“If this book was fair and balanced by any measure, then perhaps it could be accepted as historical proof of an age of violence in antiquity. But this is not a book concerning truth. No, this is a book written in order to push forth an agenda in asserting that the historical age of violence was perpetrated by the madness of the Catholic Church.
Certainly John Foxe took into no account testimony, fact, or evidence into his book as it is painted with the most vile and vivid accounts of the martydom of Protestants. This book is simply a tool that was used to inflame the passions of the young Protestant groups and nations across the Western world into stronger submission to their Protestant faith. Simple research into the motives of John Foxe would reveal the fact that Foxe had a bias, had a plan, and it was not one based upon historical fact but based upon wild fiction. I would highly recommend that if you are looking for accounts of Christian martyrdom for some sort of inspiration, then look at the age of the early Christians against the Roman Empire or of the modern day Christian martyrs who have suffered, and are suffering currently in Iraq and Afghanistan (Chaldean Christians)”
“This book is not what it pretends to be. I expected an objective and historic account of Christian martyrs over the centuries. While it starts out that way - maybe that the piece actually written by Foxe - but it quickly devolves into the alleged atrocities committed by the Catholic Church after the initial Christian conversion of Europe. While there is no doubt that the Catholic Church committed its share of atrocities in the name of Jesus and should be rightly condemned, the book ultimately lacks balance. For example, the book covers more than 50 individual “persecutions” during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary of England. Yet, there is almost no mention of the martyrdom of the well-known Saint Thomas More at the hands of King Henry VIII. This book is little more than a rant in the name of John Foxe. I would recommend trying something else”
“This is an early example of polemical propaganda. It is rife with errors and outright falsehoods. Some of it is pure invention. I suggest instead that you read the lives of the Catholic martyrs. Thousands were killed during the Reformation for the crime of being Catholic. This is a story that is often ignored by fundamentalists. Either out of shame, ignorance, or hypocrisy”
“As a non-Roman Catholic historian and theologian, I have seen far too many Protestant “apologists” (read, anti-Catholics) use Foxe’s Book of Martyrs as a condemnation of 2000 years of Catholicism, or as a support for the Protestant Reformation, or any number of off-track purposes. This is not fair to either history, or Catholicism.
The Reformation in England was a bloody time. No reputable historian would doubt it. Foxe presents a tiny snapshot (more or less a decade) in which the Catholics (under the aptly named “Bloody” Mary I) executed a number of leading Protestant theologians and clergymen. This much is history. Incorporated with the history are the personal polemics of Foxe, which have little or nothing to do with the history of the times.
It’s interesting to note that the Catholics could just as easily present their own book of martyrs, taken from pretty much the same time period, in order to justify denouncing Protestants! Henry VIII was just as unpleasant to Catholics as his daughter was to Protestants! And Elizabeth I executed as many Catholics as Mary I did Protestants.
None of this is intended to justify violence in the Name of God — such is reprehensible no matter who participates in it. But both Catholics and Protestants have dirty hands, and finger pointing serves no purpose.
Consider this book in its context, but don’t try to draw modern polemic conclusions from it”
Ever hear of the inquisition?
I am willing to bet you have never read Fox, it’s free, give it a try.