The Forbidden Word

There was a time when reading the Bible was illegal. Not just discouraged. Not frowned upon.

Illegal. For centuries, ordinary people were forbidden from reading scripture

in their own language. The Bible was locked away in Latin — a language only clergy could understand.

Why? Because control over scripture meant control over truth. If people couldn’t

read God’s word themselves, they had to rely on whoever claimed to speak for Him.

Those who tried to translate it? They were branded heretics. Some were hunted.

Some were burned alive. William Tyndale’s crime wasn’t violence. It was translating

the Bible so farmers and laborers could read it. His punishment was execution.