William Tyndale

In the 16th century during the reformation, William Tyndale, (who I think I'm distantly related to) a scholar from England defied the laws of the church. He was burned at the stake as a heretic of the church, and was cursed by the clergymen. All of this happened because he whole-heartedly believed the Bible was not just for the clergy, but also for laypeople. He also believed it should be read in one's own language. He translated the New Testament from Greek into English (however, most clergy read it in Latin), and he used the printing press to be the first to mass-produce the Bible for laypeople (John Wycliffe was the first to translate the Bible into English). Priests tried to force bookstores against selling these lay Bibles, for they believed that lay people should not be allowed to study the Bible for themselves. Eventually, Tyndale's version of the New Testament was transformed into the still widely known King Jame's Version.

I have been reading my Bible in Spanish the past few weeks. While I am doing this in order to learn Spanish better, it has made me realize how happy I am that I have the opportunity to read the Bible in my own language. I am so thankful for people like William Tyndale who had the courage and forsight to mass produce the Bible and for John Wycliffe who first translated the Bible into English. These men believed that all people deserved to be able to read the Bible in their heart language. I have been thinking about how important it is to read or hear the Bible in your heart-language.

We can read in Acts 2 during the Pentacost that God spoke to the large crowds (through his disciples), and each heard it in his own language. Evidently, it is also very important to God that people hear his good news in their own language. Imagine serving a God who doesn't speak the language of the heart. I don't think I could do it. Praise be to God, the creator of all men that he understands every dialect of every language in every corner of the world.