Introduction

Part I

Part II

Part III

Introduction

Through the centuries, courageous people have treasured the Scriptures.  Some have died because they dared to translate the Bible into a language their countrymen could understand.

In medieval times, the Bible was not available to the common person.  The Old Testament was generally available only in Hebrew, in a Greek translation called the Septuagint and in a Latin translation called the Vulgate.  The New Testament was available only in Greek and in the Latin Vulgate.  Consequently, only scholared, educated clergy and a few others had direct access to God's Word.  In time, moves were made to translate the Bible into the vernacular (common language).

The beginnings of the English Bible go back to the early 8th century.  The first known attempt to translate portions of Scripture into Anglo-Saxon was Aldhelm's translation of the Psalms in about AD700.  In 735 the historian, the Venerable Bede, finished a translation of St John's Gospel - he died the same year.  Late in the 9th century, Alfred the Great, King of the Saxon Kingdom of Wessex, gave his people parts of Exodus, Psalms and Acts in their own tongue.  No effort was made to translate the whole Bible.

With the passing of time, church leaders adopted the view that it was dangerous for ordinary people to read the Scriptures without the benefit of clergy.  They insisted that it was safer for people to rely on priests to tell them what the Bible contained.  In some European countries the ban on the Vernacular Scriptures carried withit the death penalty.  Because of this attitude, translators found themselves engaged in an increasingly dangerous business.

In their zeal for an English Bible, and in the great sacrifices they made for it, the story of the men who gave us the Bible in English is an inspiring story.

Part I

One of those who sought to make English Bibles available to the average person was John Wycliffe (1330-1384).  An Oxford theologian and 14th century reformer, he argued that the Scriptures did little good locked away in Latin, a language that few people could read.  He declared that God's Word was for all people:  "No man is so rude a scholar but that he might learn the words of the Gospel according to his simplicity".

Wycliffe determined to give the English people a translation that could be read in their native tongue.  He and his associates completed the monumental task in about 1382.  His translation was based on the Latin Vulgate, as he and his colleagues knew no Hebrew or Greek.  Wycliffe's Bible was the first complete translation of the Scriptures into any form of modern English.  His hand-copied (this was before the printing age!) Bibles were circulated widely and eagerly read.  However, his Bibles brought him into conflict with church officials.  He was brought to trial several times in church courts but powerful and influential friends like John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, protected him.  He died a natural death in 1384 at Lutterworth, near Oxford.

During the last 6 years of Wycliffe's life he served as Rector of Lutterworth Parish Church and this was where he was buried.  The inscription on the memorial tablet on the church wall reads that Wycliffe's Bible "drew on him the bitter hatred of all who were making merchandise of the popular credulity and ignorance".

As his teachings were forerunners of the Reformation, John Wycliffe is accorded the title "Morning Star of the Reformation".

In 1408, almost a quarter of a century after his death, a Synod of Clergy met at Oxford and formally outlawed the reading of Wycliffe's Bible.  The writing, circulation or study of any translation of Scripture into English were also outlawed.  However despite severe penalites, many continued to read Wycliffe's Bible in secret.

In 1415 the Council of Constance condemned Wycliffe, ordering his body to be exhumed and burned.  So about 3 decades after his death, his bones were dragged from the grave and burned.  His ashes were cast into a little brook that runs past Lutterworth into the River Avon.

Part II

With the arrival of learning that characterised the Renaissance period (14th-17th centuries), scholars acquired a new interest in studying the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible.  One of these was the Dutch scholar, Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1467-1536).  He was professor of Greek at Cambridge University from 1511-1514 and his great love for that language and his zealous advocacy of vernacular Scriptures left an indelible mark.  He voiced strong support for translating the Bible into ordinary speech:  "I wish that the Scriptures might be translated into all languages, so that not only the Scots and the Irish, but also the Turk and the Saracen might read and understand them.  I long that the farm labourer might read and understand them as he follows his plough, the weaver hum them to the tune of his shuttle".

William Tyndale (1494-1536) was profoundly influenced by Erasmus' Greek New Testament.  That obsession opened the most decisive chapter in the entire story of the English Bible.  Finding both clergy and laity ignorant of the Scriptures, Tyndale conceived the ambitious project of translating the the New Testament directly from the Greek into English, bypassing the Latin Vulgate.  He was well aware that the established church was against the idea of a vernacular Bible.  An opponent of translation put it thus: "The New Testament translated into the vulgar tongue is in truth the food of death, the fuel of sin, the veil of malice, the pretext of false liberty".  Tyndale passionately disagreed:  "If God spare my life ere many years pass, I will cause a boy that drives the plough shall know more of the Scriptures than you"!  God spared Tyndale long enough for him to make good that vow.

Finding the Church hostile to him at home, he went to Hamburg in 1524 and then to Wittenberg, where he became an associate of Martin Luther, whose doctrines deeply influenced Tyndale's subsequent work.  In 1525 he began printing his translated New Testament in Cologne but was discovered by enemies of Martin Luther.  He escaped to Worms, where he printed his New Testament and shipped the books to England hidden in crates of goods.  The English authorities burned as many copies as they could find and, in some cases, killed the booksellers.

