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This article is from
Creation 8(1):27–30, November 1985

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Editor’s note: As Creation magazine has been continuously published since 1978, we are publishing some of the articles from the archives for historical interest, such as this. For teaching and sharing purposes, readers are advised to supplement these historic articles with more up-to-date ones suggested in the Related Articles and Further Reading below.

Coverdale

By Sylvia Clifford

“In the beginning God created” is fairly easy to read. The English version of the first verse of the Book of Genesis is fairly basic. It’s also absolutely foundational to creation science.

Wikipedia.org Myles-Coverdale
Miles Coverdale, from the 18th century engraving from a 1533 portrait. Taken from the 1837 edition of the Letters of the Martyrs.

But the common Englishman of 400-plus years ago could have expected arrest for merely reciting this verse from Genesis in his own language. Not that he was too aware of Genesis, for he was barely aware of how to praise the God of Creation in his own tongue. He had no easy access even to Psalm 148, where he could read: “Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created.”. The Englishman’s problem in the early 1500s was that he did not have a readily available Bible in his own language. He largely lived a life of religious superstition and fear. But that was about to change!

On the 4th of October, 1535 the first “official” printed English language version of the Book of Genesis appeared. The Bible which contained it was dedicated to King Henry VIII and would soon acquire his verbal approval. Produced by one Miles Coverdale, it was printed in Zurich. Coverdale’s life was unusual. In his day, Reformers who gained fame with the pen, usually lost their heads to the sword of king or pope.

Scant historic records tell us Miles Coverdale was born around 1488. He was well aware that in the England of 1519, a widow and six working men were burned at the stake in Coventry for the dastardly crime of teaching their children the Lord’s Prayer, the Ten Commandments and the Apostle’s Creed in that most vulgar language—English. Coverdale at the time was a priest at Norwich with the Austin Friars and was studying at Cambridge.

Coverdale’s long life may be due to lessons he learnt early in life; priestly politics and prudence were sometimes impossible companions. Whilst he had been at Cambridge, the Prior of his monastery, Dr Robert Barnes opened his monastery to the recently disciplined Latimer who had been forbidden to preach. Barnes survived that political episode, because his monastery was outside the jurisdiction of the bishop. But, his ardour and enthusiasm for preaching the Gospel in its simplicity was not matched by an excellence in wisdom when one Sunday he publicly castigated Cardinal Wolsey for his pomp, extreme luxury, and ostentatious dress.

Barnes was brought to London from Cambridge under arrest. Three students including Coverdale followed to help prepare his defence.

Wikipedia.org William-Tyndale
William Tyndale, from Foxe's Book of Martyrs.

What they saw however was the defeat of Barnes who under immense pressure, being alternatively flattered and threatened, recanted, apologised to Wolsey in public, then was humiliated by having to carry his faggot in public to burn books which Wolsey considered heretical.

The politics of power radically affected Coverdale’s view of the priesthood. With the fall of his master Barnes, Coverdale withdrew from the monastery and became a secular priest. From that time on Coverdale was an example of prudence. He stuck to the simple Gospel, to the biblical text in his preaching. It appears he reasoned that if then he were to be arrested, it should be only for a noble cause, instead of the foolishness of practising politics. With this in mind however he continued to ardently preach against the veneration of images and confession, always however within the lines of Scripture, and devoid of any personal political attacks. His motto in reality was “wherever the Scripture is known it reformeth all things, and setteth everything in order. And why? Because it is given by inspiration of God”.1

Coverdale set about the task of translating the Bible into English at the same time William Tyndale was attempting an English translation on the Continent. England had proved inhospitable to Tyndale who was a far more controversial figure than Coverdale. Although Tyndale had applied for official permission to translate the Scriptures into the common man’s language, he had been refused. The church alone had claimed a sole right to interpret Scripture and declared it illegal for anyone but the priest to have the Bible, and then only in Greek or Latin. Coverdale lived in a world where church attendees were blind followers of tradition and superstition. It was both his view and Tyndale’s that only when English people were able to read the Word of God for themselves they would have a knowledge of what was true. The church hierarchy of the time however vigorously opposed the translation of Scripture into English saying it would only divide the church. To this attitude Coverdale replied, “Why should other nations be more plenteously provided with the Scriptures in their mother-tongue than we? God has now given His church the gifts of translating and printing; we must improve them”.2

Wikipedia.org Cardinal-Wolsey
Portrait of Cardinal Wolsey by Samson Strong, 1526

Earlier editions of the Bible were hand printed on leather and were consequently rare and expensive. No ordinary person could afford one. The recent invention of printing with metal type had the capacity of producing vast numbers of cheap Bibles. It was Coverdale’s belief that since Scripture was inspired by God in its original language, it would be no less inspired in another language, be it Dutch, French or English if it were faithfully translated.

Even the knowledge that Tyndale was producing a competing translation did not deter him. His attitude was, “When many are shooting together, everyone does his best to be nighest the mark”.3 His encouraging attitude towards Tyndale when he discovered Tyndale had lost his manuscripts through shipwreck, had a powerful effect on Tyndale who continued his translation work despite the setback. There can be no doubt about the bigness of Coverdale’s character.

