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If God Spare My Life: Tyndale, the English Bible and Sir Thomas More
William Tyndale (1494 - 1536) is one of history's most famous martyrs. Being out of sympathy with the contemporary English church and suspected of heresy, he left England in 1522 and matriculated at Wittenberg two years later where he got to know Luther. In 1525 he translated the New Testament and, by 1531, the Pentateuch. He had reached the book of Jonah when he was burned for heresy near Brussels.
448 pages, Hardcover
Published May 16, 2002
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
June 11, 2019
Ever since I got interested in the Tudors, I have also developed an interest in the Reformation. It appears to be exactly what people need again today in several religions. While the hero of the Reformation remains Martin Luther of Germany, the English Tyndale had a hand in making England more receptive to the new ideas floating around at the time.
William Tyndale, a priest himself, decides at quite a young age that the Catholic Church is too corrupt and only a complete upheaval would change things. Unlike the Church with its layers of traditions, Tyndale (and other reformers) believed that it's only the Bible on which their religious actions and faith should be based. This led to a schism between the followers of the new faith and that of the old faith, followed by plenty of murders and fearmongering by the established Church.
Tyndale decides to translate the Bible into English, allowing English laypersons to read and interpret it for themselves. This was radical and it did not meet with approval by the Catholics. The most Catholic of them all, Thomas More, persecuted Tyndale with all the might of the State behind him. This book really brings out the pettiness of More and his complete disregard for following legal procedures when persecuting so-called heretics. I think anyone with even passing interest in Tudor history should really read this book if only to set the record straight about More, who is always depicted as a moral, kind man.
Book of Fire is also a testament to Tyndale's English skills. On par with Shakespeare, the author contends that Tyndale has contributed many terms and phrases to the English language, which are still in use today. In many places, Moynohan lifts phrases from Tyndale's translations and discusses why they are better phrased than other versions. He also discusses Tyndale's impact on the English language, which has been immense.
This is basically a biography of Tyndale, but also of More and the English Bible. Though Tyndale never got to see his translated Bible legally distributed in England, Henry VIII did authorise the publication of the English Bible, edited from the Tyndale version by Miles Coverdale in 1539, three years after Tyndale was murdered on grounds of heresy in Antwerp.
I enjoyed reading the book, though some of the Bible discussions got rather too heavy to be interesting. But the fight between More and Tyndale, the political background to the Reformation, the friendships and enmities of the different characters made this a really interesting look into very different times.
William Tyndale, a priest himself, decides at quite a young age that the Catholic Church is too corrupt and only a complete upheaval would change things. Unlike the Church with its layers of traditions, Tyndale (and other reformers) believed that it's only the Bible on which their religious actions and faith should be based. This led to a schism between the followers of the new faith and that of the old faith, followed by plenty of murders and fearmongering by the established Church.
Tyndale decides to translate the Bible into English, allowing English laypersons to read and interpret it for themselves. This was radical and it did not meet with approval by the Catholics. The most Catholic of them all, Thomas More, persecuted Tyndale with all the might of the State behind him. This book really brings out the pettiness of More and his complete disregard for following legal procedures when persecuting so-called heretics. I think anyone with even passing interest in Tudor history should really read this book if only to set the record straight about More, who is always depicted as a moral, kind man.
Book of Fire is also a testament to Tyndale's English skills. On par with Shakespeare, the author contends that Tyndale has contributed many terms and phrases to the English language, which are still in use today. In many places, Moynohan lifts phrases from Tyndale's translations and discusses why they are better phrased than other versions. He also discusses Tyndale's impact on the English language, which has been immense.
This is basically a biography of Tyndale, but also of More and the English Bible. Though Tyndale never got to see his translated Bible legally distributed in England, Henry VIII did authorise the publication of the English Bible, edited from the Tyndale version by Miles Coverdale in 1539, three years after Tyndale was murdered on grounds of heresy in Antwerp.
