John Rogers and the Matthew's Bible
Chapter 6
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John Rogers was born around the year 1500. He was trained for
the Roman Catholic priesthood and became the official chaplain at Antwerp.
But something happened to john Rogers that I believe would please God if it
happened to every Catholic priest. He crossed the path of a Spirit-filled
soulwinner and came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. John Rogers was
converted to Christ through the soulwinning efforts of William Tyndale. He
became Tyndale's fast friend and apprentice.
Rogers then did what every former Catholic priest would do almost
immediately after his conversion to Christ. He renounced the unscriptural,
unnatural vow of celebacy and got married. He moved to Wittenburg with his
new bride and pastored a Dutch church there.
Later in his life, after the death of Henry VIII and the ascension
of Edward VI to the throne of England, which brought the first real semblance of
peace and freedom for Christians in that land in a long time, John Rogers came
back to England and preached the true gospel in London, which until that time
was strictly forbidden aind illegal.
Rogers stayed close to William Tyndale right up through his arrest
and until his execution. Through the providence of God and no doubt some
very ingenious planning and plotting, the manuscripts produced by Tyndale in the
dungeon prison were not destroyed in the fire with their writer. Instead,
God placed these precious documents into the hands of Miles Coverdale and John
Rogers. We had already mentioned that Miles Coverdale's Bible was
simply a revision of hte work of William Tyndale.
John Rogers' Matthew's Bible was printed in 1537. Rogers used
Tyndale's New Testament and the Old Testament portions...
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Tyndale was able to complete before his death. The remainder
of the Old Testament in the Matthew's Bible is the work of Miles
Coverdale. The Matthew's Bible is Tyndale's Bible, with the exception of
the few Old Testament Books translated by Miles Coverdale after Tyndale's
death.
John Rogers secured a license from the king of England, making it
legal to buy, reprint, sell and read the English Bible. Ironically, within
a year of William Tyndale's martyrdom and the fierce opposition to his Bible,
the very Bible he died for was now sanctioned by the king.
Tyndale's personal notes are found in the margins throughout the
Matthew's Bible. Many are marked with his initials "W.T." , and some
are clearly signed "William Tyndale." The Matthew's Bible became
known as the "Wife Beater's Bible" because of John Roger's note on I Peter
chapter three. The text reads, "Likewise, let the wives be in subjection
to their husbands" (I Peter 3:1). Apparently Rogers did not think this was
worded quite strongly enough, or maybe he just thought it appropriate to
re-emphasize or reinforce this principle. In the marginal note attached to
this passage he wrote, "And if she be not obedient and helpful unto him,
endeavor to beat the fear of God into her head, that thereby she may be
compelled to learn her duty and do it."
Rogers often addressed the abuses of the papists and their
over-extended authority. He wrote a scathing note to the "pope and his
(donkeys)." He did not say "donkeys," but since this book is apprived for
general audiences, I will not use the exact word that he used.
Henry VIII died in 1548, and was succeeded by his son Edward VI,
who was crowned King of England at the age of ten. Already a born again
believer in his youth, he leaves behind a remarkable legacy of wisdom and
discernment, evidenced as early as his youthful coronation as
king.
England was sovereign over several other countries and provinces
during this era in history, and the news of Henry's death and the boy king's
ascension to the throne brought digitaries and...
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representatives from all over the continent of Europe. As was
custom, one by one they presented themselves to young Edward and laid at his
feet a sword from their respective provinces.
The ceremony nearly ended, the crowd stood around the young king in
self-approval at the pomp and the glory of this show of respect and reverence
for their new leader.
Edward looked at all the gifts of the beautiful, jewel-encrusted
swords. Then he spoke above the excited buzz of the crowd, "One sword yet
lacketh." The ambassadors and representatives looked at one another
indisbelief. Whose sword had been withheld? Who would dare,
ignorantly or deliberately, spoil this regal event?
Edward again spoke. "I mean the Sword of the Spirit, which is
the Word of God. That is the Sword by which I shall rule
England."
