ABSTRACT
William Tyndale was an oxford (and perhaps also Cambridge) educated linguist and theologian. He is best known for his production of the first translation of the New Testament and Pentateuch into English from their original languages, a translation that was in large part adopted by the compilers of the King James Bible. Around 1523, Tyndale approached the Bishop of London, Cuthbert Tunstall, with a proposal to translate the Bible into English. When Tunstall proved unreceptive, Tyndale emigrated to the Continent where he set to work on an independent translation, publishing in 1526 an English New Testament that was smuggled into England. Later that year Tunstall and other English bishops undertook the burning of Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament, asserting that it was riddled with errors and promoted heresy. Remaining on the Continent, Tyndale published a translation of the Pentateuch, scriptural commentaries, a revised edition of his New Testament, and several other works. In 1535, Tyndale was arrested in Antwerp, and about sixteen months later he was executed as a heretic.1
