The Cost of Truth

My reading has taken on a theme, without my really planning it. I've just finished a historical fiction novel written in 1979 and based on a true story: Coronation of Glory: The Story of Lady Jane Grey by Deborah Meroff. Lady Jane lived in England from 1537-1554 during a tempestuous period of history. During Edward's reign (the young, sickly son of Henry VIII who succeeded him), Lady Jane was fifth in line to the throne. With the nation sharply divided between Roman Catholics and Protestants, there was great concern over which monarch would guide the nation and which religion would be the legal one.

The story is filled with political intrigue, with the adults surrounding Edward and Jane seemingly more concerned with power than religious integrity. Interestingly, both Jane and Edward had been educated by Reformed tutors and were deeply committed to the faith of the Reformation. When it became clear that Edward was not going to live long, his advisors, seeking political gain, convinced him to make Jane his successor, bypassing his two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. At Edward's death, Jane, fifteen years old and married, became queen for nine days, until Mary--a deeply committed Roman Catholic--was able to summon her forces and capture London and the throne for herself.

Although Jane was arrested, those around her assured her that even though she would be tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, Mary would forgive and the sentence would be forgotten. Mary, though, a fervent Catholic (earning the nickname Bloody Mary because of the number of people she sent to their deaths during her reign), sent her priest and advisor on many occasions to try to convince Jane to recant while she remained imprisoned in the Tower. Jane consistently refused, standing firm for the truths she held dear, and eventually she paid the ultimate price with her life at 16 years old.

I've also been reading a guide to the life and theology of Martin Luther, a Reformer that most are more familiar with. About Luther's legacy, author Stephen Nichols writes, "Imagine a world without Protestantism. If you were a young Augustinian monk in the early decades of the sixteenth century, this is actually not such a difficult situation to imagine. For Luther, reality was a world without Protestantism. His choices were clear: either the Roman Catholic Church or paganism. As a monk, of course, he embraced the former. When Luther died in 1546, however, the world had changed drastically . . . Luther initiated a sea change of reform that would shake the entire world."

A deeply held commitment to Christ and the truth of His Word led these two people in history to take a stand that for one led to execution. The other certainly risked the possibility of death. Neither Lady Jane nor Luther were at all reluctant to distinguish truth from error, to recognize certain doctrines as true and others as false. Such commitment to truth seems rare in these days, when the highest values are tolerance and acceptance of all religions as equally valid.

The doctrine that many stake their claim on is that Buddhism, Islam, Judaism, Christianity--in fact, any religion--all have different routes to truth, but they are equally valuable ways that will lead to the same destination. Rather than distinguishing between truth and falsehood, they seek the common ground.

Reformers like Luther and Lady Jane made their sacrifices as they travelled the narrow, unpopular path that asserted that there is only one true gospel communicated clearly in Scripture, and its truths may not be compromised.