God's Outlaw

Posted on: 
February 1, 2020

The story of William Tyndale and the English Bible, by Brian H. Edwards

"God’s Outlaw has every ingredient of a thrilling story—a king, a cardinal, secret agents, a betrayer, and a fugitive.

"William Tyndale lived in the colorful and cruel days of Henry VIII, when men were burned, racked, and maimed for lesser crimes that than of smuggling the Bible into England. When Tyndale set out to provide the first printed New Testament in English, he was forced to do so in defiance of the king, the pope, and almost every person in authority. Compelled to flee from his homeland, he continued with his work of translating the Scriptures while slipping from city to city in Germany, Holland, and Belgium in an attempt to avoid the agents who were sent from England to arrest him. His story is one of poverty, danger, and ceaseless labor.

"This fugitive and outlaw gave the English-speaking people their most priceless heritage: the Scriptures in their mother tongue."

—from the back cover

Read this book to find out

  • The amazing and complicated political, social, and church setting of 16th-century England, where Tyndale was educated and began pursuing his dangerous calling
  • Influences that drew young Tyndale toward his life’s work of translating the Bible
  • How the lonely translator served others, seeking out the poor and needy, disregarding his own safety
  • What ways Tyndale and his contemporary, Martin Luther, were alike and yet so different
  • The desperate and deadly determination of Tyndale’s enemies, seeking him from country to country, year after year, without success
  • How little Tyndale valued his own life, yet how much he valued The Work, and why
  • The great influence Tyndale’s work had on the Authorized Version (KJV) many of us are still familiar with (and why the KJV translators rejected some of Tyndale’s good word choices)

I am impressed and sobered by the weight of the burden that Tyndale carried for translating the Bible into the language of his people. Friends, this work matters. Scripture in the mother tongue is an eternal investment, worth giving up a comfortable life and risking life itself.

I commend to you God’s Outlaw as a book well worth your time.

-Aaron Crider


(Don't forget, as a good introduction, you can also listen to The History of the English Bible for free on our website.)


Category: 
  • “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17
  • “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witness of these things.” Luke 24:47, 48
  • “Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations.” Matthew 28:19
  • “In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:3
  • “That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the Gospel.” Ephesians 3:6
  • “That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us; that the world may believe that You sent Me.” John 17:21
  • “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’?” Mark 11:17
  • “Ask of me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance.” Psalm 2:8
  • “Behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes.” Revelation 7:9
  • “Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified.” 2 Thessalonians 3:1
  • “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” 2 Timothy 3:16
  • “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalm 119:105
  • “As cold water to a weary soul, so is good news from a far country.” Proverbs 25:25
  • “More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.” Psalm 19:10
  • “All the ends of the world shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before You.” Psalm 22:27
  • “Truly, as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD.” Numbers 14:21
  • “Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods.” Psalm 96:3, 4
  • “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14
  • “That all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.” 1 Kings 8:60
  • “For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; in every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering; for My name shall be great among the nations.” Malachi 1:11
  • “All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and shall glorify Your name.” Psalm 86:9
  • “For as the earth brings forth its bud, as the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.” Isaiah 61:11
  • "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" Psalm 46:10
  • "This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." 1 Timothy 2:3, 4
  • "You are worthy. . .; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God." Revelation 5:9, 10