The Holy Writ

OK, I may not know a Blog from a Blob, but I'm glad that you've discovered this site, one way or another. When I was born in 1918, I never knew I'd live long enough to communicate world-wide in seconds. After all, I used to have to walk six miles to school in snow up to my waist! But I'm glad to share with you that somewhere along my journey now totalling 89 years, I met the Lord Jesus Christ as my Saviour [English spelling preferred]. He changed my life as described in John 3:16 and it's my prayer for each of you to read God's Word and enter into His grace.

The Great Family Bible

The Dier-Door Family Bible remains in our family. Purchased from the J. S. Goodwin publishers of Chicago sometime in the 1800s while the family still resided in Montreal, Canada and later moved to Forreston, Illinois when my grandfather William A. Dier was still a lad.

Filled with the Spirit

Filled with or Baptized by
The Holy Ghost?

In Acts 2:4 KJV Holy Writ saith, “They were filled by the Holy Ghost,” not you will be filled by Him. The phrase “filled by” is found 73 times in its entirety.

However, baptized by the Holy Ghost cannot be found.

The believer is filled by the Holy Ghost at the moment of his/her salvation. He resides in the believer permanently although sin will sever that believer’s fellowship but not his/her position in Christ. Were it otherwise, or if salvation once obtained could be lost. salvation would not be salvation.

This conclusion might be considered argumentative but it is not intended in that manner.

It is important that a new believer be taught his/her identity with Jesus Christ and the Grace resulting from “so great a salvation.”

We all need to be like the Bereans, who read and searched the Scriptures to see if “those things which we have heard are true.”

Editorial Conclusion

Editorial by Arthur Lowther, proud of his English descent and heritage

King Henry VIII used the Bible to justify those things he wanted in regard to his marriages and his right to rule over his subjects in any way he saw fit!

During the Reformation, Martin Luther, after he nailed his Articles of Dissent on the Church door of Whittenburg, and John Calvin, who went to Geneva, Switzerland from his native France, never intended to establish the Protestant Church movement, which resulted in Europe and America.

Charles Wesley never left the Church of England although the Methodist Church was later established in the United States and later in England. The name Methodist resulted from the methodical study of the Bible by a group of Wesleyans within the Church of England.

In the Protestant Churches of England and America, Lutheran, Methodist, and Presbyterian Churches water baptism is considered to be essential to the believer's salvation. This practice cannot be found in the Scriptures. Holy Writ does teach that the believer is baptized into the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ which occurs at the moment of belief by faith in the Gospel. To say this another way, the believer “has been” baptized spiritually at that moment in time rather than needing “to be”!

King Henry's belief in the Divine Right of Kings that he, as the King of England, was God’s ruler over his subjects was not much different than the pope’s false claim of being Christ’s Vicar on earth!

He knew his Bible. My question if I will meet Henry in Heaven cannot be answered until I get there, but the Bible does say, “ So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it”. Isaiah 55: 11 KJV

Royal divorce was a sin in Henry’s day as it is in ours with its devastating effects upon innocent children who are caught in its snares. It is divisive to the family and to the Church.

The present Prince of Whales, Charles Arthur Windsor, who has said he will be a defender of the “faiths” should consult the Cambridge Dictionary because in its usage it is “the defender of the ‘faith,’ not ‘faiths’.”

Amazing that he would use divorce to end his marriage with Princess Diana after having had an extended adulterous relationship with the divorced Roman Catholic woman to whom he is now wed.

Should he ever become king, would he be influenced by his wife to restore England to the pope of Rome?

His late relative King Edward abdicated his throne “to marry the woman I love”, who was the American born divorced Mrs. Simpson!

The Bible is great whichever Version you read, although mine is the King James, and you should read yours through from Genesis to Revelation each year. This may be accomplished by reading just four chapters each day.

Its reward is great and will be everlastingly if we believe its Good News by faith! Amen!

Finally, may I suggest you Google search the subject of John Foxe’s Book of Christian Martyrs, and then consider if the present war against terrorism is not in fact a war against the false claims of the profit Muhammad and his present day follower?

His teachings and the Koran cannot be substantiated in the Scriptures.

The goal of all Muslims is to annihilate Israel and Christianity from the face of the earth, but shall never be because the LORD of lords, and KING of kings will return to earth to rule in His Glory. Amen!

Who were the Waldensians?

The Waldensians or Vaudois are a Christian denomination believing in poverty and austerity, founded around 1173, promoting true poverty, public preaching and the literal interpretation of the scriptures. Declared heretical, the movement was brutally persecuted by the Roman Catholic Church during the 12th and 13th centuries and nearly totally destroyed, but the Waldensian Church survives to this day.

There are two prevailing theories about the identity and origin of the Waldensians. Some Waldenses, and other groups seeking to trace their history through the Waldenses, claim that the Waldenses history extends back to the apostolic church, while the mainstream academic view is that the Waldensians were followers of Peter Waldo (or Valdes or Vaudes).

Ancient origin story
Some researchers argue that the group has existed since the time of the apostles, a claim much disputed by modern scholars. They claim the Waldenses' name does not in fact come from Peter Waldo, as modern scholars contend, but from the area in which they lived. They claim Peter Waldo in fact got his name by association with the Waldenses. Dr. Peter Allix in the early 19th century said:

"Some Protestants, on this occasion, have fallen into the snare that was set for them...It is absolutely false, that these churches were ever found by Peter Waldo...it is a pure forgery." Ancient Church of Piedmont, pp.192, Oxford: 1821

"It is not true, that Waldo gave this name to the inhabitants of the valleys: they were called Waldenses, or Vaudes, before his time, from the valleys in which they dwelt." "Id., p. 182

On the other hand, he "was called Valdus, or Waldo, because he received his religious notions from the inhabitants of the valleys." History of the Christian Church, William Jones, Vol II, p.2.

The presence of dissident Christianity in Northern Italy and Southern France predated the Waldensians. In the 8th century the Bishop Claudius of Turin was appointed by the Holy Roman Emperor Luis in 817 to the see of Turin. Claudius, as Bishop of Turin, made a series of attacks on image worship, relics, pilgrimages, intercession of the saints, the adoration of the cross and every artistic rendition about biblical stories. After his tenure the Turin church returned to Roman influence. The figure of Claudius remained so influential in later Waldensianism, that today the official publishing house of the Waldensian Church is named after him, "Editrice Claudiana".

Later, other medieval reformers acted in that area, like Peter of Bruys, Henry the Monk, and the Arnaldists.

Mainstream academic origin story
The mainstream academic view, shared officially by the Waldense Church and the Waldense Scholarship, is that the Waldensians started with Peter Waldo, who began to preach on the streets of Lyon in 1173. He was a wealthy merchant and decided to give up all his worldly possessions; he was sick of his own affluence: that he had so much more than those around him. He went through the streets throwing his money away and decided to become a wandering preacher who would beg for a living. He began to attract a following. Waldo had a philosophy very similar to Francis of Assisi.

Preaching required official permission, which he was unable to secure from the Bishop in Lyon, and so in 1179 he met with Pope Alexander III at the Third Council of the Lateran and asked for permission to preach. Walter Map, in De Nugis Curialium, narrates the discussions at one of these meetings. The pope, while praising Peter Waldo's ideal of poverty, ordered him not to preach unless he had the permission of the local clergy. He continued to preach without permission and by the early 1180s he and his followers were excommunicated and forced from Lyon. The Catholic church declared them heretics - the group's principle error was "contempt for ecclesiastical power" - that they dared to teach and preach outside of the control of the clergy "without divine inspiration". They were also accused of the ignorant teaching of "innumerable errors" and condemned for translating literally parts of the Bible which were deemed heretical by the Church. It was not however condemned for translating into the vernacular, as there already existed vernacular translations. Thus, they were considered heretics because the clergy saw them as a danger to what they understood as the divinely sanctioned church hierarchy.

