HIGH up on one of the boldest of the Cotswold Hills in Gloucestershire, England, is to be seen a monument to the memory of William Tyndale. His portrait hangs in Magdalen College, Oxford, and shows us the kind, good face of a thoughtful man, for whom we cannot be sufficiently grateful, as he translated the New Testament, and part of the Old Testament too, into English as spoken in the sixteenth century. He then printed the Testament and distributed it far and wide.
Printing had been discovered some few years before, and Tyndale saw at once how it might be used for giving the English people God's word more cheaply, for Bibles in his day were very expensive, always in Latin and written by hand, and very few of the people possessed copies. In the reign of Richard II the cost of a Bible in Latin was £41 13s. 4d., but after printing was used, the price m Henry VIII reign was reduced to £7.
Tyndale had read the Bible in Latin, and whilst reading it he was brought to confess himself a sinner and to turn to the Lord Jesus for salvation. He realized that the Bible was the most valuable thing the world contains, and he longed that such a treasure might be in the hands of old and young, rich and poor.
“If God spare my life, ere many years, I will cause that every boy that driveth the plow shall know more of the scriptures than thou dost," he said to a monk who had no love for God's word.
This became Tyndale's absorbing thought. Here was a marvelous book, which was itself living, and showed men how they too could live, and that forever, in eternal happiness; a book which told the truth about God, about men, about life and death, about another world, about sin and how it was overcome, and how to get to God even now, the most wonderful book that any boy or girl could possess, a book whose words will never pass away, because it is the word of the eternal God. "Heaven and earth," the Lord Jesus said, "shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.”
Tyndale went as a student to both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and then became _tutor to a family named Walsh. Whilst there he spoke the truth so plainly that he was obliged to flee to London, where he hoped that he would be helped with funds to print the New Testament. He met with nothing but discouragement, however, until he came to know a merchant named Humphrey Monmouth, who loved him for Christ's sake, and did all he could to help him in this great work.
In spite of his help, he found to his sorrow that it was useless for him to continue his work in England; so gathering together his precious manuscripts he crossed the Channel and started work again at Hamburg. There he continued for a time, but was discovered and went on to Cologne; and the same thing happening there, he went to Worms, where he was able to finish the translation.
Then the printing began, a slow and tedious process in those days, but it went through safely, and Tyndale was faced with the difficulty of getting the Testaments across to England, as they had to be hidden from the enemies of the truth. He managed to get them packed in sacks of corn, and put in with other goods, and in this way they reached London safely; and with the help of some godly merchants they were distributed in many English homes, where, as in the days of the Lord Jesus, the common people received the word gladly.
Tunstall, Bishop of London, was so angry at finding that so many of the people possessed printed Testaments in their own language that he bought up a large consignment and then burnt them publicly at St. Paul's Cross.
But in doing this he overstepped the mark, for it had the advantage of making people inquire what there was in the books that caused the Bishop to burn them, and buying them out of curiosity, and through reading them, many were blessed. Besides this, the money given for the purchase enabled Tyndale to print more.
His history has what perhaps many would call a sad ending. Whilst he was working steadily with the printing at Antwerp he was betrayed to his enemies by a supposed friend and imprisoned in Vilvorde Castle. Whilst there in suffering and great discomfort the jailor and his daughter and other members of his family were converted.
This must have been a great joy to him in his loneliness! Some of the prisoners, too, were brought to know and believe in Jesus.
Tyndale expected death as man's reward for his efforts, but no doubt he knew the words he had translated and printed so many times: "Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (Rev. 2:1010Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. (Revelation 2:10).)
On October 6th, 1536, he was taken from prison, strangled, and his body burnt to ashes. Tyndale's last words were, Lord, open the King of England's eyes "; and within a year after these words a Bible in English was placed in every church in this land by the king's orders.
His life was not lived in vain, but was taken from him whilst he was doing a glorious work; and every boy and girl who reads this and values God's word can help too to make it known.
Testaments can be bought very cheaply, and there are many homes around us where the word of God cannot be found. Would it not be a good thing for each one reading this to ask the question, "Is there anyone to whom I can give a Bible?" and so become one of those whom God calls His messengers.