An accidental blog

"If God is sovereign, then his lordship must extend over all of life, and it cannot be restricted to the walls of the church or within the Christian orbit." Abraham Kuyper Common Grace 1.1.

Friday 7 February 2014

British Calvinists: Miles Coverdale (1488-1569)

Miles (aka Myles) Coverdale (1488-1569) was one of the White Horse Inn crew at Oxford. He is most famous for his translation of the Bible into English.

He was born in Yorkshire and died in London. He is buried in  St. Bartholomew's Church, London.

 In 1523 he joined the Austin frairs in Cambridge, where was introduced to Reformed ideas.

He spent some time on the Continent but returned to England in 1539 but then in 1540 had to go into exile in Germany. He returned once more to England in 1548 and became Henry VIII's chaplain and then bishop of Exeter in 1551. When Mary I took to the throne he once more had to seek refuge this time in Denmark and then Wesel and Bergzabern. He finally was able to return to England in 1559.

His Coverdale Bible, the first complete English Bible, was printed in October 1535. He was closely involved with the printing and publication of the Great Bible. He also contributed to the Geneva Bible, a Bible that was replete with Calvinistic notes and annotations.

Coverdale's translation of the Psalms is used the Anglican Book of Common Prayer.

His Bible is available here . 

J. H. Merle D’Aubigne described him as "a man distinguished by his zeal for the gospel of Jesus Christ."

Coverdales works can be found here.

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