Miles Coverdale was a leading figure in the English Reformation. He assisted William Tyndale with the translation of the English Bible. After Tyndale’s arrest and execution, Coverdale completed the translation and produced the Coverdale Bible in 1535, the first complete English Bible of the era. He further revised the work and eventually produced the Great Bible in 1539.
In the preface to the Coverdale Bible, we find two largely forgotten documents. First, Coverdale wrote a dedication to King Henry VIII. After the dedication, he wrote a prologue to the reader.
In this blog post, I’d like to introduce you to Miles Coverdale by way of 20 quotes from the preface of the Coverdale Bible. These quotations have been slightly modernized and edited for spelling and punctuation.
In these following quotes, I hope you will be as encouraged as I was by the words of a pastor and translator who loved his Lord and Savior and dedicated years of his life to feed the flock with the Scriptures in English.
___________________________________
Christ was the true prophet, the true Messiah, and the only true Savior of the world, sent of his heavenly Father to suffer the most cruel, most shameful, and most necessary death for our redemption…
Miles Coverdale, Dedication, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…whosoever believes not the Scripture, believes not Christ, and whosoever refuses it, refuses God also.
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…defend the faith, yea even the true faith of Christ, not dreams, not fables, not heresy, not papistical inventions, but the uncorrupted faith of God’s most holy word…
Miles Coverdale, Dedication, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
If thou be a preacher, and hast the oversight of the flock of Christ, awake and feed Christ’s sheep with a good heart…
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…take these words of Scripture into thy heart, and be not only an outward hearer, but a doer thereafter, and practice thyself therein, that thou mayest feel in thine heart, the sweet promises thereof for thy consolation in all trouble, and for the sure establishing of thy hope in Christ…
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…seeing that light is come into the world, love no more the works of darkness, receive not the grace of God in vain.
Miles Coverdale, Dedication, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
And above all things fashion thy life and conversation according to the doctrine of the Holy Ghost therein, that thou mayest be partaker of the good promises of God in the Bible and be heir of his blessing in Christ.
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…the word of God is the only truth that drives away all lies, and discloses all juggling and deceit…
Miles Coverdale, Dedication, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…when thou readest Scripture, be wise and circumspect…
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…so to love it [the Bible], so to cleave unto it, and so to follow it in thy daily conversation, that other men seeing thy good works and the fruits of the Holy Ghost in thee, may praise the father of heaven…
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…to live after the law of God, and to lead a virtuous conversation, is the greatest praise that thou canst give unto his doctrine.
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
For as soon as the Bible was cast aside, and no more put in exercise, then began every one of his own head to write whatsoever came into his brain and that seemed to be good in his own eyes; and so grew the darkness of men’s traditions.
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
God not only punishes the wicked but proves and tries the just and righteous (howbeit there is no man innocent in his sight) by diverse troubles in this life, declaring thereby, that they are not his bastards but his dear sons, and that he loves them.
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
In the Psalms we learn how to resort only unto God in all our troubles, to seek help at him, to call only upon him, to settle our minds by patience, and how we ought in prosperity to be thankful unto him.
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…if thou find anything therein that thou understandest not, or that appears to be repugnant, give no rash or hasty judgment thereof, but ascribe it to thine own ignorance, not to the Scripture…
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…be ever reading, exhorting, and teaching in God’s word, that the people of God run not unto other doctrines…
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
For as false doctrine is the original cause of all evil plagues and destruction, so is the true executing of the law of God and the preaching of the same, the mother of all godly prosperity.
Miles Coverdale, Dedication, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…the Scripture of God teaches us everything sufficiently, both what we ought to do, and what we ought to leave undone; whom we are bound to obey, and whom we should not obey; therefore (I say) it causes all prosperity, and sets everything in frame…
Miles Coverdale, Dedication, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…it brings learning, it produces understanding, it causes good works, it makes children of obedience…
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…and where it is taught and known, it lightens all darkness, comforts all sorry hearts, leaves no poor man unhelped, suffers nothing amiss unamended…
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
___________________________________
…and have ever an eye to the words of Scripture…
Miles Coverdale, Prologue, Coverdale Bible
Conclusion
If you appreciated these quotes, please click to this blog post with additional quotes from Coverdale on worship and Scripture.
A new biography of Miles Coverdale has recently been published. Here is a book review which summaries the book and also provides links to other resources on the web about Coverdale and his translations.
