John Foxe AND HIS TURBULENT TIMES

DOES mankind learn from the past, or are history's lessons wasted on us?  Think about that question as you consider the life of John Foxe, and Englishman who took the pen in hope that his readers would repudiate the unspeakable cruelties that plagued his time.  

John Foxe's accounts, recorded during the Reformation, did indeed have a powerful influence on the people of England for centuries.  His book entitled Acts and Monuments of the Church, took more than 25 years to complete. And it is said by some to be second only to the vernacular Bible as a formative influence on the English language and culture. 

Turbulent Years

John Foxe was born in Boston, England, in 1516 or 1517, about the same time that, as  tradition has it, Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses, or protest, to a church door in Wittenberg, Germany.   So Foxe, a Roman Catholic by birth, came on the scene as Reformers were challenging the authority and teachings of the Catholic Church.

Fox enrolled at Oxford University, and his studies included Greek and Hebrew, which enabled him to read the Bible in its original languages. Evidently, his Catholic beliefs suffered as a result. In fact, his colleagues began to think  he might be embracing Protestantism-a suspicion that they divulged to the heads of the college. Thereafter, Fox was closely watched.  

After being awarded his master's degree in 1543, Foxe was in line to be ordained as a priest.  But he refused the ordination because he disagreed with  enforced celibacy.  This stand brought things to a head.  Under suspicion of heresy -which, if proved, could have meant death-he resigned from the university in 1545. Abandoning a promising academic career, Foxe became a tutor for a family near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, where he married a woman named Agnes Randall. 

Next time: John Foxe AND HIS TURBULENT TIMES -Conclusion of Turbulent Years

From the Awake! magazine