“Our Father which art in heaven hallowed be Thy name.” So many of us know those words so well. Our parents or Sunday School teachers taught them to us decades ago … and we can still remember them now – twenty, thirty, forty years on. But did you know that there was a time when those parents and Sunday School teachers could have been burned alive for teaching you those lines from Matthew 6?
It’s true. That is exactly what the Roman Catholic Church was doing in the early 1500’s. Not only was it politically expedient, in the middle ages, for the common man to be prevented from reading the Bible in his own language … but the Church itself realized that many of its practices could not be found in the Scriptures, and would actually be unmasked as heretical and soul-destroying if normal people could actually read God’s word. So the Bible – by both church and political laws – was kept locked in the Latin tongue that almost no one could read. And if you were caught reading, possessing, or reciting the newly (and illegally) published English version … the penalty was uniform: death by burning at the stake.
That was the fate that numerous people suffered in England – for reading or possessing the Bible in English! Included among them were seven parents, in 1519, who dared to teach their children the Lord’s Prayer in their own language.
It may distress some Christians that the Ten Commandments are being systematically removed from public display. But that is almost like nothing in comparison to the 1500’s! We can still display the commandments in our homes and churches. We can still own, read, and teach the Bible freely. We can stand on Fountain Square and read it aloud if we want. But here were seven parents who died for teaching Matthew 6.9-13 to their children … in English. It is absolutely unthinkable. And yet it was real. And it happens, in other nations with other languages, even today. And, oh, how we should pray that God continues to give His suffering people strength.
But as we approach the 492nd anniversary of the beginning of Protestant Reformation (10/31) … we should thank God for these martyrs for the English Bible. Yes (praise God!) Luther, Calvin, and others rediscovered the biblical and liberating doctrine of salvation by grace, through faith in Jesus alone (and not by works of the law). But we English speakers might have totally missed the blessing were it not for a few brave men and women who dared to get the Bible into English – against the law. Men like John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, and Miles Coverdale translated it – and Tyndale was martyred for doing so. Countless cloth workers smuggled the English Bible into England hidden in bales of cloth sent over from the European continent. And then there were those brave men and women who lost their lives for simply possessing the word of God. Their deaths were not in vain. For such cruelty always arouses the attention of the public to the injustices of those in power … and fans the flame of hunger for God’s word, and for justice!
So this October 31; this Reformation Day – remember these English translators, cloth-workers, and martyrs. And thank God that we have the Bible – and the message of salvation, full and free in Jesus alone – in our own language!
It’s true. That is exactly what the Roman Catholic Church was doing in the early 1500’s. Not only was it politically expedient, in the middle ages, for the common man to be prevented from reading the Bible in his own language … but the Church itself realized that many of its practices could not be found in the Scriptures, and would actually be unmasked as heretical and soul-destroying if normal people could actually read God’s word. So the Bible – by both church and political laws – was kept locked in the Latin tongue that almost no one could read. And if you were caught reading, possessing, or reciting the newly (and illegally) published English version … the penalty was uniform: death by burning at the stake.
That was the fate that numerous people suffered in England – for reading or possessing the Bible in English! Included among them were seven parents, in 1519, who dared to teach their children the Lord’s Prayer in their own language.
It may distress some Christians that the Ten Commandments are being systematically removed from public display. But that is almost like nothing in comparison to the 1500’s! We can still display the commandments in our homes and churches. We can still own, read, and teach the Bible freely. We can stand on Fountain Square and read it aloud if we want. But here were seven parents who died for teaching Matthew 6.9-13 to their children … in English. It is absolutely unthinkable. And yet it was real. And it happens, in other nations with other languages, even today. And, oh, how we should pray that God continues to give His suffering people strength.
But as we approach the 492nd anniversary of the beginning of Protestant Reformation (10/31) … we should thank God for these martyrs for the English Bible. Yes (praise God!) Luther, Calvin, and others rediscovered the biblical and liberating doctrine of salvation by grace, through faith in Jesus alone (and not by works of the law). But we English speakers might have totally missed the blessing were it not for a few brave men and women who dared to get the Bible into English – against the law. Men like John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, and Miles Coverdale translated it – and Tyndale was martyred for doing so. Countless cloth workers smuggled the English Bible into England hidden in bales of cloth sent over from the European continent. And then there were those brave men and women who lost their lives for simply possessing the word of God. Their deaths were not in vain. For such cruelty always arouses the attention of the public to the injustices of those in power … and fans the flame of hunger for God’s word, and for justice!
So this October 31; this Reformation Day – remember these English translators, cloth-workers, and martyrs. And thank God that we have the Bible – and the message of salvation, full and free in Jesus alone – in our own language!
To read more on this topic, check out Piper's bio on William Tyndale (where I got most of this info).
5 comments:
Amazing to think this could happen - perpetrated by people claiming the name of Christ. I recently read the Tyndale biography and listened to Piper's message you cite. This was one of those moments where you realize how different things used to be.
Blessings!
Thank you! And praise God for His word in English!
The Protestant Reformation was committed by political revolutionaries using religion as a pretext. It was a horrible heresy that has lead to the damnation of millions.
This historical lie is downright slander, this never happened. People did not burn others for reciting Latin prayers, this is the Black Legend - A vile lie against Catholics created by English Protestants to justify the murder and destruction of Catholic structures in England and elsewhere as well as a justification for violence against Catholic nations like France and Spain.
The author should be ashamed of spreading this lie!
Fox's Book of Martyr's was first published in 1563--during the time many of the burnings happened. It is a historical record of the events of its day. Yes, many Protestants were burned at the stake for their beliefs, including for the possession of the Bible in English.
Anonymous stated "The Protestant Reformation was committed by political revolutionaries using religion as a pretext. It was a horrible heresy that has lead to the damnation of millions."
That's an interesting historical revision, but Luther was no more of a politician than you are a historian. You forget, Pope Leo X was the one sending people to hell by selling indulgences; worthless pieces of paper that God will not honor on the day of judgment. People who put their trust in the Pope's fundraising indulgences will be the ones damned, not those who put their faith in Jesus' sacrificial death and resurrection. Haven't you ever read the works of the Apostle Paul? Don't you understand how salvation works? It's through Christ, not Catholicism! Instead, are you going to blindly put faith in Catholicism, and its leader at the time Leo X? A horrible pope so lecherous he had naked boys jump out of cakes? Surely that's not your idea of God's salvation to the world?
The Protestant Reformation requested a public debate/discourse in order to reform the church back to the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles, as recorded in scripture. But the Pope would have none of it, and pretended he had the authority to condemn Luther with excommunication.
Sure, go ahead and rewrite history and pretend that you know better what happened than Foxe who recorded the events of his lifetime. Go ahead and say people weren't burned. And you know this because...??? Are we supposed to just genuflect and believe what you say because you say it, without any evidence whatsoever?
Post a Comment