I will worship toward Thy holy temple, and praise Thy name for Thy
lovingkindness and for Thy truth; for Thou hast magnified Thy word above
all Thy name. Psalm 138 v2
It is now well over 450 years since the issuing by Henry VIII of an order setting up the Bible, on a lectern, in every Parish Church. In those days books were rare and scarce. The art of printing was discovered in Germany in the latter half of the 15th Century. There is the pleasing story of John Gutenberg at Mainz, as a small boy playing in his father's workshop, cutting from soft wood the initial J and letting it fall into the vat of purple leather dye his father was using. On picking it out of the hot dye he dropped it on a piece of clean leather and noticed the impression it left on the leather. He later made metal type and so the art was developed. It was one of the great factors in the success of the Reformation. Luther's thesis against indulgences was quickly printed in several languages and widely spread across Europe. It was, however, the printing of the New Testament and later the whole Bible that spread the light of the Gospel and was one of the most powerful factors in the Reformation. For centuries the Bible had been hidden. The Latin Vulgate of St Jerome was the official version of the Roman Church; translation into the common languages of Europe was forbidden by the Popes.
THE EARLY TRANSLATION
The coming into Europe of scholars who were acquainted with Greek,
fleeing from the Turks, created interest in Greek. Not only the classics
but the New Testament. Erasmus the great Dutch scholar said "Greece
rose from the dead with the New Testament in her hands". William
Tyndale acquired the knowledge of Greek and translated the New Testament
into English from the diaglot Greek and Latin version of Erasmus.
This was condemned and destroyed by order of the Roman Church. Tyndale was arrested in Belgium and finally burnt at the stake at Vilvorde on 6th October 1536. He had also laboured on the Old Testament translating from the Hebrew. As he died he cried out, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." God heard his prayer and the translation of the Bible known as the Chained Bible largely incorporates his work.
The tide was running in favour of reform. In 1538 the monasteries were dissolved. Henry VIII was being advised by Thomas Cromwell, Lord Chancellor and Master of the Rolls also Vicar General. It was this remarkable Statesman with the support of Archbishop Cranmer that was largely responsible for this effort. Books were still scarce, the printing press was still in its infancy. In libraries, books were chained to the shelves and could not be taken away. The Parish Church functioned as a library. Other books, "The Paraphrases of Erasmus", "The Apology for the Church of England" and Foxe's "Acts and Monuments" were later set up. Sometime in 1536 an order for the provision of these Bibles was prepared but was not issued until 1538 in September.
In Old St Paul's the people gathered, they even queued up to hear the Bible read. Altogether five copies were provided there. They stood and listened and many, who were illiterate, learned by heart passages of Scripture. The great soul-saving message of the Gospel was sown in many hearts. Some who had very little knowledge of God's Word from the fragments of Wicliffe's version, used by the Lollards, were greatly strengthened by the better understanding and fuller light they now had. Many who later, in the reign of Mary, were cruelly burnt at the stake, learned the Gospel, as they heard it read at the lectern in the Parish Church. There is a famous picture depicting John Porter reading in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral. He died of Jail Fever in Newgate prison in the reign of Mary.
The Great Bible was printed at first in Paris. The Inquisition interrupted the work which was later transferred to London. The number was too small but eventually made up by the issue of the Matthew's Bible, the work of John Rogers, friend of Tyndale and Minister of St Sepulchre's Church, Holborn in London. He was the first to be burned in Smithfield in the reign of Mary I (Tudor).
The services were still in Latin, the Bible was not read in them in English. The Bible is open to us as English people. May God help us to use it aright. It is our right to read the Bible in our Parish Church.
A G Ashdown