William Tyndale - The Man Who Gave Us The Bible in English

I just saw a great movie called "God's Outlaw" about William Tyndale - Tyndale, William c.1494-1536. William Tyndale was probably born in Gloucestershire - he was the man mainly responsible for the English translation of the Bible as we know it today.

For the history buffs here are a couple of interesting sites about William Tyndale's life:

http://www.williamtyndale.com/0welcomewilliamtyndale.htm

http://www.gospelcom.net/chi/GLIMPSEF/Glimpses/glmps059.shtml

I would really like to see that movie! I actually have the book and another one about his life. It's all because he was my 13 X great uncle; his sister Margaret Tyndale was my 13 X great-grandmother! Another interesting fact is that HER husband was Dr. Roland Taylor who met the same fate as Wm. Tyndale, in 1555.

pennyfromheaven said:

I would really like to see that movie! I actually have the book and another one about his life. It's all because he was my 13 X great uncle; his sister Margaret Tyndale was my 13 X great-grandmother! Another interesting fact is that HER husband was Dr. Roland Taylor who met the same fate as Wm. Tyndale, in 1555.

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Cool!! What an honourable "claim to fame!!!"

That was a fascinating read on the web sites, LAD. There is a William Tyndale College in suburban Detroit, just a few miles from where I live, but I never knew who he was.

Interesting that among his principles was the denial of free will. In this he anticipated Calvinism. (There is also a John Calvin College in Michigan).

Mathman

I did not know that he denied free will. How do you know that mathman? So you are saying that he believed totally in predestination then?

I didn't know anything about Tyndale's theology until I read the links that LAD posted here. But on this page it lists the "crimes" for which the church prosecuted him:

First: He maintains that faith alone justifies.

Second: He maintains that to believe in the forgiveness of sins and to embrace the mercy offered in the Gospel, is enough for salvation.

Third: He avers that human traditions cannot bind the conscience, except
where their neglect might occasion scandal.

Fourth: He denies the freedom of the will.

Fifth: He denies that there is any purgatory.

Sixth: He affirms that neither the Virgin nor the Saints pray for us in their
own person.

Seventh: He asserts that neither the Virgin nor the Saints should be invoked by us.

Number 4 is about free will.

So I Googled "Tyndale predestination" and got about a thousand hits elaborating his doctrines. As far as I can tell, the view of these early Protestant reformers was: There is a heaven and there is a hell, and you are assigned. Most people, naturally, are assigned to hell, reflecting the sinful nature of all men. But a few are chosen by God to constitute the "elect." The elect are given, as a free gift, the faith that alone "justifies" (i.e, gets you into heaven). As for the rest, it doesn't matter what you do, no matter how good or bad you try to live your life, too bad for you.

This sounds pretty unsophisticated and even cruel nowadays, but as I understand it, it was a reaction against the perceived position of the Catholicism of the day that the way to get into heaven is to follow the rituals of the Church.

Actually, according to what I have just been reading, the doctrine of predestination goes back to Saint Augustine. My favorite Saint. Someone once asked him, what is the chief joy of heaven? Is it living in eternal bliss in the immanent presence of God, or is it the pleasure of looking down into Hell and seeing the suffering of your enemies?

The good doctor reportedly replied, about 50-50.

Mathman

Thanks, I hadn't read that page. It's hard to imagine a time when the Bible wasn't available for everyone to read.

Just wanted to thank you for posting this and tell you that I ordered the movie from Amazon and just watched it last night! It follows the book pretty closely.