The Reformation and Bible Translation 

Martin Luther

Martin Luther came toWittenberg in1508.  It wasn’t by accident.  He was chosen by the Secret Society of Lollards to come here and chair the professorship of philosophy.  As he developed and matured in his studies, in the thirteen years that lead up to the Diet of Worms in 1521, that event being preceded by Erasmus’ Greek-Latin Bible printed in 1516 and the combination of events that happened in this city on Halloween in 1517 at which time Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the Wittenberg door of the Castle Church right behind me. 

Luther was ready in 1517 to proclaim the message of faith. You study the Scriptures, you    search the Scriptures Martin Luther said, in order to know God and to know his promises.  Because you see from his study of the 11^th chapter of Hebrews and the 6^th verse, without acting on the promises, it’s impossible to please God. Martin Luther’s conversion came from the study of the book of Habakkuk in an indirect way from the second chapter in the 4^th verse.  He remembered a passage that the ‘just shall live by his faith’.  In M. L’s subsequent study of the book of Romans 1:17 he read “the just shall live by faith” “the just shall live by acting on the promises.” From 1516 to 1546 Martin Luther preached only one message from this pulpit in this church:  Heb 11:1  “faith”, that is acting on the promises, is defined as the sure confidence, the invisible reality that ground of the heart of things hoped for.

In the U.S. we celebrate our declaration of Independence on July 4^th because on that day, in 1776 the Founding Fathers, risking everything, put their signature to a document declaring their liberty and their freedom.

On the 17^th day of April in 1521, as Christians around the world that is our Declaration of Independence Day because one man stood against the Emperor and against his critics and against those who would have him burned at the stake, in this building behind me, the Cathedral of Worms in Germany and Martin Luther, that man, that monk, stood before his inquisitors and stood before those who sought to slay him, he stood before them with the fullest comprehension that that was going to be his last day on earth and he declared for you and for me as Christians, our independence.

As he stood in front of the court, he made one of the most remarkable speeches in history.  A speech that would take only ten seconds to deliver.  “My conscience is my guide, Scripture is my authority and I can do no other than abide by it’s teachings, here I stand, God help me.”

Luther was convinced that he would be burned at the stake but his friends kidnapped him and took him to Prince Frederick’s Castle in Wartberg. With the help of Erasmus’ Greek-Latin Bible he translated the Bible into the German language in 90 days. The first copies came off the press in September of 1522. The driving force in Martin Luther’s life was the fear of God.  With Wm Tyndale it was the belief that God had chosen him that possessed him.  Their love and respect for God overcame their personal fears and persuaded them to undertake a work that from a human perspective was virtually impossible. Tyndale would have failed without Luther and Luther would have failed without Tyndale.

The Geneva Bible
The Forgotten Translation

When Mary Tudor (Bloody Mary) became queen of England in 1553, she was determined to roll back the Reformation and reinstate Roman Catholicism. Mary had strong ties to Catholic Spain. She married Philip II of Spain and induced the English Parliament to recognize the authority of papal Rome. Mary met with a great deal of resistance from Protestant reformers in her own country. Mary showed no signs of compromise. The persecution of Protestants followed.

The era known as the Marian Exile drove hundreds of English scholars to the Continent with little hope of ever seeing their home and friends again. God used this exodus experience to advance the Reformation. A number of English Protestant divines settled in Calvin's Geneva: Miles Coverdale, John Foxe, Thomas Sampson, and William Whittingham. With the protection of the Genevan civil authorities and the support of John Calvin and the Scottish Reformer John Knox, the Church of Geneva determined to produce an English Bible without the need for the imprimatur of either England or Rome - the Geneva Bible.

Translation Work Begins In 1557

The Geneva translators produced a revised New Testament in English in 1557 that was essentially a revision of Tyndale's revised and corrected 1534 edition. Much of the work was done by William Whittingham, the brother-in-law of John Calvin.

