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Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW017150S
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00:10 ♪[Theme music]
00:19 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written. 00:21 I'm John Bradshaw. 00:22 Thanks for joining me. 00:24 In rural England there stands a monument 00:27 to one of the great heroes of the Reformation. 00:31 While he grew up a long way from the center of attention, 00:34 he's remembered as one of the giants of history. 00:39 While others formulated doctrine, 00:41 while others were preaching and teaching, 00:44 this man poured himself into translating and printing. 00:49 His legacy is the Bible. 00:59 The Bible--one volume, two divisions, 01:03 the Old and the New Testaments. 01:05 It's made up of 66 individual books. 01:08 Some of them are very short: 2 John has just 13 verses; 01:13 3 John has one more verse, but fewer words; 01:16 the book of Jude, only 25 verses. 01:20 Some books of the Bible are very long. 01:22 The book of Psalms has 150 chapters 01:25 including the Bible's longest chapter, Psalm 119. 01:30 There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible, 01:34 more than three-quarters of a million words. 01:37 It was written by shepherds, farmers, merchants, 01:40 scholars, statesmen, and kings, 01:43 the majority of whom had never met each other. 01:46 And the Bible says some pretty remarkable things about itself. 01:50 First Peter 1:23 says that people are "born again... 01:55 through the word of God which lives and abides forever." 01:59 The early Christians tested the teachings of the apostles 02:02 by the Old Testament. 02:04 Jesus called God's Word the truth in John 17:17. 02:09 Psalm 119, verse 9 says, 02:12 "How can a young man cleanse his way? 02:15 By taking heed according to Your word." 02:19 Same chapter, verse 130: 02:20 "The entrance of Your words gives light; 02:25 it gives understanding to the simple." 02:28 And David said on the 105th verse of the same psalm, 02:32 "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, 02:35 and a light unto my path." 02:39 So if this is true, that the Bible is the truth, 02:43 that it cleanses, 02:44 that people are born again by it, 02:46 that it's a lamp and a light-- 02:48 if that's true, then imagine a world with no Bible. 02:56 It's not that hard to imagine. 02:59 Back in Jesus' day, the scriptures--and remember, 03:02 in Christ's day they only had the Old Testament scriptures-- 03:06 well, back then the scriptures formed the framework 03:09 or the basis for society. 03:11 The Word of God was widely taught, 03:14 and people had a good working knowledge 03:16 of what we today would recognize as the first 39 books 03:20 of the Bible-- the Old Testament. 03:23 But several hundred years 03:25 after the founding of the Christian church 03:27 by people such as Peter and James and John, 03:30 non-biblical traditions and teachings 03:33 started to seep into Christianity. 03:36 Some of the plainest teachings of the Bible were ignored. 03:40 If the entrance of God's Word gives light, 03:44 then the obscuring of God's Word 03:46 led to a period of some real spiritual darkness. 03:52 How did it happen? 03:53 In the 4th century AD, the Roman emperor Constantine, 03:58 "Constantine the Great" he became known as, 04:01 converted to Christianity. 04:03 It was a nominal conversion, 04:05 and Constantine never really abandoned paganism. 04:09 As a result, a number of pagan practices 04:12 became established within the Christian faith. 04:17 For example, the early Christians 04:19 practiced baptism by immersion, 04:22 but over time, infant baptism found its way into the church. 04:26 The venerating of relics was certainly not practiced 04:28 by the early Christians, but that too found its way 04:31 into Christianity shortly after Constantine was baptized. 