​William Tyndale is a name that you probably recognize immediately.[1] Most likely, you know him as the one who first translated the Scriptures into English and was later martyred as a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church. Tyndale is not as well known for his theological works. It is to our own detriment as English speakers that we do not know Tyndale better. When anyone reads him, it is no surprise that some historians have even called him the first Puritan.[2] His writings are full of biblical and pastoral warmth. It is clear that this man loved the Triune God, the Gospel, and the church, which he called “God’s little flock.”[3] In this short article I want to give you a taste for the English Reformer’s thoughts and writings. I want us to hear, from the pen of William Tyndale, about our Christ. 

 

Who is Christ?

            Among Tyndale’s works still available to us we have his Exposition of the First Epistle of St. John, which is full of experiential and exegetical insights. Throughout the comments he sets Christ up in a clear and heart warming way, but I want to focus on some comments that he wrote on 1 John 2:22.[4] According to Tyndale, it was Rome, her priests, and Pope that have made themselves into the ultimate liars and anti-christs as they have preached false sacraments and a false gospel. They have made themselves into the greatest hypocrites.

            However, Christ is not like this. Tyndale writes that, “Christ is no hypocrite, or disguised, that playeth a part in a play, and representeth a person, or state, which He is not” (1:182). Instead, Jesus is to us what He is called. In Tyndale’s words, “[He] is always that his name signifieth” (1:182). Tyndale has four names in mind as he writes this–Jesus, Christ, Emmanuel, and Holy. We will take each of these in turn.

            Christ is called “Jesus, a Savior.” He is called, “Christus, king anointed over all men, of whom they must hold, and who benefit must all they have.” As Emmanuel He is called, “God is with us: for He only maketh God our God, our strength, power, sword and shield, and shortly our Father.” Finally, Jesus is called Holy. As Tyndale puts it, “He is called Sanctus, that is, holy, that holloweth, sanctifieth and blesseth all nations.”

            Tyndale is arguing something beautiful in this section. Not only that these titles belong to Christ, but that He really is what He is called. He is not an actor, with the title Savior, but who can never save. Indeed, “[T]hese be His names forever, and be no names of hypocrisy.” Rather, Christ is “alway that His name signifieth, He is ever a Saviour, and ever anointed with grace, and ever maketh God with us, and ever sanctifieth.” Tyndale loves this Christ, and goes on to offer this Christ to you. He says, “Neither is there any other to save and sanctify from sin, or anoint with grace, or to set God at one with men. And these things, which His name signify, doth He ever unto all that have trust and confidence in His blood, as soon as they repent of the sin which they desire to be saved and sanctified from.”

            It is easy for us who have been Christians for any amount of time to let the names of Jesus–Christ, Emmanuel, etc.–become empty words without meaning. Tyndale, though dead, yet speaks to us, and we would be helped to hear his exhortation. Let us remember who Christ is. He is no hypocrite, pretending to be what He never could live up to. Rather, He is what He is called. He is Savior, King, God with us, and Holy.

 

[1] William Tyndale has become a precious friend to me. Currently I am researching to write my doctoral dissertation on his pastoral theology. It is a joy to spend so much time in his writings, and I recommend his writings to any and all who would read him.

[2] This used to be a much more popular idea than it is now. Such assertions can be found in articles like Jens G. M∅ller, “Beginnings of Puritan Covenant Theology,” Journal of Ecclesiastical History 14.1 (1963): 46- 67. A fuller survey and review of this idea can also be found in Donal Dean Smeeton, Lollard Themes in the Reformation Theology of William Tyndale, Sixteenth Century Essays and Studies, vol. VI, (Ann Arbor, MI: Edwards Brothers, 1984), 20-25.

[3] Tyndale speaks about the church like this in several places. For instance, in his prologue to The Obedience of a Christian Man he writes, “If we ask, we shall obtain; if we knock, he will open; if we seek, we shall find; if we thirst, his truth shall fulfil our lust. Christ is with us until the world’s end. Let his little flock be bold therefore. For if God be on our side, what matter maketh it who be against us, be they bishops, cardinals, popes, or whatsoever names they will?” (Emphasis my own). William Tyndale, Works of William Tyndale (Carlisle: Banner of Truth Trust, 2010), 1:135.

[4] This verse, in Tyndale’s translation, reads, “Who is a liar, but he that denieth that Jesus is Christ? The same is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.”          

​

About the Author:  Jared Ebert serves as pastor at Mount Carmel Baptist Church in Williamstown, KY.