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Only two short years after fleeing his beloved homeland, Tyndale published the first edition of his English New Testament. However, this was not without significant setback.

Tyndale and his assistant, William Roye, found a willing printer in Cologne. Yet even in Luther-friendly Germany there were those opposed to any activity that smacked of reform.

One such enemy, John Cochlaeus, overheard a conversation among the workers in a local print shop. Further loosening their lips with wine, Cochlaeus was simultaneously shocked and pleased to discover that the English Scriptures were in the process of being printed right where he stood.  

Printing was not only time-consuming, but also an incredibly expensive undertaking. So Tyndale had a network of local benefactors and sympathizers. Catching wind of Cochlaeus’ snooping and a resultant government order to seize the type and the two Englishman, Tyndale and Roye fled up the Rhine River to Worms. They were only able to take a few sheets with them in the haste.

The translator entered a city where he had no connections or financial support. His dedication to persevere, however, reflected his confidence in God’s call. Never one to wallow in self-pity, Tyndale located another willing printer. The first smuggled copies of the New Testament slipped into England in 1526.

Upon hearing that a copy of his translation had been ceremoniously burnt by Bishop Tunstall in London, Tyndale made this eerily prophetic comment: “In burning the New Testament they did none other thing than I looked for; no more shall they do if they burn me also, if it be God’s will it shall so be.”

A gifted writer as well as translator, The Parable of the Wicked Mammon was the first published work Tyndale put his name to. True to his evangelical theology, the book is an exposition of the doctrine of justification by faith.

Following this book in late 1528 was Tyndale’s most popular and influential book, The Obedience of the Christian Man. In it he defends the reformers against the false charge that they taught rebellion against lawful authority. “In this book, as much as anywhere, Tyndale showed his ability to handle the Scriptures. He was a master of exegesis.”¹ 

And it was to the Scriptures that Tyndale continued to devote the majority of his time. He worked on a revision of the New Testament which he finally sent across the channel to England in 1534. In the meantime he also translated the Pentateuch (the first five books of Moses) from Hebrew into English, publishing it in 1530.

Tyndale’s skill as a translator and scholar are evidenced in the King James Version of the Bible. Nearly 100 years later, the 47 translators of the KJV used 90% of Tyndale’s New Testament. He was fluent in at least seven languages. One of these was Hebrew, which he virtually taught himself. This is an astounding feat considering that Hebrew scholarship was still in its infancy in 16th-century Europe. There were very few grammars even in existence.

It must also be kept in mind that Tyndale’s work was done almost entirely in hiding. He was a wanted man. Bounty hunters and agent provocateurs sought to capture and bring him back to King Henry VIII in England. He endured the pressure of being constantly on guard and endlessly changing locations when it appeared danger was at hand.

Yet, despite the intensity of his life, Tyndale’s scholarship was superb. It rivaled those, like Luther and Melanchthon, who both had the advantage of a settled and protected existence.

“When Tyndale sat down to his translation, he had no-one to guide him, no vast library at his disposal, no friendly scholar to check and criticise his work, no books on the principles of translation and no model from which to copy. He was alone, as he almost always was… Tyndale’s New Testament was earthy, almost rustic and certainly plain enough for the ploughman. He made the entire Bible what God intended it to be: a book for the people.” ¹  

Tyndale as translator and scholar is well known. But he was no hypocrite. His life and character were shaped by the Scriptures he diligently labored over and so dearly loved.

It is a testimony to his godliness that his most ardent enemy, Thomas Moore, spoke well of his character. “[He is] a man of sober and honest living who looked and preached holily.”

“The sixteenth century was also the age of invective when no man’s character was safe from the bitterest abuse of his enemy’s pen. There were no laws of libel and no holds barred. If there had been one chink in Tyndale’s holy character, we can be sure that his enemies would have exploited it.”¹

“Even compared with his fellow reformers Tyndale stands out. His words may be strong and sharp at times, but they were never scurrilous or cruel; however ill-treated he never railed in return, and his strongest words were in defence of his friends, not himself.”¹

When it came to theologically controversial issues, true to his graceful nature, Tyndale wisely counseled others to major on the majors. “If you are assured you are right, and another man is of an opposite mind, but the matter is of no major significance to the heart of the Gospel, ‘you will laugh and let it pass, and refer the thing to other men, and stick stiffly and stubbornly in earnest and necessary things.’”²

“Tyndale declared his desire never to cause strife over opinions, never to gain a personal following and never to translate from any other motive than to lead men to faith in Christ and to a holy life in consequence.”²

This approach to controversy was in stark contrast to other notable reformers. For instance, Zwingli and Luther “held a bad-tempered colloquy at Marburg in 1529… It ended in frivolous argument and bad blood. As in much else, both sides used passages from the Bible to justify their differences.”² In this case, the issue concerned their differing views of the Lord’s Supper. Though Tyndale held his own interpretation, he lamented that the matter was allowed to divide two influential men who otherwise had very similar views on the most important matter–the Gospel.

Tyndale was not one to merely study the Scriptures without applying them to his own life. In Antwerp, where he was eventually apprehended, he set aside two days a week for what he called his “pastime.” On Mondays he visited the English men and women who’d left Britain for the sake of conscience. He ministered the Word among them while encouraging them in their exile. He could surely relate!   

On Saturdays, Tyndale roamed the town seeking out the poor and sick. When he found cases of genuine hardship, he did his best to assist. The English merchants at Antwerp were by now giving him a stipend. It was his first secure income since leaving his homeland a decade before. But he gave most of it away to the needy.

Tyndale’s self-deprecating view of himself assisted him to extend grace to others. “God made me ill-favoured in this world,” he wrote, “speechless and rude, dull and slow-witted.” It was his honesty and personal strength that kept him from bigotry and endeared him to those he met.

His naturally compassionate nature also made him an easy target for his betrayer, Henry Phillips. Though years of living in exile and hiding had made him cautious, Tyndale still possessed the naivety of a child when it came to acknowledging the often deceitful and cruel motives of men.

Taken in by Phillips’ silver tongue and feigned kindness, Tyndale was seized in a narrow alley in Antwerp. It was a trap laid by Phillips. Tyndale would spend the next year and a half in a cold, damp cell while formal charges were brought against him. He was condemned as a heretic by the church and sentenced to death by the state.

One day early in October 1536, William Tyndale was tied to a stake, strangled and burned. His last words were a prayer: “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.” Like his forerunner, John Wycliffe, Tyndale’s ashes were cast into the water, the nearby River Zenne.

The English Bible–of which millions have read and received spiritual help–is Tyndale’s legacy. It exists because one man chose to answer God’s call. 

¹ Edwards, Brian H. God’s Outlaw. Darlington, England: Evangelical Press, 1976.

² Moynahan, Brian. God’s Bestseller. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2002.

For an academic appraisal of Tyndale’s life and scholarship, see:

Daniel, David. William Tyndale: A Biography. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.