Tyndale and the Bishop of London
When the early English reformer, William Tyndale, was translating the New Testament into English, he was living in hiding in northern Europe. Translating the Bible into common English was strictly forbidden. The official clergy were worried it would bring heresy into the church.
Tyndale was short of funds for the project, and anxious to sell copies of the first edition of his translation so that he could fund further work and the revisions he knew were needed. But would people in England be prepared to buy his work, knowing it was illegal if they were found with a copy in their possession?
Then something quite unexpected happened. The Bishop of London heard what was happening and was furious. He was determined to stamp out Tyndale and his Bible altogether. So he commissioned his agents to buy up all the copies they could find and have every last one of them burnt up. Little did he realise he was feeding the problem he was trying to prevent. He got the books and destroyed them. But the money he paid enabled Tyndale to move to the all-important second phase of the project.
Tyndale’s new translation was soon printed and was instrumental in bringing many in England to faith in Christ. His translation became the foundation for the King James Version some years later with more than 80% of the King James’ version New Testament taken directly from Tyndale’s work and more than 70% of the Old Testament from Tyndale’s work.
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