Lesson 16: Thomas More
Scope: Many today know Thomas More from Robert Bolt’s wonderful play, A Man for All Seasons, later made into a film. More is considered by Catholics to be a martyr at the hands of King Henry VIII, whom More had once faithfully served as chancellor. More’s most widely known book, Utopia, is often read as a work of Renaissance Humanism rather than for its Christian context. In this lesson, however, we will reflect on that work, as well as More’s more straightforward Christian writings. Although a harsh critic of Martin Luther, More was ultimately a man who believed that Christians were called to love and to do good deeds in an imperfect world. Like his friend Erasmus, he deeply believed in the need for a proper