Henry VIII
Renewing Your Mind
Ligonier Ministries
4.8 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 9 August 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Two years after William Tyndale cried, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes,” Henry VIII decreed that English Bibles be placed in every church. Today, Michael Reeves recounts the story of this troubled king whom God used to further church reform.
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Meet Today’s Teacher:
Michael Reeves is president and professor of theology at Union School of Theology in the United Kingdom.
Meet the Host:
Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of media for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, and host of the Ask Ligonier podcast.
Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | After Tyndale prayed, Lord opened the King of England's eyes. |
| 0:04.7 | Two years later, the King decreed, |
| 0:07.8 | you shall discourage no man from the reading or hearing of the Bible, |
| 0:14.1 | but shall expressly provoke, stir and exhort every person |
| 0:19.0 | to read the same as that which is the very lively word of God. |
| 0:29.9 | And so it was, remarkably, that the King decreed that English Bibles would be placed in every church. Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham, |
| 0:40.3 | and thank you for joining us today for renewing your mind. On Saturdays, you're hearing from Michael |
| 0:46.4 | Reeves' engaging series, the English Reformation and the Puritans. It's such a fascinating time in |
| 0:53.0 | history and in church history, so I encourage |
| 0:56.0 | you to request the DVD, plus lifetime digital access to the messages and study guide, when |
| 1:02.0 | you donate today at renewingyourmind.org, or by using the link in the podcast show notes. |
| 1:09.0 | Proverbs 21 tells us that the Lord turns the king's heart wherever he |
| 1:13.6 | wills. You may have heard of King Henry the 8th and his six wives. How did the Lord use the |
| 1:20.5 | messiness of King Henry's reign to fuel reformation in England? Here's Dr. Reeves. |
| 1:31.7 | Well, to understand the reformation in England. Here's Dr. Reeves. Well, to understand the reformation in England, |
| 1:38.9 | one thing you really need in peace is you need to know about the king of England, Henry the 8th. |
| 1:44.7 | And his dates, and dates I want to be a bit flexible on, if you find dates and encumbrance, |
| 1:49.3 | don't worry about them. You'll get a flow of the story anyway. But if they're helpful, |
| 2:04.4 | his dates as king were he reigned from 1509 to 1547. And what a rain. Henry VIII, his story is an extraordinary one, and there are many complicated twists and turns. |
| 2:12.2 | So it gets a little complex at this point. And it's been televised so many times because his reign really was like a soap opera. |
| 2:22.8 | Henry was an autocratic ruler with a fearsome, often lethal temper and energy like a coiled spring, |
| 2:31.5 | and not much more predictability. Henry was also deeply religious. He would serve the priest at mass himself. Personally, he went to three masses a day, and for his |
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