William Tyndale

William Tyndale

William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536) has been referred to by many names. He has been called

“God’s Outlaw”, “The Prince of Translators”, and as a pre-reformer. Brian Edwards captures his

work and identity succinctly when he relates, “that not only was Tyndale the heart of the

Reformation in England, he was the Reformation in England.” He was born in Gloucestershire, the west of England, not far from Wales, to a prosperous farming family. Being a family of means, they sent the young William to Magdalen School and College, Oxford where he would spend the next ten years (1506-1616). A brilliant student, he made significant progress in language arts under the finest classical linguists in the Realm. He was awarded a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Oxford and was ordained into the priesthood, although never serving as a priest. Tyndale was, no doubt influenced greatly by his predecessor, John Wycliffe. They

shared a love for the Bible and insisted that it was the sole authority for faith and practice. Both men would pay a heavy price for rebelling against the far-reaching influence of the papacy. Wycliffe’s name would be disparaged during his life, eventually leading to charges of heresy and the desecration of his grave. Tyndale would pay with his life as he was burned at the stake on October 6, 1536. His famous last words were, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”

Tyndale will forever be revered as a brilliant linguist and translator. His work in bringing

the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek New Testament to the English language has solidified him as the “Apostle of England” and the “Father of the English Bible.” Still, others considered him

the figure that changed the course of English history and Western civilization.

Tyndale stood as a guiding light of exposition. He was committed to the absolute

authority of the Bible along with a literal hermeneutic. He had a methodology that adhered to

the sensus plenior, a forerunner of the historical-grammatical approach. “The Scripture hath but one sense, which is the literal sense. And that literal sense is the root and ground of all, and the anchor that never faileth, whereunto if thou cleave, thou canst never err or go out of the way. The Scripture indeed useth proverbs, similitudes, riddles, or allegories, as all other speeches do; but that which the proverb, similitude, riddle or allegory signifieth is ever the literal sense, which thou must seek out diligently.” This methodology contrasted with his day’s medieval view that was deeply steeped in an allegorical and amillennial interpretation of the Bible.

William Tyndale led the way to the development of a thoroughly Reformed theology.

Although he never wrote a systematic treatise, he taught and preached what would later be

described as the “Doctrines of Grace.” He was a champion of the tenets of Divine sovereignty as

they related to the radical corruption of man, particular redemption, the primacy of the Spirit’s

work in salvation, and sustaining grace.