Wednesday, October 16, 2024

*** This is a rough transcript of today’s show ***

It is the 16th of October 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

Today we head back to the Reformation era to look at a duo, unfortunately sharing today’s date but both influential in the spread of the Reformation in England. And if it’s the English Reformation, it might be the story of martyrs- as the continual changing of state confession led to a century of martyrs of changing stripes.

The 16th of October has been immortalized with the quote, “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 shall never be put out.” Master Ridley was Nicholas Ridley, the former Bishop of London, who was being comforted by the aged, Septuagenarian former bishop Hugh Latimer. The “candle” being lit was the kindling at their feet as they were executed on this day in 1555.

Latimer had been ordained and was at Cambridge when he came across the teachings of Luther in the mid-1520s. His friendship with Thomas Cranmer, the future Archbishop of Canterbury and reticent reformer, helped him reach as one of few priests officially ordained to preach anywhere in England.

When King Henry VIII reacted against the Protestants with his 6 Articles, which, among other things, taught the doctrine of transubstantiation- one of the key doctrines ditched early by the English Reformers. Latimer, a well-known advocate for reform, would spend time in the Tower of London.

Ridley came to the Reformation in the 1530s and would serve as a chaplain under Cranmer. He would become suspect as well during the last years of Henry’s reign.  

Both would ascend again under the child king Edward VI and his Protestant advisors. Ridley would become bishop of London, and Latimer would become a popular traveling preacher for reform.  

However, as Edward became ill, he was afraid that his half-sister Mary- a well-known Catholic- would come to the throne. Latimer, Ridley, and their friend Cranmer all supported the claim to the throne of Lady Jane Grey- A great-grandchild of Henry VII- over Mary. After the Lady’s nine-day reign and Mary’s ascension, there was a target on the backs of all three. Cranmer’s situation was different as he was charged with treason, and Mary wanted his case appealed to Rome. Latimer and Ridley were arrested and tried for heresy on account of their denial of transubstantiation.  And let me make a note on this- while it might seem like an “obscure” doctrine, it did inform the very important sacramental theology of the church of England. Moreover, it was a challenge to the authority of the Pope to decree certain doctrines.

The elder Latimer and the younger Ridley, whom he told to “play the man,” would be tried on the 15th of October and brought out to the place of execution on the morning of this, the 16th of October. After a short sermon, the wood was lit, and while the older Latimer died quickly, Ridley suffered, and this was made much of- and rightly so- in John Foxe’s “Book of Martyrs,” the collection of stories about martyrs under Mary that helped galvanize the English Reformation.

It was a later edition of Foxes' book that put the famous words into Latimer’s mouth—it wasn’t in an earlier edition—and it mirrors a quote by the early church martyr Polycarp. The quote is meant to enhance their courage and strength of faith even unto death, but being that they went to death for their beliefs—that they could have recanted—there is no question of doubting their sincerity and fervent faith.

Along with Cranmer, they would be known as the Oxford Martyrs. A monument to the men was erected, but not in the reign of Elizabeth when the Reformation took hold- rather, it was during the famous Tractarian movement in the 19th century when there was fear (and some founded fear) that some “high church” clerics were veering back to the Roman Catholic Church. The monument seemed something of a tacky paean to the past because of the ulterior motive- not just to recognize the martyrs but to make an old anti-Catholic statement in the wake of contemporary concerns.

Nonetheless, the quote “Play the Man” and all that would become known to generations of children were assigned to Fahrenheit 451, which features the quote as a key revelation.

Today, we remember two-thirds of the Oxford Martyrs—Latimer and Ridley, who were put to death on this day in 1555.

The last word for today is from Luke 17 and the record of Jesus healing the Lepers:

11 Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. 12 As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance 13 and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

14 When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

15 One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. 16 He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

17 Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19 Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 16th of October 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man who, with today’s offenses, argues one should “play the zone”, he is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man humming a meatloaf song while writing this show? Gallows humor? Dan van Voorhis.

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be ok.