ment for one day, despite the fact that authorities passed a law against reading it under pain of excommunication. In 1382 Wycliffe was brought on trial for his teaching, because he had opposed the church. He was expelled from Ox ford University where he had taught over twenty-five years, but continued his work as a parish priest. He suffered a stroke in 1384 and died on December 31. One of his monk-enemies then wrote: “ On the day of St. Thomas the Martyr, Archbishop of Canterbury, John Wycliffe, the organ of the devil, the enemy of the Church, the confusion of the common people, the idol of heretics, the looking- glass of hypocrites, the encourager of schism, the sower of hatred, the store house of lies, the sink of flattery, was suddenly struck by the judgment of God, and had all his limbs seized with palsy. That mouth which was to speak huge things against His saints or holy Church, was miserably drawn aside, and afforded a frightful spectacle to the beholders; his tongue was speechless, and his head shook, showing plainly that the curse which God had thundered forth against Cain was also inflicted on him.” Enmity against Wycliffe, did not end with his death. Because Wycliffe’s work had a tremendous influence on John Huss, the Bohemian Reformer, the Council of Constance (1415) which burned Huss at the stake, demanded that the bones of Wycliffe be dug up and scattered away from consecrated ground. No one would execute the order until 1424 when the grave was torn up, the bones burned, and the ashes scattered on the River Swift. As Thomas Fuller said, “ The Swift conveyed them into the Avon, the Avon into the Severn, the Severn into the narrow seas; they into the main ocean; and thus the ashes of Wycliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, which is now dispersed all the world over.” About 150 years later, William Tyn- dale gave the world the first printed New Testament. He was also the first
to translate directly from the original Greek and Hebrew languages in which the Bible was written. The Bible had been a forbidden book since the time of Wycliffe. Tyndale saw that the people must have the Bible in English if the church was to reform. However, he soon learned by bitter experience that “ there was no place in all England” to make such a translation. He fled to Europe “ an exile for the faith” never to see his native land again. He had been inspired by the preface to the Greek Testament of Erasmus which read: “ I wish that even the weakest woman should read the Gospels—should read the Epistles of Paul: and I wish that they were trans lated into all languages, so that they might be read and understood not only by Scots and Irishmen, but also by Turks and Saracens. I long that the husband man should sing portions of them to him self as he follows the plow, that the weaver should hum them to the tune of his shuttle, that the traveler should be guile with their stories the tedium of his journey.” In Cologne Tyndale had part of the New Testament printed when the print ers were ordered to stop work. He took the sheets and went to Worms where the edition was completed and another of the same number, three thousand copies, but of a different size, was also made. The Testaments were smuggled into England in barrels of flour, bales of cloth and other ways. Despite the fact that many copies were publicly burned, the Bibles were spread over England. The New Testament was published in 1525. Tyndale then began to study He brew and translate the Old Testament. In Antwerp in 1534 he was betrayed and arrested by his enemies. In prison he requested warmer clothing, a Hebrew Bible, grammar and dictionary. He con tinued his translation of the Old Testa ment, working to Second Chronicles. In 1536 he was strangled and burned at the stake. His last words were “ Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.” Following Tyndale, Miles Coverdale translated the first complete Bible in 1536. He dedicated his work to Henry VIII. The version circulated freely be cause it had the approval of the King, but the bishops were hostile to it. In 1537 the Matthew’s Bible appeared, translated by John Rogers. It was Tyn- dale’s translation with minor revisions plus the portion of the Old Testament the martyr had not finished. There Mat thew’s Bible follows Coverdale. This ver sion was sold by permission of the King and the Archbishop of Canterbury. All the Bibles to date had footnotes which were decidedly Protestant in character. The Prime Minister now called upon Coverdale to prepare another version without the objectionable features of the preceding ones. This Bible, known as the Great Bible, was issued in 1539. Because of its size it could not be printed in England, so the printing was started in Paris. However, the Inquisition ordered the printer arrested. He sold the sheets as waste paper to an agent of Coverdale. Later Coverdale bought the complete
plant, moved it to England, and com pleted the printing there. This was the first, “ Authorized Version,” with the King commanding that it be read pub licly in the churches. Just three years before the Bible had been a forbidden book. Tyndale’s prayer was answered.
The “Breeches Bible”
After Henry’s death, Mary came to the throne and drove the Protestants into exile. A number went to Geneva where they produced a Bible in 1560 which was a revision of Tyhdale’s work. This Gene va Bible is sometimes known as the Breeches Bible because the word in Gen esis 3:7 is “ breeches” instead of “ aprons.” It was the first Bible in Eng lish printed with Roman type and with verse numbers. It was the Bible of Shakespeare, Milton and the Puritans. It greatly influenced the King James Version. It went through 160 editions before the English Civil War. Because it was the Bible of the New England Puritans and the early Virginia settlers, it has had its effect upon our American democracy; Its influence in England was tremendous. “No greater moral change ever passed over a nation than passed over England during the years which parted the middle of the reign of Eliza beth from the meeting of the Long Parlia ment. England became the people of a book, and that book was the Bible. It was as yet the one English book which was familiar to every Englishman; it was read at churches and read at home, and everywhere its words, as they fell on ears which custom had not deadened to their force and beauty, kindled a startling enthusiasm . . . The whole tem per of the nation was changed. A new conception of life and of man superseded the old. A new moral and religious im pulse spread through every class” (J. R. Green, A Short History of the English People, p. 455, f f) . (Continued on Page 27) T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
Page of Wycliffe New Testament in 1300; first translation into English. Page Eighteen
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