I enjoyed reading the book, though some of the Bible discussions got rather too heavy to be interesting. But the fight between More and Tyndale, the political background to the Reformation, the friendships and enmities of the different characters made this a really interesting look into very different times.
August 18, 2024
A brilliant read about a brilliant man, who gets lost in the shuffle of the Reformation & Tudor shenanigans. Giving credit where it is due, combined with a fluid & informative writing style, produces one of the best books on the era that I've read in some considerable time. This is first rate stuff, especially in its take down of the oh-so-pious Thomas More.
June 20, 2011
Loved this book. I will never read the Bible again and not think of William Tyndale and his belief in making the Bible available to everyone. He gave his life for the Bible. Highly reccomended to anyone who reads the Bible.
January 9, 2017
Brilliant. A fascinating account of Tyndale, his work, and his nemesis, Thomas More. Engagingly told, lively, fair and balanced. Excellent work. I'd give it ten stars if I could!
September 21, 2016
I really like to read scriptures and they are important to me. This book helped me appreciate good ol' William Tyndale ever so much more. I knew he did a lot for me but you get an in depth look at what a sweet, tender-hearted, pro woman, unselfish, man he was.
It wasn't always easy reading and it took time to get through to be sure, but I am very glad I pushed through and finished. It was worth it.
I'll probably never feel the same about the Bible again and will continue to have a deep respect for this man.
One thing that surprised me: He identified himself as a heretic in the first line of the introduction. 134
179: He adored the Bible, as God's word and it sparkled and refreshed him as writing, as a brilliant tale well told. 'This is a book worthy to be read in day and night and never to be out of hands' ".
It wasn't always easy reading and it took time to get through to be sure, but I am very glad I pushed through and finished. It was worth it.
I'll probably never feel the same about the Bible again and will continue to have a deep respect for this man.
One thing that surprised me: He identified himself as a heretic in the first line of the introduction. 134
179: He adored the Bible, as God's word and it sparkled and refreshed him as writing, as a brilliant tale well told. 'This is a book worthy to be read in day and night and never to be out of hands' ".
February 12, 2023
I HAD NO IDEA
Up until the 16th century most Englishmen and many priests, had no idea what the Bible said. The Latin Vulgate was the only approved text for the Catholic church. Few people spoke Latin.
Martin Luther turned the church on its ear. He objected to indulgences (buying your way into Heaven) and he objected to the church insisting on practices not inspired by God's Holy Word. He began writing a German translation so the common people could read the scriptures.
William Tyndale was moved by Luther and began translating the testaments of Greek and Hebrew into English.
The Catholic church didn't like that.
This book tells how Tyndale worked, hid and suffered to accomplish this goal.
(So inspiring I purchased a kindle edition of Tyndale's surviving works.)
Up until the 16th century most Englishmen and many priests, had no idea what the Bible said. The Latin Vulgate was the only approved text for the Catholic church. Few people spoke Latin.
Martin Luther turned the church on its ear. He objected to indulgences (buying your way into Heaven) and he objected to the church insisting on practices not inspired by God's Holy Word. He began writing a German translation so the common people could read the scriptures.
William Tyndale was moved by Luther and began translating the testaments of Greek and Hebrew into English.
The Catholic church didn't like that.
This book tells how Tyndale worked, hid and suffered to accomplish this goal.
(So inspiring I purchased a kindle edition of Tyndale's surviving works.)
October 4, 2024
This book’s full title – If God Spare My Life: William Tyndale, the English Bible and Sir Thomas More — a story of martyrdom and betrayal – was too long to include in this blog post. Further confusion is added by an alternate title which seems to have been adopted for later editions of this same work: Book of Fire: William Tyndale, Thomas More and the Bloody Birth of the English Bible. For a book that is so much about elegant, concise and precise language, this seems unfortunate.
Saint Thomas More, who really liked burning heretics, once described William Tyndale as a ‘hell-hound in the kennel of the devil’ and as trafficking in ‘cunning perversities and heretical depravity’, producing ‘pestiferous and most pernicious poison.’ Tyndale, meanwhile, dismissed More’s Catholicism as, ‘penance, pilgrimages, pardons, purgatory and praying to posts.’
