26 March 1555 A.D. William Hunter, Reformation Anglican, burned at the stake for Bible reading.
26 March 1555 A.D. William Hunter, Reformation Anglican, burned at the
stake for Bible reading. (Check records,
it may be 27 March.)
Dr. Rusten tells the
story. Rusten, E. Michael and Rusten, Sharon. The One Year Christian History. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House
Publishers, 2003. Available at: http://www.amazon.com/The-Year-Christian-History-Books/dp/0842355073/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393302630&sr=8-1&keywords=rusten+church+history
William
Hunter went to London in 1553 to apprentice as a silk weaver. Edward VI, the English Josiah, died that
year.
In
the same year of 1553, Mary 1, the English Jezebel, acceded the throne.
Mary
was a staunch Anglo-Italian, seeking Anglicanism 1.0 (full communion with Rome
with its doctrines), seeking reversals of the Reformation brought about by her
half-brother, Edward VI (Anglicanism 3.0 and 5.0), seeking to root out
Protestant and Reformed heretics, and reinstituting the 1401 Parliamentary act
of De Haeretico Comburendo.
Hunter
lost his apprenticeship for refusing communion in an Anglo-Roman parish. He returned to his home village, Burntwood,
UK.
William
Hunter’s brother later wrote of an encounter between Hunter and the parish
priest.
“Why
meddles thou with the Bible?” he asked William.
“Canst thou expound the Scriptures?
“Father,
I take not upon me to expound the Scriptures,” William replied. “But I, finding
the Bible here when I came, read in it to my comfort.”
“It
was never a merry world since the Bible came abroad in English,” the priest
said. “I perceive your mind well enough: you are one of them that misliketh the
queen’s laws. You must turn another leaf, or else you and a great sort more
heretics will broil for this gear, I warrant you.”
“God
give me grace that I may believe his word, and confess his name, whatsoever may
come thereof,” said William.
The
priest was furious. He stormed out of
the chapel. The 19-year old was arrested and remanded to a London jail. He
remained in jail for 9 months with the bishop seeking his recantation and
restoration to the Roman faith. William
replied, “I am not fallen from the Catholic Faith of Christ, but confess it
with all my heart.” He was given 12 opportunities to change his rudders’ orders
by the London bishop. Queen Mary signed the death warrant.
On the morning of 26 March 1555, William was led to the
stake in the center of his hometown, Burntwood (the name is rather ironic, more
like BurntWilliam). A few details on the
hometown are here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burntwood
His
brother recounted the moments of the burning.
William’s
father spoke to his son, weeping and saying, “God be with thee, son William.”
William
said, “God be with you, good father, and be of good comfort, for we shall meet
again when we shall be merry.” William
began reciting the 51st Psalm of David.
Burntwood’s
Sheriff said, “Here is a letter from the Queen. If thou wilt recant, thou shalt
live.”
“No,”
quoth William, “I will not recant.”
He
was chained to the stake.
As
the flames burned, William said, “Pray for me while you see me alive, good
people and I will pray for you…Son of God, shine on me…Lord, Lord, Lord,
receive my spirit.”
One
year later, 21 March 1556, Mr.
(Canterbury) Cranmer would be taken to the stake as well for his Reformed
theology.
Questions:
·
What
are the stats on Biblical illiteracy?
·
Is
the Bible as important to __________ (fill in the blank, the name, the group,
the denomination) as it was to William Hunter on 21 March 1555?
·
What’s
your Bible reading regimen like? If you
don’t read it, why not?
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