Tyndale, by David Teems {Book Review}

With eager anticipation I agreed to review David Teems's latest book, Tyndale: The Man Who Gave God an English Voice. Beyond the tidbits from history classes that he died for the cause of the English Reformation, I had never read much about William Tyndale, the first to translate the Bible into English from the original languages.

That enthusiasm lasted through the first half of the book. It was pure delight and amazement to read the lists of words he introduced to the English language. It had not registered with me until now that the Bible which shaped the words of Shakespeare was not the King James Version (published only a few years before the playwright's death) but the translation of Tyndale and his colleague Myles Coverdale. A very many of the beautiful Bible phrases which have shaped not just English-speaking Christianity but English literature as a whole originated with William Tyndale as he wrestled with Greek and Hebrew to put God's Word into the hands of the common person.

Here is a small sample of his New Testament renderings which have endured to our day:

• Behold the lamb of God
• In my father's house are many mansions
• For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory
• With God all things are possible
• Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith
• For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Teems, xx).

This labor and Tyndale's other "Lutheran" writings provoked conflict with the Catholic religious and political hierarchy fairly early on, with the result that much of the translation work occurred in Germany and Belgium. This brave man faced voluntary exile for approximately a third of his life. He devoted time and strength to giving people like me a vernacular Bible to read and through which to know God. Eventually he was martyred for his commitment to the Reformation solas and the privileged duty of every Christian to read and know the Scriptures.

The narrative bogged down for me as the conflict heated up. The book describes how other English Reformers were put to death and driven from England. Once Sir Thomas More began engaging Tyndale in literary sparring, I found myself putting the book down and delaying to pick it up again. Reading long quotations from their acrimonious exchanges seemed to warrant sackcloth and ashes, the weeping and rending of garments; the narration linking the quotes, however, seemed more concerned with the verbal skill and rhetorical prowess of these two masters of the young English language. The lightness of tone seemed to me at odds with the gravity of the subject matter.

From More's entrance into the tale, the pressure intensified incessantly until Tyndale was betrayed by a supposed friend, arrested, and imprisoned in a dungeon until he was hanged and his body burned. Even in his confinement, isolated from all who loved him, he wrote to the authorities begging a bit of warmer clothing and his Hebrew study tools, ink, and parchment to continue his work. That level of perseverance and love for the Scriptures (and their dissemination) humbles me.

Though a man had a precious jewel and a rich, yet if he wist [know] not the value thereof nor wherefore it served, he were neither the better nor the richer of a straw. Even so though we read the scripture and babble of it never so much, yet if we know not the use of it, and wherefore it was given, and what is therein to be sought, it profiteth us nothing at all. It is not enough therefore to read and talk of it only, but we must also desire God day and night instantly to open our eyes, and to make us understand and feel wherefore [why] the scripture was given, that we may apply the medicine of the scripture, every man to his own sores (William Tyndale, quoted in Teems, 207-208).

At the time of his execution in 1536, he had translated the Old Testament books from Genesis through 2 Chronicles, Jonah, and all of the New Testament. What he left incomplete, Miles Coverdale finished and published (illegally) during Tyndale's incarceration.

In summary, the Mr. Teems succeeds marvelously in acquainting the reader with the monumental service William Tyndale rendered to English-speaking Christians, and indeed to English literature. Mr. Tyndale's commitment to the Scriptures and to translating them showed me my deficiency in love for God's Word. Many of the extended quotes provide rich food for further meditation. That said, the mismatch of style and reader in the latter half of the book left me personally lukewarm about this particular presentation of Tyndale's life, though not about the man himself.

Words like these demonstrate why this underappreciated hero has my lasting esteem after reading about him in Teems's book:

God hath created us and made us into his own likeness; and our Saviour Christ hath bought us with his blood. And therefore are we God's possession, of duty and right; and Christ's servants only, to wait on His will and pleasure, and ought therefore to move neither hand nor foot, nor any other member, either heart or mind, otherwise than he hath appointed. God is honoured in his own person, when we receive all things, both good and bad, at his hand; and love his law with all our hearts; and believe, hope, and long for all that he promiseth (Tyndale, quoted in Teems, 216).

