HISTORY:
THE ENGLISH BIBLE

INTRODUCTION:

    There have been countless explanations for the failure of the Restoration Movement to end sectarian division and unite all of God's children in nondenominational fellowship. The introduction of instrumental music has been the most popular among writers. Others have accused the Missionary Society. Still others have blamed various preachers or their papers. While all of these reasons did play a part I believe that the real reason is more fundamental. It seems to me that our brethren knew but failed to emphasize the meaning of "ekklesia" and how it should be applied to the simple congregational organization of God's people. To help us understand how this failure affected and even destroyed the restoration effort I would like to take you on a history trip. You see, the history of the English Bible explains why many people have the mistaken view of God's family that they do. The Parson has taught classes on church history for more than 30 years. Those who have shared in these studies have encouraged me to make it a part of Parson Preaching. My plan is to have each history study on one page, adding to it from time to time. As new material is added I will put a notice on the Home Page so you can scroll to the next installment. Illustrations make history come alive and there will be plenty in this series. Just click on the link to see the actual people, places and documents that are being discussed then hit your Back Button to return to the article. I pray that you will not only learn from this study but that it will also help the Body of Christ return to the Old Paths.
The Parson

WHO GAVE US THE KJV?
LESSON 1: WE SET THE STAGE

    Our story starts in England in the 16th century. It was the time of the greatest upheaval in the history of the Christian faith. While the Roman Catholic Church had held absolute authoritarian control over the minds and faith of believers for over 1000 years, times were changing. In 1517 a humble German monk had the courage to question some of the actions of his church. His name was Martin Luther and he was so upset by the corruption and worldliness in the Roman Church that he nailed to the door of the "church" in Wittenberg 95 subjects he was willing to debate. The most important issue was the way money was being raised to pay for the construction of the great cathedrals. John Tetzel, a priest, was traveling through Germany selling indulgences. These papers would forgive the buyer of a sin that they had not yet committed. If you wanted to commit adultery you could be forgiven before hand, as long as you had the cash. Luther was a loyal Catholic priest who only wanted to change the things he believed to be wrong, not to leave his church or to start something new. However, when the head of your church claims to receive his authority from apostolic succession and can speak for God, questioning his actions was the same as questioning God.

    The Catholic Church had a great and powerful ally in England. King Henry VIII, a staunch Catholic, who was appalled by the actions of Luther and the resulting challenges to the authority of the Pope. His response was to write a book called "On The Seven Sacraments" against Luther and the growing number of reformers. The Pope at the time was Leo X who appreciated Henry's support so much that he proclaimed him "The Defender Of The Faith." Even to this day when the English monarch is introduced at formal occasions their titles are announced and "Defender Of The Faith" is included.

    Our story takes a turn not on religious issues but with Henry's personal life. His marriage to Katherine of Aragon was a political arrangement as are most royal unions. What part her looks may have played in these events (we know he divorced another wife because he said she was ugly) must be left to the mind of Henry but he claimed to be upset that she had not given him a son. The truth is that he had an eye for the ladies. The exact number of his affairs is unknown but the number of illegitimate children he fathered make us believe it was a way of life. He was married 6 times, four were annulled and two wives were beheaded. One of the women he was sleeping with was Anne Boleyn, a beautiful young Lady in Waiting to the Queen. (He had previously sired an illegitimate child with her sister.) It seems that this was more than an affair; he fell in love with Anne, and appealed to Rome for his marriage to be annulled so that he could marry Anne. Henry had every reason to believe that his request would be granted. The Roman Catholic Church was in turmoil and was even making concessions to the reformers. For example they now allowed priests to marry. They needed all the support they could get and the faithful in England were an important part. What he did not count on was that Rome was trying to clean up some of the corruption and had selected a new Pope who had moral standards. When Henry petitioned for his divorce Pope Clement VII said no!

    What arrogance, said Henry! Sure Clement was the Pope, the head of the Universal Church and God on earth, but he was Henry VIII, the King of England! Hadn't Pope Leo X called him the Defender Of The Faith? Was this any way to repay him for keeping England in the fold? Didn't the Pope understand that a prince to succeed him was more important than the churches doctrine on divorce? Well, he would show him! He would simply separate the church in England from the authority of Rome. And that was what he did. He had parliament proclaim that it was now the Church of England and he was the head. Now this is where many fail to understand history. The Church of England was not and is not a protestant church. It is Catholic in tradition, doctrine and worship. Henry's desire to make Anne his queen was the only issue. It is officially the Anglican (i.e. English) Catholic Church with the English monarch as the Supreme Governor of the Church as opposed to the Roman Catholic Church who has the Pope as its head. Both churches are Catholic, only the boss is different. This can be seen in the problems Henry had with his last wife Catherine Parr. Catherine was a Protestant while Henry maintained he was Catholic. They fought over religious issues constantly. While most protestant preachers ignore this fact the members of the Anglican Communion understand it quite well. In fact, there is an Episcopal (the name was changed in America after the Revolutionary War when anything English, especially the King became unpopular) priest in our town who wears a polo shirt with this embroidery, "I Am Anglican Catholic."

