The Obedience of a Christian Man

William Tyndale published The Obedience of a Christian Man two years after he presented his 1526 English translation of the Bible, a forbidden undertaking, which eventually led to his execution. His vigorous, direct translation of the New Testament was intended to make it accessible even to the "boy that driveth the plough". In The Obedience of a Christian Man, he articulates his religious principles in what became one of the most important publications of the first phase of the English Reformation. He boldly develops the argument that ordinary believers should live directly according to Scripture without the intervention of worldly and often corrupt popes and prelates. This fine example of English prose raises, even today, powerful questions about the challenge of living a Christian life.