04:34 The early Christians did not confess their sins to a priest, 04:39 but that found its way into church practice, as well. 04:42 Now, there were some Christians who clung to the Bible 04:47 as their rule of faith and practice, 04:50 but over time the church began to drift more and more 04:55 away from the Word of God. 04:58 Now, come down to the 16th century-- 05:01 by this time, the ruling church had been in power 05:04 for more than a thousand years, 05:06 and many non-biblical practices had become deeply entrenched. 05:11 Worse than that, the Bible itself had become 05:15 virtually inaccessible to the vast majority of the people. 05:19 In many places, the Bible was banned. 05:22 People were forbidden to read it or to possess it. 05:26 Here in England in Coventry, 05:28 a dozen people became known as the Coventry Martyrs 05:31 after they lost their lives; 05:32 they were executed because it was known that they disagreed 05:36 with some of the practices of the established church. 05:38 One of them was a woman, who was found to have in her possession 05:42 a handwritten copy of the Lord's Prayer, 05:45 the Ten Commandments, and the Apostles' Creed. 05:48 She was burned at the stake for that. 05:52 There are hundreds of stories just like it, thousands even. 05:57 After centuries of drifting from the Bible, 06:00 the Word of God was out of the reach of the people. 06:04 The darkness that existed was almost palpable, 06:08 but here in England, heroes stood tall, 06:11 who would cause the light of the Bible to shine again. 06:20 John Wycliffe, who was born in around 1328, 06:23 became known as "the Morning Star of the Reformation." 06:27 In the 14th century, the peasant class were essentially slaves, 06:30 and the influence of the ruling church was enormous. 06:34 The Catholic Church essentially controlled the country, 06:38 and by later in the 14th century, 06:40 the pope was receiving five times as much gold 06:44 from the government of England as was the king. 06:47 And when it came to the teaching of God's Word, 06:49 the people were living in superstition and fear, 06:52 as priests, as well as traveling monks and friars, 06:56 kept the people in spiritual darkness. 07:00 It was a common practice for the monks 07:02 to sell forgiveness of sin. 07:04 They would live in luxury, 07:06 fleecing the flock instead of feeding the flock. 07:09 The people were kept in darkness by monks 07:12 who were barely less ignorant of the Scriptures than they were. 07:15 In 1365, Pope Urban V demanded that England submit entirely 07:21 to the authority of the church of Rome, 07:23 which would have been an admission on England's part 07:26 that the pope was the legitimate sovereign of England. 07:31 As he lay on what people thought was his death bed, 07:33 the monks urged Wycliffe to recant the things 07:37 that he had said in opposition to them and the church, 07:39 but instead Wycliffe propped himself up and said, 07:43 "I will not die, 07:44 but live and declare the evil deeds of the friars." 07:49 What Wycliffe went on to do was to translate the Bible 07:54 into the English language of the day. 07:57 At Wycliffe's third trial, 07:59 he met his accusers with these words: 08:02 "With whom, think you, are you contending? 08:05 With an old man on the brink of the grave? 08:08 No! With truth! Truth which is stronger than you, 08:12 and will overcome you." 08:15 Wycliffe was hated by the church. 08:17 After his death, his books were burned, 08:20 and even his body was exhumed and burned, 08:23 and his ashes were cast into the River Swift near Lutterworth. 08:26 His followers were persecuted, 08:29 and it was enshrined in law that to translate the Bible 08:32 into English without a license was a punishable crime. 08:38 A hundred and ten years after Wycliffe's death, 08:41 another man came on the scene, 08:42 another Bible translator. 08:45 When William Tyndale was born in 1494, 08:48 superstition controlled people's lives, 08:50 kings could sentence people to death for petty reasons, 08:54 popes could issue decrees that had no basis in Scripture, 08:58 and yet people accepted that as the will of God for their lives. 09:02 Without the Bible, they couldn't know 09:03 whether the church was right or wrong. 