Caxton⤒🔗

We come now to another and a very different stage in our journey down the ages. We seem to leave the old world behind us, and to enter upon a new road where new companions join us, new scenes rise up before us, and the gleams of a new hope shine brightly in the vista beyond. By God's providence three things conspired to make the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth centuries ever memorable in our Bible's story.

Invention of Printing←⤒🔗

First, there was the invention of printing. This honour belongs to Gutenburg, of Mayence (or Mentz). He began with wooden types and succeeded in printing a few small works. But he and his part­ner, Faust, employed types cut from metal to produce the famous Bible which they printed between the year 1450 and 1455.

The art was introduced into England by Caxton; he printed a book called the Golden Legend, containing some Scriptural stories, mingled with less authentic records and romances. In the year 1474 he presented a copy of his book to King Edward IV.; and thus the invention received the patronage of royalty and was established within our shores.

The Printed Greek Testament←⤒🔗

In the second place, following closely upon the invention of printing, came the discovery and publication of the Greek Testament. A revival of learning occurred, and the grand old language of poets and philosophers, orators and historians, came to the front once more. It claimed the attention of eager students and ardent explorers in its classic fields. However, with the general subject we have little concern here, rather we remember, with thankful praise, the goodness of God who caused the inspired Evangelists and Apostles to come forth from the obscurity where they had so long been hidden, and to stand in their primitive dignity and glory before the earnest gaze of the scholars of the West. Wycliffe, and others like him, had to cut their way to the Word through a dreary and tangled jungle of scholastic interpretation, and even then they could only find it in more or less faulty Latin manuscripts. Now, however, another day dawns upon seeking souls. To use the expression of Erasmus, Greece rises up from the grave with the New Testament in her hand. The voice of Jesus Christ Himself begins to speak directly to men's souls as it was heard of old on Judah's highways or by the Galilean sea. The profound arguments of St. Paul, clothed in their original and inspired eloquence, attract the study of thoughtful minds, and the tender cadences of the Apostle John fall softly on wistful hearts. Indeed, it is not too much to say that the publication of the Greek Testament by Erasmus in 1516 introduced a new era of Biblical knowledge and research.

Tyndale←⤒🔗

And, in the third place, God raised up the man suited to the time. This was William Tyndale. He was born in a little Gloucestershire village about the year 1484, a hundred years after Wycliffe's death.

His family was comparatively obscure, and he does not appear to have had any special advantages of education. However, he early displayed such gifts of mind and memory, and such aptitude for learning as can never be hidden in any age. When scarcely more than a child he entered the University of Oxford, and distinguished himself among its students. From that he passed on to Cambridge, probably attracted there by the hope of meeting a company of young men, like-minded with himself and well disposed towards the reforming principles. During his life in the two Universities, he studied Greek diligently and became a proficient in that language. In our imagination we can see that abstracted scholar, for whom the outside world had little interest then, poring with rapt attention over the pages of the Greek Testament and comparing passage with passage and word with word. But, by the blessing of God, he found far more there than literary pleasure or gain. He found Christ crucified, who is the wisdom of God and the power of God, as the Saviour of his own soul. And the longing desire took possession of him to bring the saving knowledge within the reach of his less learned countrymen.

Tyndale At Sodbury←⤒🔗

Possibly the suspicion of "heresy" even then at­tached to him, for he was always ready to disclose his feelings and views to any questioner with all the artless simplicity of a candid and unworldly mind. And it may be that he had to retire from Cambridge in consequence of this suspicion. At any rate, we find that he obtained the appointment of domestic chaplain to Sir John Walsh, of the Manor-house, Sodbury, near the home of his childhood. There he spent about two years, from 1521 to 1523. During that time he had many opportunities of seeing and holding discussions with the Church digni­taries and priests who were frequent visitors at Sir John's hospitable mansion. Besides this, his duties as a tutor to the young family of his patron being light, considerable leisure was afforded to him for meditation, study, and preaching to the country folk. Consequently he became more and more impressed with the need of a Reformation; and his plan for bringing it about, namely, a printed English Testament, took definite shape in his mind. In proof of this we may quote his ever-memorable answer to a priest with whom he was debating. His opponent had the hardihood to say, "We had better be without Christ's law than the Pope's law"; and then he, with the spirit of one of the old prophets, exclaimed, "I defy the Pope and all his laws; and if God spares my life I shall cause that the boy who drives the plough in England shall know more of God's law than thou dost."

