26 September 1626 A.D. Lancelot Andrews Dies—Bishop of Winchester & Translator of King James Bible
26
September 1626 A.D. Lancelot
Andrews Dies—Bishop of Winchester & Translator of King James Bible
Graves, Dan. “Lancelot Andrewes Knew How to
Pray.” Christianity.com. Jun 2007. http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1601-1700/lancelot-andrewes-knew-how-to-pray-11630078.html.
Accessed 24 May 2014.
Lancelot Andrewes considered prayer
so important that he even wrote a prayer to pray before beginning his personal
prayer. He wanted to be in the right frame of mind with the right spirit when
on his knees before God. "...pour your Holy Spirit into me, which may
adopt me into the number of your chosen ones; that it may teach me how I ought
to pray, according to your holy will; that it may subdue all troublesome and
wandering thoughts in me, while I offer up my prayers and praises to you. Don't
let me serve you with my lips while having a heart that is far from you; but
create a right spirit in me..."
This prayer warrior was born in
London in 1555 at the height of Mary Tudor's persecution of Protestants. As a
young man at college, he had the resolution to refuse to play any kind of
games, which he considered a distraction from his true purpose. Under Queen
Elizabeth I, who restored the Protestant faith in England, Lancelot became a
churchman. But he was "high church," meaning he favored Roman
Catholic ways of worship.
Lancelot was a brilliant scholar,
master of fifteen languages. Queen Elizabeth made him one of her chaplains.
King James I also recognized Lancelot's worth and made him a bishop. He
employed Lancelot's talents in political matters, too. After the gunpowder plot
of 1605, in which Catholics tried to blow up the largely Protestant Parliament,
King James demanded an oath of allegiance. The Roman Church censured any
Catholic who took this oath. James, quite a scholar, wrote a defense. Cardinal
Bellarmine, under a pen name, issued a harsh reply. James delegated Lancelot to
answer Bellarmine, which he did capably.
In 1604, Puritan leaders asked
King James to meet with them to discuss their grievances. The king agreed. The
result was the Hampton Court Conference. Lancelot was there. When the king
agreed to allow a new translation of the Bible, it was only natural that
Lancelot, with his great knowledge of languages, should be one of the
translators. In fact, he did most of the work on the five books of Moses and
the historical books from Joshua through 2 Chronicles.
Considering how well-known
Lancelot was, it is a curious fact that we don't have an exact record of his
death. He died on or around this day, September 26, 1626. While
he was alive, he had published a collection of nineteen of his prayer sermons.
He considered prayer one of the most crucial tasks of a priest and thought
public prayer was of the utmost importance. It should be modeled on the Lord's
Prayer. Lancelot explained what each section of that famous prayer meant.
For example, Deliver us from evil: "We pray that God will take from us all those
evils, which the devil desires us to have to endanger our souls. If we are to
be delivered from the power of Satan we must possess the freedom of Christ who
is Wisdom and Power and who will free us from evil. However we must not confuse
our praying to be delivered from evil and of our bearing the cross in this life
to Calvary, especially when we suffer innocently. We can never live the
Christian life without the cross."
After Lancelot's death, even more
of his prayers came to light. His private notebook on prayer was published.
This book is considered a spiritual classic. He prayed for all of the nations
of the world and for everyone who had helped him in the past. He praised God
for his creation and asked for forgiveness wherever he had abused what God
made. He prayed for the church and its unity. Lancelot took prayer seriously
and that is what he is chiefly remembered for today.
Bibliography:
Andrewes, Lancelot. The Private
Devotions of Lancelot Andrewes; edited and with an introduction by
Thomas S. Kepler. Cleveland: World pub., 1956.
"Andrewes, Lancelot." The Oxford
Dictionary of the Christian Church Oxford, 1997.
Hude, A. G. George Herbert
and His Times. London: Methuen, 1906. Source of the portrait.
Russell, Arthur T. Memoirs of the
Life and Works of Lancelot Andrewes, Lord Bishop of Winchester.
Cambridge : J. Palmer, 1860.
Various internet articles.
Last updated June, 2007
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