William Tyndale
The New Testament Comes to England
t the close of the year 1525, the English New Testament was crossing the sea. Five German merchants, zealous for the Scriptures, took the dangerous responsibility of transporting the Bibles into England. These merchants hid the New Testaments among their merchandise and made sail from Antwerp to London.
Tyndale's New Testament is smuggled into London by sea merchants
With the warning of Cochlaeus, Henry VIII and his councilors ordered the guard of every seaport into England. Henry VIII wrote a decree stating that all abominable heresies of the New Testament were to be burned and the keepers of these heretical books would be sharply corrected and punished. What plan did the merchants have in concealing these Bible into England? Hidden among their cargo, there was nothing else they could do but believe in the protection of God. Upon setting anchor at the dock, to their surprise, no enemy appeared. God, in His perfect plan, arranged for the uninterrupted entrance of His Word into England. Just at this time of the merchant’s arrival to the docks, another precious cargo had gained the attention of the preventative guards and disbursed them up the river. Tonstall, who Tyndale originally inquired of the production of the New Testament, was now in opposition of the entrance of these Bibles, was sent to Spain; Wolsey, Henry VIII’s chancellor and controlling figure of state and church matters, was occupied in political matters of Scotland and France; Henny VIII was passing the winter in Eltham. At this special moment in time, the arrival of the English New Testament into England, the hand of God had distracted the enemy and made for an uncontested entrance. The five merchants concealed the Bibles in their warehouses.
The merchants sought out a man named Thomas Garret, pastor of the All Hallows church, known for his preaching of the Gospel and the message of justification by faith. Garret accepted these Bibles. He held Gospel meetings and read the Word of the New Testament and sold them to the common people of England. For the first time, the people of England would read the Holy Scriptures in their own tongue. No longer fed through the corrupted filter of the church, but they were receiving the Truth from the original source, the fountain of life contained in the Holy Word.
The merchants sought out a man named Thomas Garret, pastor of the All Hallows church, known for his preaching of the Gospel and the message of justification by faith. Garret accepted these Bibles. He held Gospel meetings and read the Word of the New Testament and sold them to the common people of England. For the first time, the people of England would read the Holy Scriptures in their own tongue. No longer fed through the corrupted filter of the church, but they were receiving the Truth from the original source, the fountain of life contained in the Holy Word.