Among the many milestones marked in 2026 is the 500th anniversary of William Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament, and later the Old Testament, into English. His commitment that common people should have the Bible in their own language eventually led to his execution.
Still, his translation has influenced English Bibles ever since.
Tyndale, an Oxford scholar, was ordained to the priesthood in 1515. A reformer in the church, he was heavily influenced by Martin Luther. In fact, it was because Luther published a translation of the New Testament into German in 1523 that Tyndale decided to do the same for English.
Two centuries prior, John Wycliffe had been condemned by the Catholic Church as a heretic for translating the Bible into Middle English. Because every unauthorized translation of the Bible was prohibited as heresy, Tyndale’s bishop refused to grant permission and likely flagged Tyndale as a Lutheran sympathizer. Since Henry VIII was executing Lutherans for heresy, this became very dangerous for Tyndale.
Fleeing to Germany
So, in 1524, Tyndale fled to Germany so that he could translate the Scriptures, print them and smuggle copies back to England. He sent the first copies of the New Testament to England in 1526 and then began work on the Old Testament.
His New Testament was quickly condemned by Bishop Tunstall of London, who warned booksellers against it, bought all available copies, and publicly burned them. His actions, however, did not have their desired result. Even many faithful Catholics questioned whether it was appropriate for an executioner to burn the Bible.
Henry VIII appealed to Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to have Tyndale extradited to England on charges of heresy. Though Charles was no friend to Lutherans, he refused on the grounds that Henry had presented no formal evidence.
In 1530, Tyndale further angered Henry by publishing “The Practice of Prelates.” In it, he opposed Henry’s annulment of Catherine of Aragon (the first of the king’s wives to be annulled) and argued against the misbehavior of Catholic clerics.
In 1535, Tyndale was arrested in Antwerp on suspicion of heresy and imprisoned in Brussels. Rather than stand trial, the Roman Catholic inquisitor Jacobus Latomus allowed Tyndale to defend his theological positions in written communications.
The two debated with replies and counter-replies, from which Latomus wrote a book. Interestingly, Bible translation was not an issue in these discussions. In fact, Tyndale was allowed to continue translating the Old Testament while in prison.
Tyndale’s death
Latomus concluded that despite several important points of agreement between the two, Tyndale held views common to Protestants that had been condemned by the Catholic Church. Though Latomus seems to have attempted to save Tyndale, he was ultimately unsuccessful. Tyndale’s ideas were found heretical according to Rome, a capital offense.
On October 6, 1536, William Tyndale was tied to a stake, strangled, and his body burned. He was 42.
Though he never completed his translation of the entire Bible, his legacy and influence continue.
His translation of the entire New Testament, the Pentateuch, and Jonah were used in the Coverdale Bible, published a year before his execution and the first complete Bible published in Early Modern English.
The Matthew Bible of 1537 and the Great Bible of 1539, which was the first royally authorized English Bible, also used his translation of these books. In fact, a majority of the New Testament and the first half of the Old Testament in the King James Version were likely taken from Tyndale’s translation.
Foundation
Tyndale coined common words and phrases used in translations such as “Passover,” “scapegoat,” “mercy seat,” and “atonement” — a word with the etymological breakdown of “At one with God.” He also coined phrases such as “Let there be light,” “the powers that be,” “it came to pass,” and “the signs of the times.”
Tyndale’s work laid the foundation for virtually every English Bible translation of the past 500 years and left a major mark on the English language and our theological vocabulary. The 500th anniversary of his New Testament is an opportunity to be grateful for his work and its impact on the world.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by John Stonestreet and Glenn Sunshine and originally published by the Colson Center.
