John Frith – Part 4

FRITH’S TRIAL, CONDEMNATION AND DEATH Meanwhile, Frith continued to be held as a state prisoner in the Tower of London. As long as he remained in this position, he was safe from Stokesley, the Bishop of London, and Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester, who wished to...

John Frith – Part 3

FRITH RETURNS TO ENGLAND In July 1532, Frith returned to England. There was speculation that he came to aid the Prior of the Reading Monastery escape to the European mainland. Regardless of the exact reason, he was arrested as a vagrant and because he would not...

John Frith – Part 2

JOHN FRITH AND SIR THOMAS MORE There was another book that occupied Frith’s activities during this time and this was his own production. Frith entered the field in 1531 against Sir Thomas More by writing a book entitled A Disputation of Purgatory divided into Three...

John Frith – Part 1

INTRODUCTION This British reformer was a pioneer writer on the theme of liberty of conscience. He debated the existence of Purgatory with Sir Thomas More and Cardinal John Fisher. He taught the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the believer for justification. He...

The Life of William Tyndale – Part 15

HIS LEGACY – by Dr. Herbert Samworth • How is it possible to even think of writing a legacy of such a person as William Tyndale? In many ways he is the father of the English Bible. While it is true that John Wycliffe was the first to translate the Bible into the...

The Life of William Tyndale – Part 14

HIS EXECUTION – by Dr. Herbert Samworth •   Despite the efforts of Latomus, Doyle, and Tapper to have him recent, Tyndale stood firm against their arguments. The only way by which Tyndale could counter their arguments was from his knowledge of Scripture,...

The Life of William Tyndale – Part 13

HIS IMPRISONMENT – by Dr. Herbert Samworth •   As we have seen from our previous installment of the life of William Tyndale, he was betrayed and arrested in May 1535. He was taken to the Vilvorde Prison where he would be incarcerated for the remaining...

The Life of William Tyndale – Part 12

HIS ARREST AND IMPRISONMENT – by Dr. Herbert Samworth •   By the year 1534 William Tyndale could look back with a degree of gratitude and accomplishment. He had finished the translation and printing of the New Testament in 1526 and a second revised edition...

The Life of William Tyndale – Part 11

WILLIAM TYNDALE AND SIR THOMAS MORE – by Dr. Herbert Samworth   When we last noticed William Tyndale, he had completed the publication of the Pentateuch in 1530 and his revised second edition of the New Testament in 1534. We must pause in our narrative of...