Selected Writings

In the decade since the quincentenary of his birth (1994), popular and scholarly understanding of the importance of the life and writings of William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536) has risen rapidly, and there is demand for a useful selection of his writings.

It is Tyndale who gave the English people their first New Testament, translated from the original Greek, and half of the Old Testament, from the original Hebrew. He deployed a language just above the level of common speech, clear and memorable, speaking directly to the heart. He had enemies, chiefly Thomas More, and in 1536 he was slain for his "heresy" in giving common folk the Bible. His impact has been felt on all subsequent translations (amounting to some 3,000).

This selection includes an introduction by David Daniell, whose editions of Tyndale are celebrated and whose magisterial "The Bible in English" (Yale) was recently published to acclaim. There are selections from the "New Testament" (1534) and the Old (1530 and 1537), the full text of his seminal "Pathway of Holy Scripture" (c. 1530) and extracts from "The Parable of the Wicked Mammon" (1528), "The Obedience of a Christian Man" (1528), "The Practice of Prelates" (1531) and his powerfully political "An Answer unto Sir Thomas More's Dialogue" (1531). Extracts from his "Expositions" are also included.