Despite what some ardent fans of the Matthew Bible say, it was not the first authorized English Bible. In fact, that honour goes to TWO other versions! Here’s why, and the explanation for all the confusion among historians.
The past 650 years can be divided into four periods. During the first two, God’s word struggled for light. In the latter two, men took the former translations in hand in order to revise them.
At Psalm 107:21, some Bibles speak of praising God, some thanking him, and one of ‘confessing before’ him. The semantics are subtly different.
Good counsel vs. much counsel. What really is the point? This one bothered me when I first came to the Bible as a new Christian, until I found the 1537 Matthew Bible. See what the different versions say, and tell me if the Matthew Bible doesn’t make a whole lot more sense: ♦ Wycliffe Bible:
I accept that Scripture – truly translated, that is – must be our source and arbiter of doctrine, if that is what is understood by ‘sola scriptura’. But if I were to rally around a slogan, it might be ‘Verbum prius’, or ‘the Word first’, by which I mean Him who is the Incarnate Word.
See the difference between Myles Coverdale’s translation approach in the Matthew Bible, and that of the Geneva Puritans who revised his work.
The Geneva Bible did it again: changed the Matthew Bible to remove all reference to the word of God, this time at Psalm 23. They also removed the reference to eternal life.
Tyndale understood 1 Peter 1:13 to teach that Jesus Christ is ‘declared’ or revealed through the preaching of the word. Beginning with the Geneva Bible, this teaching was slowly altered to deal with revelation of Christ at the second coming.
The Reformers – every single one of them – believed that when the Lord returns at the close of this age, he will usher in the end of time and of the world. The earth will burn with a fervent heat (2 Peter), the Great Judgment will follow, and then there will be a
Ascension Day Poem by Worsley: Only by a chosen few was He seen ascending into heaven that day. Their vision encourages us too.