Really, both men should have got on like a heretic on fire over their shared love of plosive alliteration.
What is this book? It’s a thriller, really, telling the story of the person responsible for the first early modern English translation of The Bible, a book which was so shocking in its revelation of the word of God that even priests who read it were said to lose their faith. That faith being Catholicism. The time was the height of the Reformation, the turbulent years of Henry VIII’s first divorce, the spread of Lutheran ideas, and the place was Antwerp in Belgium, where printers produced books in English in defiance of all attempts to stop them, and had them smuggled into England in sacks of grain, bales of wool, even casks of wine.
It is a proper thriller, with spies and agents, secret societies, bribes, betrayals, and ultimately, murders.
Tyndale was a self-deprecating scholar with a gift for languages. In the 1520s, he set about translating the New Testament into English from the original Greek. At the time of its first publication, he was unable to tackle the Old Testament because he couldn’t read Hebrew, which was its original language. But five or six years later, he tackles that, too, or most of it, having learned Hebrew in the meantime. And by all accounts, his translation is accurate, or even better than that. In fact, 75% of the King James Bible’s Old Testament is the work of Tyndale; more than 80% of the New Testament is his. Like Shakespeare, we know his words: In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God: and the word was God. His words, his rhythm, his poetry. Our father, who art in heaven… Younger readers may not have grown up with these words in the same way that my generation did, but that Lord’s Prayer was something we said every morning at assembly in school.
I’m an atheist, so why was I interested in this story? Well, this was research for my current writing project — but it’s also a fascinating episode from history. I found it gripping and even moving, so I didn’t just read to glean what I needed for research purposes: I read from cover to cover. Tyndale was pursued, persecuted, exiled – suffering setback after setback – but he didn’t give up. He is betrayed in Cologne, so he flees to Worms with partly printed pages and starts again. His first edition is seized and seized again, burned in both Antwerp and London, but he keeps working. He ended up in Antwerp because England wasn’t safe for him. But so turbulent were the times that, after a while, he would probably have been safer in England than he was in Antwerp. His greatest enemies (Wolsey, Tunstall, More) were either dead, disgraced, or imprisoned. The people temporarily in ascendance (Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell) would have protected him. Instead, he was betrayed by an English Judas, imprisoned in a Belgian castle and finally burned at the stake.
All for translating the Bible into English, and challenging orthodoxy. Translating one word as love instead of charity. As in, faith, hope, and charity. Translating another words as congregation instead of Church. Elder instead of priest. Each of these ‘mistranslations’ (as More called them) was a little nail in the coffin of Catholicism. People were to repent, not do penance. To love, not give to charity.
As someone who loves words, I love the fact that this story is about the interpretation of words. His English was so clear, so perfect, that it fitted the original Hebrew and Greek far better than the Vulgate Latin of the Official Version. More than that, I am someone who loves printing and its history, and this is a story about how the printing press created an unstoppable momentum.
It’ll be 488 years ago this Sunday that Tyndale was strangled (badly) and then burned at the stake. And yet, within a very few years of his death, Thomas Cromwell was supplying English Bibles to English churches.
Saint Thomas More, who really liked burning heretics, once described William Tyndale as a ‘hell-hound in the kennel of the devil’ and as trafficking in ‘cunning perversities and heretical depravity’, producing ‘pestiferous and most pernicious poison.’ Tyndale, meanwhile, dismissed More’s Catholicism as, ‘penance, pilgrimages, pardons, purgatory and praying to posts.’
Really, both men should have got on like a heretic on fire over their shared love of plosive alliteration.
What is this book? It’s a thriller, really, telling the story of the person responsible for the first early modern English translation of The Bible, a book which was so shocking in its revelation of the word of God that even priests who read it were said to lose their faith. That faith being Catholicism. The time was the height of the Reformation, the turbulent years of Henry VIII’s first divorce, the spread of Lutheran ideas, and the place was Antwerp in Belgium, where printers produced books in English in defiance of all attempts to stop them, and had them smuggled into England in sacks of grain, bales of wool, even casks of wine.
