WEBVTT 00:09.990 --> 00:11.110 In the U.S. 00:11.150 --> 00:16.570 today, there are more than 150 million Protestants worshiping in close to 300,000 00:16.570 --> 00:17.010 churches. 00:17.410 --> 00:21.650 With more than 630 different denominations, they worship in vastly 00:21.650 --> 00:22.610 different ways. 00:23.530 --> 00:26.510 The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ... 00:26.510 --> 00:29.810 But they all trace their roots to one book, the Bible. 00:30.290 --> 00:35.430 And specifically, the English Language Bible, which today most of us take for 00:35.430 --> 00:35.710 granted. 00:41.530 --> 00:44.310 Translating the Bible into English was no simple task. 00:45.070 --> 00:50.790 Behind the book is a dark and deadly story of subversion, smuggling, imprisonment, 00:51.010 --> 00:51.710 and murder. 00:54.210 --> 00:58.450 For centuries, the church hierarchy carefully guarded the text from common 00:58.450 --> 01:04.510 interpretation, until a few indomitable men questioned the church's authority and 01:04.510 --> 01:06.770 devoted their lives to bringing the book to the masses. 01:12.250 --> 01:13.770 John Wycliffe, 01:17.670 --> 01:18.950 Thomas Cranmer, 01:23.190 --> 01:24.710 and William Tyndale. 01:24.930 --> 01:28.970 I refuse him as Christ's enemy and the Antichrist! 01:29.610 --> 01:34.050 Their struggles transformed England, helped create America, and paved the way 01:34.050 --> 01:35.390 for modern day Christianity. 01:36.270 --> 01:40.870 These men were the martyrs in the battles for the Bible. 02:04.910 --> 02:10.190 To most Christians today, these words are literally the words of the Bible. 02:11.270 --> 02:12.750 Let thy kingdom come. 02:13.410 --> 02:16.330 Thy will be fulfilled as well in earth as it is in heaven. 02:17.850 --> 02:21.490 But in fact, the original words were written in Hebrew and ancient Greek, 02:21.950 --> 02:23.190 and few could understand them. 02:24.190 --> 02:28.990 Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses. 02:29.410 --> 02:32.970 This translation was only made in England in 1526. 02:34.210 --> 02:36.690 Even then, its creation was an illegal act. 02:38.070 --> 02:41.850 The English authorities feared that if the common people could read the Bible for 02:41.850 --> 02:45.030 themselves, they would question the authority of the church. 02:46.370 --> 02:49.970 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. 02:51.230 --> 02:55.090 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. 02:55.830 --> 02:56.090 Amen. 02:57.590 --> 03:00.790 The very first English translation appeared in the 1380s. 03:01.470 --> 03:05.230 Its arrival launched a religious revival and political upheaval. 03:08.270 --> 03:12.250 At that time, there was only one Christian church in all of Western Europe. 03:12.790 --> 03:15.990 The institution known today as the Roman Catholic Church. 03:17.970 --> 03:20.490 At its apex was the Pope. 03:21.670 --> 03:26.210 The church certainly had a monopoly on the way that people experienced Christianity. 03:26.670 --> 03:27.910 It was the only game in town. 03:28.910 --> 03:32.270 There was no other church in which one could find salvation. 03:33.310 --> 03:35.210 And going to church was not voluntary. 03:35.210 --> 03:36.590 You didn't get a choice. 03:37.010 --> 03:37.790 It was required. 03:45.830 --> 03:50.690 But in the middle of the 14th century, dramatic events began to destroy the old 03:50.690 --> 03:51.110 world. 03:53.350 --> 03:58.150 Between 1348 and 1350, a great plague spread across Europe. 03:59.130 --> 04:02.030 The Black Death killed more than a third of the population. 04:03.610 --> 04:05.250 Whole communities were wiped out. 04:08.300 --> 04:13.040 To the religious survivors, the only rationale for the carnage was a powerful 04:13.040 --> 04:13.960 act of God. 04:15.700 --> 04:18.100 Europe was a world dominated by death. 04:18.740 --> 04:22.600 And the church, with its promise of salvation, was the only escape. 04:24.720 --> 04:29.180 In those days, the Catholic Mass, not the Bible, was at the heart of 04:29.180 --> 04:30.060 Christian practice. 04:31.020 --> 04:35.700 Performed by priests, the Mass was a sacrament with the power to confer eternal 04:35.700 --> 04:36.120 life. 04:36.940 --> 04:41.860 During the ritual, bread and wine were believed to transform into the actual body 04:41.860 --> 04:43.280 and blood of Jesus. 04:43.960 --> 04:47.220 But the congregation played little part in the ceremony. 04:49.420 --> 04:52.620 The priests faced the altar and away from the people. 04:53.400 --> 04:57.020 They spoke in Latin, a learned language few others understood. 04:58.480 --> 05:01.540 When they read from the Bible, that too was in Latin. 05:01.540 --> 05:06.620 And it was an archaic translation from the original Greek and Hebrew that was more 05:06.620 --> 05:07.900 than a thousand years old. 05:09.300 --> 05:12.860 The congregation simply performed the rituals and followed the priest's 05:12.860 --> 05:13.300 injunctions. 05:14.100 --> 05:15.520 That was their path to heaven. 05:16.200 --> 05:19.660 It gave the church enormous political clout. 05:20.680 --> 05:24.940 The status of a priest would be extremely powerful because they are capable, 05:25.400 --> 05:27.800 with their words, to perform this miracle. 05:28.520 --> 05:30.520 And that's a tremendously powerful place to be. 05:30.520 --> 05:37.400 That position at the altar, handling what is a great mystery and having the words 05:37.400 --> 05:43.860 that unlock it, must be remarkably moving to people who do not understand the actual 05:43.860 --> 05:44.720 words being said. 05:48.140 --> 05:52.920 But in the 1370s, one man challenged the influence of the priests. 05:54.120 --> 05:57.060 He condemned the wealth and political power of the church. 05:57.060 --> 06:01.960 He questioned its holy sacrament, the Mass, and he attacked the spiritual 06:01.960 --> 06:03.120 authority of its leaders. 06:05.040 --> 06:09.380 His name was John Wycliffe, and he was the leading theologian of his age. 06:12.220 --> 06:16.000 Close reading of the original Greek scriptures led Wycliffe to believe that 06:16.000 --> 06:20.100 the church he saw had drifted widely from the purity of the Gospels. 06:20.940 --> 06:25.200 What Wycliffe's own reading of the Bible convinced him was that the church had 06:25.200 --> 06:32.000 gotten it wrong, that their claim of their own power was, in some sense, contradicted 06:32.000 --> 06:32.540 in scripture. 