The Awakening

by Mom, 2010

Henry VIII often gets far more credit for the Reformation in England than he deserves. While it is true that his divorce from Catherine of Aragon and subsequent marriage to Anne Boleyn provided the catalyst for England's political and ecclesiastical separation from Rome, England's spiritual awakening was already well underway. Unlike the Reformation in Germany, England's awakening did not begin with public debate over Church doctrine. It began quietly in the hearts of men as the Spirit of God through the Word of God gave new life to dead souls.

For centuries, the light of God's Word had been obscured by the veil of medieval Catholicism. The doctrines of men were taught in place of the doctrines of God. Even the Scriptures themselves had been corrupted. But in 1516, Desiderius Erasmus, a Catholic scholar, published a fresh translation of the New Testament. Erasmus had gathered as many fragments of Greek manuscripts as he could find. He studied and compared the many manuscripts and compiled a new Greek New Testament. This he then translated into Latin because very few scholars in Europe at that time could read Greek. Erasmus' work was a labor of love. "If I told what sweat it cost me," he said, "no one would believe me." Erasmus was driven by his firm belief that the future of the Church depended upon the Word of God. He wrote, "A spiritual temple must be raised in desolated Christendom. The mighty of this world will contribute towards it their marble, their ivory, and their gold; I who am poor and humble offer the foundation stone."

Soon copies of Erasmus' New Testament were circulating among the professors and students at England's universities. The historian D'Aubigne writes, "It was in every hand; men struggled to procure it, read it eagerly, and would even kiss it. The words it contained enlightened every heart." The astonished Oxford professor Thomas Linacre declared, "Either this is not the gospel, or we are not Christians." At Cambridge, Thomas Bilney exclaimed, "Jesus Christ! Yes, Jesus Christ saves! I see it all -  my vigils, my fasts, my pilgrimages, my purchase of masses and indulgences were destroying instead of saving me."

D'Aubigne writes that "nothing terrifies the defenders of human traditions so much as the Word of God." Immediately, the Church began a campaign to discredit Erasmus and destroy the New Testament. Though the universities banned the New Testament from their campuses, they could not put out the conflagration. Everywhere men were being converted by this little book. In Cambridge, students met secretly at the White Horse Inn to study it. Thomas Bilney led the group and was instrumental in the conversions of many of its members, men who later became the leaders and martyrs of the English Reformation. For his role, Bilney is rightfully called the Father of the English Reformation.

The power of God's Word is illustrated in the lives of the men who emerged from the White Horse Inn study group. Thomas Cramner became Archbishop of Canterbury and was later martyred. John Frith, a brilliant mathematician, became the author of many Protestant books. He was also martyred. Hugh Latimer became Bishop of Worcester and chaplain to Edward VI. He was martryed under the reign of Mary I and is famously remembered for encouraging fellow martyr and White Horse Inn alumnus Dr. Nicholas Ridley to "play the man." "We shall this day," he exclaimed, "light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

Initially, the awakening in England was confined to the educated classes who could read in Greek or Latin. But another White Horse Inn graduate, William Tyndale, sought to change that. Tyndale devoted his short life to giving the Scriptures in English to "the boy that driveth the plough." Tyndale translated the New Testament first while hiding in various places on the continent. His translation of the Old Testament was incomplete when he was arrested and imprisoned in Belgium. On October 6, 1536, Tyndale was burned. His final prayer was "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." Two years later, in an abrupt change of policy, Henry VIII ordered that a Bible be placed in every church in England. Known as the "Great Bible" because of its size, this translation was partly the work of William Tyndale and partly the work of Miles Coverdale, another White Horse Inn student.

Brick by brick, martyr by martyr, a great edifice was built upon the foundation stone laid by Erasmus. And for the past four hundred years, it has been the special privilege of English-speaking people to carry the Gospel around the world.

One cannot read accounts of the English Reformation without being struck by two facts. Number one, the Gospel changes lives. It is the "power of God unto salvation." It frees men from the dominion of sin and empowers them to live holy lives. Number two, the modern "Gospel" does not change lives. It produces men who have "a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof." The Word of God has not changed, however. It is still, as Tyndale wrote, "quycke, and myghty in operacion, and sharper then eny two-edged swearde."

So where is the problem? In an age of unprecedented access to the Scriptures, few read them. Even fewer study them. Most professing "believers" are content with a second-hand spirituality. They would rather have pastors and authors pre-digest the Word for them so that they don't have to feed themselves. Casting aside victories won at Smithfield and Lollard's Pit, they are once again making the church the mediator between God and man. And the Gospel of the modern evangelical church, that one need only pray a little prayer and God will be his buddy and give him a ticket to Heaven, is as damning as the works-based Gospel of medieval Catholicism. Where there is no true repentance, no turning from sin, there can be no saving faith.

There is a great need in Christendom today for a second Reformation. "If the ship of the church is to be saved from being swallowed up by the tempest," wrote Erasmus, "there is only one anchor that can save it - it is the heavenly Word, which, issuing from the bosom of the Father, lives, speaks, and works still in the Gospel."