This Day in Religious History: On October 16, 1553 during the reign of the English Queen known as “Bloody Mary,” two Bishops of the Church of England, Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer, were burned at the stake for their beliefs. Years earlier, Mary’s father King Henry VIII had separated England from the Roman Catholic Church, forming the protestant Church of England. When Henry died, his son Edward became king and continued to steer England toward a more Bible based Christianity. Two of Edward’s religious advisors were Bishops Nicholas Ridley and Hugh Latimer. Both were extremely godly and well liked men, whose sermons and teachings were backed up by personal lives that reflected the doctrines they taught. When the sickly Edward sadly passed away at a very young age, rule of England fell to Mary who, when she became queen, planned to bring England back into the fold of Catholicism. One of her first actions was to order the arrest of Edward’s protestant advisors, Bishops Ridley and Latimer. After serving time in the Tower of London, the two were taken before the Lord’s Commissioner and asked to recant their beliefs, which in the Catholic Church’s eyes made them heretics. The Bishops strongly refused and were therefore sentenced to death. As the pair was being tied to the stake on which they would be burned, Ridley prayed aloud, Oh, heavenly Father, I give unto thee most hearty thanks that thou hast called me to be a professor of thee, even unto death. I beseech thee, Lord God, have mercy on this realm of England, and deliver it from all her enemies.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 14:42:08 +0000
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