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>>John Bradshaw:
This is It Is Written.
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I'm John Bradshaw,
thanks for joining me for 500.
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Our special series
on the reformation.
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Tonight, you and I are gonna
see a television program called
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A Lamp Unto My Feet.
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We're focusing especially
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on the life and ministry
of one of the great reformers:
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William Tyndale.
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And in a few moments my special
guest will be Dr. Dedrick Blue.
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He is the dean of school of
religion at Oakwood University
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in Huntsville Alabama.
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Dr. Blue, thanks for joining me.
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>>Dr. Blue: Thank you very much.
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>>John: Tell me something
about this man William Tyndale,
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who was he, what he was like?
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>>Dr. Blue: Uh, William Tyndale
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was the great
reformer of England.
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As a matter of fact he
brought us the English Bible
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that we have today.
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And if it were not for Tyndale,
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I would not be able to read
the Bible in my native language.
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So, what a great man
of God who sacrificed all
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for the cause of God?
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>>John: Looking forward to
speaking more with Dr. Blue
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in just a moment.
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Tyndale, a Bible translator,
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a giant of a man,
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moved by an
impulse that he followed
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and in so doing
changed the world.
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There are 66 books in the Bible.
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The Bible contains prophecy,
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life sketches,
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historical information.
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The Bible reveals the
plan of salvation to you,
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to the world.
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The Bible connects the
mind with the heart of God.
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Matter of fact, the Bible
became so pervasive in society,
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there are many
phrases that we use today
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that you might not
even think of the origin
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that originated in the Bible.
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For instance,
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we say something happened
by the skin of your teeth.
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Well, that phrase
originated in the Bible.
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And ,actually we can thank
translators like William Tyndale
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for bringing it into
common English usage.
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Can a leopard change its spots?
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That's biblical.
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There is a fly in the ointment,
that's found in the Bible.
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The writing on the wall, it's
a phrase we use all the time.
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Where did that phrase come from?
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It came right out of the Bible.
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The Bible is an
enormous part of life today,
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even for people who
don't have faith in God
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and don't profess any
sort of belief in the Bible.
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So imagine a
world without the Bible.
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Imagine a world.
where theres no Word of God,
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even if there is some
kind of knowledge about God.
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What would it be like in a world
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where the Bible
just doesn't exist?
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Well, I can tell you
something about that,
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because that for
many years was my world.
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Well, I was raised
in a churchgoing family,
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going to church every Sunday,
mine was not a biblical faith.
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Now we had a Bible in our home,
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but it wasn't a book
we ever read or consulted.
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So I was raised in a world where
the Bible just didn't feature.
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Our knowledge of the
Bible was woefully inadequate.
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We had
misconceptions and false ideas.
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When I say we,
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I'm talking about my
family members and I,
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and perhaps the
people I consider my friends,
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people, my circle of influence,
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just didn't have a clue.
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And so for me when I
discovered the Bible,
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the Bible was freedom.
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The Bible
introduced me to a world that
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I didn't know existed.
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Of course, I knew
there was a heaven,
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and I knew there was a God,
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but I did not know how I could
get forgiveness for my sins.
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I was guilt ridden.
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I went to confession to
confess my sins to a priest
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by the time I got home
from confession I had sinned
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again and wondered, in fact,
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I despaired knowing I would
never be good enough for heaven.
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Let me tell you a story that
would help you to illustrate
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what life is like for people
who just don't have the Bible.
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Now I go to confession,
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and our home was just five doors
down the street from the church.
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I mentioned by the time I
got home I would have sinned,
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and so I wondered to
myself, what's the point?
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The only time I'm really
right with God is the moment
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I leave confession.
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Now, you might be the sort
of theologically geared person
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who says, "John, you
don't understand it right."
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What I do understand is
what my understanding was,
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whether that was right or wrong.
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And I knew that by the
time I got home I would sin.
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I knew that.
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Sta-as a young buy,
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nine years old standing
out in front of our church,
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on the little grassy
strip between the sidewalk,
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the footpath and the road.
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That road was the busiest
section of road in the country.
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It was state high way one.
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Everything going north and south
went up and down that road,
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long before they put
in the bypass you know.
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I remember standing
on that grassy strip
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watching the
trucks, the semis go by,
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and thinking to myself about
the only chance that I've got
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of making it to heaven
is if one of those trucks
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runs off the road,
runs me over and kills me.
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And I thought to myself,
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wouldn't that be good?
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I'm 9 years old,
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because at least that way
I'd die having been forgiven,
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and I could go to heaven.
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Knowing that that
would never happen.
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I thought, "What
if I threw myself
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under one of
those passing trucks?"
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Isn't that a charming thought
for a nine year old to have?
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But nine year olds
want to go to heaven too,
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nine year olds
want to please God.
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And this nine year old
didn't know any better.
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Why not?
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Because no one in my
sphere ever read the Bible.
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And I certainly
couldn't read the Bible,
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wouldn't have
known where to start,
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and wasn't encouraged to do so.
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So, when you think
about the importance
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of somebody like William
Tyndale and the work he did,
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to translate the Bible and
get the Bible before people,
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in a time where doing so would
ultimately cost him his life,
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you realize that
William Tyndale's contribution
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to the world was
absolutely enormous.
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So in a couple of moments we
are gonna go to Gloucestershire,
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that's the part of the,
the, the county in England
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where William Tyndale was born.
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We'll go to little Sudbury, a
tiny little village where, uh,
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William Tyndale ministered, uh,
for Sir John Walsh and his wife,
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tutoring their children.
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He worked in a little church.
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Now we were at that church,
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filmed right
there at the church.
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You'll see it.
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And here is what's interesting,
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it's an historic church,
so historic, Tyndale's church,
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and why we were there,
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a couple of
American tourists walked by,
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I thought that was odd
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until they told me
they were on a walking tour,
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which I think is probably a
good way to spend your vacation.
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We got talking
and I said to them,
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"Do you know about this church?"
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"Oh no, we don't
know a thing, what is it?"
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And I was just amazed,
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I thought surely
they are stopping because
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they know it's the
William Tyndale church.
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No, they had no idea.
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The man across the street
wondered why we were filming
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on that deserted little
lane, a sweet little place.
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Why are you filming here?
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Well, we are at the church,
the William Tyndale church.
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He said, "William Tyndale?
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Does he have something
to do with this place?"
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The man that
lived there for years
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and didn't know that one of
the greatest figures in history,
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I don't think that's a stretch,
had worked in the church,
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just across the
street from where he lived.
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We'll take you to a large
kind of impressive monument
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to William Tyndale,
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up on a hill
overlooking Gloucestershire.
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It's deserted,
while we were there,
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two people visited the monument.
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And they were there because
as young and in love they were
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just looking for a
place to get away from people.
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They in fact didn't go
to the monument itself,
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just to the hill on
which the monument stood.
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William Tyndale,
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a forgotten giant but he's
not gonna be forgotten in 500.
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We'll be back in
just a couple of moments
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with A Lamp Unto My Feet.
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¤[Music]¤
00:10:05.87\00:10:10.67
Now here's a question for you,
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can God be trusted?
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And I have the answer for you?
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Can God be trusted?
00:10:18.51\00:10:20.45
That's our offer today,
it's absolutely free to you,
00:10:20.48\00:10:23.35
can God be trusted and
can the Bible be trusted?
00:10:23.39\00:10:26.55
Call us on (800) 253 3000
00:10:26.59\00:10:29.72
or visit us online
at www.itiswritten.com.
00:10:29.76\00:10:35.06
Or you can write to
the address on your screen.
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I'd like you receive our
free offer, can God be trusted?
00:10:37.63\00:10:42.30
This is It Is
Written, in John Bradshaw,
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thanks for joining me.
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In rural England
there stands a monument
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to one of the great
heroes of the reformation.
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While he grew up a long way
from the center of attention,
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he's remembered as one
of the giants of history.
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While others
formulated doctrine,
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while others were
preaching and teaching,
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this man poured himself
into translating and printing
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his legacy is the Bible.
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The Bible, one
volume, two divisions,
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the old and the New Testaments.
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It's made up of
66 individual books.
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Some of them are very short,
2nd John has just 13 verses.
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3rd John has one more
verse, but fewer words.
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The book of
Jude, only 25 verses.
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Some books of the
Bible are very long.
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The book of
psalms has 150 chapters
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including the Bible's
longest chapter psalm 119.
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There are 1,189
chapters in the Bible,
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more than three
quarters of a million words.
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It was written by shepherds,
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farmers,
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merchants,
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scholars,
00:12:04.69\00:12:05.39
statesmen and kings,
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the majority of whom
had never met each other.
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And the Bible says some pretty
remarkable things about itself.
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1 Peter 1:23 says
that people are born again
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through the word of God,
which lives and abides forever.
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The early Christian's tested
the teachings of the apostles
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by the Old Testament.
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Jesus called God's word
the truth in John 17:17.
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Psalm 119 verse nine says,
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"How can a young
man cleanse his way?
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By taking heed
according to Your word."
00:12:39.32\00:12:42.79
Same chapter verse 130,
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the entrance of
Your words gives light.
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It gives
understanding to the simple.
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And David said on the
105th verse of the same psalm,
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"Thy word is A
lamp unto my feet.
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And a light under my path."
00:12:59.21\00:13:02.94
So if this is true,
that the Bible is the truth,
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that it cleanses,
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that people are
born again by it,
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that it's a lamp and a light.
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If that's true, then
imagine a world with no Bible.
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It's not that hard to imagine.
00:13:17.66\00:13:23.50
Back in Jesus day, the
scriptures, and remember,
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in Christ's day they only had
the Old Testament scriptures,
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back then the
scriptures formed the framework
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or the basis for society.
00:13:33.58\00:13:35.28
The word of God
was widely taught,
00:13:35.31\00:13:37.85
and people had a
good working knowledge
00:13:37.88\00:13:40.22
of what we today
would recognize as the first
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39 books of the
Bible, the Old Testament.
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But several hundred years after
00:13:47.29\00:13:49.42
the founding of the Christian
church, by people such as
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Peter and James and John,
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non-biblical
traditions and teachings
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started to seep
into christianity.
00:13:56.93\00:14:00.07
Some of the plainest teachings
of the Bible were ignored.
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If the entrance of
God's word gives light,
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then the obscuring of God's word
00:14:08.64\00:14:10.55
led to a period of some
real spiritual darkness.
00:14:10.58\00:14:15.05
How did it happen?
00:14:16.38\00:14:17.75
In the 4th century AD,
the Roman emperor Constantine,
00:14:17.79\00:14:22.06
Constantine the
great, he became known as,
00:14:22.09\00:14:24.89
converted to christianity.
