England was cloaked in spiritual darkness during the sixteenth century. While the Protestant Reformation caught fire on the European continent, the people of England suffered under spiritually ignorant and superstitious priests who read the Bible to them in indecipherable Latin. Gripped by a desire to see this fog lifted, the Reformer William Tyndale set out to give the Scriptures to his countrymen in their own language, so that the common farmer in the field might have a better knowledge of the Bible than the pope. Since these translation efforts were considered heresy, Tyndale spent his final decade as a fugitive. But he would not be deterred from his mission, even if it cost him his life. In The Daring Mission of William Tyndale, Dr. Steven Lawson tells how Tyndale became the father of the modern English language and birthed a legacy that lasts to this day. This book is a welcome reminder of the power of God's Word and our privilege of having a Bible that we can know and understand. This book is part of the Long Line of Godly Men Profile series, edited by Dr. Steven Lawson.

William Tyndale was a Bible smuggler. Read about how God wants us to be brave and to stand up for the truth!

Part One: The History (What do we know?) This brief historical introduction to William Tyndale explores the social, political and religious factors that formed the original context of his life and writings, and considers how those factors affected the way he was initially received. What was his impact on the world at the time and what were the key ideas and values connected with him? Part Two: The Legacy (Why does it matter?) This second part explores the intellectual and cultural ‘afterlife’ of William Tyndale, and considers the ways in which his impact has lasted and been developed in different contexts by later generations. Why is he still considered important today? In what ways is his legacy contested or resisted? And what aspects of his legacy are likely to continue to influence the world in the future? The book has a brief chronology at the front plus a glossary of key terms and a list of further reading at the back.

William Tyndale is the most important translator of the Bible into English in history. Though not the first (that would be John Wyclif), Tyndale's translation has had the most lasting impact. The King James Bible is actually largely a revision of Tyndale's translation. Joyce McPherson is an accomplished children's author (Durer, Calvin, Pascal, & Newton), and here she turns her attention to another key figure from the Reformation. She writes an engaging account of Tyndale's youth and education, and his determination to translate the Bible: As a young university graduate, he said, ." . . if God spare my life, I will make a boy that driveth the plough know more of the Scripture than [a priest] does." This is a great biography to read out loud to students from age 10 up. Independent reading level is 5th/6th grade. Tyndale was educated at Oxford, and spent considerable time with the White Horse Inn group of Reformers at Cambridge. He went to Germany to study Hebrew for a year under Luther in Wittenberg. When he returned, he single-handedly produced an English New Testament that turned England upside down and has stood the test of time. Forced to flee England by angry bishops (and Chancellor Thomas More), Tyndale was at work on an English Old Testament when he was betrayed, arrested, and eventually executed as a Protestant martyr. If you want to understand the course of the Reformation in England, then the story starts with Tyndale: student, scholar, translator, printer, smuggler, and witness to the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Joyce's retelling of his life is meticulously researched. She tells Tyndale's story in such an engaging fashion that young people will feel as though they've had a chance to sit down and hear the story of his life from someone who knew him."

Traces the life of William Tyndale, the first person to translate the Bible into English from the original Greek and Hebrew and discusses the social, literary, religious, and intellectual implications of his work.

One of our best-selling books worldwide, this account of the amazing life of the pioneer bible translator keeps its readers attentive from the first page to the last.

Jonathan Edwards is well known as perhaps the greatest theologian the United States has ever produced. He is equally noted for his preaching and writing. But in this Long Line Profile, Dr. Steven J. Lawson considers the unique focus and commitment with which Edwards sought to live out the Christian faith. Lawson examines Edwards' life through the lens of the seventy resolutions he penned in his late teens, shortly after his conversion, which cover everything from glorifying God to repenting of sin to managing time. Drawing on Edwards' writings, as well as scholarly accounts of Edwards' life and thought, Lawson shows how Edwards sought to live out these lofty goals he set for the management of his walk with Christ. In Edwards' example, he finds helpful instruction for all believers.

In The Expository Genius of John Calvin, Dr. Steven J. Lawson delves into the practices, commitments, and techniques that made John Calvin, the great Reformer of the sixteenth century, such an effective preacher during his long pastorate at Saint Pierre Cathedral in Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Lawson identifies thirty-two distinctives of Calvins preaching, providing comments from Calvins writings, quotations from Reformation scholars, and examples from Calvins own sermons to reinforce his points. In the end, Dr. Lawson finds in Calvin a strong model for expository preaching and calls on modern pastors to follow the Reformers example.

One of the key foundation books of the English Reformation, The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528) makes a radical challenge to the established order of the all-powerful Church of its time. Himself a priest, Tyndale boldly claims that there is just one social structure created by God to which all must be obedient, without the intervention of the rule of the Pope. He argues that Christians cannot be saved simply by performing ceremonies or by hearing the Scriptures in Latin, which most could not understand, and that all should have access to the Bible in their own language - an idea that was then both bold and dangerous. Powerful in thought and theological learning, this is a landmark in religious and political thinking.