Protestant writer and theologian John Frith has been condemned to die for his faith. Thomas Cromwell - ever the pragmatist, though sympathetic to the reformers - is trying to convince him to recant: 'They will burn you.'John Frith was burned at the stake on July 4, 1533. He was 30 years old.
'And you think I cannot bear the pain. You are right, I cannot. But they will give me no choice. As More says, it hardly makes a man a hero, to agree to stand and burn once he is chained to a stake. I have written books and I cannot unwrite them. I cannot unbelieve what I believe. I cannot unlive my life.'
From Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall, p. 435.
3 comments:
well, plenty of room for me to add my quotes some time. That's a goodie.
Hilary M is not a Christian acc to wikipedia, but she writes so well and sympathetically of Christians that you almost wonder whether she will become one.
Ah, yes, but I haven't finished yet...
The quote war is on!!!
(Actually, I only wrote 4 quotes in my journal, then returned the book to the library, so you should be able to win this one.)
HM had a Catholic upbringing and hated the burden on her conscious (according to all-knowing Wikipedia and, I believe, her autobiography) - very much a recovered 'religious' person - so it depends if she is won over by the gospel, in God's mercy.
Yes, she does write well and sympathetically of Christians - but perhaps of others too?? I haven't read enough to know. It's a rare thing, though, that ability to write as she does about Christians, without the cheap and easy stereotypes.
What a great quote. I can't help thinking about how in terms of my own life... the very things I cannot unlive. Or not be. Excellent blog.
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