It is a proper thriller, with spies and agents, secret societies, bribes, betrayals, and ultimately, murders.
Tyndale was a self-deprecating scholar with a gift for languages. In the 1520s, he set about translating the New Testament into English from the original Greek. At the time of its first publication, he was unable to tackle the Old Testament because he couldn’t read Hebrew, which was its original language. But five or six years later, he tackles that, too, or most of it, having learned Hebrew in the meantime. And by all accounts, his translation is accurate, or even better than that. In fact, 75% of the King James Bible’s Old Testament is the work of Tyndale; more than 80% of the New Testament is his. Like Shakespeare, we know his words: In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God: and the word was God. His words, his rhythm, his poetry. Our father, who art in heaven… Younger readers may not have grown up with these words in the same way that my generation did, but that Lord’s Prayer was something we said every morning at assembly in school.
I’m an atheist, so why was I interested in this story? Well, this was research for my current writing project — but it’s also a fascinating episode from history. I found it gripping and even moving, so I didn’t just read to glean what I needed for research purposes: I read from cover to cover. Tyndale was pursued, persecuted, exiled – suffering setback after setback – but he didn’t give up. He is betrayed in Cologne, so he flees to Worms with partly printed pages and starts again. His first edition is seized and seized again, burned in both Antwerp and London, but he keeps working. He ended up in Antwerp because England wasn’t safe for him. But so turbulent were the times that, after a while, he would probably have been safer in England than he was in Antwerp. His greatest enemies (Wolsey, Tunstall, More) were either dead, disgraced, or imprisoned. The people temporarily in ascendance (Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell) would have protected him. Instead, he was betrayed by an English Judas, imprisoned in a Belgian castle and finally burned at the stake.
All for translating the Bible into English, and challenging orthodoxy. Translating one word as love instead of charity. As in, faith, hope, and charity. Translating another words as congregation instead of Church. Elder instead of priest. Each of these ‘mistranslations’ (as More called them) was a little nail in the coffin of Catholicism. People were to repent, not do penance. To love, not give to charity.
As someone who loves words, I love the fact that this story is about the interpretation of words. His English was so clear, so perfect, that it fitted the original Hebrew and Greek far better than the Vulgate Latin of the Official Version. More than that, I am someone who loves printing and its history, and this is a story about how the printing press created an unstoppable momentum.
It’ll be 488 years ago this Sunday that Tyndale was strangled (badly) and then burned at the stake. And yet, within a very few years of his death, Thomas Cromwell was supplying English Bibles to English churches.
January 19, 2019
A surprisingly good read, given its a history book disguised as a near-thriller! All sorts of interesting stuff happening through this time period.
I was surprised (should not have been but there you are) that this first major piece of widely-read publishing in English brought concordances into fashion, to aid the reader. I realized that the difficulty in reading "olde English" is there were no common spellings for words used in daily speech so pretty much anything goes. A 'u' might be in place of a 'y' or a 'v' and context is the only guide. The OED did not come a moment too soon.
I was surprised (should not have been but there you are) that this first major piece of widely-read publishing in English brought concordances into fashion, to aid the reader. I realized that the difficulty in reading "olde English" is there were no common spellings for words used in daily speech so pretty much anything goes. A 'u' might be in place of a 'y' or a 'v' and context is the only guide. The OED did not come a moment too soon.
March 23, 2024
Excellent book about the life and work of complete genius and hero, William Tyndale.
Labouring away amid persecution that forced him to flee abroad and disguise his identity, Tyndale managed to produce the majority of what became (alongside the Shakespeare folio) the most influential and beautiful contribution to the English language - the King James Version of the Bible.
Though the resources are comparatively scant, Moynahan does a good job of eking it out and fleshing out the book with plenty of historical context. A fascinating period in our history.
