Who is your favorite Protestant Reformer, and why? When I was in college, there were two guys on campus that everybody recognized. It was hard to forget them. They were both extremely tall and very outgoing. They also happened to be identical twins. Every year on October 31st, they would shave the center of their heads bald, leaving a rim of hair around the outside. Then they would fully dress up like 16th-century monks and carry a staff with them as they walked from class to class. They were both dressed up like the young Martin Luther when he lived in a monastery. So we had identical twin Luther monks walking around campus all day! Guess who their favorite Reformer was. Unforgettable.
October is the month of the Reformation. The two are inseparably linked in my mind. The cool air of Autumn signals the arrival of a new season, and each year this reminds me of the winds of change that swept across Europe in the 1500s, ushering in a new season in the history of the Church. Luther famously translated the New Testament from Greek into German and published it in September of 1522. For that reason, Luther’s 1522 New Testament is nicknamed “The September Testament.” Today you can purchase a modern update of another Reformation-era New Testament in English called “The October Testament.” This modern update is based on the 1549 edition of the Matthew Bible, which was published on October 31st of that year. The name "Matthew Bible" was intended to conceal the identities of both the publisher and the translator from the authorities—and for good reason. Both men suffered martyrdom at the hands of the state for their Protestant convictions.
The man who produced that English translation is my favorite Protestant Reformer. His name is William Tyndale. Tyndale gave us the first complete translation of the New Testament from the original Greek in the history of the English language. One of his biographers hails him as “the man who gave God an English voice.” Tyndale’s first edition of the New Testament was published in 1526, and a second revised edition was published in 1534. It was this second edition that was picked up by his friend and fellow reformer, the publisher John Rogers, and included in the Matthew Bible under the pseudonym Thomas Matthew. All subsequent Reformation-era English Bibles are based heavily on Tyndale’s remarkable, pioneering work. Few people today realize that the bulk of the familiar language of our King James Bibles originated with Tyndale.
October marks a season of new beginnings, from the spark of the Reformation to the birth of the modern English Bible. October also marks a season of endings. On October 6, 1536, Tyndale was executed for his illegal translation of the Scriptures. He is a true hero of our faith, a man who gave his life so that you and I could have the Bible in our own language. He is rightly praised as the English Luther, the Apostle of England, and the Grandfather of the Puritans. This month, let us treasure our “October Testament.” Let us thank God for giving us his word in English. Let us remember the legacy of God’s servant, my favorite Reformer, William Tyndale.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Wesley
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