06:33.300 --> 06:37.940 And so that made the Bible the source of authority for Christianity. 06:39.020 --> 06:43.900 Outraged, Wycliffe called for a renewed, pure Christianity and an English-language 06:43.900 --> 06:44.920 Bible to guide it. 06:45.920 --> 06:54.460 Now, knowing this, why may we not write in English the Gospel to the edification of 06:54.460 --> 06:55.820 men's souls? 06:58.680 --> 07:01.940 With his words, John Wycliffe started a revolution. 07:02.980 --> 07:06.480 He and his followers began translating the Bible into their own language. 07:07.300 --> 07:11.200 In the slang of their time, they were called lollards, or mutterers, 07:11.740 --> 07:14.760 perhaps because they were always uttering prayers under their breaths. 07:15.780 --> 07:21.220 They turned the Latin Bible into their everyday speech, a precursor to today's 07:21.220 --> 07:21.940 modern English. 07:23.500 --> 07:27.140 In the beginning God made heaven and earth. 07:27.940 --> 07:31.500 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. 07:32.560 --> 07:39.840 And the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the 07:39.840 --> 07:40.120 deep. 07:40.820 --> 07:45.240 And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. 07:49.160 --> 07:57.280 And God said, Let there be light. 07:58.300 --> 07:59.560 And there was light. 08:00.520 --> 08:03.660 And the evening and the morning were the first day. 08:05.820 --> 08:09.920 The printing press had not yet reached England, so every Wycliffe Bible was 08:09.920 --> 08:12.980 copied by hand, a monotonous six-month process. 08:13.580 --> 08:15.220 At first, the translations were written in English. 08:16.120 --> 08:21.780 A Wycliffe Bible is not printed, so every single one is a unique object. 08:22.480 --> 08:26.360 The earlier Bibles almost look like primers of Latin-English translation, 08:26.940 --> 08:27.820 word for word. 08:28.020 --> 08:31.160 They come closer to a word for word translation instead of thought for 08:31.160 --> 08:31.480 thought. 08:32.540 --> 08:35.920 Reading Wycliffe's Bible encouraged his followers to think for themselves. 08:36.660 --> 08:39.280 That was not something the authorities could tolerate. 08:42.260 --> 08:44.360 It undermined the power of the church. 08:45.460 --> 08:46.540 And the king. 08:49.160 --> 08:53.640 Wycliffe died in 1384, but soon after, the English government carried out a 08:53.640 --> 08:56.500 series of repressive measures to end the Lollard movement. 08:58.100 --> 09:03.120 In 1407, Wycliffe's books were banned, and the English translation of the Bible 09:03.120 --> 09:04.260 was declared illegal. 09:05.030 --> 09:11.940 From then on, possession of the English Bible was considered evidence of heresy. 09:12.720 --> 09:15.700 And the punishment for heresy was death by fire. 09:17.740 --> 09:22.960 In 1415, a church council posthumously condemned Wycliffe himself as a heretic. 09:23.860 --> 09:27.260 Thirteen years later, a macabre ritual ensued. 09:32.280 --> 09:38.100 As a last act of revenge and a warning to the remaining Lollards, the church ordered 09:38.100 --> 09:39.600 the exhumation of his corpse. 09:48.980 --> 09:54.320 This holy council declares, defines and determines the same John Wycliffe to have 09:54.320 --> 09:56.940 been a notorious and persistent heretic. 09:56.940 --> 09:59.440 Indeed, to have died as a heretic. 10:00.740 --> 10:05.220 As if that wasn't enough, Wycliffe's body was then burned and his ashes scattered. 10:09.040 --> 10:14.420 Likewise, this council anathematizes him utterly and condemns his memory, 10:14.980 --> 10:19.860 and decrees and orders that his body and bones, if they can be distinguished from 10:19.860 --> 10:25.240 the bodies of the faithful, be exhumed and cast far from the cemetery of the church, 10:25.540 --> 10:28.480 according to the legitimate sanctions of canon law. 10:30.520 --> 10:34.840 The authorities hoped that banishing Wycliffe in death would at last cast out 10:34.840 --> 10:35.980 his dangerous ideas. 10:37.980 --> 10:39.540 But it was a futile hope. 10:40.420 --> 10:44.440 The Lollards continued to follow his teachings, and more copies of the Wycliffe 10:44.440 --> 10:47.720 Bible survive today than any other medieval text. 10:49.240 --> 10:50.520 Wycliffe's thoughts don't die. 10:50.940 --> 10:56.520 They are less mortal than his body, and they persist in the inspiration that 10:56.520 --> 10:57.960 he gives his followers. 10:58.580 --> 11:02.640 So, what happens to Wycliffe Bibles is actually kind of interesting, because we 11:02.640 --> 11:03.260 have lots of them. 11:03.780 --> 11:06.640 So, despite this ban, they must have been produced in droves. 11:07.520 --> 11:12.720 So, it both is outlawed, and as an outlawed text, it's extraordinarily 11:12.720 --> 11:13.260 popular. 11:13.940 --> 11:17.900 The Wycliffe Bible circulated secretly among the Lollards for the next hundred 11:17.900 --> 11:18.420 years. 11:21.220 --> 11:24.900 The movement never grew big enough to truly threaten the Catholic Church's 11:24.900 --> 11:29.160 power, but church authorities still made sporadic attempts to eliminate it. 11:30.120 --> 11:34.980 Local bishops would conduct occasional purges, and each time, they would discover 11:34.980 --> 11:36.900 that Wycliffe's followers still lingered. 11:38.780 --> 11:44.080 In one case in 1506, 60 people were arrested in one village alone, 11:44.480 --> 11:46.700 and two were burnt as heretics. 11:53.970 --> 11:58.490 The deadly game of hide-and-seek continued until the reign of King Henry VIII in the 11:58.490 --> 12:03.090 1520s, when a new attack was launched against the established Catholic Church. 12:06.990 --> 12:12.190 Not surprisingly, the new threat coincided with the Renaissance, the expansion of 12:12.190 --> 12:13.330 critical thinking in Europe. 12:14.330 --> 12:18.530 Explorers had reached the Americas, astronomers were creating new maps of the 12:18.530 --> 12:24.150 stars, there was a revolution in art and literature, and the printing press had 12:24.150 --> 12:26.130 increased the number of books in circulation. 12:29.830 --> 12:36.230 Bible scholarship, too, was reaching new levels of proficiency, and the discovery 12:36.230 --> 12:40.750 of ancient manuscripts had sharpened the study of Greek and Hebrew, the ancient 12:40.750 --> 12:43.370 languages in which the Bible was originally written. 