The BookSneeze blogger book review program provided a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ann Voskamp on Family Life, Writing, and God's Mysterious Ways

This hour-long interview of One Thousand Gifts author Ann Voskamp by Dr. Marvin Olasky of Patrick Henry College encouraged me in so many ways when I viewed it Saturday. The following topics most challenged and resonated with me:

• the dedication required of her whole family during the writing process and subsequent speaking engagements,
• how she approaches the writing/blogging discipline from both logistical and spiritual perspectives,
• how trusting God when His ways don't make sense to us compares to feeding on manna from His hand,
• her response to the popularity of her book and blog,
• how she reads and how her reading informs the writing process, and
• what God is doing in her right now.

If you yourself practice writing, if Ann's story in the book blessed you, or if you are a home educator in need of encouragement, this video would, I think, be well worth your time. Settling in for a quiet hour to listen and learn from the conversation recorded here was a highlight of my week.

{If reading in a feed reader or via email, you may need to access the video on the Web at this link:
http://youtu.be/BizOQz4ZQyg.}

Sharing with Michelle, even though I heard it Saturday.

Our Most Solid Comforts

A fixed, constant attention to the promises [of God], and a firm belief of them, would prevent solicitude and anxiety about the concerns of this life. It would keep the mind quiet and composed in every change, and support and keep up our sinking spirits under the several troubles of life. . . . Christians deprive themselves of their most solid comforts by their unbelief and forgetfulness of God's promises. For there is no extremity so great, but there are promises suitable to it, and abundantly sufficient for our relief in it.
   A thorough acquaintance with the promises would be of the greatest advantage in prayer. With what comfort may the Christian address himself to God in Christ when he considers the repeated assurances that his prayers shall be heard! With how much satisfaction may he offer up the several desires of his heart when he reflects upon the texts wherein those very mercies are promised! And with what fervour of spirit and strength of faith may he enforce his prayers, by pleading the several gracious promises which are expressly to his case!

~from Samuel Clark, Scripture Promises; or, the Christian's Inheritance, A collection of the Promises of Scripture under their proper heads, quoted in J.I. Packer, Knowing God, p. 115.

Thanks be to God for His great and precious promises:
~He gives wisdom generously and without criticizing to all who ask in faith (James 1:5).
~He will make our paths straight as we trust in Him wholeheartedly, lean not on our own understanding, and acknowledge Him in all our ways (Proverbs 3:5-6).
~He will never leave us or forsake us (Deut. 31:6 and Hebrews 13:5).
~Goodness and faithful love will pursue us all the days of our lives (Psalm 23:6)
~He has not forsaken those who seek Him (Psalm 9:10).
~With the Lord is steadfast love and plentiful redemption (Psalm 130:7).
~There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
~He will be exalted in the earth (Psalm 46:10).
~To those who receive Christ, even to those who believe in His name, to them He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:13-14).
~His way is to be gracious with those who love His name (Psalm 119:132).
~He has a plan for us, and it's a good one (Jeremiah 29:11).

and His gracious gifts this past week:
~time with loved ones in person and on the phone
~all three loved ones with major diagnostic procedures last week received good news
~friends who say they'll pray for me and really do
~praying with a friend on the phone at a crisis moment
~a neighbor sending over a bag of produce from her garden (different plants than Allen has this year)
~listening to a frog sing as I set up the next morning's coffee
~two large orange butterflies in the lantana (Gulf Fritillaries?)
~the feast after a fast
~learning that the giant, three-inch wasps swarming around our backyard are "beneficial, harmless, rarely aggressive" cicada killers and not tracker jackers escaped from the fictional land of Panem, as my dreams would have had me believe
~waking up from a bad dream
~discovering along the way that my "moth as big as a hummingbird" from the spring also has a name and was not in fact a figment of my imagination

White-winged sphinx hummingbird moth

~foot doctor freeing me from the heavy boot cast as of this morning
~continuing the healing (of a hairline stress fracture) with a thin metal "shank" insole in my walking shoes and a supportive padded sleeve to relieve pressure on the sesamoid bone
~strength for a long morning
~Ebony waiting for me to take a rest with him after this full morning
~shelter, air conditioning, and no power outages in our first week above the century mark
(#6578-6604 from the gratitude journal)




sharing in community with Ann, Laura, and Jen:

Locust Years

“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten —

the great locust and the young locust,

the other locusts and the locust swarm[a]—

my great army that I sent among you.

You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, 

and you will praise the name of the Lord your God,

who has worked wonders for you;

never again will my people be shamed.

Joel 2:25-26, NIV

The visiting missionary who offered our sermon Sunday said that farmers in South Africa today still dread the locust year. When a swarm descends, the whole crop can be gone in a day. If the famers endure that great loss, however, if they find a way to press on and not give up, the following years are the most plentiful the land ever experiences. The bodies of the dead locusts decompose to become fertilizer for the new seed. The harvest generated by the locust year more than compensates for the loss.