Tyndale In London←⤒🔗

His determination being fixed, he left Sodbury and went to London. There he applied to Cuthbert Tunstall, the Bishop, for maintenance in the Episcopal Palace, while he was finishing and printing his English version of the Greek Testament. Tunstall posed as a patron of learning, but he would not have that work emanate from his palace. Had it been one of the heathen classics he might have viewed it differently; but, like many other Romish ecclesiastics, he had an instinctive dread of the Christian Scriptures. Let them once be set free from their imprisonment in an unknown tongue and go forth among the people, then, as he felt, they would be Rome's undoing. So with scant courtesy and no encouragement he sent Tyndale about his business. The poor scholar, driven away from the Bishop's doors, seems to have been literally in a destitute condition when God raised up a friend and bene­factor for him in Humphrey Monmouth, a kindly merchant and well disposed towards the Gospel. By this good man's help he was able to live in London for some months longer, and to devote himself more assiduously than ever to his great work. But by-and-by the mournful truth forced itself upon him that he could not have his Testament printed in the capital city, or indeed, in any other part of England.

Tyndale On the Continent←⤒🔗

With sadness of heart, but unflinching tenacity of purpose, he left his native land never to return or see it any more. He crossed over to Hamburg and had actually begun his work there when he was dis­covered by the relentless foes of the Gospel and forced to flee to Cologne. There he managed to get a good part of the type set up and many sheets printed, when his secret was disclosed by a drunken printer; and he himself, with his precious papers, only escaped seizure by a hasty flight. From Cologne he proceeded to Worms, the city where Luther had made his famous stand for truth before the Imperial Diet. The citizens of Worms were favourably inclined to the Reformation, and there the dauntless and determined translator at last found a quiet resting place in which to finish his work.

First Edition of the Printed Testament←⤒🔗

The year 1525 will be ever memorable in our an­nals as the one in which the first printed edition of the English Testament was given to the public. But the difficulties did not end with the completion of the printing. The next question was, how were the books to be conveyed to England, and circulated among the people? If one goes to the house of one of our great Bible Societies today he may see strong boxes specially framed for the wear and tear of travel. He may see them packed with Bibles, or portions, by skilful hands, securely fastened, and plainly labelled with the place of their destination, and the name of the person to whom they are consigned. He may see the truck taking them to the docks where they are to be shipped; and if he follows them there he may see the stately vessel starting with its precious freight for some distant land. But all this is the result of Scriptural knowledge and teaching; such freedom for the Word was unknown and unthought of in the early days of the sixteenth century.

Another method of transport had to be devised. Merchants friendly to Tyndale and his enterprise, had the books hidden away in bales, or stowed in the heart of sacks of corn; and packed in these or some other "traffic of the merchants" these price­less treasures reached England's shore. They were soon taken out and put in circulation among the people, and thus the great work, which no power on earth has been able to hinder, was gloriously begun.

