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The Life And Martyrdom Of Nicholas Ridley
This eminent divine, scholar, and martyr of the English Reformation was born in the county of Northumberland; and in the town of Newcastle he was taught the rudiments of education. From Newcastle he removed to Cambridge, where his learning and progress soon gained for him some of the highest honours that seat of learning had then to confer. He was made Doctor in Divinity, and he was also placed at the head of Pembroke Hall. At the conclusion of his university career, he made a tour on the Continent; and, when he returned to his country, emoluments were again offered him. He was appointed one of the chaplains to Henry VIII, and was afterwards elevated to the episcopal bench as Bishop of Rochester. Soon after…
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The Life And Ministry Of Nicholas Ridley
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The Life And Martyrdom Of John Bradford
“By the grace of God I am what I am." These words were penned by one who had fully learned their meaning. This was no mere theoretical statement on the part of the Apostle, but a free and frank confession, based upon a deep and tried experience, that he was a debtor to the free and sovereign grace of God. Once he was a persecutor of the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, incessantly occupied in haling men and women to prison; and, when he penned these words, the Apostle was thoroughly satisfied that, but for the grace of God, he would have continued this bloodthirsty career unto the day of his death. But he was mercifully arrested as he was on an errand of persecution.…
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The Life And Ministry Of John Bradford
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The Life And Martyrdom Of Rawlins White
The sole and infallible authority of Holy Scripture was the grand fundamental principle of the Reformation. The Bible was the potent instrumentality that transformed the face of Europe at the commencement of the sixteenth century, its glorious truths permeating the various ranks of society, and awakening those aspirations for liberty which, after an arduous and protracted struggle, were eventually realized. The clouds of ignorance and superstition in which the whole Continent was enveloped quickly dispersed before this light, and a thorough renovation—religious, political, and social—was effected in the various countries that opened their doors to receive this harbinger of prosperity and stability. God, speaking through His Word to the hearts and souls of men, aroused them to a sense of their abject condition and utter…
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The Life And Martyrdom Of William Hunter
In this age of civil and religious liberty it is somewhat difficult for us to form an adequate idea of the state of affairs in our country during the short reign of Queen Mary. It is true that some of our ablest historians have given us very correct and vivid descriptions of those times; nevertheless, as we are in the enjoyment of such invaluable liberties and privileges, we cannot very readily, even by the aid of imagination's power, place ourselves in the position of our forefathers. In our day we can sit around the family hearth, read our Bibles, and join in family prayer without fear of interruption or intrusion; but, in Mary's days, no home-stead was safe from the inroads of Rome's zealots. Wherever…
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The Life And Martyrdom Of Anne Askew
Drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus," is one of the features of the woman, described in the Apocalypse, upon whose forehead was this name written, "Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." The Popes of Rome, in virtue of their assumed right to govern the souls and bodies of men, and to say what is and what is not to be believed, have ever waged war with those who have dared, even upon Scriptural and patriotic grounds, to oppose their power and resist their tyranny. Ever jealous of their dogmas and their institutions, these pretended successors of the Apostle Peter, proudly styling themselves "vicars of Jesus Christ," have hunted…
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The Life And Martyrdom Of Roland Taylor
The trial and martyrdom of Rowland Taylor, as narrated by John Foxe in his "Acts and Monuments," is considered by some to be the finest portion of that valuable and wonderful work. To us this opinion does not seem extravagant, for, among the many sublime instances of Christian heroism recorded by the indefatigable martyrologist, it would be difficult to find one more sublime and more interesting than the case of the learned vicar of Hadleigh. His zealous care over his flock, his courageous determination not to leave the country, but face his enemies; his manly demeanour before Chancellor Gardiner, his dignified replies to the surrilous assertions of that prelate, his calm anticipation of a cruel death, and his heroic conduct at the stake, are but…
