William Tyndale

By Gordon H.

William Tyndale was born in 1483. He won a

reputation for scholarship at Oxford; then he went
,to

Cambridge to meet Erasmus, who had just comGreek New Testament. This he examined

pleted his

as a curious piece of scholarship, but to his surprise

he found in it a message that stirred his soul.

The priests did not share his enthusiasm, and one

day as he was arguing with them about the teachings
of the New Testament, a priest said, "We had better
be without God's laws than the pope's." In indignation Tyndale replied, "I defy the pope and all his
laws; and if God spare me I will one day make the
boy that drives the plough in England to know more
of Scripture than the pope himself."
First Tyndale applied to the bishop of London for
permission to translate the New Testament. Although
the bishop was a patron of learning, he had no interest in the Scriptures. He refused assistance. Tyndale none the less came to London and hid in the
house of Humphrey Monmouth, a merchant, where
he quietly began his work. But he could see men
around him being arrested and executed for reading
copies of Luther's writings, and he decided that England was not a safe place to work on a much more
dangerous book, the New Testament.

After one year in London, he went to Hamburg,

Germany, where in poverty he worked for another
year and finished the translation. He took his manuscript to a printer in Cologne.
He had kept his
secret well and now hoped to see the divine Book
scattered in thousands of copies throughout England.
But a priest named Cochlaeus had overheard some of
the typesetters talking. He was suspicious, got the
men drunk, and discovered that the New Testament
was actually on the press and nearly finished. The
priest went immediately to the magistrates and demanded that the material be seized. Someone sent
a message to Tyndale, who hurried to the shop,
gathered up all of the manuscript he could find, and
fled.

He escaped to Worms, where enthusiasm for Luther

was at its height. Here the New Testament was completed and printed. This was the first printed New
Testament in England. Knowing that Cochlaeus had
warned the authorities, and that therefore shipments
to England would be closely watched, Tyndale had
made his books small in size. He hid them in bales
of cloth and in sacks of flour. Every secret way that
could be thought of was used to get the books into
England. And in spite of the vigilance of the priests,
and in spite of some shipments being discovered,
many

of the Testaments were safely delivered

If Wickliffe's handwritten copies had been troublesome enough, imagine the great commotion that
these books caused. Hundreds could be printed in
one day; the cost was low; nearly everyone could

afford to

buy one. The English people would soon

know what

the

Bible said.

The

priests

redoubled

their efforts and discovered thousands of copies.

These were solemnly burned at St. Paul's Cross in
the city of London. It was called "a burnt oftering
most pleasing to Almighty God." But still other
thousands of Testaments replaced those that had
been destroyed.
It soon became clear to the church officers that
they could not prevent these Testaments from being
distributed in England. Then a bright idea struck
the bishop of London. He asked Augustine Pakington whether it might be possible to buy up all the
copies on the continent before they were shipped to
England. Pakington, a merchant who traded in

He told
secret friend of Tyndale.
the bishop that he could probably buy the edition,
And
if the bishop would be willing to pay the cost.
so it was arranged.

Antwerp, was a

Pakington went to see Tyndale. Master Tyndale,

said, I have found a purchaser for your entire

he

When Tyndale learned

was the bishop of London, he
he knew that the bishop wanted
ments. Well, replied the shrewd
it? You will make a profit and
edition.

that

the purchaser

was perplexed, for

to burn the Testamerchant, what of
then you can print

another edition.

The bishop got his Testaments, but a corrected and

newly printed edition began to appear in England in
quantities.

Since it was clear that printed books could not be

destroyed like handwritten manuscripts, Bishop Tonstal preached a sermon at Paul's Cross asserting that he

himself had found two thousand errors in Tyndale's

translation. Sir Thomas More said, "To study to
find errors in Tyndale's book were like studying to
find water in the sea." Tyndale challenged him to
make public these thousands of errors. More was
finally forced to narrow his charges down to a half a
dozen words. But the attacks of More and the bishop
were effective, for they had control of the pulpits,
and few people ever heard Tyndale's replies. Yet,
as more and more friends were made for the Reformation, the Testament was more widely defended
against these attacks.

The

Bible was

now

that neither king nor

so well

received in England

pope could stop

its

progress.

But Tyndale himself did not live to see its greater

triumph. In 1534 Henry Phillips, a supposed gentleman, and Gabriel Donne, a monk of Stratford Abbey,
were employed to lure Tyndale to destruction.

and

were scattered far and wide through the country.

PAGE 7

Clark, Ph.D.

