William Tyndale's The obedience of a Christian man has been credited with influencing the Henrician regime's thinking and propaganda on the subject of obedience to royal authority. According to an anecdote first recorded by the archdeacon of Nottingham, John Louthe, Henry was so delighted by Tyndale's tract that he called it a book ‘for me and all kings to read’, and historians have argued that Henry tried to recruit Tyndale as a royal propagandist or diplomat in 1531. This article argues that Louthe's anecdote was probably a later invention, and that Henry disapproved of the Obedience and its author. There is little evidence that the king tried to recruit Tyndale, but wanted instead to silence him and force him to abjure his heresies. The Obedience contained very little that would have pleased Henry, presenting him as a mere ‘shadow’ of a king, manipulated by evil prelates. While Tyndale rejected rebellion against even tyrannical rulers, this should not be confused with advocating obedience of the kind that Henry might approve of, and the Obedience sanctioned disobedience of various kinds. From the outset, remarkably radical ideas were contained within an apparently ‘conservative’ tradition of English evangelical political thought.

威廉·廷代尔 (William Tyndale) 的《基督徒男人的服从》 ( The obedience of a Christian man )被认为影响了亨里克政权关于服从王室权威的思想和宣传。根据诺丁汉总执事约翰·劳斯 (John Louthe) 首次记录的一则轶事，亨利对廷代尔的传单感到非常高兴，称其为“我和所有国王都可以阅读的书”，历史学家认为，亨利试图招募廷代尔作为1531 年成为皇家宣传员或外交官。本文认为劳特的轶事可能是后来的发明，亨利不赞成《服从》及其作者。几乎没有证据表明国王试图招募廷代尔，而是想让他闭嘴并迫使他放弃他的异端邪说。该服从里面几乎没有什么能让亨利高兴的东西，把他描绘成一个国王的“影子”，被邪恶的主教操纵。虽然廷代尔拒绝反抗甚至是专制的统治者，但这不应与主张亨利可能赞成的那种服从相混淆，并且服从批准了各种不服从。从一开始，非常激进的思想就包含在明显“保守”的英国福音派政治思想传统中。