What Is Tyndale's Influence On The Interpretation Of The Bible

Variance of Bible Interpretations

The Holy Bible holds a very important place in the history of the world due to its vast influence; which can be seen in multiple regions of the earth. “Although there are some cultures that do not live by the Bible, they have been directly and indirectly influenced by the power of government or people associated with scripture throughout time” (Dowd 7). Land, people and power have all been sacrificed in the pursuit of creating the correct interpretation of the Bible. Language and the social norms of a time period play a major role in the development of the biblical story that the general public will be able to read. Mitch Dahood elaborates on the dynamic of equivalence while discussing issues involving scriptural

Tyndale was criticized for his views against the Pope and the law’s set by the church to constrict writers. Because the church believed that easier access to textual copies of the bible was a threat, they took many measures to ensure that translations were not produced. The church’s request to keep alternate versions out of press made Tyndale more determined in his passionate work to simplify the texts through word choice. Controversy arose with Tyndale’s strong belief that The Bible should be informal for the understanding of the reader. His usage of idioms and syntax which derived from Hebrew and Greek phrases forged the first completed new translation of the bible from its historical Greek to the more common English language. Some literary issues pointed out by critics include: ‘congregation’ instead of ‘church’, ‘love’ instead of ‘charity’, and ‘repent’ rather than ‘do penance.’ Goodman believes, “Scripture was a gateway to truth as well as freedom; and

Their stand was considered to be highly controversial for the time period. In fact, a Roman Catholic priest by the name of Rogers was greatly impacted by the idea of spreading The Bible through other translations. Rogers felt very strongly about this fact and decided to follow in the footsteps of both Tyndale and Coverdale by producing another version of the scripture. Rogers English Version Bible commonly known as “The Matthews Bible” was published in the mid to early fifteenth century, under the pen name Thomas Matthew to protect his identity. He took great risk in authoring this publication and wanted to survive any negative response. The Colombia Encyclopedia tells us “Rogers contributed prefaces and marginal notes, but most of the translation was the work of Tyndale and of Miles Coverdale” (1). This quote explains that Rogers did hold some independent ides in the translation but mostly built his version on the works of both Tyndale and Coverdale. One of his beliefs that differed with the other authors was that, his version was crafted for private use rather than strictly for the