The Geneva New Testament was barely off the press when work began on a revision of the entire Bible, a process that took more than two years. The new translation was checked with Theodore Beza's earlier work and the Greek text. In 1560 a complete revised Bible was published, translated according to the Hebrew and Greek, and conferred with the best translations in divers languages, and dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I. After the death of Mary, Elizabeth was crowned queen in 1558, once again moving England toward Protestantism. The Geneva Bible was finally printed in England in 1575 only after the death of Archbishop Matthew Parker, editor of the Bishop's Bible.

England's Most Popular Bible

While other English translations failed to capture the hearts of the reading public, the Geneva Bible was instantly popular. Between 1560 and 1644 at least 144 editions appeared. For forty years after the publication of the King James Bible, the Geneva Bible continued to be the Bible of the home. Oliver Cromwell used extracts from the Geneva Bible for his Soldier's Pocket Bible which he issued to the army.

A Threat To King James

In 1620 the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth with their Bibles and a conviction derived from those Bibles of establishing a new nation. The Bible was not the King James Version. When James I became king of England in 1603, there were two translations of the Bible in use; the Geneva Bible was the most popular, and the Bishops' Bible was used for reading in churches.

King James disapproved of the Geneva Bible because of its Calvinistic leanings. He also frowned on what he considered to be seditious marginal notes on key political texts. A marginal note for Exodus 1:9 indicated that the Hebrew midwives were correct in disobeying the Egyptian king's orders, and a note for 2 Chronicles 15:16 said that King Asa should have had his mother executed and not merely deposed for the crime of worshipping an idol. The King James Version of the Bible grew out of the king's distaste for these brief but potent doctrinal commentaries. He considered the marginal notes to be a political threat to his kingdom.

At a conference at Hampton Court in 1604 with bishops and theologians, the king listened to a suggestion by the Puritan scholar John Reynolds that a new translation of the Bible was needed. Because of his distaste for the Geneva Bible, James was eager for a new translation. "I profess," he said, "I could never yet see a Bible well translated in English; but I think that, of all, that of Geneva is the worst."

A Threat To Rome

In addition to being a threat to the king of England, the Geneva Bible was outspokenly anti-Roman Catholic, as one might expect. Rome was still persecuting Protestants in the sixteenth century. Keep in mind that the English translators were exiles from a nation that was returning to the Catholic faith under a queen who was burning Protestants at the stake. The anti-Roman Catholic sentiment is most evident in the Book of Revelation: "The beast that cometh out of the bottomless pit (Rev. 11:7) is the Pope, which hath his power out of hell and cometh thence." In the end, the Geneva Bible was replaced by the King James Version, but not before it helped to settle America.

Back In Geneva

Calvin knew that the job of reforming a city seemingly bent on destruction would not be easy. "There is no place in the world that I fear more," he confessed. Immorality was at an all-time high, with gambling, street brawls, drunkenness, adultery, and public indecency common everywhere. But not all was dark.

When he arrived on September 13, 1541, a change had come over the city. The people actually wanted him to return. The city officials bestowed honors on him and apologized for the way he had been treated. The Council members assured Calvin that they would cooperate with him to restore the Gospel and moral order. The businessmen were equally relieved to learn that Calvin might return. Calvin was overwhelmed by the outward display of affection and decided to return to Geneva. On September 16th he wrote to Farel: "Your wish is granted. I am held fast here. May God give His blessing."

Calvin's Contributions

Calvin continued his work of reformation, not by a heavy-handed use of the civil magistrate, but with the preaching of God's Word and the building of the Church. Church government was lacking, not only in Geneva, but all over Protestant Europe. Calvin understood that only the Church, not the State, could define orthodox theology and bring about true long-term reform. According to the Bible, the State and the Church were jurisdictionally separate. Each had its God-ordained area of jurisdiction and authority - one civil (the State) and one ecclesiastical (the Church). Even so, Calvin insisted, both Church and State were ordained by God and obligated to follow His laws as they applied to their specific appointed jurisdictions.