In 1207, one of Waldo's early companions, Durand of Osca, converted to Catholicism after debating with Bishop Diego of Osma and St. Dominic. Durand later went to Rome where he professed the Catholic faith to Innocent III. Innocent gave him permission to establish the Poor Catholics, a mendicant order, who continued the Waldensian preaching mission against the Cathars. The Franciscans and Dominicans later supplanted the Poor Catholics.

Waldo and his followers developed a system whereby they would go from town to town and meet secretly with small groups of Waldensians. There they would confess sins and hold service. A traveling Waldensian preacher was known as a barba and could be either man or woman. (The idea of a female preacher was novel, almost revolutionary in and of itself, for the era.) The group would shelter and house the barba and help make arrangements to move on to the next town in secret.

The Roman Catholic response to Waldensians
The members of the group were declared schismatics in 1184 in France and heretics more widely in 1215 by the Fourth Council of the Lateran’s anathema. The rejection by the Church radicalized the movement; in terms of ideology the Waldensians became more obviously anti-Catholic - rejecting the authority of the clergy, declaring any oath to be a sin, claiming anyone could preach and that the Bible alone was all that was needed for salvation, and rejecting the concept of purgatory and the idea of relics and icons.

Much of what is known about the Waldensians comes from reports from Reinerius Saccho (died 1259), a former Cathar who converted to Catholicism and wrote two reports for the Inquisition, Summa de Catharis et Pauperibus de Lugduno (roughly) "Of the Sects of Modern Heretics" (1254) (first rediscovered and printed in S. R. Maitland), Facts and Documents Illustrative of the History, Doctrine, and Rites of the Ancient Albigenses and Waldenses, (London, 1832). Reinerius' lists of their tenets reveals that the heirs of Waldo considered themselves the true representatives of the apostolic Christian church, that statues and decorations were superfluous, that their obedience was to God, not to prelates, of whom the pope was the chief source of errors, and that no one is greater than another in the church, following Matthew 23: "All of you are brethren." The Waldensians believed that the Pope and bishops were guilty of homicides because of the inquisition and the crusades. They believed that the land and its people should not be divided up, that bishops and abbots ought not to have royal rights and that the clergy should not own possessions. They purportedly believed that none of the sacraments, including marriage, were of any effect. They also denied the validity of the secular use of force, which they considered a mortal sin. However, the inquisitors often noted the Waldensian belief in early church fathers. Moreover, the Waldenses never developed a church entirely independent from the Roman Catholic Church.

They absorbed a number of other groups including the Humiliati and had their own internal split and reformation with the Lombards. Because the Cathars had also been condemned around the same time, the Waldensians became associated with them as part of the target for the Albigensian Crusade from 1208. However the Waldensians and Cathars were not similar in their core beliefs. Waldo possibly died around this time, possibly in Germany, but he was never captured and his fate uncertain.

As early as the twelfth century, the Waldensians were granted refuge in Piedmont by the Count of Savoy. While the House of Savoy itself remained strongly Roman Catholic, this gesture angered the Papacy. While the Holy See might have been willing to tolerate the continued presence of large Muslim populations in the Normans’ Kingdom of Sicily, it was less than willing to accept a new Christian sect in Piedmont.

The Albigensians, and other Bogomil sects related to the gnostics, were apparently believers in Dualism and Binitarianism. The doctrine of those labeled Cathari or Albigenses were said "resembled Adoptionism in the East and Modalism in the West" (Columbia Encyclopedia). When some of these Albigenses merged with the Waldenses they retained the Modalist doctrine. However the bulk of Waldenses were orthodox Trinitarians. The Waldensians were never gnostics, dualists, or Binitarians. However, both the Waldensians and Albigensians were folk movements that involved public preaching. In the thirteenth century, there was a substantial enough problem with clerical literacy that preaching to the laity in churches was hampered. Therefore, the field was somewhat clear for peripatetic evangelism of these heretical and protesting movements. At the same time, the lack of ecclesiastical structure and training meant that each sect could be at wide variance with others. The Waldensians became a diverse movement as it spread out across Europe in France, Italy, Germany, and Bohemia.

Unlike the Cathars, the Waldensians survived elsewhere in Europe, remaining strong in France and also having a presence in northern Italy, southern Germany and down into central Europe. Particular efforts against the movement began in the 1230s with the Inquisition seeking the leaders of the movements. The movement had been almost completely suppressed in southern France within twenty years but the persecution lasted into the 14th century.

A crusade against Waldensians in the Dauphiné region of France was declared in 1487, but Papal representatives continued to devastate towns and villages into the mid 16th century as the Waldensians became absorbed into the wider Protestant Reformation. Moreover, the Waldensian absorption into Protestantism led to their transformation from a sect on the edge of Catholicism that shared many Catholic beliefs into a Protestant church adhering to the theology of John Calvin, which differed much from the beliefs of Peter Waldes.

Assessment by later groups
When the news of the Reformation reached the Waldensian Valleys, the Mensa Valdese decided to seek fellowship with the nascent protestantism. A Synod held 1526 in Laus, a town in Chisone valley, decided to send envoys to examine the new movement.

The Swiss and French Reformed churches sent William Farel and Anthony Saunier to attend the Synod of Chamforan, which convened in October, 12th 1532. Farel invited them to join the Reformation and to leave secrecy. A Confession of Faith, with Reformed doctrines, was formulated and the Waldensians decided to worship openly in French. Outside the Piedmont the Waldenses joined the local protestant churches in Bohemia, France and Germany. After they came out of clandestinity, the French king, Francis I, armed a crusade against the Waldensians of Provence, leading to a genocide that exterminated them in France in 1545.

Later groups such as Anabaptists and Baptists sometimes point to the Waldensians as an example of earlier Christians who were not a part of the Roman Catholic Church, and held beliefs similar to their own, including the belief in Believers Baptism and opposition to pedobaptism. The English poet John Milton in one of his sonnets professes a belief that the Waldensians are the true followers of Christ, who have preserved his original teachings, in contrast with Roman Catholicism, which Milton firmly believed had distorted the original Christian message. The Mennonite book Martyrs Mirror lists them in this regard as it attempts to trace the history of believer's baptism back to the apostles.

Modern Waldensians
After many centuries of harsh persecution, they acquired legal freedom under the King Carlo Alberto of the Piemonte, in 1848. Since then the Waldensian church developed and spread through the Italian Peninsula. During the Nazi occupation of North Italy in the Second World War, Italian Waldensians were active in saving Jews faced with imminent extermination, hiding many of them in the same moutain valley where their own Waldensian ancestors had found refuge in earlier generations. In the 1970s the Italian Waldensian church joined the Methodists to form the Chiesa Evangelica Valdese (Waldensian Church), which is a member of the World Council of Churches.

In the United States of America Since colonial times there have been Waldensians who found freedom on American shores, as marked by the presence of them in New Jersey and Delaware. William Paca, one of the signatories of the Declaration of Independence was a descendant of Waldenses immigrants.

In the late 1800s many Italians, among them Waldensians, immigrated to the United States. They founded communities in New York City, Chicago, Monett, Galveston and Rochester as well as the most notable Waldensian settlement in North America in Valdese, North Carolina, where the congregation uses the name Waldensian Presbyterian Church.

By the 1920s the Waldensian churches and missions merged into the Presbyterian Church due to the cultural assimilation of the second and third generations.

There exists a group under the name "The Old Waldensian Church of Anabaptists" that claim to have originally come from the Italian organization but after coming to America has maintained independence from church organizations or government incorporation including any tax exemption status. Once a sizable Church they have dwindled today to a very small group in Ohio.

The most well known Waldensian Churches in America are in New York and in Valdese North Carolina.

The American Waldensian Society is a cultural organization that works to preserve their millennial heritage among their descendants. In addition, for 39 years, the Old Colony Players in Valdese, North Carolina, have staged "From this Day Forward," an outdoor drama telling the story of the Waldenses and the founding of Valdese.

