Welcome
FROM THE VERY FIRST WORDS of Scripture we learn that God has a voice. Creation and redemption live agreeably and prosper together in that voice. It is, therefore, no real surprise that it should come to us in splendor, and at a height that often makes us reach. We have all memorized parts of the Bible at some time or other—a verse here, a passage there—directly or indirectly. Consider the following phrases from the King James Bible [KJB]:
Behold the Lamb of God
I am the way, the truth, and the life
Give us this day our daily bread
For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory
Blessed are the poor in spirit
Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs
Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling
A man after God’s own heart
Death, where is thy sting?
Seek, and ye shall find
In him we live, move, and have our being
Be not weary in well doing
Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith
Behold, I stand at the door and knock
Let not your hearts be troubled
The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light
2011 was the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible (1611). And it is only right that we celebrate. According to scholars, the King James Bible continues to hold its place with the works of William Shakespeare as the greatest work of prose in the English language.
The offspring of a poetic age, the KJB is part of our deepest cultural memory, and after 400 years, this great Bible not only remains a testament to what has proven excellent in our linguistic past, it has allowed God to speak to us in his accustomed beauty and highness, and with an English voice.
But that is not the whole story.
Truth is, each of the passages above had their beginning not with the King James translators, but in the translation of William Tyndale some eighty-five years earlier, at a time when an English translation of the Bible was not only against the law in England, it was punishable by death.
My latest book, Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God An English Voice [Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc.] explores the life of Tyndale and his contribution not only to English spirituality but his immense contribution to the English language. Tyndale is one of the architects of our English tongue, one of the pioneers, one of the true ventriloquists, those rare men of genius and conviction who put words in our mouths, who taught us how to shape our thoughts.
William Tyndale’s story is one of true greatness, and yet he continues to suffer a curious injustice. Compared to English writers of greater name but much less weight per pound he is magnificently underprized, and thus remains in a kind of exile.
Visit our William Tyndale page for more information and to buy the book. We will be adding more material in the next few days. Thank you.
David Teems
Here is the prologue of the book, in all its to-know-what-happens-you must-read-the-rest-of-the-story charm. Godspeed (a Tyndale innovation).
