Social Change Research Paper

Savannah Rose
Tuesday Afternoon Class

Social Change
In the early part of the sixteenth century, many people throughout England yearned for an
increase in their freedom and prosperity, especially when it came to religion. They sought for
truth and wanted to read and study the Bible in English rather than the official Latin text used by
the Roman Catholic Church (Revisiting William Tyndale 13-33). But the church, being
distrustful of new ideas or practices that challenged tradition, had subjected the translation and
even the reading of the Bible in English to ecclesiastical approval, and anyone daring to
challenge the churchs rigid policy were fined, imprisoned, or even executed (Revisiting William
Tyndale 13-33). Although this intimidating to most, this didnt stop the Reformers from taking
action. William Tyndale, being one of the most important voices amongst the Reformation
movement, challenged the churchs authority and proclaimed that people should have the
freedom to read the Bible in their own language. Tyndale was strongly influenced by ideas of
other Reformers, especially Martin Luther, and although he became known as a man of
unorthodox and radical religious views (Biography of William Tyndale), he was determined and
keen to the idea of translating the New Testament into English. This courageous decision,
especially in the type of era Tyndale lived in, would ultimately lead to not only his translations of
an incredibly sacred book, but also to his gruesome death that wasnt necessarily the result of his
actions involving the Bible, but for his radical beliefs that still hugely impacted society
nonetheless.
William Tyndale was born in 1494 in Gloucestershire, England. Being known as a gifted
linguist and scholar as well as a man of virtue and good character, Tyndale began studying at
Magdalen Hall (would later be named Hertford college), Oxford University in 1506 ( Biography
of William Tyndale). Eventually, after years of studying traditional subjects, Tyndale was able to

start studying Theology. However, he became increasingly critical of the idea that one had to
study so long before actually being allowed to learn about the Bible. This led him to create Bible
study groups with like-minded students which enabled him to share his beliefs with others. Once
finished with his studying at Oxford, William Tyndale went to Cambridge (University) where he
added to his growing range of languages and soon became a leading professor of Greek. He left
Cambridge in 1521 and became a chaplain in Little Sudbury (Biography of William Tyndale).
After being there for some time, he began to receive a lot of criticism from fellow churchmen
who saw him as unorthodox and disagreed with his radical viewpoints such as his belief that the
Bible should be translated into English to allow common people to be able to read the Holy
Scriptures and his belief that the people shouldnt be forced to conform to the traditional dogma
of the church (Biography of William Tyndale). He eventually decided to go to London in the year
1523 in hope to translate his portions of the Bible into English, but due to his struggle to receive
any support, he left for the continent instead. While on the continent, Tyndale visited Martin
Luther, who was one of the key Reformers that influenced Tyndale the most, while extensively
studying the Scriptures and continuing his translations of the Bible (Biography of William
Tyndale). Soon in 1525, a first, rough English translation was published in Worms. And shortly
after, William Tyndales groundbreaking translation of the New Testament was the officially
printed. By 1526, copies of the translations had been smuggled into England where they were
soon denounced as heretical and even burnt in public (Biography of William Tyndale). This
brought much more light onto the subject of religious freedom with people like William Tyndale
in the center of it all. However, Tyndale didnt just have radical beliefs about the church or the
religious freedom of the people. In 1530, he also wrote an article of sorts, criticizing Henry
VIIIs infamous divorce. When the English King found out about what Tyndale had state, he

became furious and sought Tyndales extradition (Biography of William Tyndale). This caused
Tyndale to go into hiding. It wasnt until 1535 when Tyndale was eventually betrayed and
handed over to the imperial authorities in Belgium. Soon after being held captive in a castle in
Brussels, he was tried and convicted of heresy. He was strangled and his body burnt at the stake.
As brutal as all of this was, his last words were reported to be, Lord! Open the King of
Englands eyes. And seeing that the King would ask for Tyndales as well as others English
translations of the Bible to be published just four years after his death, King Henrys (VIII) eyes
were certainly opened (Biography of William Tyndale).
So, how exactly did William Tyndales actions change society? Well when looking at the
art of actually translating the Bible, its true that the labors of William Tyndale and earlier Bible
translators made the work of later King James translators much easier, seeing that the later
translators used not only the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Old and New Testaments, but also
earlier Bible translations to assist them in their work (Revisiting William Tyndale 13-33).
Actually, one of their primary sources was the New Testament and some of the Old Testament
translations of William Tyndale, and linguistic scholars who compared the King James Version
with Tyndales translations found that nearly 84 percent of the New Testament and close to 76
percent of the portions of the Old Testament that Tyndale translated have been transmitted to the
KJV just as he left them. His translations also proved to be relatively popular, becoming the
basis of key future Bible translations, including the 1611 King James Bible (Revisiting William
Tyndale 13-33). We also have to remember that the Bible, although many are increasingly
dismissing it, is the worlds top selling book thanks to the works of not only William Tyndale for
translating it into English, but also the many others who followed in his footsteps and translated
it into their own languages instead.

Work Cited
Pettinger, Tejvan. Biography of William Tyndale , Oxford, UK www.biographyonline.net .
Last updated 5th August. 2014
Ray L. Huntington and W. Jeffrey Marsh, "Revisiting William Tyndale, Father of the English
Bible," in Religious Educator 12, no. 2 (2011): 13-33.