John Foxe Quotes

       John Foxe
       1517-1587
      
       John Foxe, martyrologist, is remembered as the author of what is popularly known as Foxe's Book of Martyrs, an account of Christian martyrs throughout history but especially emphasizing the sufferings of English Protestants from the fourteenth century through the reign of Mary I.
      
       Foxe's prospects, and those of the evangelical cause generally, improved after the death of Henry VIII in January 1547, the accession of Edward VI, and the formation of a Privy Council dominated by pro-reform Protestants.
      
       Although both he and his contemporary readers were more credulous than most moderns, Foxe presented "lifelike and vivid pictures of the manners and feelings of the day, full of details that could never have been invented by a forger." Foxe's method of using his sources "proclaims the honest man, the sincere seeker after truth."

While the state of Venice was free from inquisitors, a great number of Protestants fixed their residence there, and many converts were made by the purity of the doctrines they professed, and the inoffensiveness of the conversation they used.     Topics: Doctrine, Examples, Purity In the meantime the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ work with thee, gentle reader, in all thy studious readings.     Topics: Grace, Jesus, Reading A defence in the Inquisition is of little use to the prisoner, for a suspicion only is deemed sufficient cause of condemnation, and the greater his wealth the greater his danger.     Topics: Persecution, Wealth A prisoner in the Inquisition is never allowed to see the face of his accuser, or of the witnesses against him, but every method is taken by threats and tortures, to oblige him to accuse himself, and by that means corroborate their evidence.     Topics: Persecution A Protestant has seldom any mercy shown him, and a Jew, who turns Christian, is far from being secure.     Topics: Persecution Each of the seventeen tribunals during a long period burned annually, on an average, ten miserable beings!     Topics: Persecution The first persecution of the Church took place in the year 67, under Nero, the sixth emperor of Rome.     Topics: Persecution The Gospel having spread itself into Persia, the pagan priests, who worshipped the sun, were greatly alarmed, and dreaded the loss of that influence they had hitherto maintained over the people's minds and properties.     Topics: Persecution, Ignorance When the Christians, upon these occasions, received martyrdom, they were ornamented, and crowned with garlands of flowers; for which they, in heaven, received eternal crowns of glory.     Topics: Persecution, Heaven Which prophecy of Christ we see wonderfully to be verified, insomuch that the whole course of the Church to this day may seem nothing else but a verifying of the said prophecy.     Topics: Persecution Princes, kings, and other rulers of the world have used all their strength and cunning against the Church, yet it continues to endure and hold its own.     Topics: Persecution, Perseverance, Endurance The pope being informed of the great increase of Protestantism, in the year 1542 sent inquisitors to Venice to make an inquiry into the matter, and apprehend such as they might deem obnoxious persons.     Topics: Persecution