Under the ruling hand of Edward, Bibles were printed and
distributed in England by the tens of thousands, and Christians enjoyed
religious liberty and freedom which generations of their predecessors had not
known. But Edward was a sickly lad, and died at the age of
sixteen.
The tide of religious toleration enjoyed by the Christians uner the
peaceful reign of Edward VI quickly turned again for the worse with the
ascension of "Bloody Mary" to the throne of England.
God is sovereign. God "removeth kings, and setteth up kings
(and queens)." "The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it
to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men (and
women)." Except for the intervention of the hand of Almighty God, there
never would have been a "Bloody Mary," and the brutal slaying and torture of
English-speaking Christians might have come to an abrupt end. But "all
things work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called
according to his purpose", even the reign of the ungodly, wicked, murderous
Bloody Mary.
Upon the death of Edward VI, the son of Henry VIII, Bloody Mary, a
Tudor, was next in line to succeed her brother as Monarch...
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of England. Lady Jane Gray, Mary's cousin, then a
seventeen year old Christian young lady, was virtually coerced into claiming the
throne. At first she resisted, but at the persistence of her advisors, she
reluctantly acquiesced.
In the meantime, Mary had enlisted the aid of the deposed Roman
Catholic hierarchy and stormed London with a vengeance. Those who had
encouraged Jane in her inadvertent coupe quickly fled the scene. Jane was
arrested and imprisoned. Mary, not wishing to put her own cousin to death
for treason or heresy, devised a plan. If only Jane would publicly
renounce her faith in Christ and re-affirm her allegiance to the Holy mother
Church, all would be well. She would be released from her prison cell, and
would be free to live her life in peace as a subject of Queen
Mary.
It seemed like a well-devised plan, but Mary did not count on the
courage, devotion, resolve and love for hte Lord Jesus Christ that her cousin
possessed. Jane refused to recant, even to save her own life. Mary
felt she had no choice but to condemn her to death. If she released Jane
now, she would become a hero and a rallying emblem to the dreaded Protestant
cause, which Mary was determined to remove permanently from her
realm.
Jane was found guilty of being a heretic, as was anyone tried as a
non-Catholic, and sentenced to be beheaded. The date of her execution was
set for February 12, 1554.
On the night before her death she wrote to her sister, Lady
Katherine, at the end of her Greek New Testament,
"I send you a Book which is outwardly trimmed with gold, yet
inwardly is more worth than precious stones. It is the Book of the law of
the Lord. It is His testament and last will, which He bequeathed to us
wretches, which shall lead you to the path of eternal joy, and if you with a
good mind read it, and with an earnest mind do purpose to follow it, it shall
bring you to an immortal and everlastin life. It shall teach you to live,
and learn yo to die, that you by death may purchase eternal life. Defy the
world, deny the devil, despise the flesh, and delight yourself only in the
Lord.
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Desire with David to understand the law of the Lord God.
Desire with St. Paul to be dissolved and to be with Christ, with whom even in
death there is life. Rejoice in Christ, as I do. Follow the steps of
your Master Christ, and take up your cross. Lay your sins on His back, and
always embrace Him. And as touching my death, rejoice as I do, that I
shall be delivered of this coruption, and put on incorruption. I pray God
grant you, and send you of His grace to live in His fear; and to die in the true
Christian faith, from the which, in God's name I exhort you, that you never
swerve, neither for hope of life, nor for fear of death. If you cleave
unto Him, He will prolong your days to your comfort and His glory, to which
glory God bring me now. Fare you well, good sister, and put your trust
only in God, who only must help you."
The next morning Lady Jane Gray was led to the scaffold. She
requested that she might be allowed to address the crowd, which request being
granted she looked out over the assembled throng, many of them weeping bitterly,
for she was dearly beloved for her piety and grace, remarkable for a young lady
of only seventeen. Then she spoke.
"I pray you all good Christian people, to bear me witness that
I die a good Christian woman, and that I do look to be saved by no other means,
but only by the mercy of God in the blood of His only Son Jesus Christ: and I
confess, that when I did know the Word of God, I neglected the same and loved
myself and the world. Yet I thank God that of His goodness He hath thus
given me a time and respite to repent."