12:46.170 --> 12:50.730 In 1515, the research culminated in a groundbreaking edition of the New 12:50.730 --> 12:51.130 Testament. 12:54.710 --> 12:59.230 It was a text of the original Greek Gospels, with a new Latin translation. 12:59.990 --> 13:04.990 Although not in English, it gave educated Christians the opportunity to examine the 13:04.990 --> 13:07.210 original words of the Apostles for themselves. 13:08.490 --> 13:13.490 The new translation was a far cry from the thousand-year-old text the Catholic Church 13:13.490 --> 13:14.050 was using. 13:15.000 --> 13:17.670 This is a sensationally important printing. 13:18.710 --> 13:23.390 The New Testament is a Greek thing, and anything else is a translation. 13:24.210 --> 13:26.050 The impact of that was colossal. 13:31.870 --> 13:36.530 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word 13:36.530 --> 13:37.190 was God. 13:38.290 --> 13:40.270 The same was in the beginning with God. 13:41.230 --> 13:45.350 All things were made by it, and without it was made nothing that was made. 13:49.990 --> 13:54.150 The fresh edition of the Greek New Testament was an inspiration for a young 13:54.150 --> 13:56.150 English scholar named William Tyndale. 13:56.150 --> 14:03.010 Born in 1494, he was a remarkable linguist, fluent in French, Greek, 14:03.490 --> 14:08.130 Hebrew, German, Italian, Latin, Spanish, and his native English. 14:10.410 --> 14:15.030 And the light shineth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not. 14:17.450 --> 14:21.930 Like Wycliffe before him, Tyndale hated the Church's ban on the English Bible. 14:21.930 --> 14:27.550 He felt it created an unnecessary barrier between believers and the Word of God. 14:28.330 --> 14:34.870 Who is so blind to say they cannot be showed the light who walk in darkness? 14:35.910 --> 14:41.050 For they cannot but stumble, and where to stumble is the danger of eternal 14:41.050 --> 14:41.630 damnation. 14:42.790 --> 14:47.650 Though there's no proof, it's likely Tyndale grew up in Lollard's circles and 14:47.650 --> 14:49.390 was familiar with their English Bible. 14:51.930 --> 14:55.710 Lollardy was very alive and it would have been phenomenal if he hadn't been aware of 14:55.710 --> 14:56.310 it as a boy. 14:58.110 --> 15:01.210 Tyndale would have appreciated the inclusiveness of the Lollard texts. 15:01.730 --> 15:07.230 What was remarkable about Lollardy was that everybody was in the picture. 15:08.950 --> 15:11.370 The Bible was read to everybody. 15:12.550 --> 15:16.570 But the new Greek text inspired Tyndale to begin his own modern translation. 15:17.350 --> 15:21.470 At Magdalen College in Oxford, he began tutoring other students. 15:23.030 --> 15:28.710 While he was at Magdalen, Tyndale read scripture privily to certain students and 15:28.710 --> 15:29.010 fellows. 15:29.350 --> 15:34.590 So I think he's reading the Greek New Testament translated by him to them. 15:35.450 --> 15:41.010 And I think the vocation happened on the arrival of the Greek New Testament. 15:46.420 --> 15:48.520 Tyndale was not alone in his efforts. 15:49.960 --> 15:54.340 Throughout Europe, the new Greek translation was becoming a lightning rod 15:54.340 --> 15:55.460 for religious reform. 15:58.240 --> 16:03.260 The biggest uprising was in Wittenberg, Germany, where a monk named Martin Luther 16:03.260 --> 16:06.640 was engaged in his own close study of the New Testament. 16:08.500 --> 16:10.960 He was on a collision course with the Church. 16:11.920 --> 16:16.460 He believed its power and wealth was a disgraceful exploitation of the faithful. 16:18.620 --> 16:21.900 Luther's rebellion began what today we call the Reformation. 16:22.480 --> 16:27.240 It splintered Europe and ignited a series of religious battles that would devastate 16:27.240 --> 16:29.280 the continent for the next century and a half. 16:30.040 --> 16:33.300 I don't think there's anything inevitable about what happened in the Reformation. 16:33.980 --> 16:38.880 But it was a struggle about something very profound indeed, how you are saved, 16:39.260 --> 16:40.160 how you get to heaven. 16:41.020 --> 16:46.160 And what Protestants said was that you and I can do nothing for our own salvation. 16:46.860 --> 16:48.540 It's all in the hands of God. 16:50.340 --> 16:52.080 Now that's Luther's message. 16:52.460 --> 16:56.120 The trouble was that the late medieval church had said to people, well actually 16:56.120 --> 16:58.140 you can do things to be saved. 16:58.480 --> 17:01.520 There is a place called Purgatory, you can stay there for a while, 17:02.300 --> 17:05.520 you can have prayers said for you, and these will help you get to heaven. 17:06.340 --> 17:10.820 That was what Luther objected to, the idea that you and I can do things. 17:12.040 --> 17:15.980 Luther insisted that faith and faith alone was the key to salvation. 17:16.460 --> 17:21.200 He denounced the Catholic priest's role as intermediaries between believers and their 17:21.200 --> 17:21.600 God. 17:22.440 --> 17:25.620 His teachings became the foundation of Protestantism. 17:26.320 --> 17:31.300 Luther wouldn't shut up when the Pope told him to, and that moment was what caused 17:31.300 --> 17:31.760 the split. 17:34.240 --> 17:37.940 Unlike England, Germany had no ban on Bible translations. 17:38.700 --> 17:43.120 So in 1522, Luther published a German version of the New Testament. 17:43.960 --> 17:47.460 Despite its heretical origins, the book was a bestseller. 17:48.580 --> 17:52.480 The first edition of thousands of copies sold out in weeks. 17:55.720 --> 18:00.440 Back in England, Tyndale continued his own clandestine work, hoping to emulate 18:00.440 --> 18:01.400 Luther's success. 18:04.060 --> 18:08.400 But Catholic England was a dangerous place for anyone with unorthodox religious 18:08.400 --> 18:08.900 views. 18:08.900 --> 18:13.600 And Tyndale faced harsh resistance as he spread his controversial beliefs. 18:15.960 --> 18:20.040 At one point, he was called before the local bishop for spreading heresy. 18:20.980 --> 18:25.620 Though Tyndale managed to defend himself, the incident heralded the strength of the 18:25.620 --> 18:26.040 opposition. 18:27.300 --> 18:29.300 This only increased Tyndale's commitment. 18:30.300 --> 18:34.840 If God spare me, and many years, I will cause a boy that driveth a plough 18:34.840 --> 18:37.100 shall know more scripture than thou dost. 18:39.120 --> 18:45.780 We who sit under the protection of Jesus and under the light of his light, 18:46.620 --> 18:48.560 we have nothing to fear. 18:48.940 --> 18:52.700 In Germany, Luther's protests were supported by his local ruler. 