Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 15:4 (Winter 2011)
Article: Tyndale’s One Thing
Author: Timothy George

SBJT 15:4 (Winter 2011) p. 30

Tyndale’s One Thing

Timothy George

Timothy George is the founding dean of Beeson Divinity School of Samford University and general editor of the Reformation Commentary on Scripture. Dr. George received the Th.D. from Harvard University, and is the author of over twenty books, including most recently, Reading Scripture with the Reformers (InterVarsity, 2011) and Amazing Grace: God’s Pursuit, Our Response (Crossway 2011).

The Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once wrote that “purity of heart is to will one thing.” Throughout the history of the church, it has often been the case that those whose lives have counted most, those whose influence has lingered longest, have been men and women of faith who have willed one thing. Thus Paul wrote to the Philippians: “This one thing I do: forgetting what is behind, straining forward to what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize” (Phil 3:13-14). This one thing I do, looking neither to the right nor to the left, distracted neither by the cheers of admirers, nor the jeers of detractors, this one thing I do.

Nehemiah was such a man. When his enemies said, “Come down from the wall. We want to have a conference with you,” Nehemiah replied, “I am doing the great work, so that I cannot come down. This one thing I do.” Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms declared that his conscience was captive to the word of God, and that he would not recant what he had written. There he stood. That one thing he did. Susannah Wesley poured her life into the seventeen children she had borne, teaching them to pray, read the Scriptures, and love the things of God. That one thing she did, and in the process she gave birth to the Methodist revival.

The life of William Tyndale is marked by a similar single-mindedness. While still in his twenties, Tyndale became convinced that God was calling him to translate the Scriptures into English. He gave himself to this task unstintingly with great personal risk, eventually at the cost of his life. It is not too much to say that, under God, we owe our English Bible to William Tyndale. Let us look briefly at the context of Tyndale’s work as a translator of the Scriptures, the story of his tumultuous life, and his legacy today.

Before Tyndale

The translatability of the Bible is inherent to Christianity itself. In this respect, Christianity differs

SBJT 15:4 (Winter 2011) p. 31

from other religious traditions, notably Islam, where the language of revelation is restricted to the privileged tongue of Arabic. But the Christian faith has always thought that God’s written word can be—and should be—translated into an...