| Back | Home |

Tyndale was betrayed, arrested and would later be tried for either treason, heresy or both, in any event, his fate was to be found guilty and executed in 1538, by strangulation and then his body was burned. Fortunately, prior to his incarceration, he had given his incomplete Old Testament translation into the care of Rogers who continued the work. By utilzing the earlier Bible translation of Miles Coverdale, he was able to complete Tyndale's Old Testament translation and he then joined it with Tyndale's translation of the New Testament. The marriage was successful and with the addition of a preface and marginal notes by Rogers, a second Bible translation into the English language came into existence and was published in 1537, probably at Wittenberg, under the pseudonym of "Thomas Matthew." The new work came to be commonly known as Matthew's Bible and the marginal notes of Roger's served as the first commentary on the whole Bible in the English language. Its initial printing consisted of fifteen hundred copies of which, three have been preserved in the British Museum.

As Wittenberg is the probable location of the printing and publication of Matthew's Bible, so it is likely that Rogers had moved to that city prior to this. It is known that he spent a number of years in Wittenberg serving as pastor to a Protestant congregation until the accession of Edward VI. to the throne. Edward was only 10 years old when he became the King of England and having veen raised by a loving step mother, Katharine Parr, who was a zealous Protestant, Edward himself had adopted her views on the faith. Given this change of rulership, Rogers was moved to return to England and did so in 1548. In 1550 he was provided settlements in London by Bishop Ridley and was given charge of two parishes in London. One year later, in 1551, he was appointed prebendary and divinity lecturer at St. Paul's Cathedral in the city.

King Edward VI's rule was short lived. Disease, possibly a combination of tuberculosis and measles, claimed his life after only 5 years on the throne. Though his stated desire was to leave his throne to his Protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey, in the end, his older half sister Mary, a zealous Catholic, ascended to power in his place. In wasn't long before Rogers, as the result of a sermon he preached on behalf of Protestantism at Paul's Cross in 1553, engendered the wrath of Queen Mary and her newly formed government. Only ten days after the sermon, he was put under house arrest, his salary was cut and in October of that year, his position was filled by another. In January, 1554, Edmund Bonner, the Bishop of London, had Rogers imprisoned at Newgate for his denunciation of Romanism where he endured, with other Protestants, harsh treatment for a year. He finally came to trial in January, 1555, on charges of heresy, specifically his views on the doctrine of transubstantiation and the "Christian" character of the Church of Rome. He was found guilty, excommunicated and sentenced to death. His sentence was to be carried out in Smithfield, where he was given a final opportunity to recant his views...he refused and was subsequently burned at the stake, in full view of his wife and children. John Rogers was the first of many Protestants who would sacrifice their lives during the reign of Queen "Bloody" Mary.

Written by John M. Fritzius: source material provided by Philip Shaff's Encyclopedia, Volume X., Wikipedia, Englishhistory.net and Who's Who in Christian History, article by P.TOON.