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Glimpses #140: Thomas Cranmer; Christian History Institute
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Glimpses of Christian Historywelcomes you
Glimpses #140: Thomas Cranmer, Reluctant Martyr
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Thomas
Cranmer calls on the Lord to receive his spirit
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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.
 efore a vast crowd of friends and enemies,
the Archbishop thrust his hand into the fire. He was going to his death
by being burned at the stake but insisted that the hand that was guilty
of such shameful sin must burn first. Jesus said "It is better to lose
a limb than for your whole body to go to hell," and Cranmer took him at
his word.
He went in style, but Thomas Cranmer was not a natural martyr.
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Admittedly he was committed to his Protestant faith in Catholic England
at a time when that could be quite dangerous. And he rose to the highest
position in the English Church, becoming the first Protestant Archbishop
of Canterbury. But he loved his comfortable life of quiet scholarship.
When it came to it, would he have the courage to take the ultimate stand
for his faith? It was a close call. Here is his most unlikely story --
one that did much to shape the world of his day right down to our own
day. Cranmer was born into a mildly well-to-do family in Nottinghamshire,
England, in 1489. He studied at Jesus College, Cambridge, taking a surprising
eight years to get his degree. After attaining his MA, he suddenly gave
up any prospect of an ecclesiastical or academic career by marrying for
love. When his wife Joan died in childbirth he was crushed, but he was
destined as a result of this loss, to become possibly the most influential
figure in the history of the English church.
Mission: Divorce
Cranmer was ordained at Cambridge and was still there at the time of Luther's
encounter with Rome. He believed in reform, but from within the Catholic
church, and he was horrified by Luther's separation from Rome. His mind
was changed as a consequence of being drafted into the diplomatic service
of the King.
Cranmer's mission was to get rid of Henry VIII's wife. Henry had married
Catherine of Aragon with a special dispensation from the pope, because
Catherine was his brother's widow, a match contrary to church law. But
having borne him a daughter, Catherine failed to come up with any more
children, and Henry needed a son to pass his crown on to. He believed
the marriage was cursed by God, as Leviticus 20:21 warns, and another
wife was called for. Normally, he would have come to another mutually
satisfactory arrangement with the Pope, but the Pope was in serious trouble
with Catherine's uncle, the Holy Roman Emperor, so no deal. Cranmer had
the idea of canvassing the Protestant leaders of Europe and getting them
to declare Henry's marriage invalid. This long debate was ultimately unsuccessful,
but it had two huge results for Cranmer. It impressed the King enough
to raise him to Archbishop of Canterbury, the top job in the English church
-- to Cranmer's horror. And Cranmer was so impressed with the Protestants
that he started to be gradually won over. Cranmer marked the change by
quietly taking a second wife while he was out in Germany.
Cranmer at Canterbury
Parliament passed laws declaring the Church of England independent of
Rome, making the King instead of the Pope, its head. Cranmer then declared
the marriage void, and Henry took Anne Boleyn as his new wife. Cranmer
had no political ambitions. Even as Archbishop, he spent three quarters
of his working day in quiet study and found time in the remainder for
sport. His greatest achievement at this time was to get English Bibles
into the churches for the first time. In Henry's latter years, things
got dangerous for Cranmer. Henry was never really converted to Protestantism,
and the Church of England was really independent Catholic rather than
Protestant. In 1539, the King issued the Six Articles, insisting
that the beliefs of the Church of England were still well and truly Catholic.
The bookies took bets that Cranmer would soon be executed like others
who had fallen foul of Henry's whims. But the King respected Cranmer,
and he retained his position. In January, 1547, Henry died, and was succeeded
by his eleven-year-old son Edward VI. Edward was a convinced Protestant,
and so Cranmer was retained and now had the opportunity to reform the
church fully.
The New Prayer Book
Cranmer encouraged Protestant preaching in the church and published his
own sermons. But his greatest contribution to the Reformation was the
Book of Common Prayer. This replaced the Catholic liturgy in Latin
with new English services. The 1549 edition was pretty conservative, hoping
not to upset the mass of people who were attached to Catholic traditions
too much. But for this, it drew widespread criticism from Protestants,
and so in 1552 Cranmer produced a revised prayer book, which was more
emphatically Protestant. His Book of Common Prayer became one of the greatest
classics of English Literature, and well into the twentieth century its
phrases were part of the common currency of English people. Cranmer still
kept in many elements of Catholic liturgy and ritual that he found beautiful
and not unbiblical, and so the English services combined the best of old
and new.
