Today, if you were to enter a Christian bookshop looking for a Bible you will be spoilt for choice. In any good bookshop, you will find some twenty versions available, sometime even more. Bible translation and publication so flourish today it seems we could have a new version every other year. We must appreciate all who work hard to translate and publish the Bible, for they are a great blessing to us. It is really hard to imagine a time when such noble actions could land one with a charge punishable by death, in many cases burnt to death on a stake! And that by people who professed to be defender of the Christian faith!
The translation of the Bible into English has come a long way. John Wycliffe, an Oxford scholar, started the ball rolling in the 1380s producing the first hand-written English language Bible manuscripts. The books in the Bible were originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, but Wycliffe used the Latin Vulgate, which was used by the church at the time, for his translation work. Wycliffe is known as the Morning Star of the Reformation; at the heart of the Reformation was the idea that every believer should have access to the Bible in his native tongue. The Roman Church was dead against this idea, for if the masses could access and read the Bible for themselves the church would lose control over them and in the long run it would hurt the coffers of the Pope and his cronies. The church at the time wielded great power, even over kings of states, not to say common people. The Pope was so infuriated with Wycliffe’s teachings and actions that some forty-four years after his death the Pope ordered his bones dug out, crushed and thrown into the river.
Most of Wycliffe’s Bibles were destroyed but the struggle continued. In 1526, William Tyndale produced the first printed edition of the New Testament in English. His works ultimately became the basis for the Authorized King James Version of 1611; in fact nine-tenths of the KJV is Tyndale. Even today, the KJV Bible holds the distinction of the most printed book in the world with over one billion copies printed. But Tyndale was in hiding in Europe when he printed his New Testament. He had to flee England earlier on in order to work on his translation project, because while in England as soon as the authority got wind of him working on his project they tried to hunt him down and stop him from his translation work. After printing, his N.T. had to be smuggled into England; anyone found in possession of a copy would be arrested and burnt at the stake. Tyndale was later caught and put in prison. King Henry VIII of England, then eager to please the Pope, ordered Tyndale’s execution. On Oct 6, 1536, having been incarcerated for more than 500 days, William Tyndale was strangled and burnt at the stake. His last words were, “Oh Lord, open the King of England’s eyes”.
The above are the heroics of just two of the Lord’s generals. Countless more were involved in His cause and they gladly paid the price. The struggle continued; many more were burnt at the stake. It was like birth pangs at the time of labour, but it couldn’t stop the baby coming out. Nothing could stop the advancement of God’s will: to have His Holy Word available in English. Today the vast number of English Bibles available is testament to God’s power and His faithfulness towards those He called for the cause. He is faithful! And He always has the last laugh.
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