User:TeleComNasSprVen/Tyndale Bible

This picture shows some of the first pages of the version of the Gospel of John that William Tyndale created when he made his translation of the New Testament in 1525.

The term Tyndale Bible usually means the biblical translations that William Tyndale did. Not only was Tyndale’s Bible hailed because it was the first version of the Bible to be translated from Hebrew and Greek directly into Englsh, but also because it was the first English biblical translation to be mass produced with the help of the newly invented printing press. The phrase Tyndale's Bible is not correct in a literal sense because Tyndale never sold a fully translated Bible. Before he was executed, he had only translated the New Testament and about half of the Old Testament. During his work, the Pentateuch, Jonah and a different version of the book of Genesis were sold, all of which came from the Old Testament. His book served as a major influence to the Matthew Bible and other biblical translations from England.

History

Everything that had to do with Tyndale's translated version of the New Testament began in 1522. Tyndale had just found a translated version of the New Testament that Martin Luther had made, which was in German. Tyndale was impressed with the book and decided to copy the book into English. He told the Bishop of London, who was Cuthbert Tunstall at the time, what he wanted to do. But, instead, Tunstall disagreed with making a new version of the English Bible. Because of this, Tyndale had to move to Europe to make his new translation, finally finishing his book in Hamburg in 1524. As he was doing all of this, he usually traveled to Wittenberg to visit Martin Luther and a friend named Melanchthon. The first version of Tyndale’s New Testament was printed in Cologne in 1525, but most of the book was still unfinished. He was able to finish the first edition of the New Testament after he moved the publishing process to the city of Worms in 1526. Two better versions were became published in 1534 and 1536, both written by Tyndale himself. After he died in 1536, many people have improved upon and copied his translations. His influence can be seen even today in versions of the bible such as the King James Bible.

In 1530, Johann Hoochstraten published a Pentateuch that Tyndale translated. Next year, a translated version of the book of Jonah was also published. And in 1534, a newer version of the book of Genesis was made. Tyndale translated many other Old Testament books like Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. Sadly, the original versions of these books were destroyed. When Tyndale was executed, a friend of his named John Rodgers inherited his books. These translations would later serve as influences to the Matthew Bible in 1537.

As he was translating the New and Old Testaments, he used many sources. He would use the third edition of Erasmus’s Greek New Testament, also called the Received Text, as an inspiration; this was the version that many people in Europe in 1522 had talked about. Tyndale also used Erasmus' Latin New Testament, as well as Luther’s German version and the Vulgate. Many historians, however, think that Tyndale did not use Wyclif’s Bible as a source because he didn’t want his book to look like the versions of the Bible written before the Renaissance. As to the Pentateuch, no one really knows what sources he used to translate it. Some think that Tyndale used either the Hebrew Pentateuch or the Polyglot Bible, or even the Septuagint. They also believe that he used a Hebrew Bible to translate his newer works. He also made much use of Greek and Hebrew grammars.

Reaction of the Catholic Church

Both the church and the state in England denounced his works, where it had taken longer for the reform movement to happen. Tyndale had to escape the authorities in England and live in Europe, where many people shared his reform ideas. The church and state banned the New Testament that he made in 1526 from all of England, and burned all the ones that were left. Many Catholic scholars, like Thomas More, attacked him and his translations. The Catholic Church said that what they did was necessary because Tyndale had corrupted the books to spread ideas of anti-clericalism and other heretical views. The also argued that he had changed certain words around and thus changed the meaning of scripture. More pointed out four key words that Tyndale had changed in his translation. The terms, often used in the Catholic texts, were “church”, “priest”, “do penance” and “charity”. Tyndale translated these words into “congregation”, “senior” (which was changed to elder in the version written in 1534), “repent” and “love”. The Church felt deep hatred toward Tyndale's translations because they went against everything that the Church had taught during this time. In 1536, the authorities working for the king choked Tyndale to death and soon after burned his body.

Challenges to Catholic Doctrine

The Catholic Church had long proclaimed that the church was an institution. The word church to them had come to represent the organizational structure that was the Catholic Church. Tyndale’s translation was seen as a challenge to this doctrine because he was seen to have favored the views of reformers like Martin Luther who proclaimed that the church was made up and defined by the believers, or in other words their congregations. Some radical reformers preached that the true church was the “invisible” church, that wherever true Christians meet together to preach the word of God was where the church was. To these reformers the structure of the Catholic Church was unnecessary and its very existence proved that it was in fact not the “true” Church. When Tyndale decided that the Greek word “ekklesia” is more accurately translated congregation he was undermining the entire structure of the Catholic Church. Many of the reform movements believed in the authority of scripture alone. To them it dictated how the church should be organized and administered. By translating “church” to mean “congregation” Tyndale was providing ammunition for the beliefs of the reformers. Their belief that the church was not a visible systematized institution but a body defined by the believers themselves was now to be found directly in the Holy Scripture. Furthermore Tyndale’s use of the word congregation attacked the Catholic Church’s doctrine that the lay members and the clergy were to be separate. If the true church is defined as a congregation, as the common believers then the Catholic Church’s claim that the clergy were of a higher order then the average Christian and that they had different roles to play in the religious process no longer held sway.

