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Vilvoorde
Photo: Wikimedia Commons · William Tyndale

Vilvoorde

William Tyndale · Belgium

William Tyndale wanted 'the boy that drives the plough' to know the Bible as well as any priest. Because translating it into English was forbidden, he worked in exile on the continent and had his New Testament printed and smuggled into England. In 1535 he was betrayed in Antwerp and imprisoned in the castle of Vilvoorde. In 1536 he was strangled and burned here; today a monument in a small park marks the place.

Did you know?

His last words are said to have been a prayer that God would open the eyes of the King of England.

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An inspiring story

The boy behind the plough

Who is the Bible for?

A learned churchman once told William Tyndale that ordinary people were better off without the Bible in their own language. Tyndale answered that if God spared his life, he would make a boy who drives the plough know more of Scripture than the churchman did. Why risk everything for that? Because he believed God speaks to farmers just as much as to scholars. He translated the Bible into English in exile, was betrayed, and in 1536 was strangled and burned at Vilvoorde. His last words: 'Lord, open the King of England's eyes.'

Within a few years the king allowed an English Bible in every church. Much of Tyndale's wording lives on in the King James Bible.

Lord, open the King of England's eyes.William Tyndale, 1536

Sources

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