Robert Greathead
Historians frequently focus on those characters who both shape and are the products of their times. Luther was one such man who stood up against the prevailing religious oppression and bombast of his time and found that society was prepared to heed his message. John Hus (1369-1415 AD) a century earlier than Luther came to Bohemia preaching the same message of reform and zeal, but he perished in the flames of religious oppression. Yet the ashes of Hus fertilized the field that was to nurture Luther.
Whether the hearers take heed and follow the lead of a visionary, or take up arms to oppose it, such men of faith define their times. Studying and interpreting the four winds of social, religious, political, and economic influence that stir the waters of the “collective” pictured by the sea (Daniel 7:2) requires careful attention. As we understand, “throughout the Scriptures, earth, when used symbolically, represents society; mountains represent kingdoms; heavens, the powers of spiritual control; seas, the restless, turbulent, dissatisfied masses of the world.” (Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 1, page 318).
These same forces are recognized as critical in interpreting history by the scholarly community.¹ At the same time, such a study is much more difficult than following the record of royal successions, troop movements, and battles. The Lord recognizing that every major stage of human progress has small beginnings, counsels in Zechariah 4:10, “For who hath despised the day of small things?” Indeed, the seeking of the better “continuing city” (Hebrews 13:14) is the one feature that distinguishes the movers towards progress from the collective.
Some, like Isaac Newton (1642-1727 AD), may find their religious thinking and writings on the need of the churches to preach the “Times of Restitution” leading to no founding of mass movements, universally spurned as heretical in their times, and then buried and forgotten for hundreds of years. Thoughtful consideration leads us to conclude that many individuals of historic import find themselves as “one born out of season.”
From this perspective, Robert Greathead (c. 1175-1253 AD) deserves our attention. At a time of great spiritual darkness, and dogmatic fervor, he served in England as the bishop of Lincoln from 1235 AD until his death. This was the era of crusades and he was a contemporary of King Richard “the lion-hearted,” and the inept prince John. Despite the darkness, the stirrings of liberality were going on deep below the surface of society and it was this era that nonetheless saw the birth of some of the English-speaking people’s most celebrated civil liberties in the “Great Charter,” or Magna Carta (1215 AD).
Greathead was regarded as the most learned man in all of Europe. In his day he was a master of Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and French. He was versed in law, medicine, theology, music and natural philosophy. He aligned himself with the simplicity and zeal for holiness of the socially reforming Franciscan order. Some historians have called him a “Protestant” of highest principle.2 He taught that the only sure foundation on which to build were the Old Testament and New Testament, and not tradition.
His preaching soon locked him into conflict with the Papal court. And he decried the medieval papacy for scandalous abuses. Because of his position, he prevented England from collecting the Papal tithe of 1252 AD and was excommunicated by Pope Innocent IV. Greathead then announced that he had appealed the excommunication “to the tribunal of Christ” and henceforward, ignored it. The pope was furious at “this raving old man” who nevertheless, went on with his ministry.
As he lay on his deathbed, he quipped, that the Lord had made the earth in six days, but had labored for more than 30 years in the flesh to correct the actions of man up until that day. He then wondered at how much effort would be necessary to undo the work of anti-Christ, for so he designated the Papacy. We should not underestimate the spirit of intellectual honesty and boldness that was to influence the English character in religion and make it open to bold thinking when brighter days would dawn.
– Richard Doctor
(1) Toynbee, Arnold, and J. Caplan, A Study of History (abridged), Oxford (1972) p. 360.
(2) Froom, Leroy Edwin, Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, Vol. 1, Review and Herald, Washington, D.C. (1950) pp. 621-626.
“There was no one in the age in which he lived who led a more blameless life, or displayed higher excellences … The elegance of his manners attracted admiring comment; the placidity and placability of his disposition equalled his unyielding resolution” (McClintock and Strongs Cyclopedia).