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Chapter 10—Later Reformers
While Luther was opening a closed Bible to the people of Ger-
many, Tyndale was impelled by the Spirit of God to do the same for
England. He was a diligent student of the Scriptures, and fearlessly
preached his convictions of truth, urging that all doctrines be brought
to the test of God’s word. His zeal could not but excite opposition
from the papists. A learned Catholic doctor who engaged in contro-
versy with him exclaimed, “It were better for us to be without God’s
law than without the pope’s.” Tyndale replied, “I defy the pope and
all his laws; and if God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a
boy who driveth the plow to know more of the Scriptures than you
do.”
The purpose which he had begun to cherish, of giving to the
people the New-Testament Scriptures in their own language, was
now confirmed, and he immediately applied himself to the work.
Driven from his home by persecution, he went to London, and there
for a time pursued his labors undisturbed. But again the violence of
the papists forced him to flee. All England seemed closed against
him, and he resolved to seek shelter in Germany. Here he began
the printing of the English New Testament. Twice the work was
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stopped; but when forbidden to print in one city, he went to another.
At last he made his way to Worms, where, a few years before, Luther
had defended the gospel before the Diet. In that ancient city were
many friends of the Reformation, and Tyndale there prosecuted his
work without further hindrance. Three thousand copies of the New
Testament were soon finished, and another edition followed in the
same year.
With great earnestness and perseverance he continued his labors.
Notwithstanding the English authorities had guarded their ports with
the strictest vigilance, the word of God was in various ways secretly
conveyed to London, and thence circulated throughout the country.
The papists attempted to suppress the truth, but in vain. The bishop
of Durham at one time bought of a bookseller who was a friend of
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