Thomas Cranmer: Martyr for the Faith

March 21st marks the 450th anniversary of the execution of Thomas Cranmer the former Archbishop of Canterbury. He was burned at the stake just outside Balliol College Oxford during the reign of Mary 1. Canon Michael Dewar the former Canon of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin called him the “Architect of the English Reformation.” He said, “His broad and gentle yet firm and enduring touch lies on the Book of Common prayer and the thirty-nine articles of religion.” The book of Common prayer and the 39 articles are the doctrinal basis of the Anglical and Episcopal Churches. But you might wonder why we are bothered to remember a Protestant martyr such as Thomas Cranmer? Alex Haley's famous quote about history is that “Unless we learn from history we are destined to repeat it.” There is no doubt that the Church of Rome is on a campaign to whitewash itself in history. There are Roman priests who are constantly researching history in order to do that. You will find that extensive work has been done by them on the massacres of history in which Rome was implicated. We need to know our history and know why we are what we are today.