Labouring away amid persecution that forced him to flee abroad and disguise his identity, Tyndale managed to produce the majority of what became (alongside the Shakespeare folio) the most influential and beautiful contribution to the English language - the King James Version of the Bible.
Though the resources are comparatively scant, Moynahan does a good job of eking it out and fleshing out the book with plenty of historical context. A fascinating period in our history.
September 4, 2018
This book is filled with historical details, but reads like a detective novel. The personalities of the characters come alive as Moynahan examines the facts, and makes his case. It is the story of two relentless opponents, both on a collision course. It travels back to the 16th century, and reveals the thoughts and emotions of heroes and villains.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 9, 2019
Thorough, readable and dispassionate. It’s hard not to turn a history of this period into a pile-on against the persecutors or being an apologist for them, depending on your perspective. Moynahan manages it, and gives a well-structured portrait of the time whilst taking us deep with the characters.
August 24, 2019
Good book and detailed History of Tyndale, the development of the English language Bible, and his interactions with St Thomas More. In this book More is painted as vindictive and self serving. I think there is much more to him.
He also spent time on the evolution of Henry VIII views on religion pointing out that the were self serving and overall very conservative.
He also spent time on the evolution of Henry VIII views on religion pointing out that the were self serving and overall very conservative.
August 17, 2022
This book provides a detailed look at William Tyndale and his efforts to translate the Bible into English at a time when he was being pursued by Sir Thomas More and others for his heresies, since a plain reading of the Bible undermined many of the teachings of the ruling church at the time. While parts of the book were hard to plow through at times, the book as a whole was excellent.
August 11, 2017
It took a few restarts for me to read this. Some of the historical facts were hard to grasp at first. But I am forever grateful for the protestant movement and their sacrifice to get the Bible accessible, translated and into the hands of the common man.
September 21, 2017
I'm filling this in a long time after reading and afraid it didn't leave much of an impression
January 2, 2023
Very informative and interesting reading
Read
June 30, 2025I couldn't get myself to finish reading.
October 29, 2025
very dry treatment of what is really a romantic tale. the title feels like a bait with how acedemic this is. still fwif i have yet to come across a more comprhensive treatment of the tyndale bible.
April 5, 2015
Excellent read. So happy that I saw this on the shelves as I was hunting for something else to read. Reveals the lively drama that played out in the early 1500’s as so-called Christians took to burning people who questioned authority. The very drama of such a practice ensured (burnings were very dramatic and ritualistic) that the martyrs would be remembered long after their grisly demise.
I was surprised and intrigued to learn more of the character of Tyndale and his chief adversary, the man for all seasons, Thomas More. Tyndale was exceedingly sweet and tender with friends, and gifted with a wonderful sense of languages: his translations are a huge percentage of what’s in our Bibles today. Yet he could be very sharp against anyone who opposed him or did not give him the respect he thought he deserved. More, while fiercely loyal and very tender with his daughter Meg, was consumed with a desire to burn heretics. His zeal followed him to the grave, as it was likely his agent (a detestable fellow called Phillips) who at last outfoxed Tyndale and betrayed him to a trial and subsequent strangling and burning. More was cunning in worldly ways, and fanatical in his adherence to his own point of view (bitterly insulting anyone who cared to offer a contrary point of view, if they hadn’t the political power to hurt him). At last, his courage got him in tight quarters, when he crossed the equally dangerous (but more powerful) “defender of the faith” (and ultimately underminer of it), King Henry VIII.
How real and fresh everything seemed (and was) to these people who lived through this time of changes. What a debt of gratitude we owe the courageous Tyndale for his diligent efforts to bring the word of God to even the ploughboy, that all may know God and come unto Him.
