The Innovators Order Printed Copy

Author: Walter Isaacson
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About the Book

"The Innovators" by Walter Isaacson explores the history of the digital revolution and the key figures who played a crucial role in shaping the modern world through their groundbreaking inventions and innovations. The book delves into the stories of visionaries like Ada Lovelace, Alan Turing, Bill Gates, and Steve Jobs, highlighting how collaboration and teamwork have been integral to the advancement of technology. Isaacson also examines the important technological developments that have paved the way for the digital age, emphasizing the importance of combining creativity with technical expertise to create lasting change.

William Tyndale

William Tyndale (1494 – 1536) was a scholar and theologian who made one of the first printed translations of the Bible in English. Executed for heresy, his English translations would later be published and form a significant part of modern Bible translations. “I had perceived by experience, how that it was impossible to stablish the lay people in any truth, except the scripture were plainly laid before their eyes in their mother tongue, that they might see the process, order, and meaning of the text.” William Tyndale was born in 1494 in Gloucestershire, England. In 1506 he began studying at Magdalen Hall (later Hertford College), Oxford University. After gaining a B.A. and M.A., Tyndale was able to study the subject which most interested him – Theology. But, he was highly critical of the idea that one had to study for a long time before actually being allowed to study the Bible. During his time at Oxford, he sought to create Bible study groups with like-minded friends. William Tyndale was a gifted linguist and scholar, and known as a man of virtue and good character. However, influenced by ideas of the Reformation, he increasingly became known as a man of unorthodox and radical religious views. In particular, Tyndale was keen to translate the New Testament into English. He believed this would help ordinary people understand scripture directly and not through the filter of the church. In this, Tyndale was influenced by the reformation ideas of Martin Luther. Tyndale would claim that the Bible did not support the church’s view that they were the body of Christ on earth. After studying at Oxford, he also went to Cambridge where he added to his growing range of languages and became a leading professor of Greek. After leaving Cambridge in 1521, he became a chaplain in Little Sodbury, but he was soon criticised by fellow churchmen for his radical viewpoints. In 1523, he left for London hoping to translate the Bible into English. However, he struggled to receive any support or backing, and so he left for the continent. During his time on the continent, he visited Martin Luther and wrote extensively on scriptures and continued his translations of the Bible. “I never altered one syllable of God’s Word against my conscience, nor would do this day, if all that is in earth, whether it be honor, pleasure, or riches, might be given me.” In 1525, a first English translation was published in Worms. By 1526, copies had been smuggled into England where they were soon denounced as heretical and even burnt in public. Cardinal Wolsey denounced Tyndale as a heretic in 1529. In 1530, he wrote a treatise critical of Henry VIII’s divorce. When the English King found out, he was furious and sought his extradition. After being in hiding for several years, in 1535, Tyndale was betrayed and handed over to the imperial authorities in Belgium. After being held in a castle in Brussels, he was tried and convicted of heresy. He was strangled and his body burnt at the stake. His last words were reported to be: “Lord! Open the King of England’s eyes” Tyndale is best remembered for his hope that the Bible would be translated into English to allow the common people to be able to read the Holy Scriptures. His translations also proved to be quite popular, becoming the basis of key future Bible translations. It is estimated that around 80% of the King James Bible is Tyndale’s work. Four years after his death, King Henry VIII asked for English translations of the Bible to be published. These were heavily based on Tyndale’s original translations. Tyndale introduced new phrases and words into the English translations. When criticised for his translations, Tyndale replied that he sought to translate the essence and spirit of the original Greek versions and avoid the tendency to follow the dogma of the church. Citation: Pettinger, Tejvan. “Biography of William Tyndale”, Oxford, UK – www.biographyonline.net. Published 5 August 2014. Last updated 7 February 2018. Phrases from Tyndale’s Bible lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil knock and it shall be opened unto you fashion not yourselves to the world seek and you shall find ask and it shall be given you judge not that you not be judged the word of God which liveth and lasteth forever let there be light the powers that be my brother’s keeper the salt of the earth a law unto themselves filthy lucre it came to pass gave up the ghost the signs of the times the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak

the deadly deceit in material desires

Bible study often exposes us. As I sat in a Bible study recently, the leader asked our group how we heard Jesus’s voice and how we follow, like he says in John 10:27: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” One woman sitting next to me measured the voice of God in the many blessings of her life — a new house purchased without difficulty, an old house sold without stress. She was now enjoying life in her dream home in the warm, dry climate of her dreams. And all thanks to a painless move. She gave evidence for how smoothly her life was moving along, like dominoes falling perfectly in order. As I sat there listening, I couldn’t help but feel troubled. I knew that not a few women around us were following Christ through troubled marriages, battles with cancer, or the grief of lost babies. Some faced the drone of unceasing financial hardships — the exact opposite of how some of us define God’s blessing on our lives. And yet we who are struggling can listen for Jesus’s voice with desperation and longing. We can desire to follow him as much — perhaps more — than the materially blessed. Blessing’s Bluff A smile and an open Bible can press down so hard on raw hurt when we measure God’s blessing with material prosperity. The effect is something I’ve heard expressed by many and have seen dramatized in “Christian” movies. You can know you’re blessed by God when everything goes well for you. Just trust God while you do A + B and, as long as you have enough faith, you should get C every time: the life you’ve always wanted. It’s a simple formula for the “blessed” life, with Jesus on top! But owning a nice house with a spacious kitchen, or driving a shiny car with no dents, or basking in financial abundance and easygoing circumstances are not reliable evidences of God’s blessing in this age. The formula might look attractive in a movie, but it contradicts both the Bible and the real-life experience of many struggling saints who are faithful in the challenges, insecurities, and pains of everyday life. Deadly Equation As I thought about what that nice lady had said about how blessed she was, Jesus spoke to me though his word: “He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) What the lady next to me said is true in a sense — she is blessed by God. But so is the greedy miser who sits in his penthouse with wealth he earned through a harsh abuse of power. Both the good lady next to me and the oppressive evil tyrant are blessed with comforts and provisions, sun and rain, houses and air conditioning every single day. God is sovereign, and he radiates goodness and pours out unearned blessings of all kinds every day. He blesses all with his common kindness. The formula God’s blessing = life comfort is a deadly one. And it’s not an isolated issue either. Unfortunately, the equation seems to be ingrained into so much American Christianity, and it’s part and parcel of the prosperity gospel that false teachers in our nation export to the world. And when I’m not careful, the plank that is the prosperity gospel protrudes from my own eye . Bruised and Blessed God’s common kindness reaches us all, but it takes saving grace to turn to Jesus when marriage is hard, when a woman — my friend — loses three babies, or when a young missionary is told he has end-stage cancer. The Bible doesn’t offer a formula, but points us to a Savior—a battered, crushed, beaten, bruised, bloodied Savior. And the special blessing of God’s presence is with those who are walking in suffering, the same road Jesus himself walked. He is present in the path of pain and trial and heartache. God was present in Joseph’s pain: Joseph’s master took him and put him into the prison, the place where the king’s prisoners were confined, and he was there in prison. But the Lord was with Joseph and showed him steadfast love and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. (Genesis 39:20–21) God was present in David’s darkness: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (Psalm 23:4–5) God is present with us in today’s suffering: Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. (1 Peter 4:12–14) So with God’s help, I remove my self-centered, American-dream plank and its sinful impulse to want a god who makes me the center and not him. My plank must come out first. And with God’s help, I toss aside the lie that we find God’s blessing in easy circumstances, or in health, or in financial prosperity. And with God’s help, I’ll keep the path, holding firmly to the hand of my Good Shepherd.