Latimer, Hugh (ca. 1485-1555)
“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.” (spoken 1555)
Latimer and Ridley at the stake.
Two men are led to the stake to burn for “heresy.” The man chained on the left is dressed in a white shroud. “My bridal robe,” he calls it, for today he expects a marriage supper in heaven. This is Hugh Latimer. The other is Bishop Ridley. Extra soldiers guard the stake and hold the crowd back, for the condemned men have been highly popular reform preachers in England.
History of Christianity is a six part survey designed to stimulate your curiosity by providing glimpses of pivotal events and persons in the spread of the church.
Latimer and Ridley are here because Queen Mary has come to the throne. An ardent Catholic, she cannot tolerate their views, for they deny the pope’s claims to authority and reject the mass as it is taught and practiced by Rome. Although they came to their understanding slowly at the beginning of the Reformation, after years of searching Scripture and preaching reform, they are absolutely convinced there is no warrant in the Bible for many of the practices and teachings of the old church, some of which they consider blasphemous and a hindrance to people from entering heaven. So sure are they, that just a few days earlier Latimer even smuggled a final sermon out of prison, exhorting true believers to cling to the Reformation whatever the cost.
The two are compelled to listen to a fifteen-minute sermon in which they are reminded in the words of Paul, that although they give their bodies to be burned but have not love it counts for nothing. They ask permission to say a few last words to the crowd but are informed they will only be allowed to speak if it is to recant. As they have no intention of doing so, they can only await the fire. A relative of Ridley fastens a small bag of gunpowder around each of their throats, hoping to speed the end of their torments once the dreadful execution begins.
As the executioner approaches with the flame, Latimer attempts to cheer up Ridley. To get through the ordeal, he has set his mind to think beyond today. And so he turns to his fellow victim and says, “Be of good comfort, Master Ridley; and play the man. We shall this day light such a candle, by God’s grace, in England, as I trust, shall never be put out!” When the flames reach him, he seems almost not to feel a thing. Soon he is dead— one of the most beloved pastors England has produced. Poor Ridley suffers for hours because the flames are blown away from his torso.
From the 19th century onward, a memorial in Oxford will remind the world of this pair’s staunch faith and costly adherence to truth. They will be seen as standard-bearers of the Church of England.
—Dan Graves