00:14:24.93\00:14:27.03
It was a nominal conversion
00:14:27.03\00:14:29.36
and Constantine never
really abandoned paganism.
00:14:29.40\00:14:33.40
As a result, a
number of pagan practices
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became established
within the Christian faith.
00:14:36.54\00:14:38.54
For example,
the early Christians
00:14:41.21\00:14:43.38
practiced baptism by immersion,
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but over time, infant baptism
found its way into the church.
00:14:46.18\00:14:50.62
The venerating of relics
was certainly not practiced by
00:14:50.65\00:14:52.89
the early Christians,
but that too found its way
00:14:52.92\00:14:55.29
into Christianity shortly
after Constantine was baptized.
00:14:55.32\00:14:58.69
The early Christians did not
confess their sins to a priest,
00:14:58.73\00:15:03.33
but that found its way
into church practice as well.
00:15:03.37\00:15:06.47
Now, there were some Christians
who clung to the Bible
00:15:06.50\00:15:11.27
as their rule of
faith and practice,
00:15:11.31\00:15:14.14
but over time the church
began to drift more and more
00:15:14.18\00:15:19.51
away from the word of God.
00:15:19.55\00:15:23.02
Now come down to
the 16th century,
00:15:23.05\00:15:25.42
by this time, the
ruling church had been in power
00:15:25.45\00:15:28.52
for more than a 1,000 years,
00:15:28.56\00:15:30.26
and many non-biblical practices
had become deeply entrenched,
00:15:30.29\00:15:35.66
worse than that, the
Bible itself had become
00:15:35.70\00:15:39.03
virtually inaccessible to
the vast majority of the people.
00:15:39.07\00:15:43.47
In many places,
the Bible was banned.
00:15:43.51\00:15:46.24
People were forbidden to
read it or to possess it.
00:15:46.27\00:15:50.08
Here in England in Coventry,
00:15:50.11\00:15:52.21
a dozen people became
known as the Coventry Martyrs
00:15:52.25\00:15:55.28
after they lost their
lives, they were executed,
00:15:55.32\00:15:58.49
because it was
known that they disagreed
00:15:58.52\00:15:59.92
with some of the practices
of the established church.
00:15:59.95\00:16:02.82
One of them was a woman who was
found to have in her possession
00:16:02.86\00:16:06.93
a handwritten copy
of the Lord's prayer,
00:16:06.96\00:16:09.40
The Ten Commandments
and the Apostles' Creed.
00:16:09.43\00:16:12.77
She was burned at
the stake for that.
00:16:12.80\00:16:16.60
There are hundreds of stories
just like it, thousands even.
00:16:16.64\00:16:21.18
After centuries of
drifting from the Bible,
00:16:21.21\00:16:24.48
the Word of God was out
of the reach of the people.
00:16:24.51\00:16:28.12
The darkness that
existed was almost palpable,
00:16:28.15\00:16:32.05
but here in
England heroes stood tall,
00:16:32.09\00:16:35.69
who would cause the light
of the Bible to shine again.
00:16:35.72\00:16:40.50
John Wycliffe who
was born in around 1328,
00:16:44.23\00:16:47.44
became known as the
morning star of the reformation.
00:16:47.47\00:16:51.07
In the 14th century the peasant
class were essentially slaves,
00:16:51.11\00:16:54.91
and the influence of the
ruling church was enormous.
00:16:54.94\00:16:58.28
The catholic church essentially
controlled the country
00:16:58.31\00:17:02.72
and by later in
the 14th century,
00:17:02.75\00:17:04.39
the pope was
receiving five times as much
00:17:04.42\00:17:07.79
gold from the government of
00:17:07.82\00:17:08.99
England as was the king.
00:17:09.02\00:17:11.99
And when it came to
the teaching of God's word,
00:17:12.03\00:17:14.00
the people were living
in superstition and fear
00:17:14.00\00:17:17.03
as priests as well as
traveling monks and Friars
00:17:17.07\00:17:20.50
kept the people in
spiritual darkness.
00:17:20.54\00:17:24.37
It was a common
practice for the monks
00:17:24.41\00:17:26.47
to sell forgiveness of sin.
00:17:26.51\00:17:28.81
They would live in luxury,
00:17:28.84\00:17:30.38
fleecing the flock
instead of feeding the flock.
00:17:30.41\00:17:33.88
The people were
kept in darkness by monks
00:17:33.92\00:17:36.08
who were barely less ignorant of
the scriptures than they were.
00:17:36.12\00:17:39.92
In 1365 pope Urban the 5th
00:17:39.95\00:17:42.96
demanded that England
submit entirely to the authority
00:17:42.99\00:17:46.66
of the church of Rome,
00:17:46.70\00:17:47.96
which would have been an
admission on England's part
00:17:47.96\00:17:50.87
that the pope was the
legitimate sovereign of England,
00:17:50.90\00:17:55.40
as he lay on what people
thought was his death bed,
00:17:55.44\00:17:58.01
the monks urged Wycliffe
to recant the things that he
00:17:58.04\00:18:01.54
had said in opposition
to them and the church,
00:18:01.58\00:18:04.01
but instead Wycliffe
propped himself up and said,
00:18:04.05\00:18:07.95
"I will not die,
00:18:07.98\00:18:09.05
but live and declare the
evil deeds of the Friars.
00:18:09.08\00:18:13.92
What Wycliffe went on to
do was to translate the Bible
00:18:13.96\00:18:18.99
into the English
language of the day.
00:18:19.03\00:18:21.66
At Wycliffe's third trial,
00:18:21.70\00:18:24.10
he met his
accusers with these words,
00:18:24.13\00:18:26.70
"With whom think
you are you contending,
00:18:26.74\00:18:29.87
with an old man on
the brink of the grave?
00:18:29.90\00:18:32.31
No, with truth, truth
which is stronger than you,
00:18:32.34\00:18:36.98
and will overcome you."
00:18:37.01\00:18:39.31
Wycliffe was
hated by the church.
00:18:39.35\00:18:41.25
After his death,
his books were burned
00:18:41.28\00:18:45.09
and even his body
was exhumed and burned
00:18:45.12\00:18:47.86
and his ashes were cast into the
River Swift near Lutterworth.
00:18:47.89\00:18:51.09
His followers were persecuted,
00:18:51.13\00:18:53.63
and it was enshrined in
law that to translate the Bible
00:18:53.66\00:18:56.97
into English without a
license was a punishable crime.
00:18:57.00\00:19:02.84
110 years after
Wycliffe's death,
00:19:02.87\00:19:05.51
another man came on the scene,
00:19:05.54\00:19:06.94
another Bible translator,
00:19:06.98\00:19:09.78
when William
Tyndale was born in 1494,
00:19:09.81\00:19:12.61
superstition
controlled people's lives,
00:19:12.65\00:19:15.12
kings could sentence people
to death for petty reasons,
00:19:15.15\00:19:18.62
popes could issue decrees
that had no basis in scripture,
00:19:18.65\00:19:22.99
and yet people accepted that as
the will of God for their lives,
00:19:23.02\00:19:26.26
without the Bible
they couldn't know
00:19:26.29\00:19:27.60
whether the church
was right or wrong.
00:19:27.60\00:19:31.13
As Hosea 4 verse 6 says,
00:19:31.17\00:19:33.57
“My people are destroyed
for lack of knowledge.”
00:19:33.60\00:19:37.27
By the time
William Tyndale was born,
00:19:37.31\00:19:39.11
John Wycliffe's translation
of the Bible was out of date,
00:19:39.14\00:19:41.94
because the English language
had changed substantially.
00:19:41.98\00:19:46.15
Wycliffe and his followers
had been known as Bible men.
00:19:46.18\00:19:50.22
100 plus years later,
00:19:50.25\00:19:52.59
another Bible man was needed.
00:19:52.62\00:19:56.36
Back with more in a moment.
00:19:56.39\00:19:57.36
¤[Music]¤
00:19:57.39\00:20:02.30
Now here is a question for you,
00:20:05.37\00:20:06.57
can God be trusted?
00:20:06.60\00:20:08.90
And I have the answer for you.
00:20:08.94\00:20:10.77
Can God be trusted?
00:20:10.81\00:20:12.67
That's our offer today
it's absolutely free to you.
00:20:12.71\00:20:15.58
Can God be trusted and
can the Bible be trusted?
00:20:15.61\00:20:18.78
Call us on (800) 253 3000
00:20:18.81\00:20:21.95
or visit us online
at www.itiswritten.com,
00:20:21.98\00:20:27.42
or you can write to
the address on your screen.
00:20:27.46\00:20:29.96
I'd like you to
receive our free offer,
00:20:29.99\00:20:32.29
can God be trusted?
00:20:32.33\00:20:34.50
¤[Music]¤
00:20:34.86\00:20:43.30
>>John: Thanks for joining
me today on It Is Written.
00:20:43.34\00:20:46.07
William Tyndale was born
in Gloucestershire England
00:20:46.11\00:20:48.54
in around the year 1494.
00:20:48.58\00:20:51.01
His family moved here
during the wars of the roses.
00:20:51.05\00:20:54.05
A series of wars for
control of the English throne
00:20:54.08\00:20:56.72
between the house of York
and the house of Lancaster.
00:20:56.75\00:21:00.22
Tyndale was educated at
Hartford college in oxford,
00:21:00.26\00:21:04.13
and earned a master's
degree in theology in 1515.
00:21:04.16\00:21:08.60
He was fluent
in eight languages,
00:21:08.63\00:21:11.47
including Hebrew and Greek,
00:21:11.50\00:21:14.44
the languages in which the
Bible was originally written.
00:21:14.47\00:21:18.47
In 1521, he moved here to the
little village of Little Sudbury
00:21:18.51\00:21:23.65
where he became the chaplain
in the home of Sir John Walsh.
00:21:23.68\00:21:27.55
In fact, this church is
built from the actual stones,
00:21:27.58\00:21:31.92
and according to
the plan of the church,
00:21:31.95\00:21:34.22
Tyndale ministered in
when he lived right here.
00:21:34.26\00:21:37.99
He had a deep
respect for the Bible,
00:21:38.03\00:21:39.89
much like that
which Martin Luther had.
00:21:39.93\00:21:42.56
And it wasn't long, and
that respect for the word of God
00:21:42.60\00:21:46.00
got Tyndale in a lot of trouble.
00:21:46.03\00:21:49.94
John Fox, the author of the
famous Fox's book of martyrs
00:21:49.97\00:21:54.48
reported on a conversation
William Tyndale had.
00:21:54.51\00:21:58.01
Someone said to him,
00:21:58.05\00:21:59.35
“We had better be without
God's laws, than the pope's.”
00:21:59.38\00:22:03.32
Tyndale replied,
00:22:03.35\00:22:04.19
“I defy the pope
and all his laws.
