Apostle Paul
in his epistle to the Romans 10:17 says that, 'faith comes by hearing'. The
beginning, progress, and strength of faith is possible only by hearing God’s
Word. Understanding the importance of God’s Word to bring the Goths into Christian
faith Ulfilas the father of Bible translation translated Bible from Greek to the
language of Goths several years before St. Jerome begins to work on his Latin
text. St. Jerome who produced Vulgates said, 'Ignorance of the scriptures is
ignorance of Christ'. Jacques Leferve the famous Bible Scholar of Medieval period said, “God
will reform His Church according to His Scripture”.
The same
understanding, fervor, zeal and spirit prompted the Pre-Reformers and Reformers
to have a vision to see God’s Word in the hands of women and cobblers, clowns and mechanics
and even in the hands of the Turks. God used both the Pre – Reformers and, Reformers mightily to make
His Word available to the commoners in the midst of adverse backdrop in which
the Medieval Church confined God’s Word to the
learned and priests. The clergies prefer to corner the source of Christian
truth, keeping for themselves the privilege of interpreting it for the people.
Translation into vulgar tongues was discouraged. Let’s take a brief Historical
survey of the movements and individuals whom God used to make His Word
available to the common people to Reform His Church during the Medieval and
reformation period.
The strongest medieval demand for vernacular
texts first came from the supposed heretical sect, Albigenses or Cathari, about
1770 in France. Second, The Waldensians movement was started by Peter Waldo 1175 or
1176 A. D. He had translations made from the Latin New Testament into the
vernacular, which formed the basis of his evangelism. John Wycliffe and his
followers produce full English versions of the Old and New Testament in the
late 14th century. At the same period the Czechs have their own vernacular
Bible, subsequently much improved by John Huss. Erasmus, who translated New
Testament from Greek into Latin, expressed his wishes that Bible should be
translated in every language - so that even Scots and Irishmen might read it. Luther
translated Bible into German language based on the advice of Melanchthon his
friend and lieutenant in the Reformation. William Tyndale had translated Bible
into English language which became the major source of King James Version (1604
– 1611 A.D.). Tyndale paid for his offense with his life being burned at the
stake in 1536. The Geneva Bible is an early English translation of
the Bible. It is called Geneva Bible because it was published in Geneva in
1560. The translation work was done by who Protestant leaders who fled to Geneva,
Switzerland, to avoid the persecution in England. Building upon earlier English
translations such as those done by William Tyndale and Myles Coverdale, the
Geneva Bible was the first English translation in which all of the Old
Testament was translated directly from Hebrew manuscripts. Much of the
translation work was done by William Whittingham, the brother-in-law of John
Calvin. This new English Bible was dedicated to Queen Elizabeth I, who had been
crowned Queen of England in 1558 after the death of Queen Mary I.
The Bible in vernacular languages, was a central demand of the Protestant Reformation because they, accepted Bible as the final authority of all questions of faith and moral. They all believed only God’s Word can bring transformation in the lives of the individuals and in the life of the Church as well. Therefore, they endangered their lives to translate God’s Word into various vernacular. Are we thankful to God forgiving His life transforming Word into our vernacular languages as we celebrate the 500th anniversary of Protestant Reformation?
Yours in His service
G. Paul Raj