Calvin's view that God reigns everywhere and over all things led him to develop the biblical idea that man can serve God in every area of life - church, civil government, education, art, music, business, law, journalism. There was no need to be a priest, a monk, or a nun to get closer to God. God is glorified in everyday work and family life. Calvin's teaching led directly to what has become known as the "Protestant work ethic." Individual initiative leads to economic productivity as Christians work out their faith in their callings before God.

Stricken with tuberculosis, Calvin preached his last sermon on February 6, 1564. Although bedridden until his death on May 27, 1564, Calvin continued to work, extending his legacy in the lives of those who sat under his teaching.

Thanks to the Institutes of the Christian Religion, his printed sermons, the Academy, his commentaries on nearly every book of the Bible (except the Song of Solomon and the Book of Revelation), and his pattern of Church and Civil government, Calvin shaped the thought and motivated the ideals of Protestantism in France, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungry, Scotland, and the English Puritans; many of whom settled in America. The great American historian George Bancroft stated, "He that will not honor the memory, and respect the influence of Calvin, knows but little of the origin of American liberty." The famous German historian, Leopold von Ranke, wrote, "John Calvin was the virtual founder of America." John Adams, the second president of the United States, wrote: "Let not Geneva be forgotten or despised. Religious liberty owes it most respect."

William Tyndale - Father Of The English Language Bible 

Imagine an English speaking world without Shakespeare, Tennison, T.S. Elliot and C.S. Lewis. They all had one common influence.  A man whose prose and creativity in designing the English language is one of the greatest contributions to western civilization in the annuals of modern history.  The Father of the English language and the soul translator of the Bible into modern English must certainly be revered by every Christian and every English speaking man or woman wherever English is taught.  Surely such a man would have died in honor and wealth and was respected by all.  In fact, his life and work are scarely known to the intellectual community much less to the common masses and he died in poverty and in exile from his native country England.

To the establishment, Wm.Tyndale was an outlaw.  He had a price on his head and was hunted relentlessly for eleven years by his King and by his church.  His only crime was obedience to God and thus resistance to tyranny.

Wm. Tyndale was born in 1494 in Glochester, England.  He enrolled in Oxford in 1505 and literally grew up at the university, receiving his master’s degree in 1515 at age 23.  He spoke 8 different languages fluently.  One associate described him as so skilled in 8 tongues that whichever he speaks you might think it is his native tongue.  He eventually moved onto Cambridge University where he formed the White Horse Inn Society.  The society was composed of about 25 young men. All of them with the exception of Miles Coverdale, would be beheaded or burned at the stake.

Thousands of others were martyred as well.  In 1517, five men and two women were tried for heresy. Their crime? Teaching the Lord’s Prayer to their children in English. There were found guilty and burned at the stake. Their martyrdom spoke clearly of the insanity that had possessed the church.  England and the entire continent was a war zone of upheaval and widespread persecution.  

Wm Tyndale came under suspicion for his views on the authority of Scripture and his views on the interpretation of the Bible.  In fact, in one of those heated discussions one day around the table, one of the local bishops, a very powerful man said that he revered the pope’s laws more than he did Scripture and Wm. Tyndale could not constrain himself.  He looked that bishop in the eye and said, “I defy the Pope and all his laws and if God would spare my life, these many years I will make it possible for the boy that drives the plow to know as much Scripture as you do.”  He was called before the most powerful bishop in Bristol and warned that if he continued to teach in English the things of God that he was going to have to suffer the consequences and those consequences were not going to be easy.  It became clear he had to leave, his burden had developed to translate the Bible into English. 

In 1524 with assistance from the secret society, and with a strategy and a carefully laid plan, Tyndale would go to Wittenberg, visit with Martin Luther and then at a given point in time, show up in Cologne on the Rhine River to print the Bible in English at least the NT for the first time.