09:06 As Hosea 4, verse 6 says, 09:09 "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." 09:13 By the time William Tyndale was born, 09:14 John Wycliffe's translation of the Bible was out-of-date 09:17 because the English language had changed substantially. 09:21 Wycliffe and his followers had been known as "Bible men." 09:26 One-hundred-plus years later, another Bible man was needed. 09:32 Back with more in a moment. 09:34 ♪[Music] 09:41 Now here's a question for you: 09:42 Can God be trusted? 09:44 And I have the answer for you. 09:46 "Can God Be Trusted?" 09:48 That's our offer today; it's absolutely free to you. 09:51 Can God be trusted and can the Bible be trusted? 09:54 Call us on 800-253-3000 09:57 or visit us online at www.itiswritten.com, 10:03 or you can write to the address on your screen. 10:05 I'd like you to receive our free offer, 10:08 "Can God Be Trusted?" 10:10 ♪[Music] 10:12 >>Announcer: Planning for your financial future 10:14 is a vital aspect of Christian stewardship. 10:18 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer 10:21 free planned giving and estate services. 10:23 For information on how we can help you, 10:26 please call 800-992-2219. 10:31 Call today, or visit our website, 10:33 HisLegacy.com. 10:35 Call 800-992-2219. 10:40 ♪[Music] 10:48 >>John Bradhsaw: Thanks for joining me today 10:50 on It Is Written. 10:51 William Tyndale was born in Gloucestershire, England, 10:54 in around the year 1494. 10:56 His family moved here during the Wars of the Roses, 10:59 a series of wars for control of the English throne 11:02 between the house of York and the house of Lancaster. 11:06 Tyndale was educated at Hartford College in Oxford 11:09 and earned a master's degree in theology in 1515. 11:14 He was fluent in eight languages, 11:17 including Hebrew and Greek, 11:20 the languages in which the Bible was originally written. 11:24 In 1521, he moved here to the little village of little Sudbury 11:29 where he became the chaplain in the home of Sir John Walsh. 11:33 In fact, this church is built from the actual stones 11:37 and according to the plan of the church 11:40 Tyndale ministered in when he lived right here. 11:43 He had a deep respect for the Bible, 11:45 much like that which Martin Luther had. 11:48 And it wasn't long and that respect for the Word of God 11:51 got Tyndale in a lot of trouble. 11:55 John Foxe, the author of the famous "Foxe's Book of Martyrs," 12:00 reported on a conversation William Tyndale had. 12:03 Someone said to him, 12:05 "We had better be without God's laws than the pope's." 12:09 Tyndale replied, 12:09 “I defy the pope and all his laws; 12:13 and if God spares my life, 12:15 ere many years, I will cause the boy that driveth the plow 12:19 to know more of the Scriptures than thou dost.” 12:22 It was here in little Sudbury that William Tyndale 12:26 felt the call to translate the Bible into English. 12:29 So he left here the following year for London 12:32 to get the support he needed. 12:34 He was looking for the blessing of a certain bishop, 12:37 a man who had praised the work of the Dutch theologian Erasmus 12:40 when Erasmus translated the New Testament. 12:43 But Tyndale didn't get the support he needed. 12:48 Convinced the people of England needed the Bible 12:51 in their own language, 12:53 Tyndale left England in 1524 for Europe, 12:56 and made his way to Wittenberg, where Martin Luther was living. 13:02 Luther had translated the New Testament into German 13:04 a couple of years before. 13:07 And now Tyndale set about working on a translation 13:10 of the Bible that would impact Christianity in Great Britain 13:15 and around the world. 13:17 He was helped by a priest named William Roy, 13:20 and within a year or two the translation was finished. 13:23 After some challenges, 13:25 owing to the opposition Luther was facing, 13:28 Tyndale had translated the New Testament into English. 13:31 He had the printing done in Worms, 13:34 the city where Martin Luther's trial 13:36 before Emperor Charles V was held. 13:39 More copies were printed 13:40 in what was then the Dutch city of Antwerp. 