William Tyndale, Ekklesia, and the Roman Catholic Church

The Holy Roman Empire consisting of the King and the Roman Catholic Church made it illegal to translate ekklesia as assembly, gathering, or congregation.

This is because they wanted to maintain "church authority" over the people by convincing them the Roman Catholic Church was the church Jesus built.

William Tyndale refused to abide by their mandates because he knew they were biblically wrong.

Along with the heresy of refusing to acknowledge the Roman Catholic Church as the Church of Jesus on earth, William Tyndale also committed the following "heresies:"

Heresy 1: Maintaining that faith/belief alone apart from works justifies (makes a person innocent and righteous) a person before God.

Heresy 2: Claiming that forgiveness of sins and salvation are only through the death and resurrection of Jesus and not combined with the works of penance prescribed by the Roman Catholic Church and the purchase of indulgences sold by the Roman Catholic Church.

Heresy 3: Declaring that purification of sins is through faith in the blood of Jesus alone and not combined with a final purification of sins in Purgatory.

William Tyndale also refused to use Roman Catholic terminology when translating the Bible:

He correctly used:

- congregation not church

- elder not priest

- repent not penance

The Roman Catholic Church declared him guilty for these "heresies," and the Holy Roman Empire sentenced him to strangulation and burning at the stake.

On October 6, 1536, at the age of 42, William Tyndale was strangled to death and burned at the stake for these "heresies."

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