The History of Bible Translation

William_Tynedale_130916

John Wycliffe

William Tyndale

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus

There are many strands of evidence proving that the Bible really is the word of God.

Each strand is strong, but when all taken together, they are unbreakable.

One of these “strands” is the remarkable way the Bible has been preserved and translated with integrity, despite enormous opposition to its publication through the centuries.

John Wycliffe (1320 – 1384) was a Catholic priest who was bitterly persecuted by the Catholic Church, simply because he wanted to translate the Bible into English.

In his book “An Introduction to the Books of the Old Testament”, Bible commentator
W.O.E Oesterley wrote :

“… the great fact remains that the text as we now have it does, in the main, represent fairly the actual words of the authors who lived, some of them, nearly three thousand years ago, and we need have no serious doubt as to the validity of the message which the Old Testament has to give us”

Wycliffes Bible

Regarding the New Testament, Sir Frederic Kenyon ( British palaeographer, Biblical scholar and director of the British Museum) said :

“It cannot be too strongly asserted that in substance the text of the Bible is certain. Especially is this the case with the New Testament. The number of manuscripts of the New Testament, early translations from it, and quotations from it in the oldest writings of the Church, is so large that it is practically certain that we have a true reading of it today. This can be said of no other ancient book in the world”

(“Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts”).

William Tyndale's Statue, London, UK

The Double DVD ROM set , “The History of Bible Translation (2026 Edition)”, attempts to present an exhaustive collection of reference material and scholarly works which discuss and confirm the remarkable accuracy and preservation of the sacred text.

We learn of faithful men who devoted (and often sacrificed) their lives because of their love for the word of God and desire for it to be read and understood by all.

The collection consists of two disks divided into FOUR sections :

Section One : Reference Works (75 in total)

(All books in PDF format – fully printable and searchable).

Tynedale continues his work, even while in prison in Belgium, awaiting trial.

– “Our Bible and the Ancient Manuscripts” – Sir Frederic Kenyon
– “A Popular History of the Translation of the Holy Scriptures” – Hannah Conant
– “The Holy Scriptures According to the Masoretic Text” – Jewish Publication Society
– “An English Translation of the Septuagint” – Anon
– “The Influence of the Septuagint” – Harry Kennedy
– “The Bible and the Anglo Saxon People” – William Canton
– “Records of the English Bible” – Alfred Pollard
– “The History of the English Bible” – S G Ayres
– “The English Bible” – George Milligan

The King James Bible or "Authorized Version" of 1611 drew heavily on the work of William Tyndale and large sections are copied directly from his 1526 English translation.

– “The English Bible” – H C Conant
– “John Wycliffe and his English Precursors” – Gotthard Lechler
– “The New Testament in English” – John Wycliffe
– “Wycliffe and the Lollards” – JC Carrick
– “Wycliffe and the Huguenots” – William Hanna
– “John Wycliffe and the First English Bible” – Richard Storrs
– “William Tyndale” – Robert Demaus
– “Tyndales Bible” – William Tyndale
– “Doctrinal Treatises” – William Tyndale
– “Works” – William Tyndale
– “William Tyndale” – William Dallmann
– “The Bible of Miles Coverdale” – Francis Fry

The Great Bible of 1539 was the first authorised edition of the Bible in English, authorised by King Henry VIII of England to be read aloud in the church services of the Church of England. The Great Bible was prepared by Bible scholar and bishop, Myles Coverdale who borrowed heavily from the Tyndale Bible, with the objectionable features revised. As the Tyndale Bible was incomplete, Coverdale translated the remaining books of the Old Testament and Apocrypha from the Latin Vulgate and German translations, rather than working from the original Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic texts

– “The Great Bible” – Miles Coverdale
– “The Augsburg Confession” – Richard Taverner
– “The Geneva Bible
– “Hugh Latimer” – R.Demaus
– “Jan Hus” – anon
– “Jan Hus” – Albert Wratislaw
– “Martin Luther”-anon
– “Martin Luther” – Henry Eyster Jacobs
– “English Bible Versions” – Henry Barker
– “The Authorized Version” (King James Version – 1611)
– “An Authentic Account of the Authorized Translation and its Translators” – Henry John Todd
– “The Revised English Bible” – Joseph Gurney
– “Historical account of the Work of the Revision of the Authorized Version” – Anon
– “The Holy Bible Translated from the Latin Vulgate (Douay Rheims)”
– “The Bible in the 19th Century” – J.Estlin Carpenter
– “The Emphatic Diaglott (1865)” – Benjamin Wilson
– “The American Standard Version” (1901)
– “A Complete Concordance to the American Standard Version” – Marshall Custiss Hazard
– “The Emphasized Bible” (1902) – Joseph Rotherham
– “The Historical New Testament (1913) – James Moffatt
– “English Bible History” – Anon
– “What is Bible Translation” – Mark Strauss
– “The History of the English Bible” – Henry Cameron

The excellent modern language "New World Translation" (2013 edition) now published in 130 languages has enjoyed a distribution of over 208 million copies.

– “The History of the English Bible” – John Brown
– “Weymouths New Testament in Modern Speech” (1913)
– “Websters Translation” (1833)
– “The New Testament in the Original Greek” – Brooke Westcott and Fenton Hort (1881)
– “The New World Translation – The Most Accurate Translation” – Jason David BeDuhn

… and MANY MORE!

Section Two : Video

– Over 20 hours of fascinating video presentations (MP4 format – computer use only) that discuss in detail the remakable way the accuracy of the Bible has been preserved for over 3500 years!

Section Three : Audio

– Over 2 hours of audio presentations (MP3) focusing on Bible translation and the continuing efforts to silence its witness.

Section Four :

– An interesting selection of picture and photographs (jpeg format).

Discover for yourself the remarkable story of the translation of the greatest book in human history.

Enjoy the double DVD ROM presentation :

“The History of Bible Translation

(2026 Edition)”

$42 (+$8 shipping – Worldwide)

“Video Presentation”

“The Story of William Tyndale”

Free Download

“William Tyndale: The Father of the English Bible”

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