The date is October 24, 1526.  English Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall was preaching a sermon in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.  His sermon that day was directed against a copy of the New Testament, translated into the English language by William Tyndale.  From that sermon against an English translation of the Bible, Bishop Tunstall then held a public bonfire, burning copies of the Tyndale Translation.  Three years later, in the summer of 1529, Tunstall purchased the entire stock of Tyndale Bibles from Antwerp, and held an even bigger bonfire.  Not satisfied with that, the bishop of Cambrai then held a trial for Tyndale, which led to the burning of Tyndale himself.[1]

Tyndale’s Bible was preceded by another translation.  Martin Luther translated the New Testament into the German language in 1522, while hidden in the Wartburg Castle.  Luther added his Old Testament and Apocrypha translation in 1534.  It was two years after his translation of the entire Bible that Tyndale was burned in England.

To many, unfamiliar with how the Bible came to us, the burning of William Tyndale, and Luther becoming a fugitive strikes us as strange.  Why would church leaders work so hard to keep the Bible from the hands of everyday people?  It can be argued that before the invention of the printing press, Bibles were expensive, rare and hard to acquire.   And yet, going as far back as the ancient Jews in the time of Jesus, Old Testaments were available in local synagogues and were intended to be read and heard by all of God’s people.  This familiarity with the Hebrew Scriptures made it possible for the proclamation that Jesus was the fulfilment of all that was written in the law and the prophets.  Indeed, as the early church grew, thousands of copies of the writings of the New Testament were made and distributed.

But by the Middle Ages, a church had emerged that was clearly in opposition to the plain teaching of Scripture.  And without the Scriptures available to the masses, the medieval church was able to deceive people, lead them astray and amass great power.  The gospel was forgotten, and the church, rather than Christ, became the author of salvation.  Translating and printing Bibles reintroduced the world to the true gospel, and the lie of the medieval church.

Every generation faces the challenge to get the Bible into the hands of the common people.  The challenge of our day is not to make the Bible available, but to encourage people to actually read it when they have it.  For if the Bible collects dust on our shelf, its life-altering message remains as bound up as when it was illegal.

At Back to the Bible Canada, we insist that people not follow a Bible teacher, but that they follow the Bible.  We insist that people read the Bible for themselves.  Our task is to aid them in their understanding, as well as in applying it to themselves.  We insist that it is the Word that is honoured.  And in this way, Christ and His cross are honoured.

[1] Vishal Mangalwadi, “The Book That Made Your World”.  Thomas Nelson Publishers. Page 137.