William Tyndale (1494–1536)
William Tyndale stands as one of the most consequential men in the history of the English Bible. At a time when possessing Scripture in English was a capital offense, Tyndale devoted his life to translating the New Testament and portions of the Old Testament from the original Greek and Hebrew into plain English that any ploughboy could read.
The Bible in English
Tyndale's work was not merely scholarly — it was revolutionary. He believed that every man, woman, and child should be able to read and judge Scripture for themselves. His precise, musical English prose became the foundation of all subsequent English Bible translations, including the King James Version.
Persecution and Martyrdom
Hunted by agents of King Henry VIII and the English church, Tyndale fled to the Continent, completing his New Testament in exile. Betrayed and captured in 1535, he was condemned as a heretic and strangled, then burned at the stake at Vilvoorde in 1536. His dying prayer — "Lord, open the King of England's eyes" — was answered within two years when Henry authorized an English Bible based largely on Tyndale's own work.
Ellen White and the Great Controversy
Ellen White devotes a chapter of The Great Controversy to Tyndale, presenting him as a type of the faithful witness who holds fast to the Word of God against ecclesiastical tyranny. His story is woven into the prophetic narrative of Revelation 14 — a soul who chose God's truth over personal safety.