Reformation Leaders Martin Luther

Martin Luther

Martin Luther had a small head-start on Tyndale, as Luther declared his intolerance for the Roman Church’s corruption on Halloween in 1517, by nailing his 95 Theses of Contention to the Wittenberg Church door. Luther, who would be exiled in the months following the Diet of Worms Council in 1521 that was designed to martyr him, would translate the New Testament into German for the first time from the 1516 Greek-Latin New Testament of Erasmus, and publish it in September of 1522. Luther also published a German Pentateuch in 1523, and another edition of the German New Testament in 1529. In the 1530’s he would go on to publish the entire Bible in German.
William Tyndale wanted to use the same 1516 Erasmus text as a source to translate and print the New Testament in English for the first time in history. Tyndale showed up on Luther's doorstep in Germany in 1525, and by year's end had translated the New Testament into English. Tyndale had been forced to flee England, because of the wide-spread rumor that his English New Testament project was underway, causing inquisitors and bounty hunters to be constantly on Tyndale's trail to arrest him and prevent his project. God foiled their plans, and in 1525-1526 the Tyndale New Testament became the first printed edition of the scripture in the English language. Subsequent printings of the Tyndale New Testament in the 1530's were often elaborately illustrated.
They were burned as soon as the Bishop could confiscate them, but copies trickled through and actually ended up in the bedroom of King Henry VIII. The more the King and Bishop resisted its distribution, the more fascinated the public at large became. The church declared it contained thousands of errors as they torched hundreds of New Testaments confiscated by the clergy, while in fact, they burned them because they could find no errors at all. One risked death by burning if caught in mere possession of Tyndale's forbidden books.
Having God's Word available to the public in the language of the common man, English, would have meant disaster to the church. No longer would they control access to the scriptures. If people were able to read the Bible in their own tongue, the church's income and power would crumble. They could not possibly continue to get away with selling indulgences (the forgiveness of sins) or selling the release of loved ones from a church-manufactured "Purgatory". People would begin to challenge the church's authority if the church were exposed as frauds and thieves. The contradictions between what God's Word said, and what the priests taught, would open the public's eyes and the truth would set them free from the grip of fear that the institutional church held. Salvation through faith, not works or donations, would be understood. The need for priests would vanish through the priesthood of all believers. The veneration of church-canonized Saints and Mary would be called into question. The availability of the scriptures in English was the biggest threat imaginable to the wicked church. Neither side would give up without a fight.
Today, there are only two known copies left of Tyndale’s 1525-26 First Edition. Any copies printed prior to 1570 are extremely valuable. Tyndale's flight was an inspiration to freedom-loving Englishmen who drew courage from the 11 years that he was hunted. Books and Bibles flowed into England in bales of cotton and sacks of flour. Ironically, Tyndale’s biggest customer was the King’s men, who would buy up every copy available to burn them… and Tyndale used their money to print even more! In the end, Tyndale was caught: betrayed by an Englishman that he had befriended. Tyndale was incarcerated for 500 days before he was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536. Tyndale’s last words were, "Oh Lord, open the King of England’s eyes". This prayer would be answered just three years later in 1539, when King Henry VIII finally allowed, and even funded, the printing of an English Bible known as the “Great Bible”. But before that could happen…

1536 Tyndale New Testament Facsimile Reproduction. William Tyndale produced the very first English language New Testament to ever come off a printing press. He was burned at the stake in 1536 for the “crime” of printing these magnificently Illustrated English New Testaments. This 1536 edition was the last and most elaborate one done prior to his death. The woodcut illustrations are simply breathtaking. The calligraphy-like Gothic Blackletter Typeface is also a work of art.  Tyndale’s work paved the way for all subsequent printings of the Bible in English, and 90% of his translation was retained all the way to the 1611 King James Bible. William Tyndale is considered to be the most influential Bible translator in history as well as the "architect of the English Language." He was said to have been so fluent in eight languages that you would have thought any one of them to be his native tongue!  Revelation Detail This Facsimile Reproduction measures approximately 9 inches tall by 6.5 inches wide by just under 2 inches thick, and is bound in hardcover burgundy-brown bonded leather with gold stamping along the spine.  We have photographically enlarged this reproduction to approximately 125% the size of the original for ease of reading. While an original Tyndale New Testament from the 1500’s is available in the Platinum Room of our Ancient Rare Bibles & Books section for nearly $100,000 , this reproduction is much more affordable, and quite beautiful as it features many large woodcut illustrations. You will definitely want to make this visually magnificent edition a part of your library. Discover what the English language New Testament looked like in its original form.https://youtu.be/XC7jgU1Cd6U