    However, the move to independence from Rome was not without violent consequences. Henry VIII was succeeded by his son Edward and then by his daughter Mary in 1553. She was the second daughter of Henry and Catherine of Aragon. Mary I was Roman Catholic (remember the Pope had supported her mother and refused to give Henry a divorce) and returned the English church to the authority of the Pope. While she was always in poor health and had a short reign many books and movies have been made about this period of English history. Why? Because Mary I was better known as Bloody Mary. She began a persecution against Protestants that lasted almost 4 years. During this time she executed over 300 religious dissenters with 283 burned at the stake. She killed many of the brightest minds in England including Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Mary was so unpopular with her subjects that a nursery rhyme was written about her. Maybe you know it: "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary." The "cockle shells" was a symbol of the pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint James in Spain and the "pretty maids all in a row" were nuns!

    When she died in 1558 her sister Elizabeth, the only child of Henry and Anne Boleyn, followed her. Elizabeth I was not a Roman Catholic (you know why) and returned the church to English control in 1559. Confusing, isn't it? She did not believe that the teachings of the Roman Church were wrong, don't forget they were the same in tradition, doctrine and worship, but it was one of allegiance and political power. In fact, during the Northern Rebellion in 1569 Pope Pius V joined the rebels by excommunicating Elizabeth. This ended her policy of toleration and began a persecution of her Roman Catholic enemies. When Ireland rebelled in 1580 Pope Gregory XIII even sent troops to their aid. Because of England's conflict with Rome her reign was one of constant war. There were wars with France, Spain, Scotland, Ireland and unending plots and rebellions. In spite of this she was just as popular with the people as her sister had been hated. The most important legacy of Elizabeth I was to make the Anglican Catholic Church forever free from the control of Rome. When she died in 1603 her cousin King James VI of Scotland became James I, King of England. Yes, he is the one whose name may be on your English Bible, The King James Version.

The Parson



LESSON 2: THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD

    Before the time of King Henry VIII the Word of God had never been translated into English from the original Hebrew (O.T.) and Greek (N.T.). Back in 1384 a priest named John Wycliffe had given the world a handwritten English translation but it was from the flawed Latin Vulgate. However Wycliffe's writings set the stage for others to study the Bible and see the false doctrines of the Catholic Church. This is why he is called the "morning star of the Reformation" and is illustrated by the fact that 44 years after his death the Pope ordered Wycliffe's bones dug up, crushed and then scattered in the river. Wycliffe's Bible awoke the Pope of the threat to his power when people could read the Scriptures. Since Latin was the official language of the Church and very few who were not clergy could read it, the Roman Church outlawed the translation of the Bible into common languages. By keeping the Bible in a foreign tongue the people only knew what the Church told them. But during the Crusades in 1453, when the Moslem Turks destroyed Constantinople, the Christians fled to Florence Italy and brought with them their libraries. Among their books were ancient copies of the Greek Septuagint (the translation of the Old Testament into Greek) as well as scrolls of the Greek New Testament. These manuscripts had not seen the light of day for over a thousand years but now in the west they would change the religious world forever. The other important event during this period was Gutenberg's invention of the movable type printing press. No invention has had a greater effect on the world and its history than this. The Gutenberg Bible (1455, in Latin) was the first book ever printed.

    Events such as these show God's providence. His Word had been protected from those who would have destroyed it, interest in the study of the original Biblical languages was renewed, the faithful translation of God's word into the language of the common man was now possible and it would be the uncorrupted Word of God. We could say that God's hand in the affairs of men brought about His will. The stage was now set for the greatest revolution since the Son of God was born and the greatest change to religious faith since the preaching of the Apostles. This lesson is about the man who appeared at this pivotal point in history and gave us the English Bible. King James you say? No, he was not a king, just a simple priest who believed that the Bible should be given to the people. His name was William Tyndale.

    We are not sure when William Tyndale was born but it was around 1494. While that might not be important what he was doing at the age of 12 is. We find him already a student in Magdalen College at Oxford University and reading Wycliffe's English translation to his fellow students. Nothing can be said about Tyndale that is not summed up in the previous sentence. Here was a man of unusual intellect who learned to read in six languages. While history is filled with stories of men who wasted their God given talents on worldly pursuits Tyndale had only one goal in life: Giving God's Word to the people in a language they could understand. "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost." (Said during a dispute with a prominent clergyman.) Who could say it is a coincidence that he finished his master's degree (in 1515) just one year before a Catholic scholar by the name of Erasmus (no, I'm not joking) published "Novum Instrumentum" his Greek-Latin N.T. from the ancient manuscripts? Erasmus' book not only proved that the Latin Vulgate was a corrupted translation but it also made the original Greek text available to this young man who needed it. Providence again!

