Thomas Bilney - forgotten reformer

Young Thomas Bilney entered Trinity Hall Cambridge in 1510. Shy and retiring, and being a loyal son of the church, he simply wanted to serve God. On the eve of the Reformation in England, Bilney played his part, when God spoke to him through the reading of Erasmus’s New Testament. Transformed, he courageously evangelized Cambridge, gathering a group around him, including the mighty Latimer. Constantly watched and harassed, he was eventually caught and forced to recant. After two years of agonizing remorse, Bilney, restored, blazed a trail preaching Christ that led him finally to the stake. Small in stature but large in heart, Bilney, while not a ‘big name’, played a significant role, earning the title from his more illustrious contemporary, Latimer, of, ‘that blessed martyr’.