00:22:04.22\00:22:07.76
And if God spares
my life ere many years
00:22:07.79\00:22:10.86
I will cause the boy
that driveth the plow
00:22:10.89\00:22:13.60
to know more of the
scriptures than thou doest.”
00:22:13.63\00:22:17.93
It was here in Little
Sudbury that William Tyndale
00:22:17.97\00:22:20.87
felt the call to translate
the Bible into English.
00:22:20.90\00:22:24.07
So he left here the
following year for London
00:22:24.11\00:22:26.74
to get the support he needed.
00:22:26.78\00:22:28.81
He was looking for the
blessing of a certain bishop,
00:22:28.84\00:22:31.65
a man who had praised the work
of a dutch theologian Erasmus.
00:22:31.68\00:22:35.02
When Erasmus
translated the New Testament,
00:22:35.05\00:22:38.15
but Tyndale didn't
get the support he needed.
00:22:38.19\00:22:41.12
Convinced the people of
England needed the Bible
00:22:43.19\00:22:45.96
in their own language,
00:22:45.99\00:22:47.76
Tyndale left
England in 1524 for Europe,
00:22:47.76\00:22:51.27
and made his way to Wittenberg
where Martin Luther was living.
00:22:51.30\00:22:56.30
Luther had translated
the New Testament into German
00:22:56.34\00:22:59.24
a couple of years before.
00:22:59.27\00:23:01.58
And now Tyndale set
about working on a translation
00:23:01.61\00:23:04.55
of the Bible that would impact
Christianity in Great Britain
00:23:04.58\00:23:09.45
and around the world.
00:23:09.48\00:23:11.45
He was helped by a
priest named William Roy.
00:23:11.49\00:23:14.46
And within a year or two
the translation was finished.
00:23:14.49\00:23:18.66
After some challenges
owing to the opposition
00:23:18.69\00:23:21.00
Luther was facing,
00:23:21.03\00:23:22.60
Tyndale had translated the
New Testament into English.
00:23:22.63\00:23:26.17
He had the
printing done in Worms,
00:23:26.20\00:23:28.74
the city where
Martin Luther's trial,
00:23:28.77\00:23:30.61
before emperor
Charles V was held.
00:23:30.64\00:23:33.51
More copies were printed
00:23:33.54\00:23:34.64
in what was then the
dutch city of Antwerp.
00:23:34.68\00:23:37.58
And in the months that followed,
00:23:37.61\00:23:39.41
those Bibles were smuggled
into England and Scotland.
00:23:39.45\00:23:43.82
But smuggling an English
language version of the Bible
00:23:43.85\00:23:46.35
across the English
channel wasn't an easy matter.
00:23:46.39\00:23:50.56
That bishop who refused
his permission to Tyndale
00:23:50.59\00:23:53.33
to translate the Bible
into English back then,
00:23:53.36\00:23:56.20
he stood up a lot of
opposition to the project.
00:23:56.23\00:23:58.53
In fact, he commanded
that Tyndale's Bible be burned.
00:23:58.57\00:24:03.14
Booksellers were
banned from selling the book.
00:24:03.17\00:24:06.17
Now burning the Bible in public,
00:24:06.21\00:24:07.74
what that did was
generate a lot of sympathy
00:24:07.78\00:24:10.91
for the whole project,
00:24:10.95\00:24:12.28
even among
supporters of church and state.
00:24:12.31\00:24:15.58
People didn't like to see
the Bible treated in that way,
00:24:15.62\00:24:18.19
burned in the streets.
00:24:18.22\00:24:19.09
Here's what one historian said,
00:24:19.12\00:24:21.46
“The spectacle of the
scriptures being put the torch
00:24:21.49\00:24:24.79
provoked controversy
even amongst the faithful.”
00:24:24.83\00:24:27.93
But there was worse to come.
00:24:28.90\00:24:31.73
In January of 1529, the
catholic cardinal Thomas Wolsey
00:24:31.77\00:24:36.00
condemned Tyndale as a hieratic.
00:24:36.04\00:24:39.14
This attracted the attention
of England's King Henry VIII
00:24:39.17\00:24:42.84
who acted swiftly
against this new reformer.
00:24:42.88\00:24:46.72
Henry was even
more upset with Tyndale,
00:24:46.75\00:24:48.75
because of Tyndale's
public disagreement with
00:24:48.78\00:24:50.82
Henry's intention to divorce
his wife Catherine of Aragon,
00:24:50.85\00:24:54.46
so that he could
marry Anne Boleyn.
00:24:54.49\00:24:59.53
Tyndale contained
00:24:59.56\00:25:00.73
that that Henry VIII's
divorce lacked biblical support.
00:25:00.76\00:25:04.33
Henry wasn't open to
constructive criticism,
00:25:04.37\00:25:06.80
but fortunately for Tyndale
he was in the Netherlands
00:25:06.84\00:25:09.94
and Henry
couldn't touch him there.
00:25:09.97\00:25:12.51
He continued to speak out,
00:25:12.54\00:25:13.98
not only about
Henry VIII's morals,
00:25:14.01\00:25:16.51
but also about the teachings
of the Bible as his writings
00:25:16.54\00:25:19.61
would spread news about
his convictions spread also.
00:25:19.65\00:25:24.12
Like Luther, Tyndale
maintained that the Bible
00:25:24.15\00:25:27.82
should be the supreme authority
00:25:27.86\00:25:29.46
in matters of
faith and practice.
00:25:29.49\00:25:31.99
He also believed
strongly in the Bible teaching
00:25:32.03\00:25:34.30
of justification by faith.
00:25:34.36\00:25:36.93
He did not
believe that people should
00:25:36.97\00:25:38.87
confess their sins to others.
00:25:38.90\00:25:41.70
And like Luther, he also didn't
believe the popular teaching
00:25:41.74\00:25:44.57
that when people die they
go straight to heaven or hell.
00:25:44.61\00:25:48.48
Like the other
protestant reformers,
00:25:48.51\00:25:50.21
it was Tyndale's
purpose to direct men and women
00:25:50.25\00:25:53.28
to the Bible as the
rule of faith and practice.
00:25:53.31\00:25:56.45
And even though the protestant
reformers didn't always agree
00:25:56.48\00:25:59.65
with each other on
any number of subjects,
00:25:59.69\00:26:02.16
what they did do was
lift up the Bible as supreme,
00:26:02.19\00:26:06.70
helping believers move
towards a clearer understanding
00:26:06.73\00:26:10.00
of God's truth.
00:26:10.03\00:26:11.93
William Tyndale's scholarship
had a profound influence
00:26:11.97\00:26:15.54
on the translation of the
King James version of the Bible,
00:26:15.57\00:26:18.47
as well as the
English language itself.
00:26:18.51\00:26:21.48
Translation of the
King James began in 1604
00:26:21.51\00:26:24.58
by order of James
1st, king of England,
00:26:24.61\00:26:26.98
and it was completed in 1611.
00:26:27.02\00:26:29.82
It's estimated that
83% of the New Testament
00:26:29.85\00:26:33.69
and 76% of the Old Testament
in the King James comes to us
00:26:33.72\00:26:38.76
from William Tyndale,
00:26:38.79\00:26:40.53
Passover,
scapegoat, my brother's keeper,
00:26:40.56\00:26:44.17
the salt of the earth.
00:26:44.20\00:26:45.60
It came to pass.
00:26:45.63\00:26:47.24
The signs of the times,
00:26:47.27\00:26:49.04
let there be light,
00:26:49.07\00:26:50.67
a law unto themselves,
00:26:50.71\00:26:52.87
and much more is the
result of Tyndale's scholarship.
00:26:52.91\00:26:56.54
Now, ultimately,
Tyndale would meet the same fate
00:26:56.58\00:27:00.88
as the Oxford Martyrs,
00:27:00.92\00:27:02.75
Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer
who were burned at the stake
00:27:02.78\00:27:06.49
right here by the Roman church,
20 years after Tyndale died.
00:27:06.52\00:27:12.06
But before
Tyndale was put to death,
00:27:12.09\00:27:14.60
he prayed a prayer
that would change the world,
00:27:14.63\00:27:18.27
that's coming next.
00:27:18.30\00:27:19.60
¤[Music]¤
00:27:19.63\00:27:24.47
[Cricketts chirping]
00:27:26.34\00:27:30.35
¤[Music]¤
00:27:30.38\00:27:38.49
[Camera equipment rattling]
00:27:38.52\00:27:41.29
[Rustling in bushes]
00:27:41.32\00:27:43.69
[People talking]
00:27:43.73\00:27:45.59
[Wind blowing]
00:27:45.63\00:27:53.07
¤[Music]¤
00:27:53.10\00:28:03.28
¤[Music]¤
00:28:03.28\00:28:10.89
[Cheering]
00:28:10.92\00:28:19.09
¤[Music]¤
00:28:19.13\00:28:33.61
Thanks for joining
me on It Is Written.
00:28:36.68\00:28:39.48
In Vilvoorde Belgium,
00:28:39.51\00:28:41.58
on the northern side of the
capital city of Belgium Brussels
00:28:41.62\00:28:45.89
is a museum dedicated to the
00:28:45.92\00:28:47.56
life and ministry
of William Tyndale.
00:28:47.59\00:28:50.96
It's situated here,
00:28:50.99\00:28:52.49
because this location is
only yards from the very spot
00:28:52.53\00:28:56.83
where William
Tyndale was executed.
00:28:56.87\00:28:59.57
It might not look like
much of anything today,
00:28:59.60\00:29:01.64
but if you'd been
here 500 years ago,
00:29:01.67\00:29:04.51
you'd have seen a
castle standing on this spot
00:29:04.54\00:29:07.64
right behind me.
00:29:07.68\00:29:08.94
The Senne River just
over here runs between Antwerp
00:29:08.98\00:29:11.58
and Brussels making Vilvoorde
00:29:11.61\00:29:13.35
a place of real
strategic importance.
00:29:13.38\00:29:16.62
That castle was of a
line of fortifications
00:29:16.65\00:29:18.99
and William
Tyndale who'd been betrayed
00:29:19.02\00:29:21.36
to the holy Roman
empire was kept as a prisoner
00:29:21.39\00:29:24.26
for more than a year in
the castle right on this spot.
00:29:24.29\00:29:28.50
Eventually he was brought
out and executed right here.
00:29:28.53\00:29:32.80
Before he was put to death,
Tyndale prayed one last prayer.
00:29:32.83\00:29:37.84
He said, "Lord, open
the king of England's eyes."
00:29:37.87\00:29:41.84
His prayer was answered.
00:29:41.88\00:29:44.61
Within four years of his death,
00:29:44.65\00:29:46.55
four English
translations of the bible
00:29:46.58\00:29:48.92
had been published,
00:29:48.95\00:29:49.82
all at the behest
of king Henry VIII,
00:29:49.85\00:29:52.85
and all of them based on
the work of William Tyndale.