Cranmer
the Heretic
Unfortunately for Cranmer's reforms, and for Cranmer himself, King Edward
died in 1553. Lady Jane Grey was queen for a brief nine days before being
swept aside by Edward's elder sister Mary. This was the one daughter that
Catherine of Aragon had produced, and her life since then had not been
happy. Not only had her mother been sent away, but when the marriage was
declared invalid, Mary became "illegitimate." She was a fervent Catholic,
and blamed all that had happened on Protestantism in general and Cranmer
in particular. Mary set about restoring Roman Catholicism. When she replaced
the English Prayer Book with the old Latin Mass, Cranmer protested and
was arrested. In a humiliating ceremony, he was removed from office, but
worse was to come. Barraged in jail by Roman Catholic apologists for three
years, his confidence in his faith was crushed. Mary's men persuaded him
to sign a series of six recantations. The first merely said that the English
should obey their Queen's religion, but they became more and more serious
and the last was a "root-and-branch" denunciation of Protestantism. In
exchange for his life and freedom, the broken man signed. The capitulation
of one of the greatest living Protestant leaders was a fantastic victory
for Mary.
Surprise!
But now she made her great mistake. Her personal hatred for Cranmer was
such that even though she had his recantation, she insisted on burning
him anyway. The execution was on 21st of March, 1556, and Cranmer was
allowed to preach before the massive crowd to publicize his recantation.
In his last masterly speech, he repented of all his sins -- as he was
meant to -- but ended by repenting his greatest sin of all, denial of
the Protestant gospel. Amid uproar and commotion, he was led off to the
fire and burnt. He put his right hand into the flames first. "As my hand
offended," he said, "writing contrary to my heart, my hand shall first
be punished."
What Might Have Been
The Roman Catholic Church convened the Council of Trent to counter the
spreading Reformation influence. Cranmer eagerly desired that Protestant
leaders meet together. He particularly sought unity on the Lord's Supper.
He desired to host a meeting in England and on March 20, 1552, wrote and
invited Calvin of Geneva, Bullinger (Zwingli's successor at Zurich) and
Melanchthon (Luther's successor at Wittenberg). It never came to pass.
July 24, 1553, Mary became queen. Cranmer's moment had passed. Below is
an excerpt from his letter of invitation to Calvin.
Our adversaries are now holding their councils at Trent for the establishment
of their errors; and shall we neglect to call together a godly synod,
for the refutation of error, and for restoring and propagating the truth?
They are, as I am informed, making decrees respecting the worship of the
host; wherefore we ought to leave no stone unturned, not only that we
may guard others against this idolatry, but also that we may ourselves
come to an agreement upon the doctrine of this sacrament. It cannot escape
your prudence how exceedingly the Church of God has been injured by dissensions
and varieties of opinion respecting the sacrament of unity; and though
they are now in some measure removed, yet I could wish for an agreement
in this doctrine, not only as regards the subject itself, but also with
respect to the words and forms of expression. You have now my wish, about
which I have also written to Masters Philip [Melanchthon] and Bullinger;
and I pray you to deliberate among yourselves as to the means by which
this synod can be assembled with the greatest convenience. Farewell.
-- Your very dear brother in Christ,
Thomas Cranmer
From Cranmer's 1552 Prayer Book
Almighty and most mercyfull father, we have erred and strayed from thy
wayes, lyke lost shepe. We have folowed too much the devises and desyres
of oure owne hearts. We have offended against thy holy lawes. We have
left undone those things whiche we oughte to have done, and we have done
those thinges which we ought not to have done, and there is no health
in us: but thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us miserable offendors. Spare
thou them, O God, which confesse theyr faultes. Restore thou them that
be penitent, according to thy promyses declared. unto mankynde, in Christe
Jesu oure Lorde. And graunt, O most merciful father, for his sake, that
we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sobre life, to the glory
of thy holy name. Amen.
Almighty God, unto whom all heartes be open, all desyres knowen, and
from whom no secretes are hyd: clense the thoughtes of our heartes by
the inspiracion of thy holy spirit, that we maye perfectlye love thee,
and worthely magnify thy holy name: through Christ our Lorde. Amen.
Page last updated March, 2007.
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