John Wycliffe, a fourteenth-century scholar, is credited with the first complete translation of the Bible into any modern European language. While many had translated portions into Old and Middle English, Wycliffe’s translation is the first complete English Bible.
His work was opposed by the organised church at the time. The concept of a Bible accessible to the common man was so vile that, in response, Bible translation was declared an act of heresy, and his body was burnt as punishment… 43 years after he died.
Wycliffe translated the New Testament almost entirely alone from the Latin Vulgate (no one in the fourteenth century learnt Greek). Every copy had to be handwritten, with each Bible taking up to a year to produce. But, by 1408, even reading a copy was punishable by death.
Why did he bother?
“Holy Scriptures is the faith of the Church, and the more widely its true meaning becomes known the better it will be. Therefore since the laity should know the faith, it should be taught in whatever language is most easily comprehended… [After all,] Christ and His apostles taught the people in the language best known to them.” From a sermon by Wycliffe.
A lot has changed since Wycliffe’s work. Today, hundreds of versions of the Bible exist in English. In fact, there are as many English translations as there are languages with a complete Bible. And there are more than 2,000 with no Scripture at all.
Wycliffe’s death was more than 600 years ago today, but Bible translation is not 600-year-old history. Give the Bible: the Story everybody needs.
- Back to blog homepage.
- Go to main Wycliffe UK site.
Hands waved in Deaf “applause” and feet danced in heartfelt praise to God, as Njatha Paul Ndungu, Director of DOOR Africa (Deaf Opportunity Out Reach), was officially “knighted” as a consultant commissioned to work with sign language translation.
On this day in 1747, he died aged only 29, at the home of the theologian Jonathan Edwards. Edwards looked beyond these continual difficulties. He was so encouraged by the commitment of Brainerd’s life, he decided to publish a biography, recounting trials, turned-down-offers of a more comfortable life and 3,000 miles covered on horseback.
