To those with some knowledge of the tension that existed within western Christendom in the late Middle Ages, the title of Brian Moynahan’s book tells the story in a nutshell. There is the protagonist, William Tyndale, the man of languages, whose love for God and His Word led him to translate the New Testament and a great portion of the Old Testament into English so that the “ploughboy” would be able to read in his own language about God’s love for him in His Son. Against Tyndale is pitted his arch-enemy and main antagonist, the “man for all seasons,” the ardent defender of the traditions and teachings of the “Church” over the Bible, Thomas More.

The betrayal is indeed the stuff of a mystery novel. The protagonist lets his guard down amidst an atmosphere of security in his abode abroad while his antagonists back in England, one by one, depart the scene. However, Henry Phillips, himself a man of languages and literature, and for whom Tyndale developed an affinity, but, in actuality, a despicable person, became his ultimate nemesis.

Moynahan has done an excellent job of synthesizing the several books and other information available on William Tyndale, the hero of the story, to bring him to life in such a way that the reader anguishes with him in the loss in a storm at sea of all his Old Testament translations along with all of his books. A reader of a kindred spirit with Tyndale enjoys Moynahan’s descriptions of Tyndale’s labor of love as he translates the Word of God. And, that same reader cannot help but empathize with him, once he has been imprisoned, when he requested only to be allowed to have in his possession his Hebrew Bible, Hebrew dictionary, and grammar. Of course, it is with a heavy heart that one experiences Tyndale’s last moments as he is secured to the stake where he would be burned as a heretic.

The author also adeptly developed the character of Thomas More as Tyndale’s arch-enemy. Although his demise was not directly due to his all-consuming antagonism toward Tyndale, one feels that More had received his just reward when he was beheaded by Henry VIII.

There is a large supporting cast of characters that play an important role in rounding out the story. Moynahan has taken great care to attend to this detail. A personage on the periphery of Moynahan’s story is Martin Luther, who was already struggling to stay alive in his own country of Germany as he waged spiritual warfare with the “Church” during his translation of the original Hebrew and Greek into the vernacular German language. Moynahan notes that, at times, Tyndale used Luther’s translations as aids to his translations.

The author is also very careful to clearly identify the reasons – one basic reason with a subset – why William Tyndale was tagged a heretic, reasons that resulted in the ensuing raging hatred of Tyndale that was thus engendered in Thomas More. The overarching problem for More was Tyndale’s activity of translating the Latin Vulgate into English. Lying beneath this overall issue was Tyndale’s refusal to translate the Greek word, retained in the Vulgate, ‘ekklesia’/’ecclesia’ as ‘church,’ ‘metanoia’ as ‘penance,’ and ‘agape’ as ‘charity’; Tyndale insisted on ‘congregation,’ ‘repentance,’ and ‘love,’ respectively. These three words indicated in microcosm Tyndale’s theological differences with, and therefore a rejection of, Rome’s teachings.

For his part, Thomas More was caught in the vortex of Henry VIII’s feud with the pope, who would not issue an annulment of the king’s first marriage. The result was Henry VIII’s decision to not recognize the pope as the spiritual authority over England and declared that role for himself. More would not acknowledge Henry VIII as England’s spiritual head and, as a result, he lost his.

Moynahan acquits himself well in handling the various intrigues within the framework of this historical time period. He gives credit where credit is due for the information that he gleaned from his sources both within the storyline and in comprehensive notes at the end of the book, which, discounting the index, concludes with 406 pages. The length of the book should not deter the avid reader of history, especially when such a well-written book offers a look back at a historical event of such momentous significance to the evangelical Christian community.