18:54.040 --> 18:59.020 Wittenberg became an island of reform in a Catholic sea, with services in German and 18:59.020 --> 19:00.000 a Bible to match. 19:02.640 --> 19:06.200 But in England, such official approval was out of the question. 19:09.840 --> 19:12.200 So Tyndale decided it was time to go elsewhere. 19:13.280 --> 19:16.340 Determined to publish, he fled the country in 1524. 19:19.040 --> 19:23.400 Although there are no records of where he went, given Luther's success, Germany 19:23.400 --> 19:24.960 seemed like a likely destination. 19:39.620 --> 19:43.760 With Luther firmly in charge of a vigorous and ruler-supported reform movement, 19:44.380 --> 19:47.740 Tyndale would surely have felt he could continue his work there as well. 19:50.400 --> 19:55.060 But if Wittenberg was his final destination, he kept a very low profile en 19:55.060 --> 19:55.260 route. 19:56.000 --> 19:59.180 Even in Germany, there were people who would betray him as a heretic. 20:02.280 --> 20:06.340 Fortunately, he may have left one tantalizing clue in the matriculation book 20:06.340 --> 20:07.520 of Wittenberg University. 20:08.900 --> 20:13.540 Every student had to register and swear allegiance to the university rules and 20:13.540 --> 20:14.160 statutes. 20:15.640 --> 20:19.960 Under the entry for 1508 is the name of brother Martin Luther of Mansfeld. 20:23.440 --> 20:25.100 That name is expected. 20:26.460 --> 20:30.580 But a careful examination of the book reveals another startling entry. 20:31.640 --> 20:37.780 For 1524, the exact year that Tyndale fled England, the ancient manuscript reads, 20:38.280 --> 20:46.500 William Dalton of England. 20:48.040 --> 20:52.520 But if the two syllables of the last name are swapped, it reads, William Tyndale. 20:54.780 --> 20:57.240 Could this have been William Tyndale's alias? 20:57.920 --> 21:00.100 A code name to hide his true identity? 21:02.160 --> 21:07.100 No one knows for sure, but what is certain is that while abroad, Tyndale finished his 21:07.100 --> 21:08.920 English translation of the New Testament. 21:09.820 --> 21:13.860 With the clatter of foreign speech all around him, he persevered in his native 21:13.860 --> 21:14.280 tongue. 21:15.620 --> 21:20.620 With his assistant William Roy, a former English friar, he worked from the 21:20.620 --> 21:25.560 original Greek, as well as Luther's German translation and the 1515 Latin version. 21:27.440 --> 21:32.480 His work transformed the Greek text into the cornerstone of all subsequent English 21:32.480 --> 21:32.940 literature. 21:35.040 --> 21:39.260 His phrases, written to be read aloud, created our lexicon. 21:39.260 --> 21:45.440 He went up into a mountain, and when he was set, his disciples came unto him, 21:45.460 --> 21:51.540 and he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, 21:52.360 --> 21:54.180 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 21:54.800 --> 21:59.500 Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. 22:01.260 --> 22:04.760 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 22:06.480 --> 22:10.980 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. 22:13.860 --> 22:17.620 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 22:21.430 --> 22:25.530 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the 22:25.530 --> 22:26.550 kingdom of heaven. 22:32.950 --> 22:35.550 The language Tyndale used was revolutionary. 22:36.230 --> 22:40.890 His style was simple, and he emphasized the ordinary, everyday speech of England, 22:41.510 --> 22:42.610 earthy and direct. 22:44.230 --> 22:45.570 And this has an effect, I think. 22:45.710 --> 22:51.050 This certainly shows in the words that he chooses, and his own particular poetic 22:51.050 --> 22:51.350 sensibility. 22:52.070 --> 22:54.950 He's a master wordsmith, like Shakespeare. 22:55.530 --> 22:59.610 And it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth, a city... 23:00.270 --> 23:05.990 And when the centurion which stood before him saw that he so cried, and gave up the 23:05.990 --> 23:11.850 ghost, Ye are the salt of the earth, then they having no law, are a law unto 23:11.850 --> 23:12.430 themselves. 23:16.980 --> 23:18.540 It's remarkably influential. 23:18.900 --> 23:21.580 His language persists into our world today. 23:23.640 --> 23:27.000 Tyndale's translation was revolutionary in other ways as well. 23:27.000 --> 23:32.180 By starting again from the original Greek and Hebrew, he transcribed a version of 23:32.180 --> 23:35.280 Christianity very different from that of the Catholic Church. 23:36.280 --> 23:41.100 Like Wycliffe and Luther, he believed the Church had willfully obscured God's true 23:41.100 --> 23:41.540 meaning. 23:42.460 --> 23:46.600 And though I bestowed all my goods to feed the poor, and though I gave my body, 23:46.760 --> 23:51.060 even that I burned, and yet had no love, it profiteth me nothing. 23:51.760 --> 23:55.600 Tyndale carefully chose words that illustrated the Christianity he believed 23:55.600 --> 23:55.820 in. 23:55.820 --> 24:01.920 Instead of priest, he used presbyter, or elder, to dilute the Church's sacred 24:01.920 --> 24:02.360 power. 24:04.020 --> 24:07.800 Instead of charity, which implied you could buy your way into heaven with good 24:07.800 --> 24:09.800 deeds, he chose love. 24:10.700 --> 24:14.940 Now abideth faith, hope, and love, even these three. 24:16.120 --> 24:18.920 But the chief of these is love. 24:19.900 --> 24:24.480 And in Tyndale's translation, the mighty hierarchy of the Church became a simple 24:24.480 --> 24:25.140 congregation. 24:26.860 --> 24:32.940 And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my 24:32.940 --> 24:37.440 congregation, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 24:39.060 --> 24:43.360 To change these in any way was heresy, because you were changing what the Church 24:43.360 --> 24:43.640 said. 24:44.140 --> 24:46.520 The Church could do no wrong. 24:47.780 --> 24:53.720 By August of 1525, Tyndale was ready to publish, and reveal his changes to the 24:53.720 --> 24:54.040 world. 24:54.040 --> 24:58.780 He had his New Testament, a prologue, and some notes on the text. 24:59.340 --> 25:03.120 He found a printer in Cologne, but on the night they were to begin, 25:03.760 --> 25:04.800 disaster struck. 