00:29:52.89\00:29:58.89
I've come here to this
museum to speak to the experts
00:29:58.93\00:30:01.96
on the life of William Tyndale.
00:30:02.00\00:30:04.80
Why was Tyndale
held here in Vilvoorde,
00:30:04.83\00:30:08.00
why here of all places?
00:30:08.04\00:30:09.80
>>Speaker 3: Here in
Vilvoorde there was a castle,
00:30:09.84\00:30:12.01
and in that castle
there was not so many people,
00:30:12.04\00:30:16.58
so there they know if
we put him in Vilvoorde,
00:30:16.61\00:30:21.28
he can, he will stay in prison.
00:30:21.32\00:30:24.75
>>John: What do you
think conditions were like
00:30:24.79\00:30:27.02
inside the castle prison?
00:30:27.06\00:30:28.66
>>Speaker 3: Uh, as prisons
in the 16th, very difficult.
00:30:28.69\00:30:32.69
We know by his
last written letter
00:30:32.73\00:30:35.83
that we have in archives
that he asked on the authorities
00:30:35.86\00:30:41.20
to have warm clothes,
00:30:41.24\00:30:43.94
to become candles
and to become his work,
00:30:43.97\00:30:47.74
his translation work for
having the time now in prison
00:30:47.78\00:30:53.11
and he stayed there for
the time he had to stay,
00:30:53.15\00:30:57.09
and hoping that
he wouldn't escaped,
00:30:57.12\00:30:59.89
they killed him.
00:30:59.92\00:31:01.06
>>John: So why was the
church so opposed to Tyndale
00:31:01.09\00:31:05.16
translating the Bible?
00:31:05.19\00:31:07.36
>>Speaker 3: It's, a, a, a
way to eliminate all critical
00:31:07.40\00:31:13.74
actions and reactions in church.
00:31:13.77\00:31:16.24
If you have, uh,
uh, uh, your people,
00:31:16.27\00:31:21.84
who can criticize your
own way to live as church,
00:31:21.88\00:31:27.25
it's very
difficult to stay as church.
00:31:27.28\00:31:32.52
They want to
keep their own power,
00:31:32.55\00:31:38.13
and don't give the opportunity
on all people to understand
00:31:38.16\00:31:45.27
what was the word God's
and not the word of the church.
00:31:45.30\00:31:50.17
>>John: Explain for
me William Tyndale's
00:31:50.21\00:31:54.71
contribution to the reformation.
00:31:54.74\00:31:58.05
>>Speaker 3: He was the man who,
00:31:58.08\00:32:00.05
uh, who worked on the
English speaking people.
00:32:00.08\00:32:04.69
And it's very important because
we had a German translator,
00:32:04.72\00:32:08.62
we had a French translator,
00:32:08.66\00:32:09.92
we had still a Swiss translator.
00:32:09.96\00:32:12.63
We had several translators
who makes the new world,
00:32:12.66\00:32:16.83
that's very important to
know, because we have still, uh,
00:32:16.87\00:32:21.70
in Europe a big difference
between the Latin part
00:32:21.74\00:32:26.27
and the non-Latin part.
00:32:26.31\00:32:28.08
So, the English
contribution of William Tyndale
00:32:28.11\00:32:31.35
is not only a
contribution in let's say
00:32:31.38\00:32:35.32
the English
speaking part of Europe,
00:32:35.35\00:32:37.59
but always
contribution on the new world,
00:32:37.62\00:32:42.69
because we would travel
from this country to the states,
00:32:42.72\00:32:48.66
and making in
states also the new world
00:32:48.70\00:32:52.13
with a own translation.
00:32:52.17\00:32:56.97
And it's very important to know
that the new American version
00:32:57.01\00:33:03.51
is the most important
translation with the biggest
00:33:03.55\00:33:10.09
part of William Tyndale in it.
00:33:10.12\00:33:12.55
¤[Music]¤
00:33:12.59\00:33:17.83
>>John: Few people
have had so great an impact
00:33:17.86\00:33:20.26
upon the religious faith,
00:33:20.30\00:33:21.43
the cultural heritage,
00:33:21.46\00:33:23.80
even the vocabulary of
the English speaking world,
00:33:23.83\00:33:27.30
as William Tyndale.
00:33:27.34\00:33:28.80
Britons voted him 26th
00:33:28.84\00:33:31.37
in the list of the 100
Greatest Britons of all Time.
00:33:31.41\00:33:35.01
And few prayers have
been answered as dramatically
00:33:35.04\00:33:38.05
as that prayer Tyndale prayed
in the final moments of his life
00:33:38.08\00:33:42.92
when Henry VIII granted
permission for the Bible
00:33:42.95\00:33:45.32
to be published in English.
00:33:45.35\00:33:47.16
It unleashed the Bible
upon the English speaking world.
00:33:47.19\00:33:51.63
And as a result, the world
would never be the same again.
00:33:51.66\00:33:56.03
The core
principle of the reformation
00:33:56.06\00:33:58.73
was the role of the word
of God in a believer's life.
00:33:58.77\00:34:02.37
Notice, that William Tyndale
00:34:02.40\00:34:04.81
translated the
bible into the English
00:34:04.84\00:34:06.37
not long after
Johannes Gutenberg
00:34:06.41\00:34:08.81
gave to us the
modern printing press,
00:34:08.84\00:34:11.75
which meant the word of God
could be distributed to people
00:34:11.78\00:34:15.08
who could read
it for themselves,
00:34:15.12\00:34:17.15
understand it for themselves,
00:34:17.19\00:34:18.65
and then follow the leading of
the holy spirit in their lives.
00:34:18.69\00:34:24.29
Tyndale's contribution to
the reformation was enormous.
00:34:24.33\00:34:28.73
It's one thing to teach
or to preach or to write
00:34:28.76\00:34:31.67
as other reformers did.
00:34:31.70\00:34:33.90
It's another thing
all together to actually
00:34:33.94\00:34:35.80
give people the Word of God.
00:34:35.84\00:34:38.61
And that's what
William Tyndale accomplished.
00:34:38.64\00:34:41.38
Though he's been gone 500 years,
00:34:41.41\00:34:43.98
his influence and his impact
lives on in the lives of people
00:34:44.01\00:34:47.52
who continue to be transformed
by the power of the Holy Bible.
00:34:47.55\00:34:52.62
¤[Music]¤
00:34:52.65\00:34:58.13
>>John: I'm John
Bradshaw from It Is Written,
00:34:59.69\00:35:01.96
inviting you to join me for 500,
00:35:02.00\00:35:05.70
nine programs
produced by it Is Written
00:35:05.73\00:35:07.97
taking you deep
into the Reformation.
00:35:08.00\00:35:11.14
This is the 500th anniversary of
the beginning of the Reformation
00:35:11.17\00:35:15.31
when Martin Luther
nailed his 95 theses to the door
00:35:15.34\00:35:18.21
of the Castle church
in Wittenburg, Germany.
00:35:18.25\00:35:20.68
We'll take you to
Wittenburg, and to Belgium,
00:35:20.72\00:35:22.88
to England,
00:35:22.92\00:35:23.72
to Ireland,
00:35:23.75\00:35:25.25
to Rome,
00:35:25.29\00:35:26.12
to the Vatican City,
00:35:26.15\00:35:27.36
and introduce you to the people
who created the Reformation,
00:35:27.39\00:35:30.36
who pushed the
Reformation forward.
00:35:30.39\00:35:32.29
We'll take you to
sites all throughout Europe
00:35:32.33\00:35:34.23
where the reformers
lived and, in some cases, died.
00:35:34.30\00:35:37.07
We'll bring you
back to the United States
00:35:37.10\00:35:38.73
and take you to a little
farm in upstate New York,
00:35:38.77\00:35:41.74
and show you how God
spread the Reformation here.
00:35:41.77\00:35:44.67
Don't miss 500.
00:35:44.71\00:35:46.78
You can own the
500 series on DVD.
00:35:46.81\00:35:49.78
Call us on 888-664-5573,
00:35:49.81\00:35:54.48
or visit us online
at itiswritten.shop.
00:35:54.52\00:35:59.32
Welcome back to 500,
00:36:00.79\00:36:02.36
I'm John Bradshaw
from It Is Written.
00:36:02.39\00:36:04.43
And my special guest is the
dean of the school of religion
00:36:04.46\00:36:07.50
at Oakwood
University in Huntsville Alabama
00:36:07.50\00:36:09.66
Dr. Dedrick Blue.
00:36:09.70\00:36:11.00
Dr. Blue, thanks for joining me.
00:36:11.03\00:36:12.33
>>Dr. Blue: It's a pleasure
to be here with you today John.
00:36:12.37\00:36:14.10
>>John: William
Tyndale, tell me,
00:36:14.14\00:36:15.57
tell me something about the man.
00:36:15.60\00:36:17.87
>>Dr. Blue: Well, William
Tyndale was one of the greatest
00:36:17.91\00:36:21.18
reformers of the
protestant reformation,
00:36:21.21\00:36:23.41
and was so
instrumental really in unlocking
00:36:23.45\00:36:27.32
people's
understanding of the Bible
00:36:27.35\00:36:29.05
particularly in
the English language,
00:36:29.08\00:36:30.69
but the implications
of what he did are still
00:36:30.72\00:36:33.15
reverberating around
the world to this day.
00:36:33.19\00:36:35.16
>>John: It seems to me
that people like Tyndale,
00:36:35.19\00:36:37.03
he wasn't the only translator,
00:36:37.06\00:36:38.79
but seems to me
they don't get enough,
00:36:38.83\00:36:40.76
enough credit for
what they did, the, the,
00:36:40.80\00:36:42.63
the reformation was all
about getting the word of God
00:36:42.66\00:36:45.07
into the hands and
hearts, and minds of the people.
00:36:45.10\00:36:47.07
>>Dr. Blue: Oh yeah.
00:36:47.10\00:36:48.14
>>John: That's what he
dedicated his life to doing.
00:36:48.17\00:36:49.10
>>Dr. Blue: Oh absolutely.
00:36:49.14\00:36:50.07
I mean, if you stop
and think about the time
00:36:50.11\00:36:51.47
which Tyndale was
born, uh, around 1494, right?
00:36:51.51\00:36:57.31
Things were beginning
to transpire in the world
00:36:57.35\00:37:00.38
that were radically different.