We know that the word has been leaked to the Inquisition, to bounty hunters that are in the employ of the church as well as the employ of the Monarch, to track down these dissidents, these men that want to violate laws regarding the translation of the Bible. The bounty hunter goes to the city authorities and gets a search warrant and a seizure warrant and proceeds to the print shop, simultaneously Tyndale is tipped off.  He gets to the print shop before the bounty hunter gets there, he seizes his manuscripts, he seizes the text that’s on the press, only the first few chapters of Matthew have been printed, in a beautiful, beautiful printing and he escapes literally within minutes of the bounty hunter coming through the front door and they go up the river.  If fact they go up the river about 50 miles to a city called Worms.

Peter Schaeffer Jr. was now living in Worms and was a Lutheran, had been converted to the Lutheran doctrine and it was to this man, the son of the printer of the first Bible, the Gutenberg Bible that Wm. Tyndale goes to and 6,000 copies of that Bible are printed in Worms, loaded on the ships and bound for England. 

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In October 1526 Bishop Tounstel preached a sermon denouncing Tyndales’s NT in English and copies were publicly burned.  However, this backfired and created a public interest in the NT.  The mystery of the forbidden book in English created a demand that no amount of advertising could have accomplished. The bishop then decided to disburse large sums of money for the purchase of as many of the NT’s as he could get his hands on.  He stated; “I will gladly pay whatever they cost for the books are naughty and I intend surely to destroy them all and to burn them at Paul’s cross.”   

Tyndale’s life was that of a nomad, traveling from place to place to avoid detection, translating and revising as he could. Finally, in exhaustion, he chose the English house at Atwerp to oversee the transport of his books to England, the year was 1533. For nine years he had managed, with the help of friends to evade authorities as he revised his NT and began translating the OT.

In the meantime, church officials were financing a bounty hunter by the name of Henry Philips to track down Tyndale. Philips went to Antwerp and managed to worm his way into Tyndale’s life. Soon Philips became a guest of Tyndale’s at meals and was one of the few privileged to look at his books and papers. In May 1535 Philips devised a plan that would lure Tyndale away from the safety of his quarters. While slipping through a narrow alley Tyndale walked into the arms of a band of soldiers whom Philips had posted. He was immediately arrested and taken to the State prison at the Castle of Vilvor where is was accused of heresy.

He spend the last 500 days of his life in a cold, dark and lonely cell deep inside the castle.  The only record of this time is contained in a letter he wrote to the Governor of the castle in the winter months of 1535; “I beg your lordship and that by the Lord Jesus that if I am to remain here through the winter, you’ll be kind enough to send me from my goods a warmer cap for I suffer greatly from cold in the head and am afflicted by inflammation and congestion.  A warmer coat also for that which I have is very thin and above all I beg and beseech your clemency to kindly permit me to have my Hebrew Bible, Hebrew grammar and Hebrew dictionary that I may spend my time with that study.  I shall be patient abiding the will of God to the glory of the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ whose spirit I pray may ever direct your heart. Amen.”  Wm Tyndale  

Was Tyndale’s request allowed?  We do not know.  On October 6^th 1536, Wm. Tyndale was lead to the public square near a large beam. Tyndale was given one last chance to recant.  When he refused he was given a moment to pray.  He then cried out, “Lord open the King of England’s eyes!”  He was then chained to the beam and a rope was put around his neck.  At the signal of the local official the executioner tightened the noose and strangled him.  The executioner then set the wood ablaze. 

Kings Eyes Opened 

God answered Wm. Tyndales’s last prayer.  The prayer was “Lord open the eyes of the  King of England”.  In 1537 John Rogers printed the first Bible in England with a license granted by Henry VIII.  The  year preceding Tyndale’s death, after his incarceration, Miles Coverdale would  print the first English Bible from Luther’s German Bible but it’s the work, 95- 97% the work of Wm. Tyndale.  Henry VIII took it one step further though.  He authorized by royal injunction the printing of 20,000 Bibles, called the Great Bible, to be distributed to every church in England -Wm.Tyndale’s Bible.