13:43 And in the months that followed, 13:45 those Bibles were smuggled into England and Scotland. 13:49 But smuggling an English language version of the Bible 13:51 across the English Channel wasn't an easy matter. 13:55 That bishop who refused his permission to Tyndale 13:58 to translate the Bible into English back then? 14:01 He stood up a lot of opposition to the project; 14:04 in fact, he commanded that Tyndale's Bible be burned. 14:08 Booksellers were banned from selling the book. 14:11 Now, burning the Bible in public-- 14:13 what that did was generate a lot of sympathy 14:16 for the whole project, 14:17 even among supporters of church and state. 14:21 People didn't like to see the Bible treated in that way, 14:23 burned in the streets. 14:24 Here's what one historian said: 14:27 "The spectacle of the Scriptures being put to the torch... 14:30 provoked controversy even amongst the faithful." 14:34 But there was worse to come. 14:37 In January of 1529, the Catholic cardinal Thomas Wolsey 14:41 condemned Tyndale as a heretic. 14:44 This attracted the attention of England's King Henry VIII, 14:48 who acted swiftly against this new reformer. 14:52 Henry was even more upset with Tyndale 14:54 because of Tyndale's public disagreement 14:56 with Henry's intention to divorce his wife, 14:58 Catherine of Aragon, so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. 15:04 Tyndale contended that Henry VIII's divorce 15:07 lacked biblical support. 15:09 Henry wasn't open to constructive criticism, 15:12 but fortunately for Tyndale, he was in the Netherlands, 15:15 and Henry couldn't touch him there. 15:18 He continued to speak out, 15:19 not only about Henry VIII's morals, 15:22 but also about the teachings of the Bible. 15:24 As his writings were spread, 15:25 news about his convictions spread also. 15:29 Like Luther, Tyndale maintained that the Bible should be 15:33 the supreme authority in matters of faith and practice. 15:37 He also believed strongly in the Bible teaching 15:39 of justification by faith. 15:42 He did not believe 15:43 that people should confess their sins to others. 15:46 And like Luther, he also didn't believe the popular teaching 15:49 that when people die, they go straight to heaven or hell. 15:53 Like the other Protestant reformers, 15:55 it was Tyndale's purpose to direct men and women 15:58 to the Bible as their rule of faith and practice. 16:02 And even though the Protestant reformers didn't always agree 16:05 with each other on any number of subjects, 16:07 what they did do was lift up the Bible as supreme, 16:12 helping believers move towards a clearer understanding 16:15 of God's truth. 16:17 William Tyndale's scholarship had a profound influence 16:20 on the translation of the King James Version of the Bible, 16:23 as well as on the English language itself. 16:26 Translation of the King James began in 1604 16:30 by order of James I, king of England, 16:32 and it was completed in 1611. 16:34 It's estimated that 83 percent of the New Testament 16:39 and 76 percent of the Old Testament in the King James 16:42 comes to us from William Tyndale. 16:45 "Passover," "scapegoat," "my brother's keeper," 16:49 "the salt of the earth," "it came to pass," 16:52 "the signs of the times," "let there be light," 16:55 "a law unto themselves," 16:58 and much more is the result of Tyndale's scholarship. 17:02 Now, ultimately, Tyndale would meet the same fate 17:06 as the Oxford Martyrs-- 17:08 Cranmer, Ridley, and Latimer, who were burned at the stake, 17:11 right here, by the Roman church, 20 years after Tyndale died. 17:16 But before Tyndale was put to death, 17:19 he prayed a prayer that would change the world. 17:23 That's coming next. 17:24 ♪[Music] 17:30 [Fire crackling and crickets chirping] 17:32 [Coyote barking] 17:35 ♪[Music] 17:40 [Insects chirping] 17:43 [Camera rattling] 17:45 [Wind blowing, insects buzzing, feet crunching grass] 17:48 [Indistinct voices] 17:51 [Wind blowing] 17:55 [Night insects buzzing] 17:57 ♪[Music] 18:04 [Dramatic sounds, heart thumping, creaking] 18:14 ♪[Dramatic music] 18:16 [Cheering] 18:25 ♪[Music] 18:43 >>John Bradshaw: Today I'd like to ask you 18:44 to help It Is Written open the eyes of the blind. 