On November 15 in 1838 a Gothic Cross was erected in Oxford,
England, to the memory of three notable figures in the English
Reformation.
The cross commemorated a tragic event that happened almost three
hundred years earlier when Christian leaders were publicly burned to death
in this distinguished university center. Bishops Nicholas Ridley (c.
1500-1555), Hugh Latimer (c.1485-1555) and Thomas Cranmer
(1489-1556) were executed across from the main entrance of Balliol College
on Broad Street (formerly Horsemonger Street.)
The inscription on the cross: "To the glory of God and in grateful
commemoration of His servants, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Hugh
Latimer, Prelates of the Church of England, who, near this spot, yielded
their bodies to be burned, bearing witness to the sacred truths which they
had affirmed and maintained against the errors of the Church of Rome; and
rejoicing that to them it was given not only to believe in Christ, but also to
suffer for His sake . . ."
1
Bishops Ridley and Latimer were both executed on October 17th, 1555.
The night before, while eating his last supper, Bishop Ridley remarked to
his keeper's wife: "Though my breakfast will be somewhat sharp, my
supper (in heaven) will be more pleasant and sweet." Ridley embraced
Bishop Latimer at the place of execution, and when the first fagot was lit at
Ridley's feet, Latimer encouraged him: "Be of good cheer, Ridley; and play
the man. We shall this day, by God's grace, light up such a candle in
England, as I trust, will never be put out."
The year following, March 21, 1556, Archbishop Cranmer was put to death.
At one point he had signed a document denying his Protestant faith. Shortly
before his execution, he repudiated his own weakness by saying
"forasmuch as my hand hath offended, writing contrary to my heart,
therefore my hand shall first be punished; for when I come to the fire it shall
first be burned." And Archbishop Cranmer did hold his hand in the fire until
it was burnt to a cinder, frequently saying: "This unworthy right hand."
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Missionary Evangelist Don Tackett
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charis sozo dia pistis
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