“Protestant rulers of the time behaved precisely the same way toward those who disagreed with them on religious grounds, whether Protestant or Catholic.”
False. Check out the difference between the reign of Mary & Elizabeth. Both prosecuted, but Elizabeth did it largely at the end of her reign after multiple assassination attempts.
And More greatly increased the pressure on ‘heretics’, well above what had been done in previous years.
“Tyndale’s translation contained plenty of notes and editorial changes supporting his Protestant point of view.”
False. I’ve got a copy of his 1526 New Testament, and there is not a note in it. His translation was accurate, which made it an object of More’s hate.
“Tyndale lived on the continent from 1524 until his death”
Yes. He would have died earlier if he had returned to England. More would have seen to that!
“See, More is really an incredible man: he executes his enemies in other countries, even after he’s dead.”
He did not light the fire himself, but that isn’t what I’m accusing him of doing. He hated Protestants, killed those he could catch who did not repent, and tried to kill Tyndale. That his efforts did not bear fruit until after his own fall doesn’t mean his efforts were not made.
My point is that “A Man for All Seasons” is a phoney. His hatred for Protestants and for William Tyndale in particular, and his desire to ban vernacular translations into English, make him a very different man that portrayed on the stage. And he is NOT a man I would celebrate, since he would have killed me if I lived when he did.
A man who wants to limit the spread of God’s Word is NOT a man we should praise!
First of all, lest we forget:
Tyndale’s 1536 edition:
http://www.kjv-only.com/oldscans/tyndale.jpg
Second:
The New Testament, translated by William Tyndale. [Printed at Cologne in the Office of Peter Quentell, 1526.] 4to. in black letter with wood cuts, ***marginal notes and references***. Of this edition an account will be found in CochUei Vita et Acta Mart. Lutheri. Lewis doubts Cochlsus’s story, but the truth of it has been fully proved by the recent discovery of a fragment of the book, now in the possession of Mr. Thomas Rodd, of Great Newport-street. The inhibition of Bp. pages; 1 Willyam Tin dale yet once more to the Christen reader’, 9 pages; a second title-page ‘The newe Testament. Imprinted at Anwerp by Marten Emperowr. Anno M.D.xxxiiij.’ The folios run to cccc, after which are two tables, one containing 16 pages, the other 5 pages. The signatures run in eights, and a lull page has 33 lines. ***The volume has marginal references and notes, some of the latter are in the Roman letter—it has wood-cuts in the Revelations, also some small ones at the beginning of the Gospel and of some of the Epistles. St. Matthew begins on fol. ii. St. Mark, on xlv. b. Acts, on clvi. b. Romans, on cexx. b. Ephesians, on cclxxviii. b. James, on cccxlviii. b. Revelations, on ccclv.**** See Cotton’s List of Editions of the Bible, pp. 3, 89, 96-7, and 129-30. (The bibliographer’s manual of English literature, Volume 2 By William Thomas Lowndes, page 1791)
Notes!
So what you’re saying is that More created a “climate of hate” against Tyndale and this therefore somehow responsible for his death even though More died first, basically the same charge that leftists use.