Coverdale began his task about 1530, and on the 4th of October 1535 the Bible appeared under the rather lengthy title Biblia, The Bible, that is to say, the Holy Scriptures of Old and New Testament.

Coverdale’s prudence however was soon to be a victim of the politics he so avidly avoided. His dedication to King Henry VIII and his “dearest just wife” Anne was soon to be subject to the King’s fickle loves. By the time Thomas Cromwell presented Coverdale’s work to King Henry VIII, good King Henry’s “dearest just wife” Anne had already been beheaded. There was a new Queen on the throne, Jeanne (or Jane) Seymour. Some of the early copies of Coverdale’s Bible were quickly corrected with a pen to read to King Henry VIII and his “dearest just wife, the most virtuous princess, Queen JANE”. In others the name of the Queen was simply scratched out. To distribute such a book at this time would have merely aroused the monarch’s wrath and so a new title page was printed and dated 1536. King Henry soon gave his verbal approval, but showed no appreciation for the merits of Coverdale’s work or any enthusiasm for its circulation. In that same year Coverdale’s friend William Tyndale, the man famous for producing the first (but unofficial) English translation of Genesis was garrotted and burned at the stake for his efforts.

Wikipedia.org Henry-VIII-by-
Portraiture of Henry VIII by the workshop of Hans Holbein the Younger

Coverdale loved the Scriptures, gloried in it being translated into his native tongue and enjoyed the freedom it had brought to him. He was not hesitant at all in 1539 when he was employed by Thomas Cromwell to assist in the production of the Great Bible. He was anxious that all men should enjoy the Scriptures. He was active in the suppression of superstition and longed that all Englishmen would enjoy light rather than darkness. But even Coverdale’s ability to avoid conflict did not always provide a way out. In 1542 officialdom prohibited the usage of his Bible and Coverdale deemed it wisest to live abroad. But the winds of change were soon to blow the adverse politics away and in 1548, Coverdale returned to England. He was now an honoured guest at Windsor Castle and was appointed chaplain to the young King Edward VI. In his later years, Coverdale was often seen in the buildings of parliament and was no stranger to the vagaries of power. He was in favour with King Edward VI, decidedly out of favour with Queen Mary I and returned to favour with the ascension of Elizabeth I to the throne. Coverdale knew in principle and practice it was not wise to put his trust in princes (Psalm 146:3), and God alone was his constant source of strength.

The uniqueness of Coverdale’s life shows in the strange fact that although many of his close friends had been martyred or imprisoned for the same faith, yet God always enabled Coverdale to remain free. He never hid his convictions, and is notorious for his sermon on the second Sunday in Lent, 1549 when the enthusiasm he engendered resulted in the pulling down of the “sacrament at the high altar”. Coverdale was sometimes intolerant of the views of others and served in 1550 on a commission to prosecute the Anabaptists who had infringed the “Book of Common Prayer”. However, history notes well that he was a man who had the courage of his convictions. He became Bishop of Exeter, but lost this position when Queen Mary ascended the throne. Strangely however, “Bloody Mary”, never molested Coverdale except to seek sureties for his persecuted friends.

In February 1555, Coverdale was permitted to leave England for Denmark with his wife and his baggage unchecked. His brother-in-law had influence with King Christian III of Denmark and his friends in high places obtained his doorway of escape. However, at age 70, he did not escape to retire, for within three years it appears he was also involved in the preparation of the Geneva Bible. In 1559 when Queen Elizabeth ascended to the throne, Coverdale returned to his beloved England. He never resumed his Bishopric, but he did resume his preaching. Officialdom chose to either overlook or ignore the pointed barbs of Coverdale’s preaching until the year 1566 when Coverdale was faced with resigning or conforming. At 79 years of age he resigned. Two years later, on the 19th February 1568 Miles Coverdale’s pen lay still. His tongue was silent in the grave. But his words, the only sword he had ever used, lived on in strength. Although Coverdale’s translation had only limited literary merit, many of his phrases were retained for use in the King James authorized version of the Bible, which was to reign, unchallenged as THE English Bible for the next 400 years. It was to be this Bible which made common the famous first verse of Coverdale’s Genesis, “In y begynnynge God created heauen & earth”:4 A truth which is the root and anchor of Creation Science.

Posted on homepage: 22 October 2014

References and notes

  1. Merle d’Aubigne, J-H., The Reformation in England, Banner of Truth Trust, London, p. 349, 1962. Return to text.
  2. Merle d’Aubigne, J-H., The Reformation in England, Vol 2., Banner of Truth Trust, London, p. 350, 1963. Return to text.
  3. Encylopedia Britannica, Vol 6., 1962. Return to text.
  4. It appears Coverdale made either no, or only little, use of the original Greek and Hebrew text for preparing his translation although he had studied these languages at university. It appears he gained most of his resource from five pre-existent versions in other languages, the Latin Vulgate, the Latin version of Paginus, Luther’s translation, the Zurich version and Tyndale’s English version Pentateuch and New Testament. Return to text.

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