Reverend John Rodgers - Wellesley, MA
Posted by: 
neoc1
N 42° 17.740 W 071° 15.945
19T E 313222 N 4685090
A monument honoring the English clergyman, Bible translator, and martyr the Reverend John Rodger is located in a plaza in front of Coleman Hall on the campus of Babson College, Wellesley, MA.
Waymark Code: WMWAZC
Location: Massachusetts, United States
Date Posted: 08/05/2017
Views: 1
A memorial dedicated to the Reverend John Rogers contains a bronze relief medallion of the English clergyman and martyr on the front and a sculpture of a The Bible on top. it is inscribed:
THE BIBLE
1537
ERECTED BY ROGER W. BABSON
IN HONOR OF HIS ANCESTOR
REVEREND JOHN ROGERS
BURNED AT THE STAKE FEBRUARY 4, 1555
IN LONDON FOR TRANSLATING THE BIBLE INTO ENGLISH
AND PREACHING THE EIGHT CHAPTER OF DEUTERONOMY
John Rogers was born near Birmingham England about 1505. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1526 and between 1532 and 1534 he was rector of Holy Trinity the Less in the City of London. During the reign of Henry VIII John Rogers was involved in translating the Matthew Bible into English. He became the first English Protestant martyr under the Catholic monarch Mary I of England.
On 16 August 1553 he was sentenced to house arrest. In January 1554, the Bishop of London, sent him to Newgate Prison. He was subsequently sentenced to death for denying the Christian character of the Church of Rome and the real presence in the sacrament. Rogers was offered a pardon if he were to recant his views but refused. He was burned at the stake on 4 February 1555 at Smithfield, England.