The two of them, Donne disguised as Phillips' servant, went to Antwerp. They found Tyndale living
in the home of a merchant named Pointz. Bv enfriendship,
gaging manners and by pretended
Phillips won Tyndale's confidence, who first invited
him to dinner and later persuaded Pointz to let him

THE SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER

23. 1959

When he had learned the details

and knew where he kept his papers,

dungeon

of Vilvorde castle, about eighteen

lodge in the house.

off to the

of Tyndale's

miles from Antwerp.

life

Phillips cautiously investigated the possibility of havAntwerp authorities arrest him. Finding lit-

When

ing the
tle

encouragement

Brussels

make

to

they tried to effect his release.

he persuaded the court of

there,

the

But even the imperial officials from

to arrest an Englishman in the free city of
Antwerp, where numerous English merchants formed
Brussels hesi-

tated

a strong party in favor of the Reformation.

After a time

it

became

the court at Brussels to face a charge of heresy. He

took this occasion to give his judges an exposition of
Scriptural truth such as they had never heard before.
But they had come to condemn, not to listen.

necessary for Pointz to leave

Phillips thought that this

business.
it possible to seize Tyndale secretly and
spirit him out of the city. Stationing the officers outside the door, he went in and asked to borrow some
money. Tyndale loaned him the money and invited
him to go to a restaurant with him for dinner. As
they were going through a narrow passageway out of
the house, the officers seized

It

As winter came on, Tyndale in misery and rags

begged the governor to release to him some of his
own clothes to protect him from the cold and damp.
For two years the now aging and frail Tyndale managed to exist in his dungeon. Then he was taken to

arrest.

Antwerp on
would make

this kidnapping,
was in vain.

Tyndale's friends learned of

Friday, October 6, 1536, Tyndale was led forth

Before they strangled him and burned him,
he prayed, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."
Thus perished, a victim of priestcraft, William Tyndale, translator of the New Testament.

On

to die.

him and hurried him

Four Kinds of Souls

By Rev. James
In the "parable of the sower," Jesus describes four
kinds of soil to illustrate differences in the moral
and spiritual capacities of human souls. The parable
teaches that of four kinds of souls or people, who hear
the Word of God, three of these kinds of hearers do
not understand the Word and "it becomes unfruitful."

Hearing is a great responsibility and blessing. Jesus

exhorts His disciples to "take heed what they hear."
"Unto you that hear shall more be given." Mark 4:24.
the diligent student of divine truth, more of
divine truth shall be revealed. The slothful student
shall not only learn no more, but shall even forget

"To

what he already knows." The disciples came and

said to Jesus:
"Why do you speak to them in parables?" He answered: "To you it has been given to
know the secrets of the Kingdom of heaven." Matthew 13:10, 11.

Reavis,

O.

"Truly,

men longed

stony places,

and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root
in himself, but endureth for awhile; for when tribula-

W^rH imtion or persecution ariseth because r-f the

mediately he falls away." Matthew 13:20,21. "Of His
own will begat He us With the Word of Truth".
"Lay apart (aside) all filthiness and superJas. 1:18.
fluity of naughtiness and receive with meekness the
engrafted Word which is able to save your souls".
"Be ye doers of the Word and not hearers
Jas. 1:21.
only".

Jas.

1:22.

"Other seed fell upon

up and choked them."

thorns;

and the thorns grew

Meaning: "As for what was sown among thorns,

the
is he who hears the Word, but the cares of
world, and the deceitfulness of riches and the lust of
other things, enter in, choke the Word, and it becometh unfruitful." Matthew 13:18, 19.
that

"Other seed fell on good ground and brought forth

some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

grain,

say to you, many prophets and righteous

to see what you see and did not see it,

and to heat what you hear and did not hear

"And He

it."

them many things

'A sower went out to sow, and
as he sowed some seeds fell along the path and the
birds came and devoured them.' "
Meaning: "Anyone who hears the Word of the Kingdom and does
not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches
away what is sown in his heart. This is what was
sown along the path." Matthew 13:19.
Matthew

13:16, 17.
in parables saying:

told

on rocky ground where they had

not much earth; and immediately they sprang up,
since they had not depth of soil. But when the sun
rose they were scorched. And since they had no root,
"Other seed

"But he that received the seed into

the same is he that heareth the Word

Meaning:

"Blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears
for they hear."

D.D.

fell

they withered away."

PAGE 9

Meaning: "But he that receiveth into good ground

he that heareth the Word and understands it;
which also beareth fruit; and bringeth forth some an
hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." Matthew 13:23.
is

Christ and all true Christians are "sowers." The

seed stands for Christian truth, "the Word of the
kingdom," "the Word of God." The ground: i.e.
"the souls of men." "Souls are born again not of
corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by the Word of
God, which liveth and abideth forever." I Peter 1:23.

Here then, as we have seen, are four kinds of souls

described in the parable of the sower. Viz:
1.

The Unreceptwe.
Likened to the hard beaten soil of the path
on which the sown seed fall, to lie on the

THE SOUTHERN PRESBYTERIAN JOURNAL

SEPTEMBER

23,

1959