In South America
The first Waldensian settlers from Italy arrived in South America in 1856 and today the Waldensian Church of the Río de La Plata has approximately 40 congregations and 15,000 members shared between Uruguay and Argentina.

In Germany
In 1698 approximately 3,000 Waldenses fled from Italy and came to South Rhine valley. Most of them returned to their Piedmont valleys, but those who remained in Germany were assimilated by the State Churches (Lutheran and Reformed) and 10 congregations exist today as part of the Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland.

Milton
Many early Protestants regarded the Waldensians as a proto-Protestant sect (a la Wyclif and Huss) who were unjustly persecuted by Roman Catholics. As such, when, in the mid-17th century, the Duke of Savoy unleashed a systematic persecution of Waldensians, the English were particularly upset. The most famous remnant of this persecution is John Milton's 1655 poem "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont."

The Huguenots

Who were the Huguenots?
The Huguenots were French Protestants who were members of the Reformed Church which was established in 1550 by John Calvin. John Calvin (1509 - 1564), religious reformer. The origin of the name Huguenot is uncertain, but dates from approximately 1550 when it was used in court cases against "heretics" (dissenters from the Roman Catholic Church). There is a theory that it is derived from the personal name of Besançon Hugues, the leader of the "Confederate Party" in Geneva, in combination with a Frankish corruption of the German word for conspirator or confederate: eidgenosse. Thus, Hugues plus eidgenot becomes Huguenot, with the intention of associating the Protestant cause with some very unpopular politics. O.I.A. Roche, in his book The Days of the Upright, a History of the Huguenots, writes that "Huguenot" is a combination of a Flemish and a German word. In the Flemish corner of France, Bible students who gathered in each other's houses to study secretly were called Huisgenooten, or "house fellows," while on the Swiss and German borders they were termed Eidgenossen, or "oath fellows," that is, persons bound to each other by an oath. Gallicized into "Huguenot," often used deprecatingly, the word became, during two and a half centuries of terror and triumph, a badge of enduring honor and courage. As nickname and even abusive name its use was banned in the regulations of the Edict of Nantes which Henry IV (Henry of Navarre, who himself earlier was a Huguenot) issued in 1598. The French Protestants themselves preferred to refer to themselves as "réformees" (reformers) rather than "Huguenots".

It was much later that the name "Huguenot" became an honorary one of which their descendants are proud.

A general edict which encouraged the extermination of the Huguenots was issued on January 29th, 1536 in France. On March 1st, 1562 some 1200 Huguenots were slain at Vassy, France. This ignited the the Wars of Religion which would rip apart, devastate, and bankrupt France for the next three decades.

The Kings of the Bible

Kings of Israel and Judah

Below is a list of the rulers of Israel and Judah. Israel became a divided kingdom in about 929 BC. The northern part continued to be called Israel. The southern part was called Judah. Kings Saul, David and Solomon ruled over Israel before it became a divided kingdom.
Kings of (undivided) Israel in order of reign:• Saul• David• Solomon
Kings of Judah in order of reign:• Rehoboam• Abijah• Asa• Jehoshaphat• Jehoram• Ahaziah (Jehoahaz)• Athaliah (Queen)• Joash (Jehoash)• Amaziah• Uzziah (Azariah)• Jotham• Ahaz• Hezekiah• Manasseh• Amon• Josiah• Jehoahaz• Jehoiakim• Jehoiachin• Zedekiah
Kings of Israel in order of reign:• Jeroboam 1• Nadab• Baasha• Elah• Zimri• Tibni• Omri• Ahab• Ahaziah• Jehoram (Joram)• Jehu• Jehoahaz• Jehoash (Joash)• Jeroboam 2• Zechariah• Shallum• Menahem• Pekahiah• Pekah• Hoshea
Copyright ©2001-2007 George Konig and AboutBibleProphecy.com. All rights reserved.

The Divine Right of Kings

There were, essentially, two responses to the political chaos of the seventeenth century, as many of the aspects of the Reformation began to be translated into political terms (see the discussion on John Milton). On the one hand, a group of thinkers led initially by Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), believed that natural laws governed states and their relations. Drawing on the thought of Greek and Roman Stoicism, where the idea of "natural law" originates, Grotius and others believed that there were constant and immutable rational laws which should be applied to all governments. In many ways, this concept is very similar to the Roman concept of the Law of Nations, which is also derived from Stoic principles. On the other hand, Jacques-Benigne Bossuet (1627-1704) reinforced medieval notions of kingship in his theory of the Divine Right of Kings, a theory which argued that certain kings ruled because they were chosen by God to do so and that these kings were accountable to no person except God.

The origin of this concept extends as far back into European, Middle Eastern, and Northern African history as the practice of monarchy does; as a legitimating of authority, the idea that monarchs are divinely chosen—often carried much further than the assertion that the monarch is divine which leaves little room for argument. The problem for Europe, however, is the fundamentally anti-political nature of early Christianity, this anti-political aspect of foundational Christianity threw the institution of emperorship and kingship into question. If Christ rejects all political actions and institutions, how can one justify having a monarch? Saint Augustine in The City of God set out the theoretical framework for the institution of Christian monarchy in his concept of the Two Cities, the City of God, that is, the body of believers, and the City of Man, that is, the secular world. Although these two cities are in spiritual conflict, the City of Man was instituted by God, according to Augustine, in order to secure the safety and security of the members of the City of God. Therefore, monarchs are placed on their thrones by God for a specific purpose. Although they may be ungodly, to question their authority is in essence to question God's purpose for both the City of Man and the City of God. This, or some form of this, made up the foundation of medieval and Renaissance theories of monarchy.

Bossuet, however, was reacting to an extreme situation and carried this argument to its farthest extent in his doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings. Not only did God bestow power on certain monarchs (and he argued that his king, Louis XIV of France, was one such monarch), but the bestowal of this power legitimated autocracy (rule by one person). The king ruled by virtue of God's authority; therefore he should be obeyed in all things. No group, whether they be nobles, or a parliament, or the people in the street, have a right to participate in this rule; to question or oppose the monarch was to rebel against God's purpose. This doctrine of absolutism would follow a tortured course through the eighteenth century culminating in the French Revolution of 1789-1792 and the beheading of Louis XVI, the king of France.
Richard Hooker

Anglican Book of Common Prayer

From The History of the English Book of Common Prayer by Jeff Hobbs
Hard-Line Protestants force a Re-Write

Walk into any Anglican cathedral or church, and the chances are that you will find a Book of Common Prayer somewhere within. Although this Prayer Book is now a well-established part of the Anglican Church service, its origins are firmly rooted in the ideological struggle of the English Reformation.

By the time Henry VIII died, in 1547, the English religion was basically still Catholic - but with a difference. Although Henry had broken with Rome and wound down the monasteries, the mass was still a Catholic one, told in Latin, and Catholic sacraments remained. Henry had dabbled with Reformist ideas, ordering that English bibles be placed in every parish, and even reducing the number of sacraments from seven to two for a short period of time. But he changed his mind, and for the last eight years of his life Catholic practices remained almost in full, although Henry persecuted hard line Reformists and Catholics alike.

It was during the short reign of Henry's son, King Edward VI, that something like real Protestantism gradually became the official religion of the country. In 1549 Archbishop Thomas Cranmer produced what is now known as the First English Prayer Book, and it became the sole legal form of worship. This Prayer Book was the first attempt at putting the English service into a single volume, and it set out a format of worship to be followed throughout the year. It was a move in a Protestant direction because it emphasised scripture as the basis of the service, and some of the Catholic ceremonial elements were removed. Also, the service was now in English rather than Latin. Yet this Prayer Book was still open to both Catholic and Protestant interpretation. The order of the old Latin mass was mostly retained, and, of utmost importance at the time, the matter of transubstantiation (the belief that the bread and wine changed into the body and blood of Christ) was left open As a result of this ambiguity, Archbishop Cranmer received pressure from all manner of Reformists. Various notable foreign reformers, such as Peter Martyr and Martin Bucer, had recently fled the Counter Reformation in Europe, and sought refuge in England. They urged Cranmer to produce a genuinely reformed Prayer Book. At the same time, Bishops such as Ridley of London sometimes took their own steps beyond the first Prayer Book. For instance, from 1550 Ridley issued an order that turned all altars in his London diocese into communion tables, symbolising the removal of barriers between officiating priests and participating laity.

