John Foxe (1517-1587) was born in Boston, Lincolnshire in 1517. He never rose to occupy high office within the Church of England, but the incomparable literary work for which he is most well-known, and for which he will forever be remembered was as the chronicler of the Christian martyrs from the earliest times. Originally titled by him as "Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Days, Touching Matters of the Church", it is more usually referred to today as "Foxe's Book of Martyrs".
The expansive original comprised a large number of volumes, detailing as it did the martyrdom of many early Christians, as well as giving an account of important figures such as John Wycliffe, the morning star of the Reformation, the life and story of the 'True Servant and Martyr of God, William Tyndale, the trial, condemnation, and martyrdoms of Ridley and Latimer, Thomas Cranmer, plus accounts of many, many more less well-known Christian folk who suffered at the hands of the Catholic Queen, often referred to as Bloody Mary. She, it was who condemned hundreds of people to death, principally going to their early end by being burnt at the stake, simply for being Protestant and refusing to recant their firmly held beliefs.
The version of Foxe's Book of Martyr's which is available to us today is greatly abridged and often edited for modern readers, but it still remains a remarkable work, and one which has been hugely helpful in informing our understanding of Foxe, and the subjects he covered.
Dr Needham, in this address, gives us a brief sketch of John Foxe's life and also provides a few examples of those who gave up their lives, becoming martyrs, for Christ's sake.
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“ Great Sermon! ” Thank you DrNeedham!This is SO interesting and informative and so full of Christ. As a converted Catholic I know that Mary persecuted the true church but I didn't really know why Protestant executed Catholics until now! Once again, thank you.
T Sullivan (10/19/2017)
from MI
“ Great Sermon! ” I learned a lot from this bio. I quoted Foxe Sunday while teaching Pilgrims Progress but knew so little about him. Definitely will be listening to more from Needham
The Rev Dr Nick Needham is a Baptist minister originally from London. He holds the degrees of BD and PhD from the University of Edinburgh. He has published several books, the first two of which were in the area of Scottish Church History. More recently he has published 2,000...
