Thomas Bilney - Part 1

By: LMH, 2010

Thomas Bilney was one of the first Protestant reformers and an English martyr. The exact location and date of his birth are not known, but to the best of our knowledge, he was born in 1495 in Norwich. Not much is known of his life until he went to Trinity Hall, Cambridge.

Thomas Bilney was a man of small stature; he could even be described as sickly. He was somewhat bashful and not a strong speaker. He longed to serve God and be at peace in his heart. However, he never seemed able to reach this goal. He continually went before the priest to confess his sins, but instead of finding fulfillment and peace, he went away with fasting orders, indulgences, and a heavy heart. Over time, he became poor and very weak.

During this time, a certain book, Erasmus' Testament, was causing quite a stir. It was highly praised for its elegant Latinity. Erasmus' Testament was forbidden to be read because it was in Greek. Anything written in Greek or Hebrew was considered heresy. In spite of this, Bilney was drawn to the book. So he secretly bought the Testament, and when he opened it, a verse fairly popped off the page at him. It read:

"This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners: of whom I am chief."

 Suddenly, he realized he was a sinner and that Christ saved sinners! From that point on, he was a changed man. He began to read the Scriptures often, and he stopped listening to the false teachings of the schoolmen. He gathered his friends together and shared the wonderful news of Jesus with them. He also witnessed to Hugh Latimer, who eventually got saved. Because of Bilney's faithful witness, many were led to Christ.

Thomas Bilney did much for the cause of Christ during his short life. And while he died a martyr's death at age 36, his impact on Christianity is so strongly felt that he is often called the "Father of the English Reformation."

Thomas Bilney - Part 2

by: SJH, 2010

Thomas Bilney was born in or after 1493. He was educated at Trinity Hall. After he graduated and took Holy orders, he became interested in the Greek edition of the New Testament translated by Erasmus in 1516. He was saved and eventually became the Father of the English Reformation.

Because Bilney denounced saint and relic veneration and refused to accept the mediation of the saints, he was summoned before Cardinal Wolsey. He took an oath that he would not disseminate the doctrines of Luther. Bilney was allowed to leave, but within the next year, problems arose.

Objections were made to a series of sermons he preached in and around London. He was dragged from the pulpit and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was brought before Cardinal Wolsey, William Warham, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and several bishops in the chapter-house at Westminster, and convicted of heresy. His sentence was postponed in hopes that he would recant.

Bilney was kept in the Tower for more than a year. Bishop Tunstall pressured him to recant. His friends tried to get him to have pity on himself, telling him that he would be of far better use to the Lord if he preserved his life. Bilney was pressured by his friends and eventually gave in. One Saturday morning, Bilney was led before the bishops, there he recanted before all his friends.

Later Bilney returned to Cambridge, where he was tortured with anguish, remorse, and fear. He could barely eat or drink, and he trembled constantly. Eventually, Bilney confessed his sin, found peace, and started to preach again. The Holy Spirit had spoken to him and given him hope to live on for Christ.

Thomas Bilney - Part 3

by: ASH, 2010

Thomas Bilney is known as the Father of the English Reformation. He is called this because he is believed to be the first man converted by reading Erasmus' translation of the New Testament. After he was saved, Bilney encouraged others to read the New Testament. Bilney was arrested because he preached. He was put into prison, but he was not executed because he recanted. After he recanted, though, Bilney was miserable.

Two years later, Bilney began to preach again. He first preached in open fields. At Ipswich, he preached the Gospel and attacked the errors of Rome. In Greenwich, he bought New Testaments. In Norwich, he gave a New Testament to a woman who shared it with her friends. After that, Bilney was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. He was not sad, though. He felt that a load was taken off him.

On the night before his death, some of Bilney's friends came to visit him. They found him eating his last meal. He stuck his finger in the flame of a candle. As his finger burned, Bilney said, "I feel that fire by God's ordinance is naturally hot, but yet I am persuaded by God's Holy Word and the experience of the martyrs that when the flames consume me, I shall not feel them."

On August 19, 1531, Bilney was taken to Norwich to be executed. When he arrived, he fell upon his knees and prayed. He recited the Apostles' Creed and Psalm 143, and the spectators were moved by Bilney's words of faith. After Bilney's death, even his enemies praised him.

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."