The result was that, in 1552, Cranmer produced a new Prayer Book. There has been much historical debate over the authorship and meaning of the Second Prayer Book, because we don't know exactly who drafted it. While Cranmer, obviously played a central role in it, it is possible that Martyr, Ridley, John Knox and Hooper amongst others may all have had some input. Whatever the authorship, the Second Prayer Book was significant because it completely altered the First Prayer Book, and put forward a much more Protestant form of worship.

The key to the Protestant emphasis of the Second Prayer Book was the stance it took on the issue of transubstantiation. The Second Prayer Book's emphasis on remembrance, and feeding by faith, made it plain that this was not Christ's body or blood that were being consumed but something that represented them. The denial of transubstantiation is rationalised by the fact that "the natural body and blood of our saviour Christ … are in heaven and not here. For it is against the truth of Christ's true natural body, to be in more places than in one at one time". There were plenty of other changes too. The Catholic altar was replaced by a communion table, possibly in recognition of what Ridley and others had already done. The Calvinist doctrine of predestination, the idea of souls elected to go to heaven, also replaced the Catholic idea of salvation through good works. Therefore, whereas the First Prayer Book said that "when the judgement shall come which thou hast committed to thy well beloved Son … we, may be found acceptable in thy sight, and receive blessing, the Second Prayer Book changed this to "and in whom the souls of them that be elected, after they be delivered from the burden of the flesh, be in joy and felicity". The Second Prayer Book also reduced the amount of ceremony during the service. For instance, in the baptism ceremony, the Second Prayer Book excluded the exorcism "I command thee, unclean spirit, in the name of the Father … that thou come out, and depart from these infants".

Ironically, the new Prayer Book was only to last a year or so as the basis of worship because Edward VI died and was replaced by Mary I, a devout Catholic. Yet ultimately, as some Anglican Cathedrals and churches demonstrate, the Prayer Book was to endure.

The Anglican Thirty- Nine Articles

The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion are the historic defining statements of Anglican doctrine.

The articles were established by a Convocation of the Church in 1563, under the direction of Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, using as a basis the Forty-Two Articles written under the direction of Thomas Cranmer in 1552 and enacted under Edward VI in 1553. Adherence to them was made a legal requirement by parliament in 1571. They are printed in the Book of Common Prayer and other Anglican prayer books. The Test Act of 1673 made adherence to the Thirty-Nine Articles a requirement for holding civil office in England (an act which has since been repealed). Clergy of the Church of England are still required to take an oath that the doctrine in the Articles is "agreeable to the Word of God," but the laity are not, and other Churches of the Anglican Communion do not make such a requirement.

Most of the substance of the articles can be labelled as Reformed Catholicism[1]. The Articles were not intended as a complete statement of the Christian faith, but as a statement of the position of the Church of England over against the Roman Catholic Church and against dissident protestants. The Articles also argue against some Anabaptist positions such as the holding of goods in common, and the necessity of believer's baptism. The reason for the imposition of the 39 articles at this point in British history was that it had not been possible to find a protestant consensus since the separation with Rome. The establishment was concerned by the rise in influence of dissenters who wanted the reformation to go much further, and, for example, to abolish hierarchies of bishops. The democratic threat could be calmed by imposing a compromise position - the thirty-nine articles.

The Articles are a revealing window into the ethos and character of Anglicanism, in particular in the way the document works to navigate a via media, or "middle path," between the beliefs and practices of the Roman Catholic Church and of the continental Protestant reformers. In this sense, the Articles portray a movement striving to integrate its Catholic patrimony with the insights and principles of the Reformation.

John Henry Newman's Tract 90, written before his conversion to Roman Catholicism, attempted to show that the Articles could be interpreted in a way less hostile to Roman Catholic doctrine.

Outside the Church of England, Anglican views of the Thirty-Nine Articles vary. The Episcopal Church in the United States of America regards them as an historical document and does not require members to adhere to them.

Anglican priest John Wesley adapted the Thirty-Nine Articles for use by American Methodists in the 18th century. The resulting Articles of Religion remain official United Methodist doctrine.

Content of the document
The Articles highlight some of the major differences between Anglican and Roman Catholic doctrine, as well as more conventional declarations of a Trinitarian Christianity. They are divided, per the command of Queen Elizabeth I, into four sections: Articles 1-8, "The Catholic Faith"; Articles 9-18, "Personal Religion"; Articles 19-31, "Corporate Religion"; and Articles 32-39, "Miscellaneous."
In the order given in the Book of Common Prayer (with a brief summary when the title is not wholly clear), they are:

I. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity
This article affirms the Trinitarian godhead as an indivisible unity of persons, living but non-corporeal, infinite and eternal, Creator and Redeemer.

II. Of the Word or Son of God, which was made very Man
This article essentially re-asserts the creedal satements concerning the nature of Christ, emphasizing that the hypostatic union of his divinity and humanity. It assumes a substitutional atonement perspective vis--vis Christ's Passion and death, stating that he "was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile his Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for actual sins of men."

III. Of the going down of Christ into Hell
Again, in keeping with the creeds, the article simply asserts that "As Christ died for us, and was buried, so also is it to be believed, that he went down into Hell."

IV. Of the Resurrection of Christ
This article affirms the fully corporeal resurrection of Christ.

V. Of the Holy Ghost
Again following on the creeds, this article expresses the unity of the Holy Spirit with the other two persons of the godhead.

VI. Of the Sufficiency of the holy Scripture for Salvation
In full, the first clause of this article reads: "Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church."

The canonical books are then listed, with the Apocryphal (or deuterocanonical) books recommended (quoting Jerome) "for example of life and instruction in manners; ... [but not] to establish any doctrine."

VII. Of the Old Testament
Article VII professes consistency between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, seeing Christ's presence and activity in both. It also makes a distinction between the commandments of the Pentateuch (the legal requirements of the Hebrew people articulated in the first five books of the Old Testament). Those "touching Ceremonies and Rites, do not bind Christian men, nor the Civil precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth; yet notwithstanding, no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral."

VIII. Of the Three Creeds (Nicene, Athanasian, and Apostles' Creed)
In full, "The three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius's Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture."
Following Article VI, the Catholic Creeds are accepted precisely because they can be proved from scripture.

IX. Of Original or Birth-sin
Article IX affirms the congenital sinfulness of human nature, "so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the Spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation." Quoting St. Paul's frequent condemnation of the "desires of the flesh" (quoted here in the Greek - φρονημα σαρκος - presumably for precise, scriptural emphasis and exegesis), the article asserts its power to resist subjection to divine law.

X. Of Free Will
Flowing from the preceding article, Article X proclaims that "natural strength and good works" is insufficient without faith, specifically by the grace of God allowing us to employ our wills for good.

XI. Of the Justification of Man
This attests to the concern of Anglicanism that sanctification is the fruit of salvation, visibly manifested in the transformation of the believer's life and behaviour.

XII. Of Good Works
Article XII strives to chart a via media between what was seen as over-emphasis on good works as a path to merit in the Roman tradition, and the complete rejection of the role of of good works in the life of faith, as was attributed to continental Protestantism, notably that of Calvin and Luther. In this sense, it provides a response by the Ecclesia anglicana to the Lutheran doctrine of sola fide (justification through faith alone).

