4
July 1533 A.D. John
Frith, English Reformer, burned at the stake.
Graves, Dan. “John Frith, Burned for His
Beliefs.” Christianity.com. May 2007.
http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1501-1600/john-frith-burned-for-beliefs-11629954.html. Accessed 7 May 2014.
"I understand the church of
God in a wide sense," said John Frith. "It contains all those whom we
regard as members of Christ. It is a net thrown into the sea."
John Frith was a man of peace in
an age that fought and killed over religious ideas. John believed that any
person who lived a godly life for the sake of Christ, belonged to Jesus,
whether or not that person held John's views. "The opinions for which men
go to war," he said, "aren't worth the terrible tragedies that they
make. Let there be no longer any question among us of Zwinglians or Lutherans,
for neither Zwingle nor Luther died for us, and we must be one in Christ
Jesus." [Some of these quotes are given in modern English].
And yet, on this day, July 4, 1533, John Frith, the man of
peace and purity was burned to death at the stake because of his religious
views. John had quoted scriptures to argue that the bread and wine do not
actually turn into Jesus' flesh and blood. He also denied that there is a
purgatory after death. "A purgatory! there is not one only, there are two.
The first is the Word of God, the second is the Cross of Christ: I do not mean
the cross of wood, but the cross of tribulation."
John did not seek martyrdom, but
he was willing to face it. Having joined with church reformers during his years
at university, he was thrown into prison. When freed, he joined William Tyndale
in Germany and helped him with his Bible translation. But when he remembered
the people in England who did not understand how to come to God, he felt he had
to go back, however much danger there was to him.
In England, John Frith was
arrested as a vagabond. He dared not give his name lest he be executed; he
saved himself by quoting elegant Greek and Latin lines to a local scholar.
After his release, he secretly went from place to place preaching. Sir Thomas
More, who was chancellor to the king for the rest of that year, ordered John
Frith arrested. He offered a great reward to anyone who would deliver him over
to the authorities. More's agents hunted everywhere for John just as they had
hunted everywhere for William Tyndale. John planned to escape back to the
Germany. But he was betrayed as he tried to board his ship. He was sent to
prison. While in prison, he prayed to be able to convert at least one of his
enemies to the truth. His prayer was heard when Sir Thomas More's son-in-law
switched to Protestant views.
What got John killed was a favor
he had done for one of his Protestant hearers while still free. The man pleaded
with John to write down his teachings on the Eucharist (the Lord's Supper).
John didn't want to, but finally agreed. "We must eat and drink the body
and blood of Christ, not with the teeth, but with [our] hearing and through
faith," he wrote. His views on the Lord's Supper are important because he
was the first English priest to state in writing the position later adopted by
the Church of England as its doctrine.
Unfortunately John's writing fell
into the hands of a spy. His enemies had intended for him to pay for his heresy
with his life, but when Anne Boleyn became queen, she favored the Protestants.
Conditions for captives like Frith were eased. Frith was even allowed out on
day passes. But then his writing came into Sir Thomas More's hands. That sealed
John's fate. He was convicted and taken to Smithfield to be burned. A young man
named Andrew Hewitt was chained with him. John encouraged him to trust his soul
to God. The men were two hours dying, because the wind blew the fire away from
their bodies.
Bibliography:
1. Foxe, John. Book of Martyrs.
Various editions.
2. "Frith, John." The
Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A.
Livingstone. Oxford University Press, 1997.
3. "Frith, John." New
Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. Grand Rapids: Baker Book
House, 1954.
4. Various encyclopedia and internet
articles.
Last updated May, 2007
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