Last week I was watching 'The Most
Dangerous Man in Tudor England' on TV. At first I was just intrigued by the
title; was it Henry VIII or Thomas Moore or someone else? Turned out it was
about William Tyndale, who translated the Bible from Latin into English. How
his impact on Christianity in Britain, and on the English language, still
continues. How it made him a threat to the church and the state, and set him on
a fatal collision course with Henry VIII's and the pope's heretic hunters.
He translated the bible
into English and it made him the most dangerous man in England? I couldn't
understand that. Why? They all believed that the bible was the word of God so
what was the problem? It was explained that the authorities kept control by
filtering God's word through the church and priests, while Tyndale wanted to
make it accessible to everyone. They were fighting over that? Really?
But it got me thinking.
So many things that we think are vitally important today, things people think are
worth fighting for, even dying for, will seem completely, ridiculously
unimportant in years to come. Fights between different branches or interpretations
of the same religion are obvious examples but there are so many others.
They're trying to
legalise gay marriage in this country and many people are totally opposed to
it. Why? I don't understand that anymore than I understand the controversy over
translating the bible. As the guy from the Terrence Higgins Trust said, if
you're a man and you don't like the idea of two men getting married then don't
marry one.
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