XIII. Of Works before Justification
That works done before one is justified are not pleasing to God, do not bring grace, and as not commanded by God, "have the nature of sin";

XIV. Of Works of Supererogation
that it impious to suppose that one can do more good works than God commands or requires;

XV. Of Christ Alone without Sin

XVI. Of Sin after Baptism
That the baptized believer is capable both of committing mortal ("deadly") sin, and of being forgiven upon true repentance;

XVII. Of Predestination and Election

XVIII. Of Obtaining Eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ
That only in the name of Christ is one saved and not by following the law of nature or of another religion;

XVIV. Church

That the visible Church of Christ is the congregation of those who preach the Word of God and minister the sacraments; and that the Eastern and Roman Churches have erred in matters of faith as well as practice;

XX Of the Authority of the Church
This article exemplifies another attribute characteristic of Anglicanism, namely a conviction in the authority of tradition in the church, exemplified in doctrine and conciliar resolution. Other Anglican documents, notably the Act of Uniformity (1559), particularly designated the binding authority of the first four great ecumenical councils, and, less universally, the fifth and sixth.
Following on the assertions of Article XII, this article explores more fully the relationship between faith and works, coming down in opposition to sola fide as articulated in the Augsburg Confession. Reconciliation with God is achieved through faith, and the Article quotes Ephesians

2:8-9 and St. Augustine in support of this principle. The human conscience is assured through faith, but faith also permits "the heart [to be] moved to good works."

XXI. Of the Authority of General Councils
With implicit appeal to the convocation of the early ecumenical councils (all by emperors, not popes), Article XXI unreservedly assumes the will of the secular authorities in convening general councils of the church. Nonetheless, the ultimate primacy of scripture is affirmed, and, by implication, error is attributed to the failure to use scripture as a basis for deliberation and action.

XXII. Of Purgatory
That the Roman Catholic doctrines of purgatory, pardons (e.g. indulgences), the adoration of images and relics, and the invocation of saints, are unscriptural inventions;

XXIII. Of Ministering in the Congregation
That only those publicly and legally authorized should preach or minister the sacraments;

XXIV. Of Speaking in the Congregation in such a tongue as the people understandeth

XXV. Of the Sacraments
The incarnational perspective vital to Anglicanism is manifest here with respect to the "effectual signs of grace." In Anglican sacramental theology, God acts through the physical and material world God has created, and Jesus Christ is the mediator of that Creation and its redemption. The sacraments have a practical spiritual function in that they intensify faith, and, by implication, strengthen one's Christian character.

XXVI. Of the Unworthiness of the Ministers, which hinders not the effect of the Sacrament

XXVII. Of Baptism
That it is a sign of Regeneration and the instrument by which one becomes a member of the Church and receives grace; and that the baptism of young children is to be retained;

XXVIII Of the Lord's Supper
This article, while explicitly rejecting the doctrine of transubstantiationism nonetheless expresses the conviction in the Real Presence of Christ's Body and Blood in the consecrated elements.

XXIX Of the Wicked which eat not the Body of Christ in the use of the Lord's Supper
that the wicked and unbelievers who take communion do not partake Christ but are condemned (see manducatio impiorum);

XXX. Of both kinds
that lay people ought to receive the wine as well as the bread;

XXXI. Of the one Oblation of Christ finished upon the Cross
While this article expressly rejects the belief that the Eucharist involves a re-enactment of the sacrifice of Christ, it does so in balance with Cranmer's Eucharistic prayer "that by the merits and death of thy Son Jesus Christ...we and all thy whole Church may obtain remission of sins, and all other benefits of His passion."

XXXII. Of the Marriage of Priests
That bishops, priests, and deacons are not commanded to celibacy but may marry at their own discretion;

XXXIII. Of Excommunicate Persons, how they are to be avoided

XXXIV. Of the Traditions of the Church
That uniformity is not necessary, but that openly flouting accepted church traditions that are not unscriptural deserves rebuke, as threatening good order; and that national churches have authority to change rites of human origin;

XXXV. Of the Homilies
That two specified books of homilies should be read in churches (includes a list of homilies by Thomas Cranmer and other key bishops);

XXXVI. Of Consecration of Archbishops, Bishops and Other Ministers
That the ordination rite set out in the reign of Edward VI (the "Edwardine Ordinal") is valid and lawful; In the American Prayer Book, this is: "Of the Consecration of Bishops and Other Ministers."

XXXVII. Of the Civil Magistrates
That the Monarch is the supreme power in England, and not subject to any foreign power; that the Monarch does not administer Word or Sacrament, but has the power to rule both church and secular estates;

XXXVIII. Of Christian Men's Goods, which are not common
That private property is affirmed, though all should give what alms they can from what they have;

XXXIX. Of a Christian Man's Oath
That rash swearing is forbidden, but not swearing in a court of law.

1. Henry Chadwick, Tradition, Fathers, and Councils. In "The Study of Anglicanism," ed. by S. Sykes and J. Booty. London: SPCK, 1988
· Newman, John Henry ([1883] 1841). "No. 90 of the Tracts for the Times—VII. Remarks on certain Passages of the Thirty-nine Articles". Retrieved on 2006-08-02.

Further reading
· Church of England (1990?). The Book of Common Prayer and administration of the sacraments and other rites and ceremonies of the Church according to the use of the Church of England. Eyre & Spottiswoode. ISBN 0-521-51134-8. (Note: contains the text of the Thirty-Nine Articles)
· MacCulloch (2004). Reformation - Europe's house divided 1490-1700. Penguin Books. ISBN 0 140 28534 2.

Origin of the Roman Catholic Church

Did the Roman Church begin with Peter as its first Pope, as it claims from a verse in Holy Writ, “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”, Matthew 16:18 KJV?

Strange that nowhere in Scripture is it documented that the Apostle Peter was ever in Rome!

Please observe in the above verse the one speaking to Peter is Jesus Christ who saith “this rock” on which He will build His Church is Christ Himself, not Peter!

Constantine, who was he and when did he live?

Head of Constantine's colossal statue at the Capitoline Museums. Reigned 306 - 312 (hailed as Augustus in the West, officially made Caesar by Galerius with Severus as Augustus, by agreement with Maximian, refused relegation to Caesar in 309);312-324 (undisputed Augustus in the West);324-22 May 337 (emperor of the whole empire) Full name Gaius Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus Born 27 February 272 or 273 Naissus (modern Niš, Serbia) Died 22 May 337 Buried Constantinople.

Predecessor Constantius Chlorus Successor Constantine II, Constantius II and Constans Wife/wives Minervina, died or divorced before 307 Fausta.

It was he who decreed Christianity to be of sole religion of the Roman Empire and the death penalty to refuse it. This is a contradiction of the words of Jesus Christ in John 3 “you must be born again” not as a natural birth but a spiritual one from above by the Holy Ghost, KJV!

No further dissertation should be required to show the falseness of this claim.

The true Church of New Testament days did exist and continued among the Waldreans and Huguenots. A study of their histories is recommended.

Martin Luther
1483 - 1546
Martin Luther dealt the symbolic blow that began the Reformation when he nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of the Wittenberg Church. That document contained an attack on papal abuses and the sale of indulgences by church officials.

But Luther himself saw the Reformation as something far less than the “fight for the gospel.” Luther even stated that he would have happily yielded every point of dispute to the Pope, if only the Pope had affirmed the gospel.

At the heart of the gospel, in Luther's estimation, was the doctrine of justification by faith—the teaching that Christ's own righteousness is imputed to those who believe, and on that ground alone, they are accepted by God.

King Henry the 8th

When Henry VIII of England died, he left three heirs: his son Edward and his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Edward succeeded to the throne and was a staunch Protestant (or at least his advisors were). Under his rule, the church services, previously in Latin, were translated into English, and other changes were made. When Edward died, the throne passed to his sister Mary, who was firmly Roman Catholic in her beliefs. She determined to return England to union with the Pope. With more diplomacy, she might have succeeded. But she was headstrong and would take no advice. Her mother had been Spanish, and she determined to marry Felipe, the heir to the throne of Spain, not realizing how much her people (of all religious persuasions) feared that this would make England a province of the Spanish Empire. She insisted that the best way to deal with heresy was to burn as many heretics as possible. (It is worth noting that her husband was opposed to this). In the course of a five-year reign, she lost all the English holdings on the continent of Europe, she lost the affection of her people, and she lost any chance of a peaceful religious settlement in England. Of the nearly three hundred persons burned by her orders, the most famous are the Oxford Martyrs, commemorated today.

Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester
Details of Hugh Latimer’s early life are sketchy, at best. Sources date his birth somewhere between 1475 and 1495, usually setting on 1485. He was born to a prosperous and generous farmer in Thurcaston Leicester, England. Recognizing his gifts, his hard-working father sent him to Cambridge around 1506. He received his bachelor’s degree around 1510 and his master’s degree in 1514 before beginning to study divinity. While at Cambridge, Latimer was an ardent defender of the Roman church and thought so ill of the reformers as to say, "Impiety was gaining ground apace, and what lengths might not men be expected to run, when they began to question even the infallibity of the Pope?" In his free time, he followed the defenders of the reformation into their meetinghouses, disputed with them, and implored them to abandon their convictions. Moreover, he orally defended his divinity degree in 1524 by attacking the theology of the reformer Phillip Melanchthon. "At last," said his hearers, "England, nay Cambridge, will furnish a champion for the church that will confront the Wittenberg doctors, and save the vassal of our Lord".

Merle D’Aubigne puts it this way, "He was a second Saul, and was soon to resemble the apostle of the Gentiles in another respect". Through the workings of Thomas Bilney, one of those whom Latimer had persecuted in the meetinghouses, Latimer would undergo an immense paradigm shift. Bilney went to the college where Latimer resided, begging to make confession. Latimer thought, "My discourse against Melanchthon has no doubt converted him". There, kneeling before Latimer, Bilney shared with Latimer "the anguish he had once felt in his soul", "the efforts he had made to remove it", and "lastly, the peace he had felt when he believed that Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world". Latimer no doubt knew this anguish, for each time Latimer mixed water with wine, as the missal directed, his conscience was troubled that he did not mix adequate water. Trying to live by vain superstitions had left Latimer feeling insufficient. And so, Latimer listened, trying to chase away his thoughts. But Bilney continued. When Bilney finally arose from his knees, Latimer remained seated, weeping. The gracious Bilney consoled him, "Brother, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow". And Latimer arose a new man. His zeal did not leave him; it simply switched its allegiance. Latimer became the most popular preacher of his day. His sermons spoke little of doctrine, but rather, his practical sermons spurred his hearers on to godliness through upright living and devout prayer. Furthermore, Latimer maintained that the Bible should be read in every household. The priests of the Roman church gathered their forces. If Latimer was to express the blessing of the Scripture, they would show its dangers. The prior of Buckingham picked a few passages out of Scripture and preached:

The ploughman, reading in the gospel that no man having put his plough should look back, would soon lay aside his labour…The baker, reading that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump, will in future make us nothing but very insipid bread; and the simple man commanded to pluck out the right eye and cast it from thee, England, after a few years, will be a frightful spectacle; it will be little better than a nation of blind and one-eyed men, sadly begging their bread from door to door.

The next Sunday, with Buckingham sitting right in front of him, Latimer summarized the prior’s sermon, showing the absurdity of each point. Looking at the prior, he then added,
Do not we know that in all languages and in all speeches, it is not on the image that we must fix our eyes, but on the thing which the image represents? For instance, if we see a fox painted preaching in a friar’s hood, nobody imagines that a fox is meant, but that craft and hypocrisy are described, which are so often found disguised in that garb. At these words, all eyes of the congregation turned to the prior, who quickly ran away like Brave Sir Robin.

The priests gathered to petition Dr. West, Bishop of Ely, at Cambridge to forbid Latimer to speak. West attended Latimer’s next sermon. Upon the entrance of West, Latimer calmly waited until he was seated. He then decided to change his sermon topic in honor of his new guest. Latimer began preaching of Christ, the model for all bishops. Although Latimer did not directly attack West, the people exclaimed that the Bishop that Latimer described was unlike any of their bishops. West forbade Latimer to preach in the university and the diocese. Thus Latimer took up preaching at the Augustinian monastery of Robert Barnes, which was not under episcopal jurisdiction.

On Christmas Eve, 1525, Barnes exchanged pulpits with Latimer. There Barnes preached with hostility against Cardinal Wolsey, who was present for Barnes’ sermon. Barnes was brought before Wolsey, recanted, served three years in prison, and finally escaped to Germany. Latimer, also brought before Wolsey, was able to return to his Cambridge pulpit. In 1531, he came under the favor of Henry VIII for supporting him in his quest to annul his marriage to Catalina de Aragon. In that year, he received the benefice of West Kingston, Wiltshire, where he was able to teach Reformed doctrine. He also befriended Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer here. However, the next year he was excommunicated from the church for refusing to subscribe to certain beliefs such as purgatory and the importance of venerating saints. In a sermon before Henry VIII, he began exclaiming, "Latimer, Latimer, thou art going to speak before the high and mighty King, Henry VIII, who is able, if he think fit, to take thy life away. Be careful what thou sayest. But Latimer, Latimer, remember thou art also about to speak before the King of kings and Lord of lords. Take heed thou dost not displease Him".

Thanks to the influence of Cromwell and Anne Boleyn, Latimer would later become Bishop of Worcester in 1535. But he was left with no choice but to resign in 1539 when he was forced to comply with the Six Articles, a return to Romish doctrines he opposed. As he threw off the robes of his bishopric, he leaped into the air, and declared that he found himself lighter than he had ever felt before. He was later put into prison for a short period of time but released in 1547, with the accession of Edward VI. He spent the next six years of his life as a humble preacher, residing with his dear friend, Thomas Cranmer.

However, when Mary took the throne in 1553, she put an end to his preaching the gospel. One of her first acts was the imprisonment of the leading Reformers, among whom was Latimer. He was thrown in the Tower of London with Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, and John Bradford. There he spent most of his time praying so long that he could not get up without help.

Nicholas Ridley, Bishop of Rochester
English prelate, reformer, and Protestant martyr, Nicholas Ridley was the son of Christopher Ridley, the Lord of Ridley, in the county of Northumberland, from 1519. Christopher was a confidante of Henry VIII and, it is reported, one of the few men whom Henry really regarded as a friend. The Lordship dates from 1230 when it was created and first bestowed on John Ridley by King Henry III. The domain of Ridley lies in the Northumbrian area of England, on the river Tyne, a few miles east of Haltwhistle and twelve miles west of Hexham. Haydon Bridge is three miles to the east and Hadrian's Wall just four miles north. On John's death in 1258 his son, Richard, succeeded to the Title. Richard played a crucial role in the development of science of that era by being the patron of Roger Bacon who is credited with the invention of the optical lens and gunpowder (though the Arabs may have known it earlier). Richard Ridley, Lord from 1330 until 1368, entertained Edward III as the English marched through Ridley in 1332 on their way to invade Scotland. The following year Richard was invited to be present at the Royal coronation in Scotland. Among the many notable Lords of Ridley was Joseph, who, in 1485, joined Henry Tudor and his army and, at the head of a band of men from Ridley, fought in the decisive battle of Bosworth. Joseph's son Nicholas, succeeded to the Lordship in 1490 and was appointed to a leading position in the Royal mint. He was instrumental in reforming the coinage, and was responsible for the minting of the first pound coin, the sovereign. In 1534, Nicholas Ridley, while a proctor of Cambridge, signed the decree against the pope's supremacy in England. In 1537 he became chaplain to Thomas Cranmer, in 1540 master of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, and in 1541 chaplain to Henry VIII and canon of Canterbury. Under the reign of Edward, he became Bishop of Rochester (1547), and was part of the committee that drew up the first English Book of Common Prayer. As Bishop of Rochester, Ridley was chosen to strengthen and establish the Reformed teachings at Cambridge, and he was a commissioner in the examination that resulted in the deposition of bishops Stephen Gardiner and Edmund Bonner. In 1550 he succeeded Bonner as Bishop of London, where he did much to improve the condition of the poor by preaching on social injustices before the King. Ridley supported Lady Jane Grey's claims to the crown, and in 1553, shortly after the accession of the Catholic Mary I, he was imprisoned. With Cranmer and Hugh Latimer he took part (1554) in the Oxford disputations against a group of Catholic theologians and would not recant his Protestant faith.

