S10E5 (Ep 102) Who Was William Tyndale? The Story Behind The English Bible

He was strangled and burned at the stake for translating the Bible into English. The King James Bible you know today? Roughly 84% of the New Testament is his exact words. And his last words were a prayer that got answered less than a year after he died. This week we take on William Tyndale. For our next joint episode, Caleb and Christina tag-team one of the most quietly consequential figures in Western history. We start with his early life: the brilliant Oxford-educated linguist, the priest who watched ordinary people fumble through Latin scriptures they couldn't understand, and the moment he decided he'd translate the Bible into English himself or die trying. Turned out to be both. From there we trace his years on the run through Europe. The secret print runs smuggled into England in bales of cloth. The bounties on his head. The King and the Church that wanted him silenced. And the friend who eventually betrayed him for money, leading to his arrest, imprisonment, and execution in 1536. Then we get to the part that lands hardest. His final recorded words were "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." Within a year of his death, Henry VIII authorized an English Bible for every church in the country. The man who was killed for translating the Bible into English had his prayer answered by the same king who let it happen. Two hosts. One of history's best. A conversation about what it actually costs to change something that matters. Contact us at stuffthatwelikepodcast@gmail.com with any questions, concerns, or corrections!