    With God's Word in the original Greek in hand Tyndale began his work of translation. Finished in 1526 it was the first printing ever of the New Testament in English. Of the first 18,000 copies printed only 2 survive. Why? We will get to that later. He then turned his efforts to the Hebrew Old Testament. By 1530 he had translated and published the first 5 books of the O.T. into English. The next year it was the book of Jonah. Then the books of Joshua thru 2 Chronicles were finished. But so was the work of William Tyndale! The persecution of free thinkers had finally caught up with this man of faith and courage. Someone said that if Tyndale had remained a Catholic priest "he would no doubt have been canonized as a saint but he would not have been able to translate the Bible into English." This study, however, is not a treatise on the life and beliefs of Tyndale but one to help us appreciate how we got our Bible. Even more important is how the English words the translators used effect our understanding of God's Word. But let me highlight William Tyndale's sacrifices.

    When he started his translation work Henry VIII was king but the English church was still under the authority of the Pope. By 1523 he was already having problems with the clergy and they brought charges of heresy because of his support of Martin Luther. The next year Tyndale tried, unsuccessfully, to get help from Bishop Tunstall but he was able to escape to Germany. When his N.T. translation was finished, just two years later, it had to be smuggled into England in bales of cotton and boxes of tea. The same Bishop Tunstall ordered that all of his English Bibles be bought and burned. This is why only two copies of the first printing survive. New laws against dissenters were also enacted. Anyone preaching adult baptism would be beaten and have their property confiscated. Some were executed for having a copy of his English Bible. Thomas Bilney a respected Cambridge preacher was dragged from the pulpit in 1528 and imprisoned. It was in 1529 that Parliament separated the English Church from Rome but as we found in Lesson 1 the Church of England is not Protestant. So in 1531 Thomas Bilney is burned at the stake for being a Protestant. In 1533 John Frith is also burned for being a Protestant. Of the hundreds that suffered for their faith I mention these two because they were friends of Tyndale.

    While William Tyndale was translating the Bible he was constantly on the run. Agents of Henry as well as those of the Pope were searching for him. He was able to stay one step ahead of them while his work on the O.T. continued. As each part was completed his friends would have it printed and then smuggled into England. He also found the time to make revisions of the N.T. and these too were sent to the people. But in 1535 his time ran out. One of Henry's agents, Henry Phillips, found Tyndale in Antwerp being protected by an English merchant, Thomas Poyntz. Phillips waited until Poyntz was away on a business trip and then had soldiers from the Vatican arrest him. (Roman and Anglican Catholics often worked together against the Protestants.) Taken to Vilvoorde prison near Brussels he was locked in the dungeon. Here he suffered from cold and loneliness for 15 months till finally he was led out for his public execution. He was strangled and then burned at the stake. What was William Tyndale's crime? Giving you and I the Bible in English so we can read it for ourselves! With his last breath he prayed, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." I wonder if the pain would have been lessened if he had known that God would answer his prayer in less than three years?

The Parson

P.S. I believe the following letter written by William Tyndale from Vilvoorde prison, like those of the Apostle Paul, tell volumes about the man. It did not fit well into my narrative but I would be amiss if it were not included.

    "I believe, rightful worship, that you are not ignorant of what has been determined concerning me; therefore I entreat your Lordship, and that by the Lord Jesus, that if I am to remain here during the winter, you will request the Procurer to be kind enough to send me from my goods, which he has in his possession, a warmer cap, for I suffer extremely from cold in the head, being afflicted with a perpetual catarrh, which is considerably increased in the cell.

    "A warmer coat also, for that which I have is very thin; also a piece of cloth to patch my leggings: my overcoat has been worn out; my shirts are also worn out. He has a woolen shirt of mine, if he will be kind enough to send it. I have also with him leggings of thicker cloth for the putting on above; he also has warmer caps for wearing at night. I wish also his permission to have a candle in the evening, for it is wearisome to sit alone in the dark.

    "But above all, I entreat and beseech your Clemency to be urgent with the Procurer that he may kindly permit me to have my Hebrew Bible, Hebrew Grammar and Hebrew Dictionary, that I may spend my time with that study. And in return, may you obtain your dearest wish, provided always it be consistent with the salvation of your soul. But if any other resolutions have been come concerning me, before the conclusion of winter, I shall be patient, abiding by 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.

William Tindalus"

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