I was surprised and intrigued to learn more of the character of Tyndale and his chief adversary, the man for all seasons, Thomas More. Tyndale was exceedingly sweet and tender with friends, and gifted with a wonderful sense of languages: his translations are a huge percentage of what’s in our Bibles today. Yet he could be very sharp against anyone who opposed him or did not give him the respect he thought he deserved. More, while fiercely loyal and very tender with his daughter Meg, was consumed with a desire to burn heretics. His zeal followed him to the grave, as it was likely his agent (a detestable fellow called Phillips) who at last outfoxed Tyndale and betrayed him to a trial and subsequent strangling and burning. More was cunning in worldly ways, and fanatical in his adherence to his own point of view (bitterly insulting anyone who cared to offer a contrary point of view, if they hadn’t the political power to hurt him). At last, his courage got him in tight quarters, when he crossed the equally dangerous (but more powerful) “defender of the faith” (and ultimately underminer of it), King Henry VIII.
How real and fresh everything seemed (and was) to these people who lived through this time of changes. What a debt of gratitude we owe the courageous Tyndale for his diligent efforts to bring the word of God to even the ploughboy, that all may know God and come unto Him.
April 29, 2010
2.5 stars. Several people recommended "Fire in the Bones" by Wilcox as a biography of William Tyndale, but it was not available at our library so I got this instead. It is a history book, but to me it is fascinating to discover all the political intrigue that went on to try and stop the printing of the Bible into English.
**I am not quite done with it, and I would add a few more comments about the book. The author really tries to make sure he quotes from original sources, but at times it is hard to read the old English and it can be a little dry. The opening chapter "On the Burning of Heretics" was my favorite because it was eye opening to see how reactionary the Catholic church was to even comments that were considered blasphemous. I also think it is fascinating to read how Thomas More was a major persecutor of the Reformation. In my mind I picture the stalwart man of integrity depicted in the play and book "A Man for all Seasons," but he was also a self-proclaimed enemy of the reformation.
All in all the book is interesting, but in parts it can be rather dry.
**I am not quite done with it, and I would add a few more comments about the book. The author really tries to make sure he quotes from original sources, but at times it is hard to read the old English and it can be a little dry. The opening chapter "On the Burning of Heretics" was my favorite because it was eye opening to see how reactionary the Catholic church was to even comments that were considered blasphemous. I also think it is fascinating to read how Thomas More was a major persecutor of the Reformation. In my mind I picture the stalwart man of integrity depicted in the play and book "A Man for all Seasons," but he was also a self-proclaimed enemy of the reformation.
All in all the book is interesting, but in parts it can be rather dry.
July 2, 2012
I really enjoyed the history of William Tyndale's struggle to translate and publish the Bible into english. It really is appalling how viciously he and other supporters were opposed. I would imagine it might be a little hard to read if you are Catholic, as this history shows that the Catholic church actively pursued with violent efforts the suppression of the english translation, for reasons that appear to be quite self-serving.
I can see honest, pure intent in both Tyndale and More. However, knowing More's deadly means and violent wishes towards those supporting the english publication, it is a little hard to find him so inspiring as I remember in the movie "A Man For All Seasons". Tyndale, on the other had remains an amazingly inspiring example.
I would give it 4.5 stars if possible. The information was well researched and well presented. Probably because of the subject manner and excerpts with old english spelling, it was hard to get through at times. Well worth it, though.
I can see honest, pure intent in both Tyndale and More. However, knowing More's deadly means and violent wishes towards those supporting the english publication, it is a little hard to find him so inspiring as I remember in the movie "A Man For All Seasons". Tyndale, on the other had remains an amazingly inspiring example.
I would give it 4.5 stars if possible. The information was well researched and well presented. Probably because of the subject manner and excerpts with old english spelling, it was hard to get through at times. Well worth it, though.
July 26, 2016
I am not religious and have no interest in the Catholic Church, the bible or religious dogma in general and yet this is still one of the most profoundly moving books I have ever read. I think about the ideas, the personalities and the questions this book raises on a regular basis. It is a truly gripping description of the power of the written word and the bravery of people who sought to share those words (knowing they risked their lives to do so)..
