John Foxe AND HIS TURBULENT TIMES

The Deadly Fruits of Intolerance 

The Reformation in Europe saw thousands of men, women, and children slaughtered. In England, in 1553, an ardent Catholic who came to be known as Bloody Mary was crowned. Since the English Parliament had severed all connections with Rome in 1534, she was determined to bring England back under papal authority. During Mary's five-year reign, some 300 men and women, including Protestant church leaders, were burned as heretics.  Many others died in prison.

Foxe survived this era because he took his family  to Basel, Switzerland, soon after Mary's enthronement. In 1559, one year after Mary's Protestant sister Elizabeth was crowned queen, he returned to England, along with other exiles.  That same year,  Elizabeth reinstated the Act of Supremacy which made her the Supreme Governor of the Church.  In response, Pope Pius V excommunicated Elizabeth in 1570.   Soon, international conspiracies against England were uncovered, including schemes to assassinate the Protestant queen.  As a result, hundreds of Catholics were charged with treason and killed on Elizabeth's orders. 

How far the churches of Christendom -Catholic and Protestant-had strayed from the teachings of Jesus Christ!   "Continue to love your enemies and to pray for those persecuting you," he taught. (Matthew 5:44)   Because both Catholics and Protestants disregarded this very clear directive, the brought much reproach on Christianity-a development foretold in the Bible.   "The way of the truth will be spoken of abusively" on account of pretenders to Christianity, wrote the apostle Peter. -2 Peter 2:1, 2. 

Next time: John Foxe AND HIS TURBULENT TIMES - Foxe Completes His Work

From the Awake! magazine