This book tells the story of the English Reformation. It penetrates behind the facade of political change and acts of Parliament and brings to light the inner movement of the Spirit of God in men of humble heart and heroic faith. Its author believes there was a guiding hand at the helm of the Reformation, and that this divine guidance is most clearly revealed by a detailed study of the life and motives of those who were marked out as leaders of the movement and master of its theology.
The five men chosen for this purpose were the most significant of those who laid down their lives in the cause of the English Reformation. Bilney and Tyndale represent the movement in the reign of Henry VIII; Ridley and Cranmer dominate the study in the reign of Edward VI. The life of Latimer links Bilney with Cranmer and spans the whole period from the early days of conversion in the Halls of Cambridge right on to the triumphant martyrdoms in the fires of Oxford. The forty years, from 1516 to 1556, during which these men found and followed Jesus Christ were the years in which the English Reformation was cradled and nurtured for the glory of God.
‘Sir Marcus Loane…possesses an acute historical sense and a vivid spiritual perception which combine to illustrate the story he has to tell."
--- TIMOTHY DUDLEY-SMITH
Masters of the English Reformation is in the following collections:
