William Tyndale and Serving God as a humble Cobbler

William Tyndale was born in Stinchcombe, Gloucestershire in 1494. He was a gifted linguist and wordsmith who crafted many evocative phrases such as ‘the fat of the land’, the ‘writing is on the wall’ and ‘the powers that be’. Amazingly he was fluent in eight languages. Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, Spanish, German, Italian and, of course, English. His life’s work was to translate the Bible into memorable, compelling and easy to read English.

In what follows we are indebted to Melvyn Bragg’s excellent William Tyndale: A Very Brief History.

Here is a story that sums up his incredible life. One day Tyndale was talking with a fervent Roman Catholic man who blurted out: ‘We were better without God’s law than the Pope’s.’ Tyndale was outraged and retorted sharply: ‘I defy the Pope and all his laws and if God spare my life ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scripture than thou dost.’ This feisty comment made Tyndale very unpopular with ‘the powers that be’.

To understand Tyndale we have to understand just how corrupt the medieval Roman Catholic Church had become in his day. The Church proclaimed that a person could only please God if they did the following:

• You had to go to Mass and trust the elaborate ritual that was performed by a priest who spoke in Latin, a language you did not understand.
• You had to accept that every gesture of the priest during Mass had been taught by Jesus.
• You had to do penance which could involve self-torture such as whipping yourself or standing for hours in a very cold place.
• You had to believe in purgatory, a place of suffering filled with the souls of sinners who are being purified before going to heaven.
• You were taught that going on a pilgrimage to visit a saint’s grave, e.g. St Joseph, would help you draw close to God.
• You were encouraged to kiss holy relics. This could be a toenail of a dead saint.
• You were badgered to buy ‘indulgences’ with your hard-earned cash. This would liberate souls from purgatory.

In short you had to earn God’s forgiveness by performing these so-called ‘good works’.

All this would be challenged when reformers like Martin Luther (1483-1546) and Tyndale began to study the Bible carefully and they discovered that none of these practices could be found in the Scriptures.  Instead they discovered what we call the gospel. As we have already seen, the gospel is the good news that God is rescuing His broken world from death, decay and every power that enslaves human-beings.

This gospel is good news for sinners like you and me. Up close and personal it looks like this. A person is forgiven and ‘saved’ when they trust in what God has done for us in his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. Many call this justification by faith.

The focus is not on what we can do for God (rituals, pilgrimages, kissing toenails etc) but on what God has already done for us through the death and resurrection of the Saviour of the world, the Lord Jesus Christ.

In short the medieval Roman Catholic Church had replaced the gospel of Christ’s kingdom with empty traditions, false narratives, superstitious rituals and ornate ceremonies that kept many Christian people in ignorance and spiritual darkness.

We should also note that the Catholic Church taught Christians that only the ‘religious’ e.g. priests, monks and nuns had proper callings. Only they could serve Jesus. At the very top of this religious pyramid was the Pope. Then came the cardinals, the archbishops and the bishops. Next were the priests and the deacons. Beneath these clerical callings came the laity (non-religious folk). At the very bottom of this chain of being were men and women who made and repaired shoes. As we have already noted Tyndale was to get into a great deal of trouble for saying nice things about cobblers!

Indeed, one of the articles of heresy against Tyndale was that he taught this:

“There is no work better than another to please God; to pour water, to wash dishes, to be a souter (cobbler) or an apostle, all is one; to wash dishes and to preach is all one, as touching the deed, to please God.”

Tyndale believed passionately that ordinary people (cobblers, carpenters, cleaners etc) can serve God full-time without becoming priests, nuns or monks. He proclaimed that all Christians have callings and all can serve Christ the King as they bake pies, make shoes, serve beer and clean filthy, greasy ovens to the glory of God. Tyndale worked tirelessly to bring the true gospel to England. His understanding of the gospel affirmed what we call the cultural or creation mandate.

In 1526 Tyndale published his English New Testament. It was smuggled into England amid a growing hatred of the Protestant gospel message. Tyndale was viewed as a dangerous heretic and copies of his New Testament were burned in public by the Bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall. The rich, powerful and ambitious Cardinal Wolsey (1473-1530) condemned Tyndale as a loathsome heretic. King Henry the 8^th spitefully hated Tyndale and sent out many spies to capture him while he lived in exile in Germany and Belgium.

Eventually Tyndale was betrayed by a treacherous, money-grabbing Judas character called Henry Phillips. William was imprisoned in a dark, dank and cold dungeon near Brussells. Tyndale was tried on a charge of heresy and condemned to death. On the 6^th of October 1536 he was strangled to death while tied to the stake and his body was burned. His last words were, ‘Lord, open the king of England’s eyes!’

The legacy of William Tyndale is extraordinary. He inspired countless Christians to proclaim the gospel to all areas of life and culture. The King James Bible New Testament is heavily based on Tyndale’s work – estimated at as much as 93 per cent. He enriched the English language with his poignant, pithy, memorable phrases. He shaped the work of Shakespeare and poets like John Donne. A faithful response to the cultural mandate.

William Tyndale is rightly believed to be one of the greatest Englishmen ever to have lived. What an inspiring, courageous and very fruitful disciple of Jesus Christ.

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Mark Roques

Mark taught Philosophy and Religious Education at Prior Park College, Bath, for many years. As Director of RealityBites he has developed a rich range of resources for youth workers and teachers. He has spoken at conferences in the UK, Holland, South Korea, Spain, Australia and New Zealand.

Mark is a lively storyteller and the author of four books, including The Spy, the Rat and the Bed of Nails: Creative Ways of Talking about Christian Faith. His work is focused on storytelling and how this can help us to communicate the Christian faith. He has written many articles for the Baptist Times, RE Today, Youthscape, Direction magazine and the Christian Teachers Journal.

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