomination to come about from it being put into English

It was illegal to read the Bible in English

It was illegal to put the Bible into English

People were killed to prevent this from happening

William Tyndale

Live c. 1494- c. 1536

English Scholar

Schooled at Oxford University of Cambridge

Fluent in languages and was well versed in 7 languages besides English

The Bible was not allowed to be translated into English

Tried to seek permission to translate the Bible in English. He failed to get this approval.

He moved from England to Europe and started to copy the Bible on his own

He got his New Testament printed by Peter Schoffer in 1526

Bishop Tunstall opposed this and condemned this translation and began burning all the copies he could get his hands on

Tyndale was condemned as a heretic in open court in 1529

Tyndale retreated into hiding but continued his work of translating the entire Bible in to English

Tyndale was eventually betrayed by Henry Phillips in 1535

He was tried on charges of heresy and condemned to be burned alive

Thomas Cromwell interceded for him and he was strangled at the stake and burned after he had been killed

His crime was translating the Bible into English

Within the next 4 years, four English translations had published at the king’s behest. All were based on the work of Tyndale.

I defy the Pope, and all his laws; and if God spares my life, ere many years, I will cause the boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost! - Tyndale

They have ordained that no man shall look on the Scripture, until he be noselled in heathen learning eight or nine years and armed with false principles, with which he is clean shut out of the understanding of the Scripture. - Tyndale

John Wycliffe

C. 1328 - C. 1384

Oxford Scholar

Wycliffe’s Bible is his notable work

he was a seminary professor at the University of Oxford

Wycliffe argued that the church had fallen into sin

He argued that clergy should live in completer poverty

The clergy lived very wealthy lives during his time

The church and clergy out to give up all property

Wycliffe was summoned in 1377 before the Bishop of London

The exact charges were not known

There was an altercation between Wycliffe’s followers and the Bishop’s

This annoyed the clergy because of the threats made against the churches possessions

Wycliffe believe that the Scriptures were the only authoritative and reliable guide to the truth about God

This led him to translate the Bible into English

This was based off of the Latin Vulgate

He translated the New Testament

John Purvey revised it in 1388

Wycliffe advocated for the Bible to be translated for the common man

His followers wanted the same

They were called Lollards

Wycliffe was later dug up and his bones were burned and thrown into the River Swift

Appreciating the King James Version

The KJV ultimately overtook the Bishop’s Bible and the Coverdale Bible

It was originally viewed as a liberal version

It paid homage to the translations that came before it

they translators wanted more translations and knew more would eventually come