The Obedience of a Christian Man
by William Tyndale. Reviewed by Roy Elliot
© 04-08 Roy Elliot Used by permission
This remarkable book needs to be set in context, it was written almost 500 years ago between 1527-8, during the brutal persecution of those who believed in the absolute authority of 'Scripture alone', and in the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
William Tyndale, a gifted scholar educated at Oxford University, and ordained a priest, saw at first hand the widespread corruption within the Roman Catholic Church.
Rome held ultimate power, even over kings and governments. The Pope and his bishops believed they could not err in all matters spiritual. Their core belief was, and still is, that 'Church Tradition' holds equal, if not more authority than the Holy Bible. In contrast, the infallible, inerrant Word of God, the Holy Bible, was the Reformer's authority.ers unanimously voiced their objections to the wartime Ministry of Defence.
The Roman Catholic Church went to extreme lengths to prevent ordinary folk from having any independent understanding of the Bible, particularly in what it said regarding:- purgatory, transubstantiation, confessing sins to a priest, selling of indulgences, praying to Mary, praying to Saints, salvation by works, and the never ending demand by the 'Church' for money.
In defiance of the Pope's law, Tyndale laid the foundation for the English Reformation when he completed the very first English translation of the New Testament from the original Greek.
This translation differed sharply from the Roman Catholic Church's official Latin Vulgate version, particularly the translation of six key words.
Using Erasmus' Greek text, Tyndale correctly translated; congregation instead of church, elder instead of priest, repentance instead of do penance, love instead of charity, favour instead of grace and knowledge instead of confess.
Tyndale's unique gift cut to the bedrock of Papal authority. Matthew 16 v 18 now read, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my congregation. One word, congregation, had at a stroke demolished the Pope's claim to be the head of Christ's Church, and brought into sharp focus the hypocrisy and contradictions of the Papal system; its love for wealth, power and prestige; its customs, practices and superstitions; its friars, priests and bishops, and its Pope in Rome.
Taking his cue from Matthew 7 v 15 & 16 Tyndale is scathing with righteous indignation contrasting the life and Gospel of Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, with that of the Pope in Rome - 'Christ's vicar on earth'. This unleashed the full might of an enraged Papacy. Tyndale was vigorously hunted across Europe, his New Testament translation, and books, were seized and burnt, as were those caught in possession of them, or who held similar beliefs.
In The Obedience of a Christian Man, Tyndale systematically examines English social and political life; he considers the relationship between church and state; he sees one social structure created by God, and the Christian's responsibility within it.
He discusses the responsibility and obedience of children to parents, servants to masters, up to that of subjects to kings, and kings to God. Then he discusses the reverse - the responsibility of, rulers to subjects, down to, fathers to children.
Tyndale answers two startling questions; what to do if the king, prince or ruler is evil, and what to do with the Pope's false powers. He examines the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic faith, but finds only two are Scriptural. He examines, penance, 'shrift in the ear' (confession to a priest), contrition, satisfaction, absolution, confirmation, anoiling, (anointing with oil at the moment of death), worship of saints and prayer. Finally he discusses the 'four senses of the Scripture'.
Tyndale writes with authority, he knows the Bible intimately, he has an unshakable confidence in the promises of God's Word, and he knows with certainty that Truth will triumph, regardless of how dark and bleak or impossible the situation may be.
Tyndale's is not an historical faith rooted in an ancient story or myth, nor is it a dead faith; this is a living, vibrant, feeling faith firmly rooted in the power of the Living Word of God: The Lord Jesus Christ.
From bitter experience Tyndale knows that many of his readers will be tortured and burned alive; he starts his introduction bringing them comfort. Constantly echoing Scripture, the simplicity of the Gospel, and New Testament doctrine. He shows how adversity always follows God's chosen people, and how God uses this adversity to purify His people, to strengthen their faith, and to demonstrate that His grace is sufficient to meet their every need in all situations.
This book shows a man driven by one desire, and that desire is, that ordinary people should be able to, without fear, read and understand the Word of God.