The executioner knelt down and asked her forgiveness, whom she
forgave most freely. Then she saw the block. She said, "I pray you,
dispatch me quickly." She was handed a blindfold, which she tied about her
eyes, and feeling for the block, she said, ...
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"What shall I do? Where is it? Where is it?" One
of the standers by guiding her thereunto, she laid her head down upon the block,
and said, "Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit." At these last words
the executioner's axe fell across the neck of thislovely, innocent young martyr
for the cause of Christ, and she immediately fled to the waiting embrace of her
Saviour.
Bloody Mary, a devout Roman Catholic and avowed hater of the
Christians, determined to enslave her subjects to popery and enthrone
Catholicism once again. She prohibited the preaching of the doctrines of
the reformed religion and had john Rogers arrested and
imprisoned.
Mary's real vendetta was against William Tyndale. After all,
it was he who had started this rejection of papal authority which ultimately led
to England's purging of Roman Catholicism. But Tyndale was already dead,
so John Rogers, Tyndale's friend, convert to the faith, and confidante, was the
closest she could come to exacting her vengeance on William Tyndale
himself.
On February 4, 1555, John Rogers became Bloody Mary's first
victim. At his condemnation the bishop stood to his feet and read the
charges.
"The Catholic church has found thee obstinate and stiffnecked,
willingly continuing in thy danmable opinions and heresies, and refusing to
return again unto the true faith and unity of the holy mother church; and, as
the child of wickedness and darkness, we, not willing that thou which are wicked
shouldest now become more wicked..."
(In other words, "We are only doing this for your own good, Mr.
Rogers. Nothing personal, but we must kill you to protect you from
yourself." Does the sound of that ring familiar to you? It
should. Our own government seeks to relieve us of our freedoms and
personal responsibilities, and then tells us, "We only want to do what is best
for you. Sure, we are trying to take more control of your individual lives
and in the process leave you with less and...
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less to control for yourselves. But we are only doing this
for your own good. We are only trying to help you.")
"...and infect the Lord's flock with thy heresy, (which we are
greatly afraid of),..."
Which could be translated, "Another reason we must kill you is to
protect those you have reached for Christ."
"...with sorrow of mind and bitterness of heart do judge thee,
and definitively condemn htee..."
(Believe us, this is going to hurt us more than it hurts
you.")
"...the said John Rogers, otherwise called Matthew, thy
demerits and faults being aggravated through thy damnable obstinancy, as guilty
of most detestable heresies, and as an obstinate and impenitent sinner, refusing
penitently to return to the lap and unity of the holy mother
church."
The sentence having been read, John Rogers replied,
"I have a good conscience before God and all good men; I
nothing doubt but that I shall be found there a ture member of the ture catholic
church of Christ, and everlastingly saved. And, as for your false church,
ye need not excommunicate me of it; I have not been in it th4se twenty years,
the Lord be thanked therefore."
On the fourth of February, early in the morning, he was awakened
out of a sound sleep by the keeper's wife, who could barely wake him, so sweet
was his rest. He was called upon to prepare himself for the fire. He
was then conveyed to Smithfield, the place prepared for his
execution.
On the way he sang a Psalm, and the people were astonished at his
constancy and firness, and gave thanks to God for the same.
His wife and ten children, one an infant at the breast, met him on
his way to the stake. It was a piteous spectacle, but even then the offer
of a pardon which was made, could not prevail upon him...
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to recant.
He was asked if he would change his religion to save his life, to
which he replied, "That which I have preached, I now seal with my
blood."
At the stake he showed most constant patience, not using many
words, for he was not permitted, but only exhorting the people constantly to
remain in that faith and true doctrine which he before had taught, and they had
learned, and for the confirmation whereof he was not only content patiently to
suffer, and bear all such bitterness and cruelty as had been showed him. but
also most gladly to resign up his life, and to give his flesh to the consuming
fire, for the testimony of the same.
As he was burning, he bathed his hands in the flames as if they had
been cold water, and with constancy received death in defence of the Gospel of
Christ.
