Foxe's Martyrs Editions

Colin Melbourne

© 01-08 Born-Again-Christian.Info

First, you must understand that what is usually sold today, as Fox's Book of Martyrs is nothing of the sort. To hear John Foxe's message you should read what John Foxe wrote and approved himself, not what somebody else has filtered, corrupted, distorted, and added to.

Now that Foxe's original 1583 publication is readily available to the world on digitised CD there's no legitimate excuse for purveying suspect post-Foxe editions. And all editions not personally approved by John Foxe are suspect.
Colin Melbourne

From 1563 to the Present

• 1517 Birth of John Foxe

• 1563 First Edition Published

• 1570 Second Edition. Expanded two volumes

• 1576 Third Edition

• 1583 Fourth Edition John Foxe's final version

• 1587 John Foxe died

• 1596 Fifth Edition

• 1610 Sixth Edition

• 1631-32 Seventh Edition Used in Puritan reform

• 1641 Eighth Edition

• 1684 Ninth Edition

• 1784 Wright/Hogg and Madan/Trapp Editions

• 1837-41 Modern Eight volume editions

• 1877 Modern Eight volume editions

• 20th Century to date. Numerous Abridged Editions

Finding a genuine uncorrupted edition is difficult. Modern versions are so abridged, corrupted, and defiled that John Foxe would disown them all. Yet publishers shamelessly use his name and reputation to pass-off the current watered-down ecumenical propaganda as the work of the Great Reformer John Foxe. It's a disgrace that needs to be put right by Bible believing Christians.

Oxford University historians collaborating on the John Foxe Project comment,

'The 1583 edition was the last for which Foxe was personally responsible. Later editors had little compunction about introducing alterations into Foxe's text. They inserted new translations of Anglo-Saxon, Greek and Latin documents, altered the sense of passages to suit their own purposes and added their own comments.'

It is even worse than this. Roman Catholics posing as Protestants have edited Foxe's work inserting Catholic martyrs and doctrine, as we illustrate later in this article.

All such post-Foxe editions claim to be 'genuine and authentic', but they are not. To hear John Foxe's message you should read what John Foxe wrote and approved himself, not what somebody else has filtered, corrupted, distorted, and added to. Now that Foxe's original 1583 publication is readily available to the world on digitised CD there's no legitimate excuse for purveying suspect post-Foxe editions. And all editions not personally approved by John Foxe are suspect.

The editions that Foxe published are the only one's which ought to bear his name. The difficulty is the enormous bulk of his work; over 2.5 million words, 2,000 pages, each page measuring 43cm by 29cm (folio). So it is not surprising that editors have abridged his book to a more manageable size for publishers, booksellers, librarians, and readers. The Elizabethan English and spelling also require some attention to facilitate Foxe's message being understood by today's reader. But since his death, terrible liberties have been taken in editing his life's work.

For example the Forbush edition, which is the one you see plastered over the internet, has had the heart removed from Foxe's message. The vital reasons why the martyrs chose to die rather than compromise God's Word, or their consciences, are glossed over or omitted. Numerous chapters are removed, yet a quarter of the book consists of chapters written and substituted after Foxe's death! Most importantly of all, they have no anointing whatsoever. Read a passage from Foxe's own hand, then compare it with any of the modern versions and you will see for yourself. Instead of hot-baked bread, it's like eating uncooked dough.

There is a more sinister side too. Some editors have posed as Protestants, yet inserted Roman Catholic missionaries in post-Foxe editions, and praised papist endeavours to pervert the Gospel of Christ. It's an old Catholic tactic. Confrontation doesn't work, so infiltrate and corrupt the message from the inside. You see it used in seminaries, Bible schools, denominations, Christian Universities, media, and of course Christian fellowships mixed up with the Ecumenical Movement. Other editors have had a blatantly political motive in doctoring modern Foxe's editions, rather than the pure motive of the author's in upholding the integrity of God's Word and Gospel.

Here's a typical example of the extent of such Catholic corruptions, there are lots more:

The mid-nineteenth century Milner and Colbin edition contains the following in a chapter entitled, "Account of Persecutions in China"

At the commencement of the sixteenth century, three Italian missionaries, Roger the Neapolitan, Pasis of Bologne, and Matthew Ricci of Mazerata, entered China with a view of establishing Christianity (sic) in that vast empire.

Note: Matthew Ricci was a noted Jesuit Priest, and is today regarded by Roman Catholics as a saint. They were not establishing Christianity; they were propagating Catholicism, and the false teachings of Rome.

This is an outrageous corruption of Foxe's work.

The same chapter praises Ricci's efforts and details a dispute between Ricci and other 'missionaries' in which the pope was consulted to make a judgment that he subsequently reversed in favour of Ricci:

The pope finding that he had not weighed the affair with due consideration, sought to extricate himself from the difficulty in which he had been so precipitately entangled; he therefore referred the affair to the inquisition, which immediately reversed the sentence, at the desire of the pope.

Here we have the Roman Catholic pope endorsing Ricci the Jesuit, (and incidentally overruling his own 'infallible' ruling) for upholding the doctrine of Rome, and being included amongst 'Foxe's' martyrs. This is a travesty. John Foxe sowed his Christian life denouncing the errors of Rome, and the likes of Ricci, not describing them as Christian heros.

Littered throughout this, and other post-Foxe editions, are numerous references praising the efforts of 'Portuguese missionaries', who were in fact, Roman Catholic missionaries. As we previously stated, whole chapters of Foxe's words have been omitted and replaced by the words of post-Foxe wolves in sheep's clothing attempting to dilute and corrupt Foxe's work, or use it for political purposes.

This is a scandalous abuse of Foxe's reputation.

Best Edition of Foxe's

For these reasons the only version of Foxe's work which we can unreservedly recommend to you is his final 1583 edition which has been digitised onto CD exactly as it was published and approved by John Foxe himself.

We have selected passages from Foxe's 1583 edition and put them on this website in modern English to encourage you to understand the reason for the martyrs valiant stand for Christ, against idolatry and Catholic false doctrines. Compiling them has been a profound experience for me personally, and I pray that you will be strengthened by Christ's Spirit to uphold His Word as courageoulsy as these martyrs were called to do.
For Christ's Eternal Glory. Amen

Colin Melbourne