The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 246

Chap. 14 - Later English Reformers
While Luther was opening a closed Bible to the people of Germany,
Tyndale was impelled by the Spirit of God to do the same for
England. Wycliffe’s Bible had been translated from the Latin text,
which contained many errors. It had never been printed, and the cost of
manuscript copies was so great that few but wealthy men or nobles could
procure it; and, furthermore, being strictly proscribed by the church,
it had had a comparatively narrow circulation. In 1516, a year before
the appearance of Luther’s theses, Erasmus had published his Greek
and Latin version of the New Testament. Now for the first time the
word of God was printed in the original tongue. In this work many
errors of former versions were corrected, and the sense was more clearly
rendered. It led many among the educated classes to a better knowledge
of the truth, and gave a new impetus to the work of reform. But the
common people were still, to a great extent, debarred from God’s word.
Tyndale was to complete the work of Wycliffe in giving the Bible to his
countrymen.
A diligent student and an earnest seeker for truth, he had received the
gospel from the Greek Testament of Erasmus. He fearlessly preached his
convictions, urging that all doctrines be tested by the Scriptures. To the
papist claim that the church had given the Bible, and the church alone
could explain it, Tyndale responded: “Do you know who taught

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