On Oct 16, 1555, Ridley and Latimer were lead to their martyrdom. Ridley came fully robed, as he would be dressed as a Bishop. Latimer, wore a simple frieze frock. The seventy-year-old Latimer followed feebly behind Ridley. Ridley gave his clothes away to those standing by. Latimer quietly stripped to his shroud. "And though in his clothes he appeared a withered, crooked old man, he now stood bolt upright". As they were fastened to their stakes, Ridley’s brother tied a bag of gunpowder to both of their necks. And then, as a burning faggot was laid at the feet of Ridley, Latimer spoke his famous words:
"Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day light such a candle. By God’s grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."
John Foxe relates the rest,
And so the fire being kindled, when Ridley saw the fire flaming up towards him, he cried with a loud voice, "Lord into Thy hands I commend my spirit: Lord, receive my spirit!’ and repeated the latter part often. Latimer, crying as vehemently on the other side of the stake, "Father of heaven, receive my soul!" received the flame as if embracing it. After he had stroked his face with his hands, and as it were bathed them a little in the fire, he soon died, as it appeared, with very little pain.
Latimer, who lived and died unmarried, eased out of this world. But it was not so with his friend Nicholas Ridley. The faggots being piled too high, he screamed for his bystanders to pull off some of the wood. Misunderstanding him, his brother-in-law, added more sticks to the fire. The fire "burned clean all his nether parts, before it once touched the upper; and that made him often desire them to let the fire come unto him". He exclaimed, ‘I cannot burn!’. When he turned to his watchers, they saw a ghastly sight. "After his legs were consumed he showed that side towards us clean, shirt and all untouched with flame". Finally, a bystander pulled the faggots from the fire, and the fire flamed to his face, igniting the gunpowder. And he stirred no more. And as hundreds of bystanders looked on at these two motionless bodies, all that could be heard was weeping.

Nicholas' heir was Thomas Ridley, a cousin. Thomas became the headmaster of Eton and later the Vicar-General to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He married Margaret Boleyn, a relative of Queen Anne Boleyn, and became an advisor to King James I.

Thomas More

Thomas More was born in Milk Street, London on February 7, 1478, son of Sir John More, a prominent judge. He was educated at St Anthony's School in London. As a youth he served as a page in the household of Archbishop Morton, who anticipated More would become a "marvellous man."1. More went on to study at Oxford under Thomas Linacre and William Grocyn. During this time, he wrote comedies and studied Greek and Latin literature. One of his first works was an English translation of a Latin biography of the Italian humanist Pico della Mirandola. It was printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1510.
Around 1494 More returned to London to study law, was admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1496, and became a barrister in 1501. Yet More did not automatically follow in his father's footsteps. He was torn between a monastic calling and a life of civil service. While at Lincoln's Inn, he determined to become a monk and subjected himself to the discipline of the Carthusians, living at a nearby monastery and taking part of the monastic life. The prayer, fasting, and penance habits stayed with him for the rest of his life. More's desire for monasticism was finally overcome by his sense of duty to serve his country in the field of politics. He entered Parliament in 1504, and married for the first time in 1504 or 1505.
More became a close friend with Desiderius Erasmus during the latter's first visit to England in 1499. It was the beginning of a lifelong friendship and correspondence. They produced Latin translations of Lucian's works, printed at Paris in 1506, during Erasmus' second visit. On Erasmus' third visit, in 1509, he wrote Encomium Moriae, or Praise of Folly, (1509), dedicating it to More.
One of More's first acts in Parliament had been to urge a decrease in a proposed appropriation for King Henry VII. In revenge, the king had imprisoned More's father and not released him until a fine was paid and More himself had withdrawn from public life. After the death of the king in 1509, More became active once more. In 1510, he was appointed one of the two undersheriffs of London. In this capacity, he gained a reputation for being impartial, and a patron to the poor. In 1511, More's first wife died in childbirth. More was soon married again, to Dame Alice.During the next decade, More attracted the attention of King Henry VIII. In 1515 he accompanied a delegation to Flanders to help clear disputes about the wool trade. Utopia opens with a reference to this very delegation. More was also instrumental in quelling a 1517 London uprising against foreigners, portrayed in the play Sir Thomas More, possibly by Shakespeare. More accompanied the King and court to the Field of the Cloth of Gold. In 1518 he became a member of the Privy Council, and was knighted in 1521. More helped Henry VIII in writing his Defence of the Seven Sacraments, a repudiation of Luther, and wrote an answer to Luther's reply under a pseudonym. More had garnered Henry's favor, and was made Speaker of the House of Commons in 1523 and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1525. As Speaker, More helped establish the parliamentary privilege of free speech. He refused to endorse King Henry VIII's plan to divorce Katherine of Aragón (1527). Nevertheless, after the fall of Thomas Wolsey in 1529, More became Lord Chancellor, the first layman yet to hold the post.
While his work in the law courts was exemplary, his fall came quickly. He resigned in 1532, citing ill health, but the reason was probably his disapproval of Henry's stance toward the church. He refused to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn in June 1533, a matter which did not escape the King's notice. In 1534 he was one of the people accused of complicity with Elizabeth Barton, the nun of Kent who opposed Henry's break with Rome, but was not attainted due to protection from the Lords who refused to pass the bill until More's name was off the list of names.1 In April, 1534, More refused to swear to the Act of Succession and the Oath of Supremacy, and was committed to the Tower of London on April 17. More was found guilty of treason and was beheaded alongside Bishop Fisher on July 6, 1535. More's final words on the scaffold were: "The King's good servant, but God's First." More was beatified in 1886 and canonized by the Catholic Church as a saint by Pope Pius XI in 1935.
1The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Ian Ousby, Ed.Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Henry VIII

Henry Tudor, born June 24, 1491; died January 28, 1547; acceded to the throne June 24, 1509.

Henry VIII was born in 1491 to his father and mother, King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York. Henry’s older brother Arthur was married to a Lady called Katherine of Aragon, but he died before his ascendancy. When Henry VII died, his second son Henry became the new King. Henry VIII was crowned King on the 24th of June 1509.

His first wife was Katherine Of Aragon, whom he married on June 11th 1509, at Gireyfriers Church, Grenwick. Henry divorced her in 1533. Marriage-1509, Divorced- 1533, and Katherine died of natural causes in 1536.

It was customary in those days to marry the widow of an older brother, so Henry in respecting this, married his late brother Arthur’s wife. Katherine of Aragon became Henry VIII’s first wife. Katherine was a Spanish princess. Henry and Katherine had many children but only one survived, a little girl called Mary. Katherine was getting to old to have any more children so Henry divorced her so he could marry someone younger and have the boy he wanted to succeed, Henry’s second wife was Anne Boleyn, whom he married on January 25, 1533 at Westminster Abby. This marriage ended when she was beheaded on May 19, 1536 in front of the Tower of London where she had been imprisoned.

Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn. They had several children but only one survived, Elizabeth. Henry badly wanted a boy and after a serious argument Henry had Anne sent to the Tower where she was later beheaded. This allowed him to marry again, with the hope fathering a son born to another wife.

Henry took Jane Seymour to be his third wife at York Place on May 20th 1536. It is said that Jane was the only wife that Henry really loved, but their marriage was disastrously cut short due to Jane’s death on October 27, 1537. However this marriage did give Henry the son he so badly wanted, He was named Edward.

Henry took Anne of Cleves as his fourth wife on January 6, 1540, at Greyfriars Church, Greenwich. However, Henry divorced her in 1540, and Anne died of natural causes in 1557.