18:47 India has more blind people than any country on earth. 18:51 But simple cataract surgery can make the difference 18:53 between seeing and not seeing. 18:55 Eyes for India is a project that's providing 18:58 cataract surgery for people in desperate need 19:01 of the gift of sight. 19:02 Please help today. 19:03 Call 800-253-3000. 19:07 Or visit itiswritten.com. 19:11 ♪[Music] 19:13 >>John Bradshaw: Thanks for joining me on It Is Written. 19:16 In Vilvoorde, Belgium, on the northern side 19:19 of the capital city of Belgium--Brussels-- 19:22 is a museum dedicated to the life and ministry 19:25 of William Tyndale. 19:27 It's situated here because this location 19:30 is only yards from the very spot 19:33 where William Tyndale was executed. 19:36 It might not look like much of anything today, 19:38 but if you'd been here 500 years ago, 19:41 you'd have seen a castle standing on this spot 19:44 right behind me. 19:45 The Senne River, just over here, 19:46 runs between Antwerp and Brussels, 19:48 making Vilvoorde a place of real strategic importance. 19:53 That castle was one of a line of fortifications, 19:55 and William Tyndale, who'd been betrayed 19:57 to the Holy Roman Empire, was kept as a prisoner 20:00 for more than a year in the castle right on this spot. 20:05 Eventually he was brought out and executed right here. 20:09 Before he was put to death, Tyndale prayed one last prayer. 20:14 He said, "Lord, open the king of England's eyes." 20:19 His prayer was answered. 20:21 Within four years of his death, 20:23 four English translations of the Bible had been published, 20:26 all at the behest of King Henry VIII, 20:29 and all of them based on the work of William Tyndale. 20:35 I've come here to this museum to speak to the experts 20:38 on the life of William Tyndale. 20:41 Why was Tyndale held here in Vilvoorde? 20:44 Why here of all places? 20:46 >>Dr. Willy Willems: Here in Vilvoorde there was a castle, 20:48 and in that castle 20:49 there was not so many people. 20:53 So, there they know, 20:55 if we put him in Vilvoorde, 20:57 he can, he will stay in prison. 21:01 >>John: What do you think conditions were like 21:03 inside the castle prison? 21:04 >>Dr. Willems: Oh, as prisons in the 16th, very difficult. 21:09 We know by, uh, his last written letter 21:12 that we have in archives 21:15 that he asked on the authorities to have, 21:18 uh, warm clothes, 21:20 to bring him candles and to bring him his work, 21:24 his translation work, for having the time now in prison. 21:29 And he stayed there for the time he had to stay. 21:33 And hoping that he wouldn't escape, they killed him. 21:39 >>John: So why was the church so opposed to Tyndale 21:41 translating the Bible? 21:43 >>Dr. Willems: It's a, a, a way to eliminate 21:48 all critical action and reactions in church. 21:53 If you have, uh, uh, uh, your people, 21:57 who can criticize your own way to live as a church, 22:04 it's very difficult to stay as a church. 22:08 They want to keep their own power 22:14 and don't give the opportunity on all people to understand 22:21 what was the Word, God's, and not the word of the church. 22:27 >>John: Explain for me 22:29 William Tyndale's contribution to the Reformation. 22:34 >>Dr. Willems: He was the man who, who, uh, 22:36 who worked on the English-speaking people. 22:41 And that's very important 22:42 because we had a German translator; 22:44 we had a French translator; 22:46 we had still a Swiss translator. 22:48 We had several translators who makes the New World. 22:53 That's very important to know 22:54 because we have still, uh, in Europe, a big difference 23:00 between the Latin part and the non-Latin part. 23:04 So, the English contribution of William Tyndale 23:07 is not only a contribution in, 23:10 let's say, the English-speaking part of Europe, 23:14 but always a contribution on the New World 23:19 because we will travel from this country to the States, 23:24 and making in States, also the New World, 23:28 with a known translation. 