Tyndale's was the first English translation ever to be made directly from the original Greek - not a translation of a translation, as was Wycliffe's.  Tyndales translation clearly revealed a remarkable mastery of the English idiom and formed the basis of the Authorised Version, which was mainly from the original text.  William Tyndale was rightly called the "Father of the English Bible".

Persevering, though continually harassed by agents of King Henry VIII, Tyndale produced new editions of his New Testament.  In 1535, whilst staying in Antwerp, he was betrayed to the authorities and imprisoned in the Castle of Vilvorde, near Brussels.  After 15 months he was tried for heresy, found guilty and condemned to death.  He went to the stake still defending his sincere belief that Englishmen should have a Bible in their own language.  On 6th October 1535 he was tied to a post and strangled, after which his body was burned.  He died bravely; his dying prayer was: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes".

It could be said that this prayer was granted, even at the time he was executed.  A new royal and ecclesiastical attitude towards religion had emerged in England following King Henry VIII's break with Rome and his assumption of power as Supreme Head of the Church of England.  He ordered that an English Bible be placed in every church in the realm - a bible that, ironically, was partly Tyndale's own!

Two years after his death, there appeared in English an edition of the Coverdale Bible carrying the legend: "Set forth with the King's most gracious license".

The Miles Coverdale Bible was published while Tyndale was awaiting execution in prison.  It was the first full Bible to printed in English (Tyndale having only published the New Testament).

Part III

Miles Coverdale (1488-1568) was an English Protestant reformer and biblical scholar.  He studied at Cambridge, was ordained a priest at Norwich in 1514 and joined the Augustinian Friars at Cambridge where he converted to Protestantism.

By gathering together the best works, he aimed to produce a Bible that would be acceptable to ecclesiastical authorities.  His translation, which was based on Luther's German version and Tyndale's New Testament, was published in Zurich in 1535.

Coverdale's Bible was followed by several translations and revisions, including:- the Matthew Bible (1537); the Traverner's Bible (1539); the Great Bible (1539); the Geneva Bible (1560); the Bishops' Bible (1568) and the Rheims-Douay version of the New Testament (1582) and Old Testament (1609/10).

Each translator aimed to correct the errors and improve the language of earlier editions.  This bewildering multitude of Bibles led to the next important chapter in the history of the English Bible.

In 1603 King James I came to the throne, following the death of Queen Elizabeth I - the last of the Tudors.  A year later an important conference was convened at Hampton Court Palace by King James.  The conference was a series of meetings between Anglican Bishops and Puritan leaders, presided over by King James.  Its purpose was to consider Puritan demands for reform in the church.  Among the issues discussed was a Puritan request for a new translation of the Bible, to correct the imperfections of the current Bibles.

Some church leaders countered that there were already too many translations.  The King, however, took the view that another translation was indeed needed, precisely because there were too many already!  He wanted one Bible for the Nation, as accurately translated as possible.

To undertake the work, King James appointed 54 scholars, drawn from Oxford, Cambridge and Westminster, who were renowned for their Greek and Hebrew expertise.  They worked in 6 groups, the work of each group being reviewed by the other groups.

What distinguished the King James version of the Bible from earlier printed Bibles was that it was produced by a committee of scholars, rather than by one man.  The translators drew heavily on all that was good in previous translations.  Their aim was not to make an entirely new translation but, in their own words, "to make a good one better, or, out of many good ones, one principal good one".

Significantly, their New Testament was based largely on William Tyndale's translation and it is estimated that 80-90% of Tyndale's wording passed into the King James Version of the New Testament.

The King James tranlators' work was published in 1611 (known as the Authorised Version).  This very acceptable translation soon replaced earlier English versions.

However, no translation is ever final, and scholarly research continually expands our knowledge of the meaning of biblical words and an understanding of customs and ideas recorded in the Bible.  Consequently fresh translations speak with power and relevance to new generations.  Personal preference and theological outlook also encourage new versions.

Among the translations and revisions since 1611 are:-  the Revised Version (1881); the American Standard Version (1901); Weymouth (1903); Moffatt (1913 and 1924); Smith-Goodspeed (1931); the Revised Standard Version (1946 and 1952); the New English Bible (1961 and 1970); Jerusalem Bible (1966); the New American Standard Bible (1971); the New International Version (1979); and the Amplified Bible [expanded version] (1987).   A New King James Version (also called the Revised Authorised Version) was published in 1982.  It was a revision to deal with the changes of language since the 1611 edition.

Written almost entirely in Hebrew and Greek, the Bible has been translated in whole or in part, into 1,907 languages.  The work of translation, circulation and dissemination is done on an ecumenical basis, mainly by the Bible Societies of the world under the umbrella of the United Bible Societies (UBS).  The late Rt Rev and Rt Honorable, the Lord Coggan (Archbishop of Canterbury 1974-1980) wrote: "As President of the UBS for 19 years, I was able to see at close quarters the combination of scholarship, devotion and business skills which enables this work to go forward ..."

Many people today take owning a Bible for granted.  Some see it (and the complete works of Shakespeare) as merely essential additions to the bookshelves of the educated!  Realising that God inspired many dedicated Christians to make great personal sacrifices to enable us to have access to His Word should motivate us to value the precious heritage of the Bible.

The once-forbidden book is now open to us all.