In this day and age we take it for granted that we are able to read the Bible in our own language. Back in the day however, this activity was considered to be both dangerous and forbidden. In the 1300-, 1400- and 1500-hundreds the precursors of the reformation, people like John Wycliffe (1328-1384), William Tyndale (ca. 1494-1536) and Martin Luther (1483-1546) tried to make the Bible available for the common folk and due to this they all risked excommunication, banishment – and in the worst-case scenario capital punishment. The act of translating the Bible to the common language was seen as a threat against the authority of the church, that wished for the word of God to remain written in Latin – a language only they were taught and could understand. Even so, their efforts still paved the way for the reformation and the availability of the Bible as we know it today. This article will take you through the history of forbidden images, persecuted reformers and the belief that changed the world.
John Wycliffe (1328-1384) was a British priest, philosopher, and theologian. He was a professor at the Oxford university and was well-known for his strong opinions on both the role of the church and the meaning of the Bible. Wycliffe was of the opinion that everyone should be able to read the bible in their own language – not just in Latin, which was the privilege of the clergy and those educated in Latin. He criticized the church’s wealth, corruption, misuse of power and claimed that it was the Bible – not the pope- that should have the highest authority for Christians. He also meant that preaching should be held in their mother tongue so that people could actually understand the word of God. He sent out his followers, the Lollards, to spread this message by preaching in English. Even if Wycliffe died of natural causes, his ideas were later deemed as heresy. In 1428 the church dug up his body, burnt it and threw it in the river as a symbolic gesture to erase his influence. Despite their efforts, his ideas continued to spread and inspire both William Tyndale and the reformation.
William Tyndale (ca. 1494-1536) was a British scholar, priest, and linguist. He is mostly known as the first person that translated the Bible directly from Greek and Hebrew into English – a groundbreaking action that laid the groundwork for later editions of the Bible, especially the famous version by King James. Even if his translation is seen today as a great milestone, back then it was regarded as a threat. Back then it was forbidden to translate the Bible without the church’s permission. Most editions of the Bible build upon the Latin Vulgata, and Tyndale messing with the original language was considered to be both radical and provoking. He managed to print the translation in secret in Germany, before it was smuggled into England. Thus, the Bible became more available than it had ever been – at the cost of his life. In 1536 Tyndale was arrested and executed in Belgium. His last words were supposedly: “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!” His prayer was partially granted: shortly after his death, the use of English Bibles became legal and a lot of Tyndale’s translations was continued in later editions, notably the King James Bible, which has influenced language, faith, and culture in the English-speaking world.
Martin Luther (1483-1546) is the most well-known of the reformers. He was a German monk, theologian, and professor. In 1517 had took a stand against the church’s practice, by nailing his 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg. In them he criticized the sale of letters of indulgence – documents that would free you of sin in return for payment. According to Luther it was the Bible and not just the pope or the church’s traditions – that were the only authority on faith and lifestyle. He believed that salvation did not come from actions or payment, but through one’s faith alone. This was a direct challenge to the church’s power and their theology. The consequences happened quickly: In 1521 he was banished by the pope and declared as an outlaw by the emperor. He then went into hiding in Wartburg castle, where he started his German translation of the Bible. Even though he was banished, he got support from multiple German princes that hid and protected him. Luther’s translation made the Bible accessible for the people of Germany and greatly influenced the language. It inspired national translations all over Europe. In 1536 Denmark-Norway became a protestant country, and Luther’s Bible laid the groundwork for future translations all over the North. Even though his translation was central for protestants, to Catholics, it was illegal all the way up until the 1800-hundreds.
In addition to Wycliffe, Tyndale, and Luther, there were a lot of other people that translated the Bible into their own langue – often with their lives at stake. Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples (ca. 1455-1536) from France translated The New Testament to French in 1523, and later translated the whole Bible. He was not executed, unlike a lot of other people, due to the support given to him from princess Marguerite de Navarre, who helped a lot of reformers avoid capital punishment. Antonio Brucioli (1490-1566) hailing from Italy, translated the Bible into Italian in 1532. This translation was immediately banned, and Brucioli had to flee from the inquisition, who were responsible for fighting heresy in catholic church. He was arrested and put on trial again in 1548, and died while still being under house arrest. At this point in time, Italy was one of the strictest countries when it came to suppressing the translation of the Bible during the counter-reformation.
The reformation was not the only time where you were punished for translating or distributing the Bible. George Borrow (ca. 1803-1881), a English writer and linguist, worked for British and Foreign Bible Society and helped smuggling bibles written in Spanish inside catholic Spain. In 1838 he was arrested in Madrid for distributing “forbidden literature” – bibles written in Spanish without approval from the church. After his work in Spain, he wrote a book called The Bible in Spain, a travelogue about faith, persecution, and smuggling.
Samuel Ajayi Crowther (ca. 1809-1891), a Nigerian linguist and priest, translated the Bible into Yoruba, a West-African language. Crowther was met with great resistance from the British colonial authorities and European missionaries, because they feared that such a translation would give Africans too much religious and cultural independence. Even so, he became the first African Anglian bishop, and his work strengthened Christianity in West-Africa.
A peculiar and less known story happened in Japan. When Christianity was made illegal in the 1600s, all missionaries were evicted, and the Bible became banned. There were however some Japanese Christians that copied and preserved parts of the scripture for over 250 years – without any access to priests or churches. These people were called “kakure kirishitan”, the hidden Christians. Some of them kept pieces of the bible written in the old Japanese language, together with Buddhist and Shinto elements to hide their contents. When Japan once again opened at the end of the 1800s, some of these groups were able to reunite with the global church. Their survival – and their fight for their faith and scripture – stands as a strong testimony to the power of God’s word, even when it is forbidden.
The story about the Bible’s translation is also the history of people that risked it all so that faith could be available for everyone. Their courage changed the world.
References
Skjulte kristne: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Kakure-Kirishitan
William Tyndale: https://www.britannica.com/biography/William-Tyndale
John Wycliffe: https://www.britannica.com/biography/John-Wycliffe
Martin Luther: https://www.kirken.no/nb-NO/gamle%20sidersnarveier/reformasjon-2017/luthers-liv/, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Martin-Luther
Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jacques-Lefevre-dEtaples
Antonio Brucioli: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Antonio-Brucioli
George Borrow: https://www.britannica.com/biography/George-Borrow
British and Foreign Bible Society: https://www.biblesociety.org.uk/
Samuel Ajayi Crowther: https://www.bu.edu/missiology/missionary-biography/c-d/crowther-samuel-adjai-or-ajayi-c-1807-1891/
