Tyndale, William

Abstract

When William Tyndale (c. 1390–1536) was 10, he went to Katherine, Lady Berkeley's Grammar School, Wotton‐under‐Edge, leaving school for Oxford when he was 16. Whilst still at school he read Trevisa's English translation of The Polychronicon , and its Dialogue between a “Knight and a Clerk.” This led him to decide to translate the Bible into English. As this was illegal in England, he migrated to Germany, where he published his 1526 New Testament. He moved to Antwerp, where he found shelter in the English House. He published his translation of the Pentateuch and Jonah, and his other writings. He translated the Old Testament to the end of 2 Chronicles before he was betrayed and burnt at the stake. Tyndale's translation forms over 80% of the King James Bible (1611). Tyndale's covenant theology is between the Persons of the Trinity; through Christ's blood the elect are born again as God's children and know the Father's love; whilst the Holy Spirit sprinkles Christ's blood on the elect. Tyndale's theology teaches both the unity of the Old and New Testaments, and also of the Law and the Gospel for the Christian's life.