What I want to try to do is go through and show the viewer how sincere Luther and Tyndale were in trying to get the words that they were translating to form a picture.  Now the Book of Revelation if probably the most difficult book of the whole Bible to understand because it’s prophecy to yet to be fulfilled.  So in the Book of Revelation, wood cuts were used in a very generous way and marginal notes were used in a very generous way to help explain to the reader the way the reformers back in the early 16^th Century saw the Book of Revelation unfolding. The opening chapter of Revelation from this Tyndale NT shows Jesus Christ himself giving the Apostle John this vision.  It’s very clear that the Lord Himself is speaking to John and John, sitting at the bottom of the picture, is writing down, every single word.  It’s an incredible vision that the Lord has given him. 

The Martyrs

Outside of the Bible, Fox’s Book of Martyrs was the most popular book of the 16^th century.  It was filled with woodcuts showing how the established church persecuted its dissidents. It wasn’t an evil Monarch or a wicked King that would perpetuate crimes against God and man.  It was the established church that bought fear and trembling to freedom loving people throughout Europe.  Fox declared that we must be a protesting, resisting people in order to maintain freedom.  Thus resistance to tyranny is obedience to God.

After the death of Edward the 6^th in 1553, Queen Mary came into power with the ambition of burning every protestant who would not recant and submit to the established

church in Rome.  John Rogers was burned first because he was the closest to Wm. Tyndale.  But Miles Coverdale fled the country just days before they would have captured him. Thousands of English Christians were driven out of England with little hope of every seeing their homeland again.  Those who did not leave were rounded up like cattle and burned at the stake.  It would often take hours for the person to die, depending on how the wind would blow on a particular day.

In order for mercy to be exercised, their friends would often tie bags of gunpowder around their necks, hoping it would explode and kill the poor victim in a merciful manner.  Over 300 leading Protestant scholars in England would be burned at the stake during the 4 years of Queen Mary’s reign.  Most of the English refugees fled to the church in Geneva Switzerland which was one of the only few safe havens for them.  They knew that if they acted on the promises God would see them through this horrible hour of persecution.

Several of these men, including Miles Coverdale and John Knox decided to reprint the Bible from Wm Tyndale’s text but with thousands of explanatory notes that promoted learning and understanding of the text.  The Geneva Bible became a masterpiece of Reformation literature. The notes were so thorough and complete it became equivalent to a Bible school in a single volume.  

King James Bible

In 1604 the Puritan party would approach King James with the idea of a new translation of the Bible.  King James agreed on the condition that it would not have any notes.  He then selected about 50 scholars that were well acquainted with Hebrew and Greek. They were divided into six groups.  The text, including the apocrypha was divided among the groups and each group member was required to work on the whole of  its  portion.  In practice, the translators made extensive use of the great English Bibles, including Tyndales’s Bible, the Geneva Bible and the Bishop’s Bible. They also consulted the original languages, the Hebrew and the Greek.

Over the next six years, they styled the English so that it was easy to memorize.  In 1610, when they finished their work, over 90% of Wm. Tyndales’s words, had passed into the KJV.  Their thorough approach made the KJ Bible the most accurate that had ever been written.  In 1611 the first printing of 20,000 KJ Bibles came off the press. One for each of the 20,000 churches in England.  It would become the greatest single book that has ever been printed in the history of man.

The KJ Bible has a message of faith, grace, peace and hope and has saved millions of people from eternal damnation. It is revered as God’s book, His story, His control over the millenniums of time from the Creation to the present and its influence over the civilized world wherever English speaking people have traveled is unparallel.

Bible Translation Timeline

http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/#timeline