00:37:00.42\00:37:01.82
For example, the
fall of Constantinople
00:37:01.85\00:37:03.99
opened up the world to
having the Bible in their hands
00:37:04.02\00:37:09.29
in the Greek language,
00:37:09.32\00:37:10.99
which really
inspired, a great, great, um,
00:37:11.03\00:37:14.46
Bible translator by
the name of Erasmus,
00:37:14.50\00:37:17.27
to take this Greek Bible
00:37:17.30\00:37:18.90
and begin to make it
available throughout Europe.
00:37:18.93\00:37:22.30
So for the very
first time in centuries,
00:37:22.34\00:37:25.14
people were able to
pick up the Word of God
00:37:25.17\00:37:27.81
and begin to look at it,
and begin to grap with it,
00:37:27.84\00:37:30.95
and scholars could
actually read it for themselves.
00:37:30.98\00:37:33.42
>>John: Now not that the English
language is anymore important
00:37:33.45\00:37:35.98
than any other language,
00:37:36.02\00:37:36.85
but wasn't yet
available in English.
00:37:36.89\00:37:39.72
It was not an
easy matter for Tyndale
00:37:39.75\00:37:42.02
just to go and
translate the Bible.
00:37:42.06\00:37:43.39
If you and I wanted
to translate the Bible,
00:37:43.43\00:37:44.73
people would cheer us on,
00:37:44.76\00:37:46.29
we could start a,
a, a go fund me page,
00:37:46.33\00:37:48.93
folks would help us out.
00:37:48.96\00:37:50.33
>>Dr. Blue: Yes.
00:37:50.37\00:37:51.03
>>John: Then it was different,
00:37:51.07\00:37:52.17
what was the age like in
which Tyndale found himself.
00:37:52.20\00:37:55.70
I mean, I mean
society and so forth.
00:37:55.74\00:37:57.87
>>Dr. Blue: Well, in
society, most, most people were,
00:37:57.91\00:38:00.51
were in absolute object poverty.
00:38:00.54\00:38:03.71
They were, uh, serfs,
serving lords and serving kings.
00:38:03.75\00:38:07.85
There was prolific
ignorance in the land,
00:38:07.88\00:38:10.15
and in addition
to that, the, um,
00:38:10.19\00:38:12.65
most of population
was actually illiterate,
00:38:12.69\00:38:15.76
and the only literati
were really the priest.
00:38:15.79\00:38:19.46
And, and the priest, uh,
would study for years and years,
00:38:19.49\00:38:23.00
uh, philosophy,
languages and all these things.
00:38:23.03\00:38:26.17
And then finally after they
came to a point of understanding
00:38:26.20\00:38:29.40
they were allowed, at
some point after eight,
00:38:29.44\00:38:32.07
nine, 10 years of study to to,
to, to see the sacred scripture.
00:38:32.11\00:38:35.58
So, people at that time
were, were left in ignorance,
00:38:35.61\00:38:39.51
the church pretty
much dictated their lives,
00:38:39.55\00:38:42.82
dictated how
they were to respond
00:38:42.85\00:38:45.39
and to perceive the world.
00:38:45.42\00:38:46.86
And so all of a sudden
someone comes along and says,
00:38:46.89\00:38:50.23
"Listen, now there is a
world that God has for you.
00:38:50.26\00:38:54.46
That is found in
the sacred pages.
00:38:54.50\00:38:57.30
If you could only
have access to them
00:38:57.33\00:38:59.17
and read them for yourselves,
00:38:59.20\00:39:01.07
you would come to
understand the God that I know
00:39:01.10\00:39:03.64
and the God that I have loved.
00:39:03.67\00:39:06.31
>>John: Tyndale has this
idea that he wants to, to,
00:39:06.34\00:39:08.61
to translate the Bible,
00:39:08.64\00:39:09.88
what, what, what
moved him in that direction?
00:39:09.91\00:39:11.88
Why in the world would a man
00:39:11.91\00:39:12.91
want to do such
a thing back then?
00:39:12.95\00:39:14.95
>>Dr. Blue: Well, I think that
Tyndale was greatly inspired
00:39:14.98\00:39:18.65
by a previous
Bible translator Erasmus
00:39:18.69\00:39:21.06
who we mentioned
just a moment ago
00:39:21.09\00:39:23.59
who had began to take the, the,
the Greek version of the Bible
00:39:23.63\00:39:26.80
and began to do some
work in translation there.
00:39:26.83\00:39:28.80
He was also greatly
inspired by Martin Luther,
00:39:28.83\00:39:31.63
and the reformation that
was taking place in Europe.
00:39:31.67\00:39:34.14
You know Martin Luther
began to, to, uh, read the Bible
00:39:34.17\00:39:36.57
and discover this
great biblical truth,
00:39:36.60\00:39:39.47
righteous just by
faith, justification by faith,
00:39:39.51\00:39:43.21
you know, saved by grace.
00:39:43.24\00:39:44.81
And these kinds of ideas
greatly inspired Tyndale.
00:39:44.85\00:39:48.55
And so Tyndale being,
um, uh, an interesting man
00:39:48.58\00:39:52.12
at a quite young age, he
actually began his studies.
00:39:52.15\00:39:54.96
So he's born in
1494, by, by 1512
00:39:54.99\00:39:58.99
he's already well
deep into his studies,
00:39:59.03\00:40:02.13
mastering so many
different languages.
00:40:02.16\00:40:04.53
He was a, he was
a gifted linguist,
00:40:04.57\00:40:06.40
being able to speak
French, and uh, Latin,
00:40:06.43\00:40:09.24
and read Greek and
read Hebrew, and so many,
00:40:09.27\00:40:12.77
all, all these languages, right?
00:40:12.81\00:40:14.38
Seven or eight
languages this man mastered.
00:40:14.41\00:40:16.54
And so, as he was beginning
to read he said to himself,
00:40:16.58\00:40:19.45
wait a minute, "It seems to
me that the greatest thing that
00:40:19.48\00:40:23.75
people need in their
life is not the traditions
00:40:23.79\00:40:26.12
and the ceremonies
00:40:26.15\00:40:27.09
of a church for
their soul salvation,
00:40:27.12\00:40:29.72
but there is something
else that God wants us to know
00:40:29.76\00:40:32.29
and come to understand, and
is found within the Word of God.
00:40:32.33\00:40:35.70
And if I could just have the
opportunity to translate this
00:40:35.73\00:40:39.90
and get it to the
people in their own language,
00:40:39.93\00:40:42.50
then they could come to
an understanding of what God
00:40:42.54\00:40:45.01
really has in store for them."
00:40:45.04\00:40:46.27
>>John: You mentioned
something a moment ago
00:40:46.31\00:40:48.11
and this really reminds me
to understand the reformation
00:40:48.14\00:40:53.62
you've got to take
yourself there, uh, as it were,
00:40:53.65\00:40:56.72
look around, see the sites,
listen to what's going on.
00:40:56.75\00:41:00.16
>>Dr. Blue: Mm-hmm.
00:41:00.19\00:41:01.16
>>John: Immerse
yourself in that, in that time.
00:41:01.19\00:41:03.12
You talked about people were
dealing with excommunication
00:41:03.16\00:41:06.39
and death.
00:41:06.43\00:41:07.23
You go to
greyfriars church yard or,
00:41:07.23\00:41:09.16
stone throw from there, the
monuments in Edinburgh Scotland
00:41:09.20\00:41:12.20
to people were
martyred just up at St Andrews,
00:41:12.23\00:41:16.84
people were martyred there,
00:41:16.87\00:41:18.31
you go to Oxford, and they
have the great big monuments
00:41:18.34\00:41:20.84
to people who were martyred.
00:41:20.88\00:41:22.41
>>Dr. Blue:
Absolutely, absolutely.
00:41:22.44\00:41:23.55
>>John: So, so people
were, were dealing with this.
00:41:23.58\00:41:24.98
This was, uh,
obedience to the church,
00:41:25.01\00:41:27.25
was a matter of life and death.
00:41:27.28\00:41:29.38
>>Dr. Blue: It certainly
was, and we also know there was,
00:41:29.42\00:41:32.19
uh, just around that
time that the inquisition
00:41:32.22\00:41:35.06
was in full
force, um, in, in Europe.
00:41:35.09\00:41:38.53
And you are
absolutely right, there were,
00:41:38.56\00:41:39.86
there were a great number
of people who were martyred
00:41:39.89\00:41:41.50
for their, for their faith
or their belief or their, uh,
00:41:41.53\00:41:44.57
failure to submit
themselves to the authority
00:41:44.60\00:41:49.20
of the church of Rome.
00:41:49.24\00:41:50.31
>>John: So what kind of
man does this make Tyndale?
00:41:50.34\00:41:52.64
I don't want to get
to the end of the story
00:41:52.67\00:41:53.98
before we get to
the end of the story,
00:41:54.01\00:41:55.31
but he wants to
translate the Bible.
00:41:55.34\00:41:57.38
I mentioned, you and I we
could, we could start today
00:41:57.41\00:42:01.05
and people would cheer us on,
00:42:01.08\00:42:03.02
what did Tyndale
have to go through?
00:42:03.05\00:42:05.19
And then I'll get
to my next question?
00:42:05.22\00:42:06.55
>>Dr. Blue: Well, when Tyndale
wanted to translate the Bible,
00:42:06.59\00:42:08.32
you know, he went to, he
went to the presiding bishop
00:42:08.36\00:42:12.33
and asked for permission.
00:42:12.36\00:42:13.40
And he was denied.
00:42:13.43\00:42:15.63
And so the only way that
Tyndale could pursue, um,
00:42:15.66\00:42:18.73
this translation is
that he had to leave England
00:42:18.77\00:42:22.14
in order to be able to do it.
00:42:22.17\00:42:23.24
>>John: You said the
bishop denied him permission,
00:42:23.27\00:42:25.34
what do you think
motivated the bishop to say,
00:42:25.37\00:42:27.74
"No, you just cannot do that?"
00:42:27.78\00:42:29.44
>>Dr. Blue: Well, it's
hard for me to be able to get
00:42:29.48\00:42:30.88
into the bishop's mind (laughs).
00:42:30.91\00:42:32.25
But if we go back and take a
look at the times in which we,
00:42:32.28\00:42:35.85
in which they were living,
00:42:35.88\00:42:37.72
fealty to the
church was absolute.
00:42:37.75\00:42:40.82
Um, and so perhaps the
bishop out of fear and perhaps
00:42:40.86\00:42:45.66
the bishop out of his own
sense of loyalty to the church
00:42:45.69\00:42:48.60
did not want to see
the church disrupted.
00:42:48.63\00:42:50.50
There is, there is
always people along the way who,
00:42:50.53\00:42:52.67
who maintain the
status quo thinking that
00:42:52.70\00:42:56.14
in the
maintenance of the status quo,
00:42:56.17\00:42:58.14
that we are not
throwing the whole baby out
00:42:58.17\00:43:01.78
with the bath water.
