Which Is the Greater Tragedy?
“Brought forth to the place of execution, he was tied to the stake, strangled by the hangman,
and afterwards consumed with fire, at the town of Vilvorde, A.D. 1536…”
Who was this awful criminal?
What horrible crime did he commit against society?
The man’s name was William Tyndale. The quote above is found in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (p. 184). It is a portion of the account of Mr. Tyndale’s brutal execution. This execution took place because he translated the New Testament into the English language. He wanted the common people of his day to have access to God’s Word.
It will not be too many years before five centuries will have passed since Tyndale’s execution. Today, Bibles can be found all over the world and in many languages.
The last figures I found indicate that the entire Bible has been translated into 531 languages. Along with that, the same source reports that portions of the Bible have been translated into 2,883 languages. (I honestly did not know there were even that many languages.)
How many copies of the Bible do you have in your home?
How many different Bible programs, apps, etc. do you have on your computers, tablets, and smartphones?
The circumstances surrounding the execution make that event an even greater tragedy than is indicated above. William Tyndale’s execution was the result of people who would consider themselves to be very religious and staunch defenders of what they would consider “the faith.”
Can you imagine that? Can you think of anything more tragic than people who would call themselves “Christians” trying to silence the message of the Bible by brutal, horrific force?
What about this? What about somebody who would claim to wear the same name today, but silence the message of the Bible by neglecting to read what is so readily available?
Which is the greater tragedy?
Think about it!
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