William Tyndale mentioned in HuffPost

"The King James Bible owes much of its success to translator William Tyndale, who was martyred in 1536 for his work on translating the original Greek and Hebrew Scriptures into English. Tyndale's work was remarkable."

Read on...

Good to see our hero named so prominently!

Neil Inglis
Editor, TSJ

Praise for Tyndale from an unexpected source

Militant unbeliever, controversialist, and essayist Chris Hitchens warmly praises Tyndale in Vanity Fair (alluding to the faint possibility of a family connection between himself and WT).

Another perfect illustration of the timeless universality of Tyndale's work.

Read the full story HERE.

Hitch's adversaries in the USA will seize upon this story as evidence that Hitch is preparing to meet his maker. We shall see...

Neil Inglis

Cinderella moment for 400yr old Wiltshire Bible

Amateur historians in Wiltshire got a happy surprise recently when their researches unearthed a previously unknown 1611 copy of the King James Bible which had hitherto been sitting unnoticed on a shelf...

The Bible was brought to light by residents researching the history of St Laurence Church in Hilmarton, near Calne.

Geoff Procter, a member of the parochial church council, said that they had read about a 'fine chained Bible in a glass case' at the church. They then made the link with a Bible that had been sitting on a shelf at the church for a number of years.

There are fewer than 200 original printings of the King James version known to exist, and it is believed that the rediscovered Bible is one of the few remaining editions printed in 1611.

The residents now plan to display the discovery in a special glass case - partly for security and to protect it for future generations but also because the history books say it was kept in one.

Read More...

Great & Manifold Blessings in Cambridge...

To commemorate the 400th anniversary of the publication of the King James Bible, a special exhibition has opened at Cambridge University Library.

Currently on show are several rare Tyndale items including a little-known-about 1553 copy of Tyndale's New Testament.

The new exhibition 'Great and Manifold Blessings' tells the story of the genesis of the KJV, tracing back through the 'patchwork of the many versions produced, chiefly outside England, in the preceding century'.

The show will be open until 18th June (closed 22-25 April).

Opening hours: 9am-6pm Monday-Friday, 9am-4:30pm Saturday.
Admission: Free of charge
Location: See map here.

Brian Buxton

Tyndale on TV...

Thanks to BBC Religion & Ethics insider Al Rodgers, for his tip-off about a new 'Tyndale' TV programme to be broadcast this coming weekend.

The show - Melvyn Bragg's 'The King James Bible: the Book that Changed the World' will air on Saturday March 12th on BBC2 at 8pm.

"Von Bismark said the defining feature of modern history was that the Americans spoke English. It was an English which largely stemmed from the Bible. In both cases, British and American, the King James Bible version swept round the globe in school assemblies, far flung churches, remotely stationed battalions... it was the Book of the community of English speaking peoples.

New words - we use them still: "scapegoat", "let there be light", "the powers that be", "my brother's keeper", "filthy lucre", "fight the good fight", "sick unto death", "flowing with milk and honey", "the apple of his eye", "a man after his own heart", "the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak", "signs of the times", "ye of little faith", "eat drink and be merry", "broken hearted", "clear eyed". And hundreds more: "fishermen", "landlady", "sea-shore", "stumbling block", "taskmaster", "two-edged", "viper", "zealous" and even "Jehovah" and "Passover" come into English through Tyndale. "Beautiful", a word which has meant only human beauty, was greatly widened by Tyndale, as were many others..."

BBC researchers originally contacted The Tyndale Society last autumn to investigate and verify details of Tyndale's dramatic part in the KJV's story.

Tyndale on the Moon!

Tyndale's translations - as embodied in the form of the KJV - have carried the English Bible across the globe - but did you know his words had even made it into outer space?

Astronaut and author Jeff Williams - veteran of a combined 362 days in space after a trio of successful launches - will speak at Dunham Bible Museum in Houston, Texas on Wednesday 9th February about science, space, spirituality and the Book NASA took to the moon...

There is also a collection of rare 16th, 17th and 18th Century Bibles on show as part of a special exhibition to celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the KJV.

For full details visit the Museum's website.

John Hellstern

Top billing at last - thanks to Beeb's Jim Naughtie

Thanks be to James Naughtie of BBC Radio 4 for his morning broadcast today on 'The Story of the King James Bible'.

The following passages were recorded in the Chapel at Hertford College Oxford - home to The Tyndale Society - in front of the famous Whitefriars window image of William Tyndale:

"Tyndale revolutionised English as a language. It is as big as that. He changed the way the English spoke and thought.

"It is extraordinary and one of the great mysteries of this story that a man in his late 20s, early 30s, in a garret on the continent, on the run, hunted by the establishment, eventually dying as a martyr for translation could do this.

"The whole story of The Bible in English is unthinkable without him."

To listen to the entire broadcast (available on BBC iPlayer for the next six days) click here.

(Note: Fast forward to 2.06 to skip the news broadcast at the beginning of the recording)

Thank you Radio 4!