God's Outlaw - William TyndaleBy the year 1529 King Henry VIII had four agents hunting for William Tyndale across Belgium and Germany. Seven years later the outlaw was arrested and burnt at the stake.
The ‘crime’ of this Oxford scholar was that he had translated the New Testament into an easy-to-read English! It was also the first English Bible ever to be printed. In 1526 copies were smuggled into Britain and the cost of a copy was equal to one week’s wages for a farm labourer.
No book has had such an influence on the English language and cultures as the Authorised Version of the Bible which was published in 1611. It helped to establish the spelling and grammar of the English language and it also began to re-shape the life of the nation. However, almost all its New Testament was copied straight from William Tyndale’s translation.
Two years after Tyndale’s death, Henry VIII ordered that a copy of the Bible in English should be displayed in every parish church in England. Tyndale’s prayer as he died had been, ‘Lord, open the King of England’s eyes’! Click Here to find out more
Copyright Day One Publications, used with permission | 
