THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ARTHUR HILDERSHAM
Prince among the Puritans
By Lesley A. Rowe
Reformation Heritage Books
120 pages. £16.42
ISBN 978 1 601 782 229
Faithful gospel preaching produced remarkable transformation among the English people in the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603).
Many of the preachers are little more than names today. Their lives were seldom recorded but their influence lived on for several generations of people who sought to live in submission to the Word of God. Prominent among the preachers was Arthur Hildersham (1563-1632). Although largely unknown today, he was a significant figure in his own age.
Hildersham was descended from the Plantagenet kings of England who reigned from 1154 to 1485. Through her grandmother he was related to Queen Elizabeth I who acknowledged him as ‘cousin Hildersham’. His great-uncle was Cardinal Pole, last Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury. Staunchly Roman Catholic parents designed Arthur for the priesthood. Seemingly, while a student at Christ’s College Cambridge, he was converted, to the distress of his parents who disinherited him. As a penniless student the future looked bleak until the Earl of Huntingdon, another a relative, unexpectedly came to his aid. At Cambridge he was one of a number of men who were to become known as Puritans, although Hildersham disliked the term. After graduating from Christ’s College, an early home for Puritans, he became a fellow of Trinity Hall, Cambridge, but he was to exercise his greatest influence as a preacher. In 1687 the Earl of Huntingdon appointed him a lecturer or weekday preacher and later vicar of the church of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire.
Pastoring amid persecution
In spite of the opposition of bishops and later of King James I. Hildersham remained at Ashby until his death in 1632. At times forbidden to preach and even imprisoned, he continued to live among the people and to pastor them even when he was denied the use of the pulpit. His influence spread far and wide as opportunities to preach came from other towns and villages, while he was consulted widely by fellow ministers and men and women with spiritual problems.
This book fills a gap for students of Puritan history, but, more than that, it is an inspiration for all Christians. It provides us with an example of a Christian minister often persecuted and, ‘when he was unable to do what he would faithfully did what he could’. His ambition was to serve his Master by the faithful application of Scripture in the face of many challenges. Dr. Lesley Rowe has given us a book which is well researched, beautifully written and, although it is based on a PhD thesis, is full of spiritual application. I hope that we shall see much more from Dr. Rowe.
Truth for today
We live in very different times from those of Arthur Hildersham, but, as Christians face increasing opposition to their witness in a society which is fast rejecting so much of our heritage, we can learn much about humble and faithful witness from Arthur Hildersham.
