Tyndale's Legacy

William Tyndale (1494-1536) was a scholar and translator who became a leading figure in Protestant reformism towards the end of his life. He realized the people were lost because they could not read the Bible in their mother tongue of English.Thus he set out to translate the Bible so that the common people could read the Bible for themselves and understand the wonderful truths found in the Scriptures.

Tyndale debated a Roman Catholic who did believe the people could handle God's Word and reportedly said, "I defy the Pope and all his laws. If God spare my life, I will cause a boy that drives the plow shall know more of the scripture than you do."

Much of his work eventually found its way to the King James Bible published in 1611, which was the work of 54 independent scholars but heavily based on Tyndale's translations. Tyndale was arrested by church authorities in 1535 and jailed in the castle for over a year. He was tried for heresy, strangled and burnt at the stake. His last words were, "Oh Lord, open the King of England's eyes!"

William Tyndale will have an entry in the Hall of Faith. He lived and died by these words: "To scatter Roman darkness by this light, the loss of land and life I'll reckon slight."