25:09.530 --> 25:11.270 The printer was raided. 25:12.370 --> 25:14.310 Someone had tipped off the Church authorities. 25:17.110 --> 25:21.230 Tyndale the heretic got away, but lost part of his text during his escape. 25:29.150 --> 25:35.290 Undaunted, he began again, and in 1526 his New Testament was finally printed. 25:36.330 --> 25:41.090 Only a few inches tall, even its size was subversive. 25:42.570 --> 25:46.450 Church Bibles are great big things, but a Tyndale New Testament can be a very 25:46.450 --> 25:47.470 small book indeed. 25:48.090 --> 25:51.450 It was of course in its inception seen as a dangerous book, that's why it's small, 25:51.570 --> 25:52.930 so you can sneak it into places. 25:52.930 --> 25:56.930 But it also means that it fits in the hand, and that which fits in the hand 25:56.930 --> 26:00.750 becomes a part of somebody's everyday life. 26:11.990 --> 26:16.870 Within weeks of its printing, the first copies of Tyndale's New Testament began 26:16.870 --> 26:20.390 making their way into England, where they were sold on the black market. 26:21.330 --> 26:25.650 The illegal book was a hit, but the Catholic government's reaction was swift 26:25.650 --> 26:26.390 and fierce. 26:28.250 --> 26:31.110 Tyndale's New Testament was publicly burned. 26:34.130 --> 26:37.410 The flames would soon spread to the readers as well. 26:42.590 --> 26:46.930 Preachers distributing and reading the text to groups of passers-by were brutally 26:46.930 --> 26:47.390 arrested. 26:51.370 --> 26:55.750 But their determination bore witness to the potency of Tyndale's words. 26:59.150 --> 27:02.990 Tyndale's followers were burned at the stake, and the violence of the English 27:02.990 --> 27:05.630 government's prosecution kept him in exile. 27:06.430 --> 27:08.050 But Europe was not much safer. 27:08.990 --> 27:12.890 The entire continent was sliding into a vicious period of religious conflict 27:12.890 --> 27:15.770 between the Catholics and the would-be reformers. 27:18.950 --> 27:23.050 Tyndale remained hidden during this time, but he continued his translations, 27:23.710 --> 27:27.490 and eventually his books themselves revealed where he was lurking. 27:30.110 --> 27:34.570 He had gone secretly to Antwerp, Belgium, where even his printer worked 27:34.570 --> 27:35.050 undercover. 27:36.050 --> 27:45.570 He presented himself not only as Martinus Kaiser, or Martin the Kaiser, or Martin 27:45.570 --> 27:51.950 Lampereur, which was his real name, but he also called himself Baltasar 27:51.950 --> 27:59.350 Bekend, Baltasar You-Know-Who, Adam Anonymous, Adam You-Don't-Know-Who, 28:00.210 --> 28:02.330 and various other names. 28:02.330 --> 28:07.130 For an illegal printer and an English heretic on the run, Antwerp was a good 28:07.130 --> 28:07.830 place to be. 28:08.770 --> 28:12.490 Just across the North Sea from England, it was one of the largest ports in Europe 28:12.490 --> 28:15.250 and had a sophisticated English merchant community. 28:16.310 --> 28:19.090 It was also a fiercely independent city. 28:19.970 --> 28:23.450 Protestants were safe there as long as they kept under the church's radar. 28:28.740 --> 28:32.100 Best of all, the printing industry in Antwerp was massive. 28:32.960 --> 28:35.520 The city had five times as many printers as London. 28:36.300 --> 28:40.360 They printed books in huge numbers, and if there was a chance to make money, 28:41.060 --> 28:42.860 they didn't care too much about the law. 28:44.400 --> 28:47.260 It was a cat-and-mouse game, actually, with the Inquisition. 28:47.680 --> 28:48.920 It was a matter of smuggling. 28:48.920 --> 28:57.320 It was a matter of hiding the tiny leaves of these illegal books between the large 28:57.320 --> 28:59.400 leaves of books that were not forbidden. 29:00.120 --> 29:04.940 And they were stored here in the Antwerp warehouses and then shipped to England. 29:11.880 --> 29:16.740 Books smuggled into England by boat could turn a vast profit, and the Antwerp 29:16.740 --> 29:18.060 printers were cashing in. 29:20.360 --> 29:23.680 Huge quantities of Tyndale Bibles streamed into England. 29:24.860 --> 29:28.960 They crossed the channel as individual pages hidden in legitimate books, 29:29.340 --> 29:31.340 then were put back together once ashore. 29:32.140 --> 29:33.200 They were a hot item. 29:34.000 --> 29:36.520 Seditious contraband in high demand. 29:42.730 --> 29:47.570 But the more popular his books became, the more dangerous life got for Tyndale. 29:47.570 --> 29:51.670 He remained in exile, always at risk of capture and death. 29:53.530 --> 29:58.130 Antwerp was a progressive city, but it was still Catholic, and it only 29:58.130 --> 29:59.870 took one person to betray him. 30:03.250 --> 30:08.190 Sometime in the spring of 1535, a young Englishman named Henry Phillips 30:08.190 --> 30:09.350 arrived in Antwerp. 30:10.370 --> 30:14.690 Phillips had good contacts within the expatriate English community, and was 30:14.690 --> 30:15.690 introduced to Tyndale. 30:16.350 --> 30:17.590 The two became friends. 30:18.590 --> 30:23.030 On May 21st, 1535, Phillips invited Tyndale to dinner. 30:24.490 --> 30:26.610 He invaded his way into Tyndale's interest. 30:27.030 --> 30:29.950 He pretended a great interest in the details of translating the Bible. 30:30.830 --> 30:32.130 He was a horrible man, was Phillips. 30:33.070 --> 30:34.630 The dinner was a setup. 30:34.630 --> 30:39.830 I go forth this night to dinner, and you shall go with me and be my guest. 30:46.900 --> 30:50.160 After 12 years on the run, Tyndale was finally caught. 30:53.860 --> 30:57.460 To this day, no one is sure who paid Phillips to betray him. 30:58.240 --> 31:01.100 But there is little doubt, the plan was hatched in England. 31:03.040 --> 31:09.060 I think his chief enemy in England was the new Bishop of London, John Stokesley. 31:09.440 --> 31:14.900 And I think Stokesley was behind this hideous man, Henry Phillips, who was the 31:14.900 --> 31:16.180 one who actually trapped him. 31:16.880 --> 31:20.080 Phillips wrote to everybody saying, I need money, and Stokesley must have 31:20.080 --> 31:21.280 heard of this and employed him. 31:22.840 --> 31:25.760 Tyndale was taken from Antwerp to a castle near Brussels. 