March 20. John Foxe. Foxe was an English protestant author best known for his book on martyrs. Before he began his massive work with possibly the longest title of any work ever published in the English language, he taught logic at Oxford, served as a private tutor, and wrote Latin plays with biblical themes.
On this date in 1563, the John Day press in England published the English version of Foxe’s martyrology. We know this book by its shorter, popular title: Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.
Foxe based that book on documents of trials for heresy and on statements from friends of those who were condemned and executed as heretics. Foxe wrote about his disagreement with the Catholic Church. He said, “… a person should be able to see that the religion of Christ, meant to be spirit and truth, had been turned into nothing but outward observances, ceremonies, and idolatry.… We had too many churches, too many relics (true and fake), too many untruthful miracles. Instead of worshipping the only living Lord, we worshipped dead bones.…”
Sometimes a little listening can do more than any amount of talk.
Silence blanketed the room as friends and relatives gathered around the small woman huddled on the bed. Her red-rimmed eyes, finally drained of tears, stared straight ahead.
Physicians had come and gone and claimed her melancholy would soon take her to the grave, and the local church offered prayers but felt equally pessimistic about her chance of recovery. In truth, those present were simply waiting for her to die.
If they noticed the man’s arrival, no one acknowledged it. He knelt beside the bed, prayed aloud for the woman to feel God’s comfort and then did what no one else had done: he simply sat beside the woman and waited patiently for her to speak.
Foxe knew only that the older woman had fallen into a deep depression and that her family had given up hope for her survival.
For many days, he returned to sit at her bedside, alternately praying out loud for her to feel God’s comfort and waiting quietly for her to speak.
Finally, she did speak. Mrs. Honiwood shared with Foxe her many experiences over the years, visiting prisoners to bring them comfort, and her great despair as they were beheaded or burned at the stake under Queen Mary’s rule.
She was particularly haunted by the death of one prisoner—John Bradford—whom she had prayed with and believed to be a good man. On the day of his execution, she had followed John to Smithfield, prayed for him, and offered support, even as the guards tied him to the stake and lit the fire. She remembered with horror how many people stood in the open air that day, waiting to watch a man burn to death. A man who had never hurt anyone.
Foxe spent many days by Mrs. Honiwood’s side, listening to her thoughts and worries, always reassuring her that her prayers and work with the prisoners had been meaningful, and that she belonged to God.
Little by little, she emerged from her depression until she was whole again. Cheerful and engaged with her life, she lived another 30 years, deeply involved with her church and community. She and Foxe remained close friends until she died.
“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2 NIV).
Are there some people in your life who could use a good listener? Sometimes a little listening can do more than any amount of talk.
“John Foxe.” English Bible History. Accessed October 15, 2020. Greatsite.com. https://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/john-foxe.html.
Foxe, John et al. Writings of John Foxe, Bale, and Coverdale. London: The Religious Tract Society, 1831, p. 23.
Simpkin, John. “John Foxe.” British History: The Tudors. Updated January 2020. Spartacus Educational. https://spartacus-educational.com/John_Foxe.htm.
Freeman, Tom. “John Foxe: A Biography” Accessed October 15, 2020. The Acts and Monuments Online. http://www.johnfoxe.org/index_realm_more_type_essay.html.
Huckle, John, and John Wilson. “John Fox.” Accessed October 15, 2020. Bible Study Tools. https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/brook-lives-puritans-volume-1/john-fox.html.
Story read by Chuck Stecker
Note: Foxe’s Book of Martyrs was originally titled: The Actes and Monuments of these latter and perilous Dayes, touching matters of the Church, wherein are comprehended and described the great Persecution and horrible Troubles that have been wrought and practised by the Romishe Prelates, Epeciallye in this Realme of England and Scotland, from the yeare of our Lorde a thousande to the time now present. Gathered and collected according to tile true Copies and Wrytinges certificatorie as well of the Parties themselves that Suffered, as also out of die Bishop’s Registers, which were the Doers thereof, by John Foxe, commonly known as the Book of Martyrs.
That’s quite a title!