Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, in charge of her entire treasury. He had come to Jerusalem to worship and was returning home; seated in his chariot, he was reading the prophet Isaiah. Then the Spirit said to Philip, "Go over to this chariot and join it." So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah. He asked, "Do you understand what you are reading?" He replied, "How can I, unless someone guides me?"    (Acts 8:27b-31a)

For those of you for whom English is your first language, did you ever wonder who is most responsible for the English translation of the Bible? Most of you may guess "King James of England", who authorized the version completed in 1611. This version was worked on by 47 scholars and took about eight years to complete. However, this answer would be incorrect. The so-called King James Version actually owes much of its debt to William Tyndale, a clergyman born in 1494. It has been said that "Tyndale is the mainly unrecognised translator of the most influential book in the world. Although the Authorised King James Version is ostensibly the production of a learned committee of churchmen, it is mostly cribbed from Tyndale with some reworking of his translation." How did this state of affairs come to be?

Well, you see, Tyndale's decision to translate the scriptures into the native tongue of his land ran afoul of the church hierarchy, as it had it other countries where it was first attempted. The church felt that the Bible in the hands of the laity was simply too dangerous. The common folk should be told only what the church felt they needed to hear, and only upon its own interpretation. Instead of as Philip had done, giving the people the scriptures and then helping them to understand it, the church decided it was safer to leave the Bible in a language they could not understand, Latin, and instruct the people only in what they thought best, and filtered through their own theological lens. Tydale was told to cease and desist his attempts at delivering the scriptures to the people in English under pain of heresy. He decided to leave England, knowing that the climate on the European continent was more favorable to a reformer, thanks mostly to Luther.

So in 1524 Tyndale left and began travels in Europe, moving from place to place where conditions were most friendly. He worked in Hamburg, Cologne, Worms, and Antwerp. Printers worked with him and soon English Bibles were arriving in England and were quickly consumed by the public anxious for this newfound freedom to read the word of God for themselves. King Henry VIII and Cardinal Wolsey responded by declaring the books forbidden, arresting booksellers, confiscating the Bibles, and having them burned. In fact, only three copies of the first edition of Tyndales' 1526 New Testament survive to this day. Tyndale also fueled Henry's wrath by opposing his divorce in a treatise written in 1530. Henry's spies eventually caught up with Tyndale in Antwerp in 1535. He was betrayed to the authorities, who were Catholic, and imprisoned. He was charged as a heretic and burned at the stake in 1536. His last words were "Lord, open the King of England's eyes!"

Soon after, as Henry decided to appoint himself head of the Church of England, and break away from Rome, he decided an English Bible wasn't so bad of an idea after all. He charged one James Coverdale to prepare the Bible, which he did using all of Tyndale's New Testament and what of the Old he had translated, all from the Greek and Hebrew. Coverdale, however, used the less accurate Latin Vulgate to finish the rest of the Old Testament.

So you see, Tyndale dying prayer was in fact answered, he in fact gave his life to fulfill it. Many phrases in Bible translations still used today are directly from Tyndale: "let there be light, the powers that be, my brother's keeper, the salt of the earth, a law unto themselves, it came to pass, gave up the ghost, the signs of the times, the spirit is willing, fight the good fight". He coined the words Passover, atonement, scapegoat, and Jehovah. The next time you are reading your Bible, remember the man who was the first to make it possible for you to do so, William Tyndale. The ELCA commemorates Tyndale as a martyr for the faith on October 6. The Church of England remembers Tyndale's sacrifice with this prayer:

"Lord, give your people grace to hear and keep your word that, after the example of your servant William Tyndale, we may not only profess your gospel but also be ready to suffer and die for it, to the honour of your name."

P.S. For those with further interest, there is an excellent 1986 movie about Tyndale called "God's Outlaw"

Contributed by David
Sunday April 13, 2008
Liturgical Year A Week 20
Sunday Gospel reading
First Sunday of Easter