On the authority of God's Word, Tyndale knew that there is no such thing as a 'Christian country'. He knew that no single person has ever been born a Christian; he understood that 'good works' can never obtain salvation, nor can being a 'church member'. In contrast: Tyndale shows that salvation is a free gift.
Becoming a Christian is an individual matter - a matter of the heart; it is having that deep personal faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, and in His Redeeming Blood.
Tyndale, and fellow believers, used the expression being comfortable as code to identify each other, and evade the persecuting authorities. In his writing, Tyndale makes clear that this refers to the New Testament term being saved, born again or being born anew. All who experience the New Birth know the joy of sins forgiven, and perfect peace with God.
God's Law is now written in a believer's heart, working from the inside out, so that 'faith the mother of all good works justifieth us', and filled with His love they want to serve God and their fellow man - even their most feared enemy. It is striking how Tyndale talks constantly of a 'feeling faith', and that the fruits of that faith are good works shown by love to all.
Tyndale shows clearly that Christian living is a life of service according to the New Testament - not according to the Roman Catholic Church, or the Pope in Rome.
Even in the 21st. century, this book brings the challenge of the Gospel - do those who claim to be Christians truly know the joy of this vibrant living feeling faith? Are the fruits of this faith a life of service, loving, and giving?
In May 1535 William Tyndale was finally taken captive, and for sixteen lonely months, imprisoned at Vilvoorden Castle in Belgium; where he was interrogated, examined, and urged to recant. Under these appalling conditions he wrote his final letter:
I believe, right worshipful, that you are not unaware of what may have been determined concerning me. Wherefore I beg your Lordship, and that by the Lord Jesus, that if I am to remain here through the winter, you will request the commissary to have the kindness to send me, from the goods of mine which he has, a warmer cap; for I suffer greatly from cold in the head, and am afflicted by a perpetual catarrh, which is much increased in this cell; a warmer coat also, for this which I have is very thin; a piece of cloth too to patch my leggings. My overcoat is worn out; my shirts are also worn out. He has a woollen shirt, if he will be good enough to send it. I have also with him leggings of thicker cloth to put on above; he has also warmer night-caps. And I ask to be allowed to have a lamp in the evening; it is indeed wearisome sitting alone in the dark.
But most of all I beg and beseech your clemency to be urgent with the commissary, that he will kindly permit me to have the Hebrew Bible, Hebrew grammar, and Hebrew dictionary, that I may pass the time in that study.
In return may you obtain what you most desire, so only that it be for the salvation of your soul. But if any other decision has been taken concerning me, to be carried out before winter, I will be patient, abiding the will of God, to the glory of the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ: whose Spirit (I pray) may ever direct your heart. Amen W. Tindalus
The fateful day dawned and Tyndale was publicly 'degraded', the process by which 'anointing oil' was symbolically scrapped from his hands, the 'bread and wine' of the Catholic Mass were placed, then removed from him, and the vestments of a priest stripped away.
Condemned to death, Tyndale was handed over to the secular authorities, (officially the 'Church could shed no blood') and burned to ashes as a 'heretic'.
Perhaps some who read this might suffer a similar fate, but take hope, Truth will triumph in the end. We have those enduring promises, I will never leave you nor forsake you and My Grace is sufficient. Tyndale proved the faithfulness of God's Word, and the power of His Grace to sustain the faithful in every circumstance.
Today many of us are privileged to enjoy freedom - freedom of worship, freedom of conscience, freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom from fear. Most cannot even begin to contemplate the conditions under which this man, and his fellow labourers, suffered. We owe them a great debt of gratitude for their faith, courage, and determination.
William Tyndale died a martyr in the struggle to bring us the Word of God in plain English.
Reading Tyndale's letter reminds us of the price that was paid to bring the Word of God into English, and challenges us to savour and apply God's precious Word to our own lives constantly.
David Daniell has done an excellent job; in modernising Tyndale's spelling, making this wonderful book widely available, and in adding endnotes; his introduction faithfully sets the scene for what is to follow.
