Posted on 05/06/2011 11:09:57 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
While [King Henry VIII] was still Catholic, William Tyndale sought permission to translate the Bible into English so that even “a boy who drives the plow” might know Scripture. Permission was denied, and Tyndale moved to Germany where he completed the first translation of the English New Testament made from Greek. It was published in 1526, and over the next ten years 50,000 copies were smuggled into England. Tyndale was betrayed, captured, and in 1536 killed for the crime of publishing the New Testament in English.
Although his body was burned at the stake, Tyndale had unleashed an enormous demand for Bibles in “the vulgar English tongue.” A number of translations were printed, including the Bishops’ Bible and the immensely popular Geneva Bible, which was the Bible Shakespeare read and the Bible Puritans carried to New England.
Elizabeth I, who reigned from 1558 to 1603, sought to bring peace among religious factions. But more importantly for our story, varied creative forces came together then to form the most splendid age in English literature. James VI of Scotland was a product of this season of creativity. When James VI became king of all Great Britain and Ireland in 1603, he called a conference to try to settle differences between Anglicans and Puritans. Out of this conference came the decision to create a new translation of the Bible.
[SNIP]
The King James Bible is the best-selling English-language book of all time. It has been in print continuously for 400 years. It has helped form our language; it has given context to our literature; it has inspired our music; and for centuries it was the one book a family would own and read before all others
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Amen!
A clergyman hopelessly entrenched in Roman Catholic dogma once taunted Tyndale with the statement, “We are better to be without God’s laws than the Pope’s”. Tyndale was infuriated by such Roman Catholic heresies, and he replied, “I defy the Pope and all his laws. If God spare my life ere many years, I will cause the boy that drives the plow to know more of the scriptures than you!”
http://greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/william-tyndale.html
Which clergyman? It's telling that these anti-Catholic sentiments are rarely attributed to an actual person.
Shakespeare's English is rather different from the English of today, yet it is much closer in time to Jonathan Swift's English than Swift is to ours. Swift is completely understandable to any English reader today. No footnotes are necessary for children being introduced to his work.
Dictionaries intervened.
ML/NJ
Great to see you around, ftD!
Thank you!
Give me a break!
Those are exactly the sentiments Rome has always had!
Why should I give you a break? You claimed "A clergyman hopelessly entrenched in Roman Catholic dogma once taunted Tyndale". I'd like to know who it was so we can verify the truthfulness of your claim.
Those are exactly the sentiments Rome has always had!
Your opinions have as much value as your anonymous quote.
If you believe fiction like that, then no wonder Dan Brown makes such a good living...
Amen to that.
No one made up anything, that is a factual event and statement.
Tyndales comment is a factual one, and I believe it was said by Tyndale when he was denied the right to translate the Bible.
The current owner of Little Sodbury Manor graciously allowed us to take photos of the Great Room. It is here that Tyndale had discussions over dinner with visiting Catholic priests and prelates. It is perhaps in this room that the famous discussion was carried on, in which a priest said, “We only need the pope’s laws,” and Tyndale replied that he defied the pope and all his laws and that he intended to make the plowboy to know the Scriptures.)
http://www.wayoflife.org/database/historyenglishbibletyndale.html
And it is likely that he picked up the quote from Erasmus.
It is not something that Tyndale even wrote about.
It's like Dan Brown making up history -- namely you repeated a fake statement with no attestation (who is this unnamed person who said it? and who wrote it down? Certainly not Tyndale himself, and it was not heard of for centuries after)
It is not something that Tyndale even wrote about.
It's like Dan Brown making up history -- namely you repeated a fake statement with no attestation (who is this unnamed person who said it? and who wrote it down? Certainly not Tyndale himself, and it was not heard of for centuries after)
You haven't established it as fact.
I believe it was said by Tyndale when he was denied the right to translate the Bible.
I'm not really interested in what you "believe" about it.
Perhaps not.
And it is likely that he picked up the quote from Erasmus.
I'm not really interested in musings on Way of Life that haven't been validated. Either the priest said it or he didn't. Let's see the evidence.
Ftd -- when one believes this unaccounted, unfactual, non-historical statement, is it accompanied by a "burning in the bosom" or was it with a "seeker stone" buried in a hat?
Now, Peter being the first Pope, that is something to reallllly believe in!
What Tyndale did DO was make the plowboy know more Bible then any Papist.
And that IS a fact.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.