by Jefferson David Tant<\/p>\n
One of the great blessings we have is that we have the Bible, God’s Word, in the language of the common people — English. And we are thankful for those who provided this for us at a high cost. The story behind the translation is an interesting story.<\/p>\n
The very first English translation was done by John Wycliffe (1324-1384). This was, of course, before the printing press invention, and all copies were hand-written. Wycliff was helped in this work by the Lollards and others who produced the first copy in 1382. Some 170 copies of this work survive today. This was not well received by the Catholic Church. In a letter written by Archbishop Arundel in 1412 to the Pope, he wrote concerning Wycliffe:<\/p>\n
“That wretched and pestilent fellow of the damnable memory; the very herald and child of anti-Christ, who crowned his wickedness by translating the Scriptures into the mother tongue.” [Encyclopedia American, III, p. 671]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
So, what was the problem? In 1199 Pope Innocent III wrote, “The secret mysteries of the faith ought not to be explained to all men in all places, since they cannot be everywhere understood by all men.” (Ibid)<\/p>\n
But even before that, Pope Gregory VII wrote: “Not without reason has it pleased Almighty God that Holy Scripture should be a secret in certain places, lest, if it were plainly apparent to all men, perchance it would be little esteemed and be subject to disrespect; or it might be falsely understood by those of mediocre learning, and lead to error.” [Ibid]<\/p>\n
“In 1408, Convocation passed at Oxford the famous Constitution, which forbade any man to translate any part of the scripture, unless he was authorized by a bishop. The penalty for violation was greater excommunication. The Constitution also forbade the reading publicly or secretly of any of the books, booklets, or treatises composed in the time of John Wycliffe. The people of England were still without access to a copy of God’s Word in the fifteenth century.” [Ferrell Jenkins, The Theme of the Bible, p. 106].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Then came William Tyndale right after the printing press invention. Tyndale was a member of the Bow Lane church of Christ in London. In view of the Oxford Constitution, Tyndale went to the bishop for permission to do the translation but was refused. He then went to Germany in 1525 and contracted to do the translation, and had to move from Cologne to Worms, as spies were after him. Copies were made and smuggled into England. He realized he needed to print a new version, as there were some mistakes in his translation, but he had no more money. Meanwhile, the archbishop, aware that the English translation was being sold, ordered his henchmen to go buy up all the copies. They were subsequently publicly burned. This money then provided Tyndale with funds for the new translation.<\/p>\n
When the archbishop became aware of the new version, he called in his henchmen and asked what they might do to get rid of it. My understanding is that they told him that if they bought up all the printing presses, they might be able to stop the Bible’s spread.<\/p>\n
Eventually, Tyndale was imprisoned, condemned as a heretic, strangled, and burned at the stake in 1536, as he had defied the order of the Church. By order of the Roman Catholic Queen Mary (1553-1558), many copies of the Bible were burned, but in 1559, Queen Elizabeth came to the throne, and things began to change<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jefferson David Tant One of the great blessings we have is that we have the Bible, God’s Word, in the language of the common people — English. And we are thankful for those who provided this for us at a high cost. The story behind the translation is an interesting story. The very first…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[219,279,1599],"class_list":["post-30620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-bible","tag-history","tag-roman-catholic-church"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":41383,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/william-tyndale-christian-translator-martyr\/","url_meta":{"origin":30620,"position":0},"title":"William Tyndale: Christian, Translator, Martyr","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 24, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jefferson David Tant William Tyndale (1494-1536) was a Reformation leader in England. He was born near Gloucester and has the distinction of being the first man to print the New Testament in English from the original Greek. (John Wycliffe had done a Latin to English translation in 1382). He\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/TyndaleWilliam-168x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":30841,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-distribution-plan\/","url_meta":{"origin":30620,"position":1},"title":"God’s Distribution Plan","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: I Corinthians 1:18-31 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God promised a kingdom that would never fall \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Daniel 7:13-14 - One that would never be destroyed \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Not so with human kingdoms \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Every empire of the past has collapsed at some point \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It has been noted that democracies tend not to last more than 200\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86411,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-new-testament-translation-should-i-read\/","url_meta":{"origin":30620,"position":2},"title":"Which New Testament translation should I read?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good morning. I wish to ask you which New Testament to read: one written by a Catholic publisher or one written by a Protestant publisher? Thank you very much. Greetings from Argentina. Answer: It isn't as much a matter of who printed the pages as it is the accuracy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":15377,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-origin-of-the-king-james-version\/","url_meta":{"origin":30620,"position":3},"title":"The Origin of the King James Version","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 14, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"by\u00a0Ethan R. Longhenry In my personal reading, I have just completed two books that discuss the origins of the King James Version: In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture, by Alister McGrath, and\u00a0God's Secretaries: The Making\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Genesis_Chapter_One_from_a_1620-21_King_James_Bible.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Genesis_Chapter_One_from_a_1620-21_King_James_Bible.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Genesis_Chapter_One_from_a_1620-21_King_James_Bible.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Genesis_Chapter_One_from_a_1620-21_King_James_Bible.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Genesis_Chapter_One_from_a_1620-21_King_James_Bible.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Genesis_Chapter_One_from_a_1620-21_King_James_Bible.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11810,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-translation-should-i-use\/","url_meta":{"origin":30620,"position":4},"title":"Which Translation Should I Use?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 4, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Text: John 17 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A question that I\u2019m asked repeatedly is which translation is best? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is a good question because in English alone, one brother made a list of 128 different translations. The majority of them have been compiled in the last 100 years. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Part of the reason for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5086,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/pietism\/","url_meta":{"origin":30620,"position":5},"title":"Pietism","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"June 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeff Hamilton Download Audio Text: II Corinthians 11:1-4 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In the late 1300s lived a man named John Wycliffe in Oxford, England, where he taught in Balliol College. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He was a theologian and a lay preacher, strongly advocating evangelism. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0This man found many things wrong with Roman Catholicism \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30620\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}