Tortured forever? / The 500-year-old New Testament! / Stealing © material in a good cause? / When belief in God becomes difficult...

Author

Douglas Jacoby
February 28, 2026

Good morning from North Georgia!

How much do you know about the history of the English Bible? Some believe that the 17th-century King James Version was the first. (Actually, books of the Bible in English were circulating in the 7th century—nearly 1000 years earlier!) One of most important translations was that of Tyndale, in the early 16th century. Today I’d like to share an article on Tyndale’s New Testament.

In addition, you’ll find five meaty quotations (from Chesterton, Derrida, Habermas, and Holland), as well as four fresh Q&As.

May we all continue to grow in Christ—with the courage of Tyndale, the wit of Chesterton, and the curiosity of the Queen of Sheba!

THE 500-YEAR-OLD NEW TESTAMENT!

Article: Tyndale House, Cambridge

When I first learned about Tyndale, I was moved by his fidelity to the Word—even at the cost of his life. When I read the complete Tyndale NT, I recognized that many phrases in modern English originate in his translation, preserved in the KJV. At least 80% of Tyndale’s NT appears in the KJV! — DJ

 

William Tyndale (1494–1536) was a pioneering translator of the Bible whose work continues to shape the way it is read today. Tyndale was the first to translate the New Testament into English directly from the original Greek. His clear and memorable English style became the foundation for subsequent English translations, and his influences can be seen throughout the King James Bible of 1611.


Tyndale’s work came at great personal cost. At a time when translating the Bible into the language of the ordinary people was forbidden, he was forced to live in exile. Eventually, he was betrayed, imprisoned, and executed in 1536. He is remembered as a martyr who gave his life to ensure that the Scriptures could be read and understood by all. KEEP READING

QUESTION & ANSWER

Ready for some more Q&As? This bulletin offers four:

QUOTABLE

  • When belief in God becomes difficult, the tendency is to turn away from Him. But in heaven's name, to what? — G. K. Chesterton

  • When people stop believing in God, they don't believe in nothing. They believe in anything. — G. K. Chesterton

  • Today the cornerstone of international law is the sacred, what is sacred in humanity. You should not kill. You should not be responsible for a crime against this sacredness, the sacredness of man as your neighbor… made by God or by God made man…. in that sense, the concept of crime against humanity is a Christian concept and I think there would be no such thing in the law today without the Christian heritage, the Abrahamic heritage, the biblical heritage. — Jacques Derrida

  • Egalitarian universalism, from which sprang the ideas of freedom and a social solidarity, of an autonomous conduct of life and emancipation, the individual mortality of conscience, human rights, and democracy, is a direct heir to the Judaic ethic of justice and the Christian ethic of live. — Jürgen Habermas (1929—)

  •  The notion that a god might have suffered torture and death on a cross was so shocking as to appear repulsive. Familiarity with the biblical narrative of the Crucifixion has dulled our sense of just how completely novel a deity Christ was. In the ancient world, it was the role of gods who laid claim to ruling the universe to uphold its order by inflicting punishment—not to suffer it themselves. — Tom Holland (1968—), Why I Was Wrong About Christianity

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Yours in Him,
Douglas


Thank you for all your prayers for my health. It’s been 17 days since the shoulder replacement, and so far I’m recovering well.

Next week: I will be teaching a number of East African churches (Zoom). In the next bulletin: a survey. I need your input!

For all bulletins 2004-2026 (100s of pages of biblical material), click here. Access the website here. New material every week—typically, every day! Become a website member ($0.10/day, paid annually) here. Your membership is a tremendous boost to this ministry. To donate, click here.