Thursday, October 24, 2024

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

 

It is the 24th of October 2024. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org; I’m Dan van Voorhis.

 

Have you ever known someone, let's keep this in the church, who seemed to be involved in almost every controversy? So long as it’s closely related to something they know, they become an expert at new things and particularly loud ones at that. And perhaps we’ve been there ourselves- but there was a man, William Prynne, who seemed to get involved in every controversy in England in the 1600s- he could be pro or anti-Puritan, pro or anti-Crown, he had his ears cut off, and his cheek was branded- but Prynne continued on such that one contemporary wrote of his “never-dying name and fame” in England and “across the seas.” And amongst some English Calvinists (the group he is mostly squarely associated with), he became a martyr and a saint- his writings were read publicly, and he was treated like a prophet.

So, who was William Prynne- long lost to most in the midst of history? He was born in 1600- this is the end of Elizabeth’s reign and the beginning of King James, so this is Protestant England. He attended Oxford and then was accepted at Lincoln’s Inn in 1621 to study and practice law. He burst onto the scene in 1627 with the first of his over 200 writings- this was “The Perpetuity of a Regenerate Man's Estate,” a scathing attack on Arminians- of which the now Archbishop of Canterbury- William Laud, was one.

He would go on to attack the vestments and trappings of the High Anglican Church- also a favorite of Laud and the new king Charles I.

In 1633 he wrote “Histori-Mastix” one of his many social commentaries dressed as history that condemned the increasingly popular medium of theatre- this a known favorite of the queen consort, Henrietta Maria of France who was also a Catholic and aroused the suspicion of Prynne and others.

This hit too close to home and he would be arrested, put in the pillory and have his ears clipped.

He went right back to his controversial and polemical ways, writing- amongst other things- “A Breviate of the Bishops' Intolerable Usurpations.” This anti-Episcopal tract landed him in more trouble, and in 1637, he was pilloried again. The rest of his ears were removed, and his cheek was branded “S.L.” for “seditious libeler.” He would claim that the “S.L.” stood for stigmata Laudis, “Laud’s Mark” 

He was sent off to prison only to be released in 1640 with the rise of the Long Parliament in the ramping up to the English Civil Wars. He gladly assisted Parliament in their prosecution of his old enemy, William Laud who soon lost his head.  

Now, with freedom from Laud and Charles, he published “Rome’s Masterpiece,” a straight conspiratorial plot involving “the popish party” and “Jesuitical conspirators.” He claimed a secret meeting on Long Acre Street in London, and this “Long Acre Conspiracy” became part of the feverish anti-Catholic hysteria in Civil War England. 

But, Prynne began to criticize Cromwell’s New Model Army and a Presbyterianism that saw authority in Elders instead of the crown. Ah- he was a Calvinist- but a critic of the Anglican (too ‘Catholic’) the Presbyterian, and the Independent.

In 1648, Pride’s Purge- an uprising of the New Model Army led to Prynne’s arrest again (but, ha- he had no more ears to cut off!). He would become a proponent of the English Crown, even if it went back to the Stuarts and Charles II. For his support, he was released, and in a bit of what I’m sure felt like sweet irony, he was made keeper of the records at the Tower of London- where he was first imprisoned. He kept himself out of trouble by compiling the historical records at the tower complex until his death on the 24th of October in 1669. Born sometime in 1600, there’s a good chance William Prynne was 69 years old.

 

The last word for today is from the daily lectionary- yesterday, we read a beautiful section from Hebrews 6 about Jesus, our High Priest, and it ended with the mysterious “in the Order of Melchizedek.” Today’s reading clears that up:

This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2 and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, the name Melchizedek means “king of righteousness”; then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” 3 Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

 

 

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 24th of October 2024, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man, who if branded SL would say it, ironically stood for “Scarlett Letter”- Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man whose Clippers season begins tonight… wheeee! I’m 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.