RE: Science, faith, and theists
September 4, 2014 at 7:10 am
(This post was last modified: September 4, 2014 at 7:23 am by Michael.)
Hi Cato:
On diaries, that information came from Prof Diarmaid McCulloch. Remember I didn't say that diaries started with the Calvinists, rather it was the popular habit of keeping track of personal lives that started with the Calvinists.
On Tyndale. I did say that Tyndale had to flee during the time he was translating. What I was trying to make clear was that by the time of his death the argument about vernacular translations had largely been won, and that other factors, particularly his opposition to Henry's divorce were likely to be more influential in his fate. Counter-factual history is always going to be hugely speculative, but I suspect if Tyndale had not objected to Henry's divorce then he would have been as welcome as Myles Coverdale who had worked on an English translation, using much of Tyndale's work, prior to Tyndale's death but had found favour in the King's eyes. If the objection was simply to an English translation then Coverdale would have suffered the same fate, but we see Coverdale taking a leading role in the production of the Great Bible.
As for what the charge of heresy says, I think it simply shows the hypocrisy and inconsistency that was rampant at the time; church and state were in a pretty dreadful political state and each used each other out of convenience. Tyndale had too few friends of influence (though Cromwell did speak on his behalf). I'm certainly not afraid to see the church in a bad light - one need only look at the fate of the Cathars to see how dreadful things could get, but 16th century history is much more complex than often presented.
On diaries, that information came from Prof Diarmaid McCulloch. Remember I didn't say that diaries started with the Calvinists, rather it was the popular habit of keeping track of personal lives that started with the Calvinists.
On Tyndale. I did say that Tyndale had to flee during the time he was translating. What I was trying to make clear was that by the time of his death the argument about vernacular translations had largely been won, and that other factors, particularly his opposition to Henry's divorce were likely to be more influential in his fate. Counter-factual history is always going to be hugely speculative, but I suspect if Tyndale had not objected to Henry's divorce then he would have been as welcome as Myles Coverdale who had worked on an English translation, using much of Tyndale's work, prior to Tyndale's death but had found favour in the King's eyes. If the objection was simply to an English translation then Coverdale would have suffered the same fate, but we see Coverdale taking a leading role in the production of the Great Bible.
As for what the charge of heresy says, I think it simply shows the hypocrisy and inconsistency that was rampant at the time; church and state were in a pretty dreadful political state and each used each other out of convenience. Tyndale had too few friends of influence (though Cromwell did speak on his behalf). I'm certainly not afraid to see the church in a bad light - one need only look at the fate of the Cathars to see how dreadful things could get, but 16th century history is much more complex than often presented.