31:25.760 --> 31:30.540 He was left in solitary confinement, without even his beloved Bible, 31:31.020 --> 31:31.880 for more than a year. 31:32.880 --> 31:36.760 From that moment, what I think is the man with the greatest command of the English 31:36.760 --> 31:40.960 language, after Shakespeare, never heard English spoken for 500 days. 31:41.560 --> 31:46.720 It would be Flemish or Latin, 500 days without light, without books, without 31:46.720 --> 31:47.060 anything. 31:48.280 --> 31:50.580 There was never a question about Tyndale's fate. 31:51.320 --> 31:55.080 In October of 1536, he faced his final ordeal. 32:09.900 --> 32:13.860 With death only moments away, he remained committed to his cause. 32:21.860 --> 32:25.840 To the end, he prayed for his country to embrace his life's work. 32:27.980 --> 32:30.880 Lord, open the King of England's eyes! 32:46.440 --> 32:51.040 The authorities decided to spare Tyndale the horror of being burned alive by 32:51.040 --> 32:52.980 strangling him before the pyre was lit. 32:55.200 --> 32:58.200 But as the flames rose around him, he regained consciousness. 33:10.030 --> 33:14.330 William Tyndale died without ever hearing his English Bible read on his native soil. 33:15.310 --> 33:19.570 He had no way of knowing that only a few months after his death, his wishes would 33:19.570 --> 33:23.170 come true, and his Bible would be legalized in England. 33:25.270 --> 33:29.050 Ironically, the shift was a matter of paternity, not theology. 33:36.010 --> 33:40.850 The man whose eyes Tyndale had hoped to open was the Catholic King Henry VIII. 33:42.210 --> 33:47.550 Henry later became most famous for having six wives, but at the time, he was still 33:47.550 --> 33:48.190 on his first. 33:49.450 --> 33:52.510 His queen, however, could not provide him with a male heir. 33:53.170 --> 33:54.870 So he desperately wanted a divorce. 33:55.610 --> 33:57.710 But the Pope wouldn't grant him one. 33:58.950 --> 34:00.950 Henry did not have good enough representation at Rome. 34:02.470 --> 34:05.870 And therefore, the Church was not going to grant him his annulment. 34:06.370 --> 34:11.810 If the Church could not grant Henry a legal divorce, he had to find a Church 34:11.810 --> 34:12.290 that could. 34:13.030 --> 34:15.030 Find one, or found his own. 34:16.230 --> 34:19.630 Spurned by the Pope, Henry made himself the head of the English Church. 34:25.570 --> 34:28.270 All over England lies the fallout from the split. 34:28.930 --> 34:32.650 The ruins of medieval Catholic monasteries that were closed by King Henry. 34:34.810 --> 34:38.670 The remains are an enduring symbol of the turmoil of the times. 34:40.510 --> 34:44.850 The King's right-hand man in charge of the transformation was the Archbishop of 34:44.850 --> 34:47.590 Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. 34:49.190 --> 34:53.650 But Cranmer had bigger goals than the King's divorce or even a national church. 34:54.410 --> 34:58.350 He wanted to endow the Church with true Protestant ideals. 35:04.030 --> 35:08.590 Just like Wycliffe, Luther and Tyndale before him, Cranmer placed reading the 35:08.590 --> 35:11.950 scriptures in one's own tongue at the heart of his reformation. 35:12.770 --> 35:15.670 And he went further than just legalizing the English text. 35:17.590 --> 35:20.190 He authorized the first official English Bible. 35:21.330 --> 35:23.150 It was called the Matthew Bible. 35:23.970 --> 35:28.090 Supposedly the work of a man named Thomas Matthew, but the name was a fake. 35:30.270 --> 35:35.390 The Bible was printed in Antwerp, and ornate initials inside reveal who had 35:35.390 --> 35:36.310 really done the work. 35:37.170 --> 35:38.410 W.T. 35:38.830 --> 35:40.130 for William Tyndale. 35:43.900 --> 35:46.350 Two years later came Cranmer's Great Bible. 35:47.050 --> 35:51.810 Most of the text was still Tyndale's, but this was the first truly national 35:51.810 --> 35:52.210 Bible. 35:54.550 --> 35:57.950 By royal command, it was placed in every English church. 36:03.690 --> 36:08.590 Every parish in the land was forced to buy one, and Archbishop Cranmer publicly 36:08.590 --> 36:10.370 encouraged everyone to read it. 36:12.070 --> 36:20.290 It is convenient and good for the scriptures to be read of all sorts and 36:20.290 --> 36:25.630 kinds of people, and in the vulgar tongue. 36:26.870 --> 36:32.250 All shall therein find all they ought to believe in, what they ought to do, 36:32.750 --> 36:35.170 and what they ought not to do. 36:36.070 --> 36:39.670 Hearing the words of God in English was a powerful revelation for the congregations. 36:40.410 --> 36:44.250 Trading Latin for English instantly shifted power away from the clergy, 36:44.690 --> 36:48.970 many of whom still clung to their Catholic convictions, despite Cranmer's edicts. 36:52.590 --> 36:56.810 Reading the Bible could be a political act, particularly in the early days. 36:57.250 --> 37:00.990 Very often, this was turned into an act of defiance against the old church. 37:01.450 --> 37:04.630 A mass would be going on at the other end of the church, up at the high altar, 37:05.030 --> 37:08.190 and people would stand shouting out the words of the Bible. 37:08.190 --> 37:13.390 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, 37:13.810 --> 37:15.430 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 37:16.210 --> 37:21.570 What really is going on in that is an essential Reformation declaration that you 37:21.570 --> 37:24.750 and I, individuals, stand in front of God. 37:24.970 --> 37:28.190 We don't need clergy, we don't need priests. 37:28.750 --> 37:32.110 That's, in itself, a hugely political statement. 37:32.110 --> 37:36.250 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 37:36.610 --> 37:41.470 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the 37:41.470 --> 37:42.630 kingdom of heaven. 37:43.490 --> 37:47.050 The changes were dramatic, and Henry was soon having second thoughts. 37:47.610 --> 37:50.670 For the rest of his life, he would struggle to find balance for his new 37:50.670 --> 37:51.070 church. 37:52.590 --> 37:58.490 If not recognizing the authority of the Pope is being a Protestant, then Henry was 37:58.490 --> 37:59.370 a very good Protestant. 38:00.210 --> 38:05.070 If it is actually a central belief that you are saved by faith instead of your 38:05.070 --> 38:07.430 good works, Henry is not a Protestant. 38:08.050 --> 38:09.070 He is very conservative. 38:11.210 --> 38:14.990 The decades after Henry's split from Rome were turbulent ones in England, 38:15.390 --> 38:17.730 as Catholics and Protestants struggled for power. 