Martyrdom of John Hooper (1555)

Martyrdom of John Hooper (1555): John Hooper, Bishop of Worchester until his death, was a graduate of Oxford University, England. While completing his study in the sciences, he was stirred with a love for Scripture and a fervent desire to gain all the knowledge about them that he could. By combining hours of reading and searching the Scriptures with earnest prayer, the grace of the Holy Spirit soon began to open to him the way of true holiness.

As Hooper grew in God’s grace and spiritual understanding, the increasing fervency and piety of his character began to draw the displeasure and hatred of other religious persons at the university. He was soon compelled to leave. Thereafter, one Sir Thomas Arundel hired him to handle his affairs and property.

When Arundel learned about Hooper’s religious opinions, he sent him to the Bishop of Winchester, whom he thought could do the young man some good and change his opinions. In any case, he required the Bishop to return Hooper to him.

         The Bishop conferred with Hooper for five days, but saw that he could not do him any good, and returned him to Arundel. Although the Bishop commended Hooper’s learning and wit, from that time he bore a grudge against him. Not long after, Hooper learned that malice and danger were building against him in several quarters, so he left the employ of Arundel. He then borrowed a horse from a friend and travelled to the seaside to cross the Channel to France.

He stayed in France for a short time, and then returned to England, where he was employed by a Master Sentlow until he again was in danger of his life because of his doctrines. Through various means, he travelled to Ireland and then through France into Germany, where he met a number of learned men at Basil and Zurich in Switzerland. There he became friends with a Master Bullinger, and  married his wife, a Burgundian. He also began diligent study of the Hebrew language.

On January 28, 1547, King Henry VIII died, and his only son, Edward VI became the king of England on that day. Edward was not yet ten years old at the time, having been born to Henry’s third wife, Jane Seymour, on October 12, 1537. In his will, Henry had designated a Council of 16 members to rule England while Edward was a minor, but this arrangement did not last long, and Edward’s uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, assumed control as protector. Two years later, in 1549, Seymour fell from power and John Dudley; Duke of Northumberland became the regent to rule.

 King Edward VI was educated by Protestant tutors and, as a result, favoured Protestant reforms in the Church of England. The Book of Common Prayer, compiled by Archbishop Thomas Cramer, was first published during Edward’s reign.

Shortly after Edward became King, Hooper returned to England to help forward the Lord’s work to the best of his ability. He started preaching continuously, most of the time twice a day. So many people came to hear his messages that often the church would be so full that those who came late could not get in further than the door. He was earnest in his doctrine, eloquent in his speech, perfect in the Scriptures, and untiring in his efforts. His life was so pure that no slander could attach itself to him.

 Some time after he returned, Hooper was called to preach before the King. Thereafter, he was appointed the Bishop of Gloucester, a position he held for two years. He did so well in that office that even his enemies could find no fault with him. After that, he was made Bishop of Worchester.

Even though a considerable reformation of religion had started in the Church of England, the Bishops still wore the elaborate apparel of the Roman Catholic Church. To Hooper, such ceremonial garments were distasteful because some were worn for superstitious reasons, such as the geometrical cap with four angles that divided the world into four parts.

Therefore, he requested that the King either discharged him from his Bishop’s office, or else excuse him from ceremonies in which the garments were worn. The King granted his request immediately and allowed him to do away with the offensive garments.

 Nevertheless, the other Bishops stoutly defended the wearing of the ceremonial garments, and said that it was a trivial matter, since according to them, the fault was not in the things themselves but in abuses of them. They insisted that Hooper should not be allowed to have his own way in the matter.

This argument between Hooper and the Bishops over the wearing of the ceremonial clothing caused many good Christians to sorrow, and many of Hooper’s adversaries to rejoice. Finally, the Bishops got the upper hand, forcing Hooper to agree to wear the garments at ceremonies attended by the King.

In November 1552, King Edward VI became ill, and subsequently died on July 6, 1553, three months before his sixteenth birthday. Although John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland tried to divert the succession of the throne to Edward’s cousin, Lady Jane Grey, who was a Protestant, he failed, and Edward’s half-sister, Mary, a Roman Catholic succeeded him as Mary I.

During the later years of the reign of King Henry VIII, when an increasingly Protestant Church of England was brought into being, Mary was harshly treated until she reluctantly agreed with Henry’s divorce of her mother, Catherine, and renounced Roman Catholicism under oath. In truth, however, she kept her Catholic faith and never gave it up.

 Soon after succeeding to the throne, Mary restored Catholicism to England and re-established the traditional services and the authority of the pope. A year later she married Philip II, the future king of Spain (1556), son of the Roman Emperor, Charles V. Together they ruled England for the remainder of her life. It was a rule during which she earned the epithet, “Bloody Mary” for her persecution and burning of about 300 Protestants for their faith.

Shortly after her coronation, she summoned Hooper to appear before her. Although he knew her evil intents toward him, having been warned by friends to flee the country, he honoured her invitation. He appeared before the Queen on September 1, 1553, and boldly told her about his life as a bishop and his doctrines.

At the end of the hearing, he was sentenced to prison for allegedly owing the Queen money, which was not true. On March 19, 1554, he was called to appear before a Lord Chancellor Winchester and other commissioners who represented the queen. Winchester asked Hooper if he was married, and he answered, “Yes, my lord, and I will not be unmarried until death unmarries me.”

For some reason, perhaps because Roman Catholic clergy did not marry, Hooper’s response elicited loud outcries and laughter. On his part, the Bishop of Chichester, Dr Day, called Hooper a “hypocrite,” and lashed at him with other scornful and angry words. Another Bishop, Tonstal called Hooper a “beast,” and so did a clerk named Smith.

           Hooper was also asked to respond to their question on whether the elements used in the Catholic Mass represented the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ, which he debunked. During another trial on January 22, 1555, Hooper said in his defense that the pope was not worthy to be the head of the church since he taught doctrines that were contrary to Scripture. He was eventually sentenced to death for his faith and burnt at the stake on February 9, 1555.

 I challenge those embracing the satanic doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church to present Scripture from the Holy Bible endorsing any of the doctrines of this organisation: Purgatory, Immaculate conception of Mary; Assumption of Mary; Veneration of Mary and other dead people labelled “Saints” by the church; Mary dying a virgin; Mary as Co-Redemptor with Christ. It amazes me that billions of people across the world embrace and run with these demonic doctrines that clearly contradict the immutable and eternal word of God. May God have mercy on their poor souls.

****Culled from The New Foxes Book of Martyrs 2001 by John Foxe, Bridge-Logos Publishers, Gainesville, Florida 32614, USA.