23:33 And it's very important to know that the New American Version 23:40 is the most important translation 23:44 with the biggest part of William Tyndale in it. 23:48 ♪[Music] 23:54 >>John: Few people have had so great an impact 23:56 upon the religious faith, the cultural heritage, 24:00 even the vocabulary of the English-speaking world, 24:03 as William Tyndale. 24:05 Britons voted him 26th 24:07 in the list of the "100 Greatest Britons" of all time. 24:11 And few prayers have been answered as dramatically 24:14 as that prayer Tyndale prayed 24:16 in the final moments of his life. 24:19 When Henry VIII granted permission for the Bible 24:21 to be published in English, 24:23 it unleashed the Bible upon the English-speaking world. 24:27 And as a result, the world would never be the same again. 24:32 The core principle of the Reformation 24:35 was the role of the Word of God in a believer's life. 24:38 Notice that William Tyndale translated the Bible 24:41 into English not long after Johannes Gutenberg 24:45 gave to us the modern printing press, 24:47 which meant the Word of God could be distributed to people 24:51 who could read it for themselves, 24:53 understand it for themselves, 24:54 and then follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in their lives. 25:00 Tyndale's contribution to the Reformation was enormous. 25:05 It's one thing to teach or to preach or to write, 25:07 as other reformers did. 25:10 It's another thing altogether to actually give people 25:13 the Word of God. 25:14 And that's what William Tyndale accomplished. 25:17 Though he's been gone 500 years, 25:20 his influence and his impact lives on in the lives of people 25:23 who continue to be transformed by the power of the Holy Bible. 25:28 ♪[Music] 25:35 >>John: I'm John Bradshaw from It Is Written, 25:38 inviting you to join me for "500," 25:41 nine programs produced by It Is Written, 25:44 taking you deep into the Reformation. 25:47 This is the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the Reformation 25:51 when Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses 25:54 to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenburg, Germany. 25:56 We'll take you to Wittenburg, 25:58 and to Belgium, to England, to Ireland, 26:01 to Rome, to the Vatican City, 26:03 and introduce you to the people who created the Reformation, 26:06 who pushed the Reformation forward. 26:08 We'll take you to sites all throughout Europe 26:10 where the reformers lived and, in some cases, died. 26:13 We'll bring you back to the United States 26:14 and take you to a little farm in upstate New York 26:17 and show you how God spread the Reformation here. 26:20 Don't miss "500." 26:23 You can own the "500" series on DVD. 26:26 Call us on 888-664-5573, 26:30 or visit us online at itiswritten.shop. 26:39 >>John Bradshaw: Let's pray together. 26:41 Our Father in heaven, we come to you in the name of Jesus, 26:43 and today we are thankful. 26:45 Thankful for those men and women who paid so much 26:49 that we today could hold the Bible in our hands. 26:52 We thank You for the example of William Tyndale, 26:55 a Protestant whose protest delivered to us Your Word, 27:01 brought light to this world, and through that light, 27:04 salvation to thousands and millions. 27:09 Lord, don't let us waste 27:10 what these great heroes of history have done. 27:15 Give us grace to hide Your Word in our heart, 27:17 to live on Your Word and through Your Word and in Your Word. 27:22 I pray the power of Your Word would produce in us 27:24 that what You want to see: 27:26 the character of Jesus and lives lived for Your glory. 27:31 And so keep us and bless us, we pray. 27:33 We thank You in Jesus' name, 27:36 Amen. 27:37 Thanks so much for joining me. 27:38 I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time. 27:40 Until then, remember: 27:42 "It is written: 27:44 'Man shall not live by bread alone, 27:47 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" 27:51 ♪[Theme music] |
Revised 2020-05-19