Henry had not been married for a number of years and was enjoying life with his son. His two daughters were kept away from him in royal palaces elsewhere. She was sent a royal portrait of a young princess which portrayed a beautiful young woman. Henry immediately sent for her and when she arrived they were married. The portrait however was very different to the real girl and Henry had the marriage divorced because she wasn’t up to standard.

Henry married Katherine Howard, his fifth wife July 28, 1540, at Hampton Court Palace This marriage ended on February 13, 1542 as she was beheaded outside the Tower of London, The reason for her execution was her apparent affairs with other men at court. Henry had her beheaded.

Catherine Parr was his sixth and final wife as they were married July 12, 1543, at Hampton Court Palace. Their marriage ended with Henry’s death in January28, 1547.

Not a lot is known about this final marriage. Henry always wanted more boys to succeed him. All of his wives had had children, but due to the medical knowledge of the times and hygiene not all children survived. Catherine bore no children that survived and both she and Henry were getting old. Henry died leaving Catherine, a King’s widow. Catherine then disappeared into the background of court life.

Life in Tudor times was particularly difficult for women. There were particular rules and regulations that the people needed to follow. The law prohibited many things that today people take for granted, for example find out what happened to Widow Twanky when she said nasty things about other villagers.

Have you observed that Henry seemed to have a preference for Katherine for his wives names although one misspelled her name Catherine? My mothers name was Katherine!

My wife, Doris, and I visited the Tower of London in 1987 with a group of Lowthers and were privileged to have been granted a private tour of the Tower where many years before the Sheriff of Carlisle. A Hugh Lowther, had been in custody of Queen Mary of Scotland, before her execution by Queen Elizabeth the First.

Sheriff Hugh Lowther had for a time been falsely accused to being sympathetic to Queen Mary.

I had jokingly said to Doris, you had to be careful not to cook my prime rib too well done!

The Great Bible

The 1539-1540 Great Bible: The First “Authorized” English Bible

A leaf from the first English language Bible fully authorized (not illegal) by the King. These leaves are 466 years old. Not to be confused with the “Authorized Version”, as it is frequently called, of 1611 by King James… these leaves are instead the much earlier version that was authorized by King Henry the Eighth, founder of the Church of England (“Anglican Church”). Called the “Great Bible” due to its great size, this is England’s first “official” printing of the Bible. It is sometimes also referred to as “Cranmer’s Bible”, because the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, wrote the Preface to the Great Bibles starting in 1540.

When Henry the Eighth of England died, he left three heirs: his son Edward and his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Edward succeeded to the throne and was a staunch Protestant (or at least his advisors were). Under his rule, the church services, previously in Latin, were translated into English, and other changes were made. When Edward died, the throne passed to his sister Mary, who was firmly Roman Catholic in her beliefs. She determined to return England to union with the Pope. With more diplomacy, she might have succeeded. But she was headstrong and would take no advice. Her mother had been Spanish, and she determined to marry the heir to the throne of Spain, not realizing how much her people (of all religious persuasions) feared that this would make England a province of the Spanish Empire. She insisted that the best way to deal with heresy was to burn as many heretics as possible. (It is worth noting that her husband was opposed to this.) In the course of a five-year reign, she lost all the English holdings on the continent of Europe, she lost the affection of her people, and she lost any chance of a peaceful religious settlement in England. Of the nearly three hundred persons burned by her orders, the most famous are the Oxford Martyrs, commemorated today.

Hugh Latimer was famous as a preacher. He was Bishop of Worcester (pronounced WOOS-ter) in the time of King Henry, but resigned in protest against the King's refusal to allow the Protestant reforms that Latimer desired. Latimer's sermons speak little of doctrine; he preferred to urge men to upright living and devoutness in prayer. But when Mary came to the throne, he was arrested, tried for heresy, and burned together with his friend Nicholas Ridley. His last words at the stake are well known: "Be of good cheer, Master Ridley, and play the man, for we shall this day light such a candle in England as I trust by God' grace shall never be put out."

Nicholas Ridley became an adherent of the Protestant cause while a student at Cambridge. He was a friend of Archbishop Cranmer and became private chaplain first to Cranmer and then to King Henry. Under the reign of Edward, he became bishop of Rochester, and was part of the committee that drew up the first English Book of Common Prayer. When Mary came to the throne, he was arrested, tried, and burned with Latimer at Oxford on 16 October 1555.

Thomas Cranmer was Archbishop of Canterbury in the days of Henry, and defended the position that Henry's marriage to Katharine [also rendered Catherine and Katherine] of Aragon (Spain) was null and void. When Edward came to the throne, Cranmer was foremost in translating the worship of the Church into English (his friends and enemies agree that he was an extraordinarily gifted translator) and securing the use of the new forms of worship. When Mary came to the throne, Cranmer was in a quandary. He had believed, with a fervor that many people today will find hard to understand, that it is the duty of every Christian to obey the monarch, and that "the powers that be are ordained of God" (Romans 13). As long as the monarch was ordering things that Cranmer thought good, it was easy for Cranmer to believe that the king was sent by God's providence to guide the people in the path of true religion, and that disobedience to the king was disobedience to God. Now Mary was Queen, and commanding him to return to the Roman obedience. Cranmer five times wrote a letter of submission to the Pope and to Roman Catholic doctrines, and four times he tore it up. In the end, he submitted. However, Mary was unwilling to believe that the submission was sincere, and he was ordered to be burned at Oxford on 21 March 1556. At the very end, he repudiated his final letter of submission, and announced that he died a Protestant. He said, "I have sinned, in that I signed with my hand what I did not believe with my heart. When the flames are lit, this hand shall be the first to burn." And when the fire was lit around his feet, he leaned forward and held his right hand in the fire until it was charred to a stump. Aside from this, he did not speak or move, except that once he raised his left hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead.

PRAYER (traditional language)
Keep us, O Lord, constant in faith and zealous in witness, after The examples of thy servants Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and Thomas Cranmer; that we may live in thy fear, die in thy favor, and rest in thy peace; for the sake of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen

The major goal of the Protestant Reformation was not to fracture the church into hundreds of Protestant denominations. The Reformer’s main goal was simply to make the Word of God legal and available in the common languages of the people, so that it could be read by everyone. Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England persecuted and killed anyone who dared to print the Bible in any language other than Latin… especially English.

The 1539 Great Bible put an end to that, and unchained the scriptures for the first time in over 1,000 years. Just three years earlier, on October 6, 1536, William Tyndale was executed for printing the scriptures in English. His last words were, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes!”

Three years later, his dying prayer was answered. King Henry the Eighth funded the printing of the Bible in the English language, the Great Bible, the first Bible ever authorized for public use.
Of course, King Henry the Eighth did not do this because he had a change of heart, or because he was such a devoted Christian. He did it mostly out of personal pride, and to spite the Roman Catholic Church. King Henry wanted to divorce his wife and marry his lover, and the Pope refused to allow even the King of England to do this. So, King Henry just married his lover anyway, (later killing two of his many wives), and renounced the Roman Catholic Church, and proclaimed himself the head of both the State AND the Church (both King and “Pope” so to speak), and founded the Church of England, a.k.a. the Anglican Church. As further show of defiance, he funded the printing of the Bible in the English language, which was the biggest fear of the Roman Catholic Church for ages. This is an excellent example of God using the evil motives of a wicked man, to bring about His good purpose and His glory.

These leaves were printed on 100% rag cotton linen sheet, not wood-pulp paper like books today, so they remain in excellent condition… even after nearly 500 years. Each leaf is a unique piece of ancient artwork, measuring approximately 15 inches tall by 10 inches wide, and carefully produced one-at-a-time by the King’s printers, and later bound into complete Bibles and chained to the church pulpits. Each leaf comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. Imagine… having a leaf from one of the earliest press-runs of the Bible that broke the chains that kept the Word of God imprisoned publicly in Latin for over 1,000 years, The Great Bible.

Coming Soon: Fascinating also is the study of the wives of King Henry and his use of the Bible and his church clergy to justify his divorce, when his appeal to the pope to annul his marriage to Katherine failed.