00:43:01.81\00:43:02.78
>>John: You'd think
that bishop might have seen
00:43:02.81\00:43:04.01
the writing on the wall, you'd
think he might have thought,
00:43:04.05\00:43:05.71
boy if he translates the
Bible, and this gets out,
00:43:05.75\00:43:08.78
this could, this
could upset the apple cart.
00:43:08.82\00:43:10.75
>>Dr. Blue: Well, it
was clear that if the Bible
00:43:10.79\00:43:13.46
were translated and
got out, especially when,
00:43:13.49\00:43:16.59
when later reads how Tyndale
did some of his translations,
00:43:16.62\00:43:21.06
it was a direct assault to
the authority of the priesthood.
00:43:21.10\00:43:24.00
>>John: There was no Bible.
00:43:24.03\00:43:25.43
Wycliffe the morning
star of the reformation,
00:43:25.47\00:43:27.70
he'd translated the Bible
into English some years before,
00:43:27.74\00:43:30.67
couple of 100,
150 years so before,
00:43:30.71\00:43:32.61
uh, but by now that
English was archaic.
00:43:32.64\00:43:35.74
>>Dr. Blue: Right.
00:43:35.78\00:43:36.61
>>John: There
was no English Bible.
00:43:36.64\00:43:37.85
>>Dr. Blue: That's right.
00:43:37.88\00:43:38.75
>>John: So it was
gonna change things.
00:43:38.78\00:43:39.91
Here is the question I was
gonna ask you a moment ago.
00:43:39.95\00:43:42.35
Tyndale looking ahead, he, he,
00:43:42.38\00:43:44.49
he knows that what he's
thinking about doing is radical.
00:43:44.52\00:43:48.76
>>Dr. Blue: Mm-hmm.
00:43:48.79\00:43:49.49
>>John: He
knows this is radical.
00:43:49.52\00:43:51.36
He maybe motivated by the,
00:43:51.39\00:43:52.59
by the purest motives
although he knew that he was
00:43:52.63\00:43:54.66
gonna come to conflict
with the church along the way.
00:43:54.73\00:43:57.63
He looks down into the future,
he's got to have some idea,
00:43:57.67\00:44:04.01
when the bishop says no,
00:44:04.04\00:44:05.44
but he refuses to
take no for an answer.
00:44:05.47\00:44:09.51
He's got to have some idea of
where this might end up for him.
00:44:09.54\00:44:14.35
>>Dr. Blue: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:44:14.38\00:44:15.42
>>John: So help me
understand the mind of someone
00:44:15.45\00:44:17.92
living under
the direct authority
00:44:17.95\00:44:19.79
of an absolute monarch,
00:44:19.82\00:44:21.22
the direct
authority of an absolute pope,
00:44:21.26\00:44:24.83
in a system that's, uh,
pretty rigid, pretty strict.
00:44:24.86\00:44:29.96
He's staying, I got to do this,
00:44:30.00\00:44:32.63
what drives that man?
00:44:32.67\00:44:34.27
>>Dr. Blue: I think it's
the same thing that drove,
00:44:34.30\00:44:37.87
um, the apostle Paul, you know.
00:44:37.91\00:44:40.21
The apostle Paul says, you know,
"I'm crucified with Christ,
00:44:40.24\00:44:43.28
yet not I, but
Christ lives in me."
00:44:43.31\00:44:44.95
It's the same motivation that,
that motivated Jesus who said,
00:44:44.98\00:44:49.15
not my will but
thy will be done.
00:44:49.18\00:44:51.49
It's the same motivation
that has motivated the men
00:44:51.52\00:44:54.06
and women of God
down through the ages,
00:44:54.09\00:44:56.42
who knew that although
there may be a king, a premiere,
00:44:56.46\00:44:59.63
a prime minister or a president,
00:44:59.66\00:45:01.83
that we answer to
a higher authority.
00:45:01.86\00:45:04.20
It's like when the apostles
emerged out of the prison
00:45:04.23\00:45:06.23
and said, we must
obey God rather than man.
00:45:06.27\00:45:09.17
There is something that
motivates the child of God
00:45:09.20\00:45:11.74
when they understand
that there is authority
00:45:11.77\00:45:13.31
that is above all
other authorities,
00:45:13.34\00:45:15.91
that yes there may be a king,
00:45:15.94\00:45:17.65
but there was the king
of kings and Lord of lords.
00:45:17.68\00:45:19.71
And yes, there may be a priest,
00:45:19.75\00:45:21.78
but there was a high
priest in heaven who sits
00:45:21.82\00:45:24.15
at the right hand
of the throne of God,
00:45:24.19\00:45:25.99
Jesus Christ the righteous.
00:45:26.02\00:45:27.32
And I think when
you get a hold of that,
00:45:27.36\00:45:29.62
that changes the way in
which you view the world.
00:45:29.66\00:45:32.66
Your life becomes less
important, and turn, in, in, in,
00:45:32.69\00:45:37.47
in the grand scheme of things,
00:45:37.50\00:45:38.97
because I now
live to glorify Him.
00:45:39.00\00:45:41.44
And I think that
motivated Tyndale.
00:45:41.47\00:45:43.34
>>John: Outstanding.
00:45:43.37\00:45:44.14
We'll be back
with more in a moment
00:45:44.17\00:45:45.41
I'm with Dr. Dedrick Blue, uh,
dean of the school of religion
00:45:45.44\00:45:48.28
at Oakwood University.
00:45:48.31\00:45:49.21
More on William
Tyndale in just a moment.
00:45:49.24\00:45:52.51
¤[Music]¤
00:45:52.55\00:45:57.69
Now here is a question for you,
00:45:59.25\00:46:01.12
can God be trusted?
00:46:01.16\00:46:02.76
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00:46:02.79\00:46:04.79
Can God be trusted?
00:46:04.83\00:46:06.73
That's our offer today,
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00:46:12.70\00:46:15.90
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Thanks for joining us on 500
00:46:29.42\00:46:31.12
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:46:31.15\00:46:32.45
My guest is Dr. Dedrick Blue,
00:46:32.49\00:46:34.72
the dean of the school of
religion at Oakwood University
00:46:34.76\00:46:37.36
in Huntsville Alabama.
00:46:37.39\00:46:38.56
We're
discussing William Tyndale,
00:46:38.59\00:46:40.73
one of the great reformers, who
uh, maybe just for reviews sake,
00:46:40.76\00:46:45.97
found himself
living and operating
00:46:46.00\00:46:47.97
in pretty
difficult circumstances.
00:46:48.00\00:46:49.47
This wasn't the 21st
century in the United States.
00:46:49.50\00:46:53.11
>>John: This was
then, 500 years ago,
00:46:53.14\00:46:56.18
in an, in an environment where
there was an absolute king.
00:46:56.21\00:47:00.25
>>Dr. Blue: Mm-hmm.
00:47:00.28\00:47:01.35
>>John: And an absolute
pope, and Tyndale was told
00:47:01.38\00:47:03.22
he absolutely had to
do what he had to do,
00:47:03.25\00:47:06.12
but something got a
hold of him and he's like,
00:47:06.15\00:47:08.22
"I've got to
translate the Bible."
00:47:08.26\00:47:10.06
How do you feel in your, in
your study of William Tyndale
00:47:10.09\00:47:13.76
that Tyndale
believed, what was his vision?
00:47:13.80\00:47:19.20
I get the Bible
translated into English,
00:47:19.23\00:47:21.87
the end result of
this is going to be...
00:47:21.90\00:47:26.07
what was he presupposing?
00:47:26.11\00:47:27.98
>>Dr. Blue: I think
he was presupposing, um,
00:47:28.01\00:47:30.38
the end of
tradition and the emergence
00:47:30.41\00:47:35.25
of a true kingdom of God.
00:47:35.28\00:47:37.39
So for example, one thing
that, that, that Tyndale does
00:47:37.42\00:47:40.82
in his translation, instead
of using the word priest,
00:47:40.86\00:47:45.23
he uses the word overseer.
00:47:45.26\00:47:47.50
You see, because he did not want
to give people any impression
00:47:47.50\00:47:50.97
that there was a priestly class.
00:47:51.00\00:47:53.37
Another thing that he
does in his translation
00:47:53.40\00:47:55.64
when he translates Ekklesia,
the called out ones, right,
00:47:55.67\00:48:00.28
he translates it congregation,
00:48:00.31\00:48:02.91
rather than
translating it as church.
00:48:02.94\00:48:05.45
And he did that particularly
because congregation implies
00:48:05.48\00:48:08.55
that the people
00:48:08.58\00:48:09.68
are somehow making up
this, this, this kingdom of God,
00:48:09.72\00:48:13.22
engaged in dialogue with God,
00:48:13.25\00:48:15.46
rather than through a structured
authority of the church.
00:48:15.49\00:48:18.19
>>John: He was
angling for change.
00:48:18.23\00:48:19.66
>>Dr. Blue: He was
angling for change.
00:48:19.69\00:48:21.26
And that change was to say,
00:48:21.30\00:48:23.16
"Hey, people, the word of
God is here, you can read it.
00:48:23.20\00:48:26.63
And God wants you
to be His people."
00:48:26.67\00:48:28.67
That the church is
not an institution,
00:48:28.70\00:48:30.74
the church is
people who come together,
00:48:30.77\00:48:32.87
who worship God
in spirit and truth."
00:48:32.91\00:48:34.31
>>John: So to put it
another way, Tyndale translated,
00:48:34.34\00:48:37.85
I could, I could
perhps, it might sound negative,
00:48:37.88\00:48:40.48
translated the
Bible with an agenda,
00:48:40.52\00:48:42.05
but let me put it in a
positive sense, with a vision?
00:48:42.08\00:48:45.52
>>Dr. Blue: Yes.
00:48:45.55\00:48:46.19
>>John: He saw did he?
00:48:46.22\00:48:47.66
This wasn't just
I'll translate the Bible
00:48:47.69\00:48:49.79
and let this go where it goes.
00:48:49.82\00:48:51.23
He had a vision for what
the Bible could do in the church
00:48:51.26\00:48:54.56
and in the lives of people.
00:48:54.60\00:48:55.46
>>Dr. Blue: Right, right.
00:48:55.50\00:48:56.53
>>John: Well, let's
talk about the translating,
00:48:56.56\00:48:57.73
I think many people
would be surprised to know
00:48:57.77\00:48:59.37
just how influential Tyndale's
translations have been.
00:48:59.40\00:49:03.14
How have affected us
down through the years,
00:49:03.17\00:49:05.11
what do we know today
of Tyndale's translating?
00:49:05.14\00:49:07.71
>>Dr. Blue: Well, you
know, um, uh, some scholars
00:49:07.74\00:49:09.74
have estimated that
about 83% of the New Testament,
00:49:09.78\00:49:14.48
and about, uh, 76%
of the Old Testament,
00:49:14.52\00:49:17.25
are Tyndale's translations.