Burning of Tyndale's Testaments←⤒🔗

It goes without saying that the ecclesiastical authorities, and especially Tunstall, Bishop of London, were alarmed and enraged at this unexpected invasion. Sermons were preached against the translation and translator. As many copies as could be collected were brought together and burned with solemn ceremony at Old Paul's Cross. That this was only what Tyndale expected may be seen from his own words, "In burning the New Testament they did none other thing that I looked for; no more shall they do if they burn me also, if it be God's will it shall be so." And this was not all. On October 24, 1526, Tunstall issued an injunction in which he spoke of the book as "containing most pernicious poison," and ordering his archdeacons to warn all who lived in the Diocese of London to deliver them up to his Vicar-general under pain of excommunication. However, all his efforts were unavailing. Ludhoven, an Antwerp publisher, and others, printed editions of Tyndale's version and sent them to England where, in spite of, or because of, these bitter prohibitions, they found eager and ready purchasers. So that the persecuting bishop was at his wits' end and had to confess that, notwithstanding his vigorous measures of suppression, the Testaments "were thick spread over his Diocese." Denunciations and flames may perhaps destroy the words of man, but they are utterly powerless to overcome the Word of God.

There is an old record which tells how a merchant called Packington was employed by the Bishop of London to buy up these Testaments in order that they might be burned, and how by the money thus procured Tyndale was able to carry on his work much more efficiently, so that (as in St. Paul's day) the very actions of its enemies turned out "for the furtherance of the Gospel."

Tyndale's Imprisonment and Death←⤒🔗

As for Tyndale himself, space will only admit of a notice in passing of his intercourse with Luther at Wittenberg; of his residence at Marburg and Antwerp; of his numerous writings during his exile; of his famous controversy with Sir Thomas More, and of the real and feigned friends with whom he came in contact. But it must be mentioned that he gave himself up to the study of Hebrew as well as Greek, and that he published a translation of Pentateuch in 1530, and of the Book of Jonah, with a long introduction, in 1531; and that he brought out his revised version of the New Testament in 1535, the same year in which he was arrested. Of him indeed it might have been said that he was hated of all men for Christ's name sake. His enemies contrived a cunning plot by which to get possession of him. Taking advantage of his simple and unsuspecting nature, a villain called Henry Phillips, wormed himself into his confidence, invited him to go out with him, had an ambush laid to take him; and in this way the noble martyr was hurried off and thrown into the dungeon of the castle Vilvorde, about eighteen miles from Antwerp. There he lay for a hundred and thirty-five days. Preserved among the archives of Brussels is an entry of a payment to Adolph van Wesell, lieutenant of Vilvorde Castle, of the expenses incurred during Tyndale's 135 days of imprisonment. He was tried for heresy before certain Commissioners appointed by the Emperor, and condemned to death on August 10, 1536. Some of the principal charges against him: That he had maintained: (1) that faith alone justifies; (2) that to believe in the forgiveness of sins and embrace the mercy offered in the Gospel is enough for salvation; (3) that human traditions cannot bind the conscience; (4) that there is no Purgatory; (5) that the Virgin and saints should not be invoked by us. On October 6 he was led forth from prison to the stake. There, according to the account of Foxe, he cried out with fervent zeal and a loud voice, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes!" Then he was strangled and his body was burned to ashes.

A monument has been erected to him on the Cots­wold hills, near the place where he was born; his statue stands on the Thames Embankment in the city where he could not find a home; but his real and undying memorial is in every land, whither the English Bible has been carried, and in every home where it is read.

Note←⤒🔗

MARTIN LUTHER … 1483-1546 … Martin Luther asserted the Bible's supremacy. Defying church and state, he declared his conscience was governed only by the Word of God. To bring the Bible to all the people, he prepared a German translation of the New Testament in 1522, and of the whole Bible in 1534. He used vivid, everyday expressions to make the meaning clear and alive, and his translation was based, not on the Latin Vulgate, but on the original Hebrew and Greek. His conviction and work had considerable influence on the English translations that followed. Protestants in Germany still use the Luther Bible.

Luther and other translators were greatly aided by the work of Erasmus, who produced in 1516 an edition of the Greek New Testament, with a parallel Latin translation. Until then the most scholars in western Europe had no access to the New Testament in its original language, but had to depend solely on the Latin.