John Rogers (theologian)

John Rogers (theologian); Engraving by Willem de Passe

John Rogers , pseudonym Thomas Matthew (* around 1500 in Deritend near Birmingham ; † February 4, 1555 in London ) was an English Catholic priest and theologian , then a Protestant clergyman and martyr .

Life

Rogers studied at Pembroke College in Cambridge and became chaplain of the English merchants in Antwerp in 1534 . There he took on William Tyndale and after his death (1536), according to his notes, published a complete English translation of the Bible (1537), which he brought out under the pseudonym "Thomas Matthew". The Bible became known as the Matthew Bible after this pseudonym, which probably stands for John Rogers himself or for William Tyndale . At that time Rogers became a Protestant and married the Antwerp citizen Adriana de Weyden. From 1537 lived Rogers with his family for several years in Wittenberg to German to learn and to Martin Luther's writings and his theology to study. He returned to England in 1548 and gave theological lectures at St Paul's Cathedral . At the beginning of the reign of Queen Mary I Tudor of England , he was arrested and charged with heresy . After a year in captivity, he was convicted by the Lord Chancellor Stephen Gardiner . On February 4, 1555, Rogers was the first Protestant martyr under the Maria Tudor government to be burned at the Smithfield execution site in London.

Execution of John Rogers (17th century depiction)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ disputed

literature

• JC Ryle: Five English Reformers . London 1890
• ML Loane: Pioneers of the Reformation in England . London 1964
• JW Martin: Religious Radicals in Tudor England . London 1989
• CRN Routh: Who's Who in Tudor England London 1990
• Ronny Baier:  John Rogers (theologian). In: Biographisch-Bibliographisches Kirchenlexikon (BBKL). Volume 21, Bautz, Nordhausen 2003, ISBN 3-88309-110-3 , Sp. 1266-1269.