00:49:17.29\00:49:18.62
The, the authorized
version, the King James version,
00:49:18.65\00:49:21.66
there was 54
scholars get together
00:49:21.69\00:49:23.73
and they decided they were gonna
grapple and translate the Bible.
00:49:23.76\00:49:26.63
Well, they borrowed
most of that from Tyndale,
00:49:26.66\00:49:29.30
because they couldn't
improve upon what Tyndale said.
00:49:29.33\00:49:31.57
Not only that, when you
read Tyndale's translations,
00:49:31.60\00:49:34.24
we still hold onto some
of the beauty of his language
00:49:34.27\00:49:37.11
to this day.
00:49:37.14\00:49:38.07
You see it was
Tyndale who wrote the words
00:49:38.11\00:49:40.18
seek and you shall find.
00:49:40.21\00:49:41.78
>>John: Right.
00:49:41.81\00:49:42.98
>>Dr. Blue: Knock and the
door shall be opened unto you.
00:49:43.01\00:49:44.38
Judge not that
you be not judged,
00:49:44.41\00:49:46.51
you are the salt of the earth.
00:49:46.55\00:49:48.12
It was Tyndale's
translation that says,
00:49:48.15\00:49:49.78
in Him we live and
move and have our being.
00:49:49.82\00:49:53.36
Isn't that beautiful?
00:49:53.39\00:49:53.99
>>John: That is beautiful.
00:49:54.02\00:49:54.86
>>Dr. Blue: You know-
00:49:54.89\00:49:55.52
>>John: That's powerful too.
00:49:55.56\00:49:56.49
>>Dr. Blue: Yes,
it's very, very powerful.
00:49:56.52\00:49:57.69
So the language that
Tyndale used was poetic,
00:49:57.73\00:50:02.90
and elevating, and challenging,
00:50:02.93\00:50:06.23
and inspiring
all at the same time.
00:50:06.27\00:50:09.20
>>John: Luther when he
translated the Bible into German
00:50:09.24\00:50:11.74
altered the German language.
00:50:11.77\00:50:13.24
>>Dr. Blue: Mm-hmm, yes.
00:50:13.27\00:50:14.48
>>John: And really his work
with, with the German language
00:50:14.51\00:50:16.11
changed the way
the language was used.
00:50:16.14\00:50:18.51
>>Dr. Blue: Absolutely.
00:50:18.55\00:50:19.45
>>John: So Tyndale
as he was translating,
00:50:19.48\00:50:20.85
I, I, I, I
suppose most translators,
00:50:20.88\00:50:22.95
when he was translating then and
bringing the Bible into English,
00:50:22.98\00:50:26.65
it's evident that he
stopped and thought and prayed,
00:50:26.69\00:50:29.69
and chose very carefully
words that he believed would,
00:50:29.72\00:50:32.29
would truly the human heart.
00:50:32.33\00:50:33.80
He achieved that, didn't he?
00:50:33.83\00:50:34.96
>>Dr. Blue: Yes he did.
00:50:35.00\00:50:35.66
He absolutely did.
00:50:35.70\00:50:36.93
Um, I'll give
you another example
00:50:36.97\00:50:38.47
of a Tyndale translation.
00:50:38.50\00:50:39.80
You know, the word that we
have now for passover, right?
00:50:39.83\00:50:43.17
Um, that word didn't exist.
00:50:43.20\00:50:44.21
That was Tyndale,
00:50:44.24\00:50:45.21
Tyndale added that word
to our Lexicon passover,
00:50:45.24\00:50:47.74
because before everybody
was using the, the Hebrew word.
00:50:47.78\00:50:51.21
But just think about the beauty
of, of that word, passover.
00:50:51.25\00:50:54.95
>>John: Sure.
00:50:54.98\00:50:55.95
>>Dr. Blue: You know,
the angel passes over.
00:50:55.98\00:50:57.22
>>John: That's right.
00:50:57.25\00:50:58.35
>>Dr. Blue: I mean, I mean
Tyndale was absolutely, uh,
00:50:58.39\00:51:00.49
a wonderful and masterful...
00:51:00.52\00:51:01.62
matter of fact, one
of his translations says,
00:51:01.66\00:51:04.03
uh, the spirit is, is
willing but the flesh is weak.
00:51:04.06\00:51:08.16
Well you know, um, when
you read others translations,
00:51:08.20\00:51:10.77
Luther's translations,
it says, Luther says,
00:51:10.80\00:51:13.10
the spirit is willing
but the flesh is sick.
00:51:13.13\00:51:16.44
>>John: Uuh.
00:51:16.47\00:51:17.27
>>Dr. Blue: You
know, but Tyndale
00:51:17.31\00:51:19.01
the spirit is
willing but we are weak.
00:51:19.04\00:51:22.28
You know, and so
in that translation
00:51:22.31\00:51:25.11
I'm willing but I'm weak,
00:51:25.15\00:51:26.25
it points me back to
the source of my strength.
00:51:26.28\00:51:28.38
>>John: Sure.
00:51:28.42\00:51:29.55
>>Dr. Blue: The source of
my strength in Jesus Christ,
00:51:29.58\00:51:30.62
he's my Lord and savior.
00:51:30.65\00:51:31.55
So I love what
Tyndale did with language,
00:51:31.59\00:51:35.12
and I love how
that language, uh,
00:51:35.16\00:51:37.83
throughout the centuries still
resonates with Christians today.
00:51:37.86\00:51:41.20
>>John: Tyndale
had to leave England
00:51:41.23\00:51:43.10
in order to get this job done.
00:51:43.13\00:51:44.17
The priest, uh,
the bishop said no.
00:51:44.20\00:51:46.00
>>Dr. Blue: Yes.
00:51:46.03\00:51:46.67
>>John: Off he went.
00:51:46.70\00:51:47.67
So, so what happened then?
00:51:47.70\00:51:49.07
He's essentially
in exile, how did he,
00:51:49.10\00:51:51.11
how did he go
about translating a Bible
00:51:51.14\00:51:53.54
into English 500 years ago.
00:51:53.58\00:51:55.21
>>Dr. Blue: Well, he
found himself in Wittenberg
00:51:55.24\00:51:57.01
and he found himself in Worms,
and he found himself in Antwerp,
00:51:57.05\00:52:00.65
um, all along the way doing
bits and pieces of translation.
00:52:00.68\00:52:04.55
Um, when he first, uh,
began to publish a portion
00:52:04.59\00:52:07.29
of that New
Testament and get it out, um,
00:52:07.32\00:52:10.29
and some of the copies finally
made its way back to England.
00:52:10.33\00:52:13.46
You know, those copies
were seized and burned and,
00:52:13.50\00:52:16.60
you know, he was, you
know, railed as a hieratic.
00:52:16.63\00:52:20.14
But what really got
Tyndale in trouble, um,
00:52:20.17\00:52:22.94
apart from his translations
was some of his writings.
00:52:22.97\00:52:27.44
So for example,
00:52:27.48\00:52:28.64
when he wrote a book called
The Obedience of Man, right?
00:52:28.68\00:52:32.38
In that he rails against the,
the traditions of the church.
00:52:32.41\00:52:35.08
And then he wrote another book
called The Practice of Prelates.
00:52:35.12\00:52:38.75
And that really got him into
trouble with king Henry VIII.
00:52:38.79\00:52:41.29
>>John: Yeah, what
did he talk about there
00:52:41.32\00:52:42.32
that fired up the king so much?
00:52:42.36\00:52:43.59
>>Dr. Blue: Well, you
know king Henry the VIII
00:52:43.63\00:52:45.99
has gone down the history
as, as quite an amorous king.
00:52:46.03\00:52:49.03
>>John: Sure.
00:52:49.06\00:52:49.66
>>Dr. Blue: Right?
00:52:49.70\00:52:50.93
And, uh, he was married at the
time to Catherine of, Aragon,
00:52:50.97\00:52:55.54
but he wanted the pope
to give him an annulment,
00:52:55.57\00:52:58.41
and the pope refused
to give him an annulment,
00:52:58.44\00:53:00.94
uh, so that he
could marry Ann Boleyn.
00:53:00.98\00:53:02.58
Um, and so at that time,
as Tyndale was watching this,
00:53:02.61\00:53:07.22
Tyndale begins to rail against
the king for his amorous ways,
00:53:07.25\00:53:13.32
and, and says to the king
that you have no authority
00:53:13.36\00:53:17.79
on scriptures upon
which to file for annulment.
00:53:17.83\00:53:20.20
It's against the word of God.
00:53:20.23\00:53:21.83
And for that, the eye of the
00:53:21.86\00:53:23.26
king is, is really raised
at that point against him.
00:53:23.30\00:53:26.20
He was already
not happy with him,
00:53:26.23\00:53:27.94
but now the eyer of the king
is really raised against him
00:53:27.97\00:53:30.31
for that particular point.
00:53:30.34\00:53:32.17
And the king wanted him
exiled and brought back to,
00:53:32.21\00:53:34.41
to, England to stand trial.
00:53:34.44\00:53:36.11
>>John: Interesting that
he came out against the king,
00:53:36.14\00:53:39.35
because in other
ways he's so very,
00:53:39.38\00:53:41.12
Tyndale was so very
supportive of the monarchy.
00:53:41.15\00:53:43.12
>>Dr. Blue: Yes.
00:53:43.15\00:53:43.82
>>John: Talk to me about that.
00:53:43.85\00:53:45.09
>>Dr. Blue: Well, that's, that's
the great contradiction I think.
00:53:45.12\00:53:47.36
You know, he supports the
right of the king to rule,
00:53:47.39\00:53:49.49
and he takes his
position that the king
00:53:49.52\00:53:51.39
has been given these
powers by God to rule.
00:53:51.43\00:53:54.40
However, um, as it is today,
00:53:54.46\00:53:57.27
most people do not want to
have their sins called out.
00:53:57.30\00:54:00.54
>>John: Right.
00:54:00.57\00:54:01.70
>>Dr. Blue: If you want to
get someone upset with you,
00:54:01.74\00:54:03.47
then tell them what
they are doing wrong.
00:54:03.51\00:54:05.84
>>John: Mm-hmm.
00:54:05.87\00:54:06.88
>>Dr. Blue: And, um,
prosecution usually comes
00:54:06.91\00:54:08.71
when you take a position against
someone who is entrenched
00:54:08.74\00:54:12.68
in their position
that is obviously wrong
00:54:12.71\00:54:15.72
and yours is
overwhelmingly correct.
00:54:15.75\00:54:19.29
And if they have the
power, they persecute you.