What I really love about this book are the passages about language and the ways in which Tyndale helped shape "modern English." There are large sections of this book that just sing with the power of words, and how they can be used to both corrupt and reveal the ideas behind them. The author also makes the case that Tyndale profoundly changed the implications of the Bible-specifically in using the word "love" rather than "charity." Two distinctly different concepts.
What I really love about this book are the passages about language and the ways in which Tyndale helped shape "modern English." There are large sections of this book that just sing with the power of words, and how they can be used to both corrupt and reveal the ideas behind them. The author also makes the case that Tyndale profoundly changed the implications of the Bible-specifically in using the word "love" rather than "charity." Two distinctly different concepts.
November 4, 2007
It's a scholarly book, a biography of the first person to translate the Bible into English. This was considered heresy at the time, especially by Thomas More, who hated Tyndale and brought great passion to bear in order to catch and burn him. There's a lot of intrigue in the book, meticulously researched, but the author keeps us straight through all the switching allegiances. Also fascinating are the explanations of how the individual words were used to create a crisis in the Church - how using "the congregation" instead of "the Church" was a direct challenge to the whole concept of people needing an intercession between them and God. Tyndale's Bible meant that for the first time ever the middles classes could read for themselves the Word of God - and make up their own minds.
Not an easy book, dense and full of facts, but absorbing and informative - I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Not an easy book, dense and full of facts, but absorbing and informative - I thoroughly enjoyed it.
July 9, 2016
This is definitely a very interesting book! I asked for it as a birthday gift from my in-laws (they let me pick one) last year because I have a fascination for the Renaissance, particularly the Reformation. This book tells the story of William Tyndale, the first man to, at the time illegally, translate the Bible into English. His translation is still the base for many modern translations. The book traces his footsteps from Gloucestershire, where he was born, and the Low Countries and Germany, where he went to escape his enemy Thomas More. In general it was a fascinating story and book, although i feel Brian Moynahan sometimes spent a bit too long explaining certain aspects of life at the time, or certain parts of Tyndale's Bible translation. I noticed myself skimming paragraphs sometimes. But apart from that, great book, learned a lot!
March 13, 2008
Loved this book. Moynahan really brings the historical events to life. I knew that William Tyndale was burned for translating the bible into English, but that means more to me now after having read about the political and religious tensions in Europe at the beginning of the reformation. One comes to really admire and love Tyndale for his brilliance as a translator, his humility as a Christian, his dedication to his life's work, and his sacrifice. He's now on my short list of people I'd like to meet in the afterlife. Meanwhile, I strongly recommend this biography.
April 13, 2010
I would have given this more stars, but at times, the book becomes laborious in reading. It is quite long--but very well researched. The reader, if not a well studied Christian historian, will be astounded at the life threatening situations that were encountered by those who attempted to translate scripture into the English language. The author has attempted a grand task in this account and done well. I just have not had time to finish the book, though glad to have it on my shelf (about halfway read)
November 7, 2009
Those who only know Thomas More through Bolt's movie A man For All Seasons wil be enlightened to find what a completely intolerant and bloodthirsty bastard he was. Tyndale by contrast was a saint, and this book is the most exciting I've read on his struggle to bring the Bible in English to a beleagured people, my fellow countrymen.
November 7, 2009
I love this book. It's more accessible than the Yale biography (which is amazing for its detail and scholarly, exhaustive approach). Moynahan makes a compelling case for who hunted Tyndale at the end. He also balances a disucssion of Henry VIII's court, those lesser known men and women who fought for God's Word, and Tyndale's own life and translation. Everyone should read this book.
February 3, 2011
Very interesting account of how we got our English Bible. Covers Tyndale in depth as well as the people surrounding his persecution. Loved the well researched examples of church corruption and retorts that went back and forth. Very eye opening and makes one treasure the access we have to the bible today.
April 11, 2012
I really enjoyed this book and all of the information it had to offer, I never knew any of the stuff about the Catholic church or William Tyndale. I didn't quite finish it because it was a little more involved than I had time for right now, but it will be a book I would pick up again. If you want to know about how the King James Version of the Bible came to existence, read this book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews