William Tyndale was the first man ever to attempt translating the Bible into English from the original languages (Wycliffe had translated from the Latin Vulgate).

Tyndale's work in this field was vital to the production of English-language Bibles at the time of the Reformation. Because of his ground breaking effort to produce a Bible in English, the editor of this biography of Tyndale notes that "there are not lacking those who consider him [Tyndale] to be the one man to whom modern Englishmen owe the largest debt of gratitude (p. 5)." Thus anyone interested in the Reformation in English-speaking countries would necessarily need to know about Tyndale and his work. Furthermore, Robert Demaus' biography of this great Reformer was done so well that "it was but natural that the book should at once become the standard authority on the subject, which it is now admitted on all hands to be (p. 5)."

The England that Tyndale was born into was spiritually dark due to the religious dominance of the Romish Antichrist. At that time the Bible "was practically unknown, either to clergy or to people. The Convocation of the province of Canterbury had expressly forbidden any man to translate any part of Scripture into the English tongue, or to read such translation without the authority of the bishop, an authority not very likely to be granted (p. 32)." But this was to be expected. "If the Pope was in very deed the antichrist foretold by the apostles, then it was not surprising that he should use every effort to keep the people in ignorance of that Divine rule which would so completely expose the baselessness of his pretensions; it was only natural that the Holy Scriptures should be buried in unknown tongues, and that the meaning of the passages which occurred in the services of the Church should be obscured by whimsical, allegorical interpretations (pp. 82-83)."

Thus Tyndale decided to undertake "the translation of the New Testament into the English tongue, as the noblest service that he could render to his country, and an indispensable preliminary to any possible reformation of the abuses which abounded in the Church (p. 83)."

This book, then, recounts Tyndale's heroic efforts to produce an English-language Bible. When he began this great project, the Reformation had begun on the continent of Europe, but had not yet had much impact in England. Thus opposition to his work in England would be too powerful. "It was clearly impossible to translate the New Testament in England; but there was no difficulty in translating it abroad, in some of those countries where the Reformation had established itself (p. 111)."

In 1524 he left England for Germany, and never returned to his native country again. Tyndale was able to translate the New Testament in Germany, and it appears that the first copies arrived in England in 1526 (p. 141). Chapter Five discusses Tyndale's New Testament, and describes his scholarly qualifications. Tyndale had done such a good job of translation that Demaus (writing in the nineteenth century) could say, "that the English New Testament, as we now have it, is, in its substance, the unchanged language of Tyndale's first version (p. 157)."

Once the authorities in England discovered that an English translation of the Bible was circulating in their country, they acted quickly to stop its spread, confiscating any copies found, and arresting the distributors. As a result, "for a time, doubtless, the circulation of the New Testament in England was sensibly arrested (p. 188)." After his translating of the New Testament, Tyndale began translating the Old Testament. In 1531 the first English translation of the Pentateuch was printed. "This was Tyndale's second great contribution towards that sacred work to which he had devoted his life (p. 272)."

Tyndale was also writing some books of his own including "The Practice of Prelates." In Tyndale's "eyes the pope was Antichrist and the whore of Babylon (p. 299)." Sir Thomas More, a very prominent English Romanist, was called upon to defend Rome, and thus a public controversy between More and Tyndale erupted. Tyndale's book "An Answer to Sir Thomas More's Dialogue" (also published by SWRB) was the result. Continuing his work on Bible translation, in 1534 Tyndale reissued the Pentateuch with a few changes, and a revision of the New Testament.

Tyndale completed another revision of the New Testament in 1535, but he was arrested before it could be printed. By this time Tyndale was in Antwerp (the Netherlands). It was there that he was arrested, and then moved to the Castle of Vilvorde, the state prison of the Low Countries (p. 483). Tyndale's trial for heresy began in 1536, and he was condemned to death. But the work he had undertaken in his life continued to bless God's people for generations to come, and thus his influence for good has been immeasurable.

This book is a standard work on one of the most important Reformers, who gave his life in service to Christ and the brethren.

584 pages.