This is the God we follow. He repays for the locust years. He specializes in resurrection. Our losses are not too great for Him to overcome. Take heart, friend; take heart, O my soul: plenty and praise are coming.

Green Dragons and Baby Gates {Steinway Parable}

It's hard to believe, but Steinway, my Lhasa Apso, has been gone three years. As I have been remembering him lately, this story from apartment life in our first year back from the mission field has come to mind.

Steinway’s nemesis lives in our hall closet and emerges once a week or so for half an hour of terror. This green dragon, though chained to the wall, roars through our home devouring everything in its wake, and Steinway believes puppy-dog tails are its favorite food. Whenever it growls to life, consequently, he looks at me reproachfully and then scurries frantically from one hiding place to another. Just as he finds one that seems safe from the dragon’s clutches and starts barking at it with all the bravado he can muster, it approaches his new nest and he yelps and scampers to find a better one. From the looks he gives me, the most perplexing aspect of this trauma seems to be that his mommy would do such a thing. After all, I’m the one who lets it out, holds its leash, and apparently sends it chasing after him. If I am truly mistress of this home and love him, what am I thinking??!!!

You will understand, though Steinway receives my explanations with a blank stare, that I have a purpose greater than his own comfort: specifically, the cleanliness of the home we share. Also, because I do hold the reins to this beast, I will do everything in my power to keep it from swallowing his precious tail. And since it is only a vacuum cleaner and not a living creature, there’s no reason I shouldn’t be successful in the attempt, unless in Steinway’s desperate efforts to escape he crosses my path before I can avert the impending doom.

So what’s a mother to do? Well, this mother finally decided to throw him in the dungeon. Steinway, that is, not the vacuum cleaner. And actually it’s not a dungeon, just our bathroom, but from the way he cries and carries on you’d think it was the Pit of Despair, where years of his life will soon be sucked away.

Granted, it is a small, windowless room with nowhere to run around, but I do herd all his toys, his water bowl, and his favorite pillow in there before putting him in. What’s more, I lock him in with the baby gate rather than shutting the door, so he has a full view of Allen’s flowers on the balcony (and where his enemy is at all times).

That bathroom is the safest possible place for him at those moments, and the barrier he hates is the very thing that keeps him out of danger. What Steinway cannot understand, however, he will not trust. Given his history with me, since I’m the one who put him in the room and provided all manner of good things for his enjoyment, he could settle down on his pillow with his wooly-man and wait quietly until I opened the gate again. He could even stand at the gate and watch, barking from his impregnable fortress (barking without rebuke being a rare treat) or just marveling at my control over the beast, allowing it “thus far and no farther.”

Instead, he stands at the gate and cries to get out. And cries. And cries. It breaks my heart to hear him, and doesn’t do much for my ears, either, but it avails him nothing. This time, persistent, plaintive pleas do not change the outcome. Though I love him, my purpose to clean the carpets remains unchanged; because I love him, my purpose to protect him by confining him in a small space and unpleasant surroundings also remains unchanged.

Finally, the ordeal ends and I release him from prison. Invariably, he proceeds to check out the apartment. Did that monster eat anything important, like his food bowl? He pauses to sniff the air. Then he snorts:  Hmph. Smells okay. After assuring himself that all is again well and the danger has passed, he comes to me and burrows his head alternately in my lap and hand, which being interpreted means, “Pet me. NOW.” A disgusting display of mutual affection and a cookie follows. Doesn’t he deserve a reward for being so brave? After all, that dragon could have eaten his tail.

Lord, even though I laugh at some of the things my dogs do, at how foolish and slow of heart they sometimes are to understand, they are all too often more of a mirror than I'd like to admit. Someday, perhaps, I'll trust You so that I'll lean into the adventure of the dragons that roar and threaten me. Someday, perhaps, I'll grow bold and brave in the knowledge that You hold the reins of every danger, and no painful circumstance can touch me unless You in loving wisdom allow it. If I being evil desire so to protect my furry friends, how much more will You look after Your beloved child? Today, though, mostly I squirm away from the threats and yelp with fear and anxiety more than with actual pain. Lord, I trust You; I long to trust You more; help my distrust, for the sake of Jesus the Overcomer. Amen.

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

    and his kingdom rules over all.

Psalm 103:19, NIV