©2005, The Banner of Truth Trust, 310 pp., hardback.

Of all creatures God made, humanity alone has heroes. Heroes vary from culture to culture and often reflect the areas of society that are of particular importance to that culture.

This book gives the biographies of five men who were thrust, through God’s providence, into the limelight of the Reformation. Their love for these rediscovered doctrines in scripture ultimately led to the highest of heroic acts: the sacrifice of their own lives. Each man was burned at the stake in the sixteenth century.

Two of the men, Thomas Bilney and Thomas Cranmer, initially recanted their belief in reformation doctrines. Subsequently, they repented and were martyred. Bilney had been converted in 1519. He began sharing his faith with others including William Tyndale and Hughes Latimer. Bilney became an outspoken preacher. This led to his arrest. He promised not to preach Christ again. Bilney soon realized the foolishness of his promise. Within two years he began preaching Christ anew. Later that year, 1531, he was condemned to death. He was the first of the Cambridge fellows to lay down his life for the Gospel.

Thomas Cranmer, a contemporary of Bilney, was a Cambridge graduate. King Henry VIII chose him as the Archbishop of Canterbury. After much study Cranmer favored the Reformation tenets. He was often protected from his enemies by the King. God greatly used him to further the English reformation. He supported the Book of Common Prayer which he revised and republished in 1552. Following Edward VI’s short reign, Henry’s daughter, Mary, ascended the throne. Mary had no love for Cranmer, because he had signed the King’s divorce papers permitting his divorce from her mother, Catherine of Aragon. Additionally, the Queen hated reformation doctrine. Cranmer was soon arrested and endured a long imprisonment. His life ended at the martyr’s stake in March 1556. Tied to the stake he held his right hand that had earlier signed his recantation, in the flames, marking his shame at this act.

The other three subjects, William Tyndale, Hugh Latimer, and Nicholas Ridley each studied at Cambridge. Each sought to be faithful to God’s word no matter the cost.

Tyndale, the gifted translator, desired to translate the Bible into the language of the common man. He worked in Germany. His printed translations were secretly shipped to England. His enemies arrested him by treachery in 1535, and he was martyred in 1536. In 1537 King Henry VIII licensed an English translation of the Bible to be printed. This translation was in essence Tyndale’s work.

Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley were from different backgrounds. Latimer was from a farming family. Ridley was from the line of knights. Their deep faith in reformed doctrine and their opposition to Roman Catholicism united them deeper than their differences divided them. Each refused to assent to the belief that the elements in the Lord’s Supper actually became the body and blood of Jesus. They were executed together in October 1555.

These five martyrs are heroes. They need to be better known in our day. None of them desired the spotlight on history’s stage. Each sought to be faithful in the daily walk. They were willing to speak Christian truth to hell-bound sinners, even when such speech endangered their existence. None would ultimately compromise truth even on the Lord’s Supper to spare their lives.

We need to become acquainted with or refresh our memories with these and similar Christians of bygone days. Too often we forget that our English translation of the Bible and the teaching of many Protestant truths came at the cost of men’s lives.

Because of the world’s hatred of their Lord, Christians are constantly on the battlefield and Christian truth is the battle line. Christians today can take great encouragement by reading this volume.

Loane is a good author. His writing allows the reader to easily follow the faithful answers the accused gave to their enemies as well as their bravery in the face of death.

Review ©2009 Byron Snapp, Hampton, Virginia