38:17.730 --> 38:22.630 Henry died in 1547 and was succeeded by his son Edward. 38:23.970 --> 38:28.990 Edward was Cranmer's godson, so the religious pendulum swung towards the 38:28.990 --> 38:29.570 Protestants. 38:40.690 --> 38:43.930 But King Edward died after only five years in power. 38:44.610 --> 38:47.710 He was succeeded by his sister Mary, a fierce Catholic. 38:49.610 --> 38:54.250 Mary reversed Edward's policies and reintroduced the old Catholic ways. 38:56.750 --> 39:01.870 She ordered the burning of more than 300 Protestants, earning herself the nickname 39:01.870 --> 39:03.130 Bloody Mary. 39:05.630 --> 39:09.670 And she orchestrated the arrest of Thomas Cranmer on grounds of treason and heresy. 39:11.550 --> 39:14.970 Cranmer was forced to recant his Protestant beliefs and acknowledge the 39:14.970 --> 39:16.370 validity of the Catholic Church. 39:17.010 --> 39:21.470 The Catholics wanted to make an example of him for all Protestants to see. 39:23.970 --> 39:28.370 This is the biggest catch that the old church had from any Protestant leader, 39:28.850 --> 39:31.170 and now they had him in their grasp. 39:32.230 --> 39:35.650 They had a speech prepared for him, which he had written out himself, 39:35.990 --> 39:40.130 which was in print, and that was the speech which he would give from the pulpit 39:40.130 --> 39:42.670 in the university church in Oxford. 39:42.670 --> 39:47.890 But at the last minute, Cranmer cheated his captors by changing the final 39:47.890 --> 39:48.350 paragraph. 40:14.290 --> 40:21.630 As for the Pope, I refuse him as Christ's enemy and the antichrist with all his 40:21.630 --> 40:22.950 false doctrine. 40:30.630 --> 40:35.030 In life, Cranmer fought tirelessly for his Protestant beliefs. 40:35.870 --> 40:39.610 He went to his death with his convictions held firm and his head high. 40:55.160 --> 41:00.680 Therefore shall my hand be first punished, shall be first burned! 41:21.960 --> 41:25.720 Cranmer's death was a blow to the Protestants, but two years later, 41:26.040 --> 41:30.060 Queen Mary succumbed to ill health and was succeeded by her sister Elizabeth. 41:31.300 --> 41:35.240 Elizabeth was Protestant, so again, the pendulum shifted. 41:36.380 --> 41:38.720 But this time she tried to stop it in the middle. 41:39.700 --> 41:42.980 Her church was Protestant in doctrine and use of English texts. 41:43.620 --> 41:47.840 But like today's Church of England and the Episcopal Church in the U.S., it retained 41:47.840 --> 41:51.440 many of the forms of the medieval Catholic Church, including the rituals, 41:51.620 --> 41:52.680 regalia, and bishops. 41:55.140 --> 41:59.800 Elizabeth was attempting a compromise, but the Catholic overtones were not well 41:59.800 --> 42:01.560 received by the Protestant faithful. 42:03.600 --> 42:08.520 What distinguishes the Church of England is that it remains an Episcopal Church 42:08.520 --> 42:13.860 with bishops and archbishops, but they are no longer led by the Pope. 42:14.640 --> 42:19.280 Instead, the head of state is actually the supreme head of the Church on Earth. 42:19.900 --> 42:23.420 But for people who wanted to see the English Church more reformed, we 42:23.420 --> 42:29.000 eventually call them Puritans, they see that Episcopal structure as the 42:29.000 --> 42:29.840 root of its corruption. 42:31.560 --> 42:35.300 The Puritans demanded the simplicity of the early Church they read about in their 42:35.300 --> 42:35.620 Bible. 42:36.400 --> 42:39.920 No bowing, no candles, and definitely no bishops. 42:42.440 --> 42:46.500 The text they favored was one of three English Bibles circulating at that time. 42:47.220 --> 42:50.780 It was called the Geneva Bible, and it came complete with rigorous 42:50.780 --> 42:52.020 commentary in the margins. 42:53.060 --> 42:57.600 The Geneva Bible is often called the Puritan Bible because it is a favored 42:57.600 --> 43:04.080 version for what we might call the hotter kinds of Protestants, people who are hot 43:04.080 --> 43:07.760 for reform, who want more reform than the Church often seems to allow them. 43:08.560 --> 43:10.860 The Geneva was a one-sided text. 43:11.500 --> 43:15.380 Its commentary attacked the authority of the English Church and called for further 43:15.380 --> 43:15.900 reform. 43:17.220 --> 43:22.020 To counter it, some exiled Catholics produced their own English language volume 43:22.020 --> 43:23.080 called the Douay Bible. 43:24.540 --> 43:28.300 But in keeping with Catholic doctrine, it was meant to be read by the priests 43:28.300 --> 43:29.980 alone, not the congregation. 43:32.560 --> 43:37.160 Both the Geneva and the Douay challenged the official Bishop's Bible, which was 43:37.160 --> 43:39.660 required daily reading in every English Church. 43:41.380 --> 43:46.160 With so many different versions of the Bible so readily available, the words of 43:46.160 --> 43:49.820 God in English percolated deep into the hearts of the population. 43:54.820 --> 43:57.200 When I was a child, I spake as a child. 43:57.880 --> 43:59.100 I understood as a child. 43:59.800 --> 44:01.180 I imagined as a child. 44:01.980 --> 44:05.140 But as soon as I was a man, I put away childishness. 44:06.060 --> 44:11.000 By the time Elizabeth died in 1603, the English words had engendered a new 44:11.000 --> 44:14.520 freedom of thought, but also strengthened religious divisions. 44:16.300 --> 44:19.600 The great thing about the Bible is that you read it yourself. 44:19.980 --> 44:21.880 It is there for you to read, and people did. 44:22.320 --> 44:25.260 Now what that means is that you can make up your own mind on things. 44:26.020 --> 44:32.160 And one of the peculiar, precious features of 17th century England was that people 44:32.160 --> 44:33.860 did make up their own minds. 44:35.140 --> 44:38.280 They made up their minds, and stood by their convictions. 44:39.260 --> 44:43.380 King James of Scotland succeeded Elizabeth to the throne, and quickly had his hands 44:43.380 --> 44:44.840 full with religious dissent. 44:46.680 --> 44:51.160 To try and unite the warring factions, James called a conference at his palace 44:51.160 --> 44:52.020 outside London. 44:53.840 --> 44:55.480 The Puritans were thrilled. 44:56.100 --> 45:00.220 They thought James would eliminate the detested bishops, just as his relatives 45:00.220 --> 45:01.580 had already done in Scotland. 