Tyndale’s translation of the Greek word “presbuter” to mean elder instead of priest also challenged the doctrines of the Catholic Church. In particular, it asked what the role of the clergy should be and whether or not they were to be separated from the common believers as they were in the current Catholic system. The role of the priest in the Catholic Church had been to lead religious sermons and ceremonies like mass, to read the scripture to the people, and to administer the sacraments. They were considered separate from the common believers. In many reform movements a group of elders would lead the church and take the place of the Catholic priests. These elders were not a separate class from the common believers; in fact, they were usually selected from amongst them. Many reformers believed in the idea of the “priesthood of all believers,” which meant that every Christian was in fact a priest and had the right to read and interpret scripture. Tyndale’s translation stripped away the scriptural basis of Catholic clerical power. Priests no longer administered the church: it was the job of the elders, which implied that the power rested in the hands of the people.

Catholic doctrine was also challenged by Tyndale’s translation of the Greek “metanoeite” as “repent” instead of “do penance”. This translation attacked the Catholic sacrament of penance. Tyndale’s version of scripture backed up the views of reformers like Luther who had taken issue with the Catholic practice of sacramental penance. Reformers believed that it was through faith alone that one was saved. This differed from the views of the Catholic Church, which followed the belief that salvation was granted to those who lived accordingly to what the church told them and thus participated in the seven sacraments. Tyndale’s translation challenged the belief that one had to do penance for one’s sins. According to Tyndale’s New Testament and other reformers, all the believer had to do was repent with a sincere heart, and God would forgive them. The believer did not have to earn their salvation; it was given freely to them by God. All they had to do was believe in his promise and live accordingly.

The Tyndale Bible also challenged the Catholic Church in many other ways. The fact that it was translated into a vernacular language made it available to the common people. This allowed everyone access to scripture and gave the common people the ability to read (if they were literate) and interpret scripture how they wished, exposing it to the threat of being "twisted to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures" (2 Peter 3.16) instead of relying on the church for their access to scripture. The main threat that Tyndale’s Bible caused to the Catholic Church is best summed up by Tyndale himself when he tells us of his reason for creating his translation in the first place. Tyndale’s purpose was to “[cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more scripture] than the clergy of the day”, many of which were poorly educated. Thus Tyndale sought to undermine the Catholic Church’s grip on the both access to and interpretation of scripture. They were no longer needed as intercessors between the people and God.

Legacy

The legacy of Tyndale’s Bible cannot be overstated. His translations laid the foundations for many of the English Bibles which followed his. His work made up a significant portion of the Matthew Bible which was the first authorized version of the English Bible. The Tyndale Bible also played a key role in spreading reformation ideas to England which had been reluctant to embrace the movement. His works also allowed the people of England direct access to the words and ideas of Martin Luther whose works had been banned by the state. Tyndale achieved this by including many of Luther’s commentaries in his works. The Tyndale Bible’s greatest impact on society today is that it heavily influenced and contributed to the creation of the King James Version, which is one of the most popular and widely used Bibles in the world today. Scholars tell us that around 90% of the King James Version is from Tyndale’s works with as much as one third of the text being word for word Tyndale. Many of the popular phrases and Bible verses that people quote today are mainly in the language of Tyndale. An example of which is Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers.” The importance of the Tyndale Bible in shaping and influencing the English language is paramount. According to one scholar Tyndale is “the man who more than Shakespeare even or Bunyan has moulded and enriched our language.”

References

Coggan, Donald. The English Bible. Essex: Longmans, Greeb & Co. Ltd., 1968.

Kenyon, Sir Frederic. The Story of the Bible. London: Butler & Tanner Ltd., 1947.

Lindberg, Carter. The European Reformations. Malden: Blackwell Publishing, 1996.

Luther, Martin. "The Freedom Of A Christian: Doctrine of Justification by Faith Alone", in The Freedom Of A Christian, edited by Hans J. Grimm and W. A. Lambert. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1957.

Partridge, A.C. English Biblical Translations. London: Andrè Deutsch Limited, 1973.

Pollard,Alfred W., ed. Records of the English Bible. Wm. Dawson & Sons Ltd., 1974.

Thompson, Craig R. The Bible in English. New York: Cornell University Press, 1963.

"Tridetine Creed." http://individual.utoronto.ca/mmilner/history2p91/primary/Tridentine_Creed.html

Other websites

• Studylight version of Tyndale New Testament, actually from the 1534 edition Searchable by phrase or chapter/verse reference.
• Online version of Sir Frederic G. Kenyon’s article in Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible, 1909
• Tyndale New Testament article, with zoomable image, on British Library website

Category:Bible versions Category:Religion