00:54:19.32\00:54:21.42
>>John: And that's what
happened to Tyndale ultimately,
00:54:21.46\00:54:26.23
paid for his faithfulness to God
00:54:26.26\00:54:27.93
by being strangled
and burned at the stake,
00:54:27.96\00:54:30.53
at a little suburban
northern part of Brussels
00:54:30.57\00:54:34.74
not far from the
airport Vilvoorde.
00:54:34.77\00:54:36.84
>>Dr. Blue: Yes.
00:54:36.87\00:54:37.64
>>John: And, uh,
in a certain sense
00:54:37.67\00:54:39.71
he's a sort of a
forgotten figure.
00:54:39.74\00:54:41.08
In a certain sense, I mean
there is a publishing house
00:54:41.11\00:54:42.91
named after the man
for goodness' sakes,
00:54:42.94\00:54:44.25
that not nothing.
00:54:44.28\00:54:45.45
>>Dr. Blue: Right.
00:54:45.48\00:54:46.45
>>John: I think today
if you ask people to recall
00:54:46.48\00:54:47.48
the great heroes
of the reformation,
00:54:47.52\00:54:49.28
Luther, some of
the other luminaries-
00:54:49.32\00:54:51.85
>>Dr. Blue: Mm-hmm.
00:54:51.89\00:54:53.05
>>John: Tyndale is probably
down the list a little bit.
00:54:53.09\00:54:54.92
After all he did
was translate the Bible,
00:54:54.96\00:54:58.39
but without his work the
work of the other reformers
00:54:58.43\00:55:01.80
would have been almost nothing.
00:55:01.83\00:55:03.50
>>Dr. Blue: I think, I
think Tyndale deserves a great,
00:55:03.53\00:55:05.97
uh, place in history.
00:55:06.00\00:55:07.54
Um, not only for translating
the Bible into English,
00:55:07.57\00:55:10.57
but look at what
ultimately happens because of,
00:55:10.61\00:55:13.34
because of that.
00:55:13.38\00:55:14.78
Uh, the English society
was basically illiterate.
00:55:14.81\00:55:18.05
When the Bible gets
translated into English,
00:55:18.08\00:55:20.35
now all of a
sudden an illiterate mass
00:55:20.38\00:55:22.85
becomes literate.
00:55:22.88\00:55:24.25
>>John: Mm-hmm.
00:55:24.29\00:55:25.45
>>Dr. Blue: That changes forever
the trajectory of England,
00:55:25.49\00:55:27.69
and changes the
trajectory of the world.
00:55:27.72\00:55:29.92
None of that would have
happened without Tyndale.
00:55:29.96\00:55:32.03
>>John: The Bible says
the entrance of thy word
00:55:32.06\00:55:34.56
brings light.
00:55:34.56\00:55:35.70
>>Dr. Blue: Right.
00:55:35.73\00:55:36.97
>>John: Bringing the Word of God
unto the people brought light
00:55:37.00\00:55:38.10
in lots of different ways.
00:55:38.13\00:55:39.37
>>Dr. Blue: It absolutely did.
00:55:39.40\00:55:40.30
It absolutely did.
00:55:40.34\00:55:41.30
And it, and it changed
the way people think as,
00:55:41.34\00:55:44.17
as well about, about, uh,
the church and about government.
00:55:44.21\00:55:46.81
>>John: So Tyndale
translates the Bible.
00:55:46.84\00:55:48.81
>>Dr. Blue: Yeah.
00:55:48.84\00:55:50.08
>>John: The printing press is,
uh, is invented, uh, and, and,
00:55:50.11\00:55:53.18
and the Bible starts to
find its way into the hands
00:55:53.21\00:55:55.68
of the people,
the price comes down.
00:55:55.72\00:55:57.02
Today you can buy
one at the dollar store.
00:55:57.05\00:55:58.85
>>Dr. Blue: Right.
00:55:58.89\00:55:59.92
>>John: How should be
relating to the Bible today?
00:55:59.95\00:56:01.26
You couldn't get
it 500 years ago.
00:56:01.29\00:56:04.13
>>Dr. Blue: Right, right.
00:56:04.16\00:56:05.39
>>John: And now it's everywhere,
bestselling book in the world.
00:56:05.43\00:56:08.00
So, so for us today,
Tyndale is dead and gone,
00:56:08.03\00:56:10.80
his work lives on,
00:56:10.83\00:56:12.10
it impacts even
translations of the Bible today.
00:56:12.13\00:56:14.17
But we have the
Bible, talk about our, uh,
00:56:14.20\00:56:18.14
not a responsibility but
our privilege as believers,
00:56:18.17\00:56:20.71
now that this
work has been done,
00:56:20.74\00:56:23.11
we have the Bible in our hands.
00:56:23.14\00:56:24.41
>>Dr. Blue: Well, you
know, we have this sacred text,
00:56:24.45\00:56:27.72
because there were
people who were willing
00:56:27.75\00:56:29.32
to actually lay down their lives
to give us that opportunity.
00:56:29.35\00:56:32.69
It sort of reminds me
of, uh, of our children.
00:56:32.72\00:56:36.56
If you give them everything
sometimes they don't value it.
00:56:36.59\00:56:40.13
And I think sometimes you've
been given this great gift
00:56:40.16\00:56:42.16
and we don't value it,
00:56:42.20\00:56:43.06
because we didn't
have to pay for it.
00:56:43.10\00:56:45.23
Um, but there are
others who did pay for it.
00:56:45.27\00:56:47.54
If we take a look
at where the Bible
00:56:47.57\00:56:49.10
is most cherished these days,
00:56:49.14\00:56:51.54
it is not in the western world,
00:56:51.57\00:56:52.94
but it's in those
parts of the world
00:56:52.97\00:56:55.14
where people have not had
access to the Word of God.
00:56:55.18\00:56:57.55
>>John: Sure.
00:56:57.58\00:56:58.58
>>Dr. Blue: And now as
they're gaining access,
00:56:58.61\00:56:59.95
they're seeing these wonderful,
00:57:00.05\00:57:01.85
precious truths that
have been hidden for them,
00:57:01.88\00:57:04.55
hidden from them for ages.
00:57:04.59\00:57:06.89
Those of us who
have this precious word
00:57:06.92\00:57:09.29
in our hands right now,
00:57:09.32\00:57:10.63
we not only have
an obligation to serve
00:57:10.66\00:57:12.76
those who went before us,
but to reread it for ourselves,
00:57:12.79\00:57:16.83
to be reintroduced
to this God that Tyndale
00:57:16.87\00:57:19.67
was willing to
give his life for.
00:57:19.70\00:57:21.80
To catch the same
vision that Tyndale had.
00:57:21.84\00:57:24.67
Tyndale was a strong believer
00:57:24.71\00:57:26.61
in the imminent
return of Jesus Christ.
00:57:26.64\00:57:29.71
He loved to talk about the
imminent return of Jesus Christ.
00:57:29.74\00:57:33.35
We live in a world
right now of earthquakes,
00:57:33.38\00:57:35.32
and floods and tornadoes,
00:57:35.35\00:57:36.58
on the verge of war,
00:57:36.62\00:57:37.89
and if there was ever
time when the people of God
00:57:37.92\00:57:41.42
need to look beyond this world
to something greater it's now.
00:57:41.46\00:57:45.19
That word of God
points us to this Jesus Christ
00:57:45.23\00:57:48.36
who loves us so much,
he's coming back to get us,
00:57:48.40\00:57:51.33
and it points us
to the Jesus Christ,
00:57:51.37\00:57:53.70
who loves us so much
he's willing to speak to us
00:57:53.74\00:57:56.37
in our own language.
00:57:56.40\00:57:58.21
>>John: Amen.
00:57:58.24\00:57:58.87
Dr. Blue thanks so much.
00:57:58.91\00:57:59.61
It's been wonderful.
00:57:59.64\00:58:00.34
I appreciate it gratefully.
00:58:00.38\00:58:01.24
>>Dr. Blue: Thank
you very much John.
00:58:01.28\00:58:02.58
>>John: And thank
you for joining us
00:58:02.61\00:58:04.25
and be sure to
join us next time on 500
00:58:04.28\00:58:06.72
for Rome and the reformation.
00:58:06.75\00:58:09.55
We'll take you to Rome
and to the Vatican City
00:58:09.58\00:58:12.25
and you'll be blessed,
00:58:12.29\00:58:13.42
and you'll be
encouraged in Your faith.
00:58:13.46\00:58:16.09
Let's pray
together before we close.
00:58:16.12\00:58:18.16
Our father in heaven
00:58:18.19\00:58:19.23
we are grateful for
people like William Tyndale,
00:58:19.26\00:58:22.03
and the men and
women of great faith
00:58:22.06\00:58:24.43
who valued Your word, the Bible.
00:58:24.47\00:58:28.30
Uh, contact with you,
00:58:28.34\00:58:30.04
a relationship with Christ,
00:58:30.07\00:58:32.14
more than they
valued life itself,
00:58:32.17\00:58:33.94
we today are the beneficiaries
of their great commitment.
00:58:33.98\00:58:38.61
I pray Lord that you
would let a fire of faith
00:58:38.65\00:58:41.48
burn inside of us,
00:58:41.52\00:58:43.22
that we'd be committed to you.
00:58:43.25\00:58:45.62
Oh, the spirit is
willing, the flesh is weak.
00:58:45.65\00:58:47.92
So we pray that you'd
give us the strength of Jesus.
00:58:47.96\00:58:50.63
The strength of
Your Holy Spirit.
00:58:50.66\00:58:54.20
We look forward as Tyndale did
to the day when Jesus returns
00:58:54.20\00:58:58.40
we want to go home and
experience eternity with you.
00:58:58.43\00:59:01.34
Keep us now,
00:59:01.37\00:59:02.54
keep us until then and let
Your word go around this world
00:59:02.57\00:59:06.44
and do Your work
in powerful ways.
00:59:06.47\00:59:09.78
And if you can use
us to be part of that,
00:59:09.81\00:59:12.21
Lord we would be
forever grateful.
00:59:12.25\00:59:14.12
We thank you,
00:59:14.15\00:59:14.78
we love you,
00:59:14.82\00:59:15.55
we pray in Jesus' name.
00:59:15.58\00:59:17.32
Amen.
00:59:17.35\00:59:19.12
Thanks again.
00:59:19.15\00:59:20.22
I'm looking forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:59:20.26\00:59:21.59
Until then remember
00:59:21.62\00:59:22.56
it is written,
00:59:22.59\00:59:24.03
"Man shall not
live by bread alone,
00:59:24.06\00:59:25.73
but by every word that
proceeds from the mouth of God."
00:59:25.76\00:59:29.33
¤[Theme Music]¤
00:59:29.36\00:59:44.38