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Top 10 Unbelievable Facts about William Tyndale

He was born in Stinchcombe, United Kingdom in the late 1400s. William Tyndale was an English biblical scholar and linguist. He was a leading figure of the protestant reformation. The translation of the bible to English was Williams’s work. He was married to Alice Hunt.

One of the people who influence him to translate the bible was his Greek language lecturer at the University of Cambridge namely Erasmus. Martin Luther also happened to be his inspiration.

He was strongly against the Catholic Church. In addition, he was behind the composing of the 95 theses for the Protestant Reformation.

The priests of his time were not behaving as expected. They drank all over and went to a point of hosting brothel women in their abbeys.

William was also colliding with the then king of England, Henry VIII. The main form of punishment of those days was execution. The second wife of the king was accused of adultery and beheaded.

Other than being a scholar, William was highly gifted. He spoke seven different languages. After being accused of heretic and bible translation, William was executed. He was strangled and burned alive with the command of the high officials.

The following are some of the unbelievable facts about William Tyndale.

1. William was conversant with 7 languages

He was a scholar and a writer. His passion for literacy was excellent. William could speak seven languages. These were inclusive of English, Greek, and Hebrew languages which he was well-spoken.

He was a professor at Oxford University. One of his hobbies was to teach men and women the good news of justification by faith, using any language they were comfortable with.

2. William translated the Bible

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It is believed that he was influenced by Erasmus’ work of translating the bible from Hebrew to Greek. He was also moved by Martin Luther who had begun the same. Tyndale became the first to put in the effort in translating the Bible starting with the New Testament from Greek to English.

Unfortunately, he was arrested for more than a year outside Brussels. Before he died, he had managed to translate the entirety of the New Testament and close to half of the Old Testament. However, his translation was condemned by the church. He flee from England for his life was at stake.

3. William translated the bible against the will of spiritual leaders

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He was willing to translate the bible for the benefit of other believers other than the clergy. The top spiritual leaders who he demanded permission from were against it thus denying him. He decided to flee to Germany and hide there as he did the translation.

Afterward, he organized to smuggle the complete copies back to England. The process was not easy.

The police officers ambushed the printing house to stop the process. Angry churches in England were buying off the bible and burning them. William used that money to print more bibles.

4. William was strongly against the catholic church

He was behind composing the ninety-five thesis statements that were against the Catholic Church. His main concern was for the common Christians to have free access to the bible unlike it was then. This was during the reformation of Protestants.

The thesis brought about massive uprisings that led to several changes. Some of the changes were economic, social, and political changes. Later on, John Wycliffe translated the Latin Bible to English.

5. William’s reason for execution is unknown.

He was executed by strangulation, and he was also burned at the stake. This was in the early 1500s in Vilvoorde. All that is known about his death are the ordering master and the planner. Killing William was ordered by King Henry III.

The plan was undertaken by Henry Phillips, who was a friend to William. Having appeared in William’s home, Henry had accurate information of what was being printed. That gave him the easy task of setting him up and planning his execution.

6. William’s copies of the translated bible were burned by the catholic church

During his time, the common people had no free access to the bible. This made the learned priests so proud. They became so corrupt that they hosted brothel women in their sacred dwellings. The priests were also referred to as common drunkards.

The then Cardinal Thomas Wolsey lived with a wife for several years and had 2 children. Later, he gave them away to another man. All this he did while still the pope’s representative of England.

The Catholic authorities wasted thousands of dollars to buy William’s copies. They were buying them off and burning them to bring him down.

7. William’s literature works were banned

Being a linguist, William had more literary pieces like the Practice of Prelates. All these and many more books were banned. This was because they were talking against the rulers of those times.

He was as well accused of being a heretic during his time. When he was living in Hamburg, he worked in hidings.

Tyndale’s works were frowned at for their out-rightly opposes the annulment of the king’s marriage, Henry the VIII.

8. William turned down King Henry VIII’s job.

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Literacy pieces done by William were against the English Catholic church’s laws. Lady Anne Boleyn possessed a copy of Obedience of the Christian Man book and passed it on to the King. After reading it, Henry VIII loved it.

He demanded a writer and scholar like William. He said that the book was his and the other kings to read.

Henry VIII’s need for a writer and a scholar was not only to write books but also to help in advancing his cause of gaining a divorce from his first wife. He sent agents after William offering him a salary and safe passage back to England.

William respectfully refused this offer. He claimed to return to England only if the king approved the bible translation to the English language.

9. William was executed by being burnt alive

The local officials took their seats to witness. William was brought to the cross in the middle of the town. He was given a moment to recant but turned it down. Similarly, he was given a chance to pray. History has it that this if the moment he cried out, ‘Lord, open king of England’s eyes.’

That being done, he was tied to the beam. A rope and an iron chain were around his neck. Gun powder was added to the brush and logs. An official took up a lighted torch and handed it over to the executioner, who set the wood on fire. He suffered a lot before dying.

10. William was a Scholar

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He attended Oxford University and graduated with a Master of Arts degree. After Oxford, William went to Cambridge where Erasmus was his Greek language professor and the first to translate the bible.

He believed that the bible should be in the spoken language of the people set the tone of his work by avoiding overly formal or scholarly language. William’s work generally influenced the English language.

Some of his developed words are still used to date. For example, the cliché ‘god forbid’ was his.

The above facts about William Tyndale are unbelievable. His passion and focus are seen to be unique. No matter what challenges he goes through, he still raises back on his feet and does his work.

In addition, he worked in hidings for safety. His last prayer was for the Lord to open the King of England’s eyes. Before he died, he had managed to translate the New Testament and almost half of the Old.

When the translation bible was finally allowed, much of his work was used in his absence. He was executed for the translation and some of his literacy work.