45:03.460 --> 45:11.350 But the conference lasted three days, and not surprisingly, the English bishops 45:11.350 --> 45:16.130 took every opportunity to portray the Puritans as dangerous radicals. 45:18.730 --> 45:23.090 Their tactics were successful, and it began to look as if no compromise 45:23.090 --> 45:23.790 would be reached. 45:25.190 --> 45:30.250 But then, one of the Puritan divines suggested a new, more moderate English 45:30.250 --> 45:31.430 translation of the Bible. 45:32.190 --> 45:35.090 Both sides pounced on the idea. 45:35.890 --> 45:38.930 A new Bible could be just the olive branch England needed. 45:43.630 --> 45:48.310 So King James commissioned a new Bible, whose stated aim was to satisfy all 45:48.310 --> 45:53.510 parties, to provide the basis for a truly national church, in which everyone could 45:53.510 --> 45:55.970 participate in the same Christian rituals. 45:59.470 --> 46:02.250 Of course, the plan didn't satisfy everyone. 46:03.130 --> 46:06.930 The bishops and formal ceremonies remained, an abomination to the more 46:06.930 --> 46:08.010 separatist Puritans. 46:09.670 --> 46:13.330 They liked the new Bible, but refused to worship in the Church of England. 46:14.090 --> 46:18.010 So, like Tyndale before them, they set out to find religious freedom on their own 46:18.010 --> 46:18.570 terms. 46:21.150 --> 46:26.710 These Puritans, and the Massachusetts Bay Colony they founded in 1630, were grounded 46:26.710 --> 46:30.530 in the Protestant belief that the Bible should be interpreted by the people, 46:31.050 --> 46:31.790 not the priests. 46:32.950 --> 46:36.990 The Puritan democratization of Christianity was a groundbreaking 46:36.990 --> 46:39.410 experiment in both politics and religion. 46:40.910 --> 46:45.030 Similar communities sprang up throughout New England, and the King James Bible, 46:45.290 --> 46:48.990 which was the heart of their faith, became a vital part of American religious 46:48.990 --> 46:49.490 life. 46:53.530 --> 46:59.670 For most people, the 17th century language of the King James Bible is the voice of 46:59.670 --> 47:00.050 God. 47:00.610 --> 47:02.410 It is what the Bible is supposed to sound like. 47:02.410 --> 47:08.050 Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 47:08.710 --> 47:13.170 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 47:13.870 --> 47:18.750 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be 47:18.750 --> 47:19.110 filled. 47:20.110 --> 47:24.770 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 47:25.510 --> 47:30.670 The language of the King James Bible is rich and beautiful and aesthetically 47:30.670 --> 47:31.770 stimulating. 47:33.270 --> 47:39.110 And for many people in a Protestant tradition which does not emphasize visual 47:39.110 --> 47:43.450 art, this language becomes, I think, the sole aesthetic pleasure. 47:43.710 --> 47:47.370 For people who are denied it, not only because of religious reasons, but because 47:47.370 --> 47:53.390 they're living lives of hard work on farms or in rural areas, places where other 47:53.390 --> 47:54.950 forms of culture are not available. 48:01.330 --> 48:05.090 But the New England experiment was dependent on a sustained sense of 48:05.090 --> 48:07.070 enthusiasm for the Church and the Bible. 48:08.130 --> 48:12.590 And by the 1730s, the religious conviction of the original Puritan settlers had 48:12.590 --> 48:12.950 cooled. 48:15.630 --> 48:20.990 Until, that is, a new revival took Protestant fervor to powerful new heights. 48:20.990 --> 48:27.150 For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who 48:27.150 --> 48:32.870 believes in Him may not perish, but may have eternal life. 48:33.350 --> 48:37.810 In Northampton, Massachusetts, a minister named Jonathan Edwards noticed 48:37.810 --> 48:42.030 an upsurge of excitement when he emphasized immediate personal connection 48:42.030 --> 48:43.050 during his sermons. 48:43.530 --> 48:47.410 Edwards called it the Great Awakening, and its evangelical effects are still felt 48:47.410 --> 48:48.330 in churches today. 48:48.330 --> 48:53.170 I think the kind of fervor that someone like Edwards brought to the preaching of 48:53.170 --> 49:00.890 this word in some sense inspired people to pursue salvation in ways that could not be 49:00.890 --> 49:06.330 contained within one particular kind of denominational structure. 49:07.370 --> 49:13.690 So what you have is this kind of untamed emotion, I suppose, with the Bible 49:13.690 --> 49:16.870 articulating it, using the Bible as a script. 49:26.570 --> 49:31.850 The Revival boosted the already growing number of churches and denominations in 49:31.850 --> 49:32.290 America. 49:32.990 --> 49:41.450 Presbyterians, Baptists, Anabaptists and Methodists, Lutherans, Congregationalists, 49:41.670 --> 49:48.210 Episcopalians, Christian Scientists, Anglicans, Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's 49:48.210 --> 49:50.110 Witnesses, Unitarians. 49:50.550 --> 49:56.610 For theirs is the kingdom of heaven, because of righteousness. 49:57.250 --> 49:59.890 For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 50:09.750 --> 50:13.230 Thomas Jefferson, in his Statute for Religious Freedom in Virginia, 50:13.390 --> 50:18.230 said, No man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, 50:18.710 --> 50:22.550 place or ministry, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious 50:22.550 --> 50:23.930 opinions or belief. 50:25.450 --> 50:28.870 These ideals were incorporated into the new nation's Bill of Rights. 50:29.670 --> 50:34.210 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting 50:34.210 --> 50:36.090 the free exercise thereof. 50:37.490 --> 50:42.730 As important today as it was then, the freedom secured by this edict is the 50:42.730 --> 50:45.250 culmination of centuries of religious conflict. 50:45.890 --> 50:51.190 Conflict generated by the simple desire of believers to read and interpret the Bible 50:51.190 --> 50:51.970 for themselves. 50:53.210 --> 50:57.050 They began on English soil more than 600 years ago. 50:58.130 --> 51:01.810 And like Jefferson, the early Reformers placed their trust in the people. 51:03.390 --> 51:05.950 Many paid for their convictions with their lives. 51:06.830 --> 51:12.130 But in so doing, they, and the English language Bibles they created, formed a 51:12.130 --> 51:15.330 lasting legacy of new language and progressive thought. 51:16.410 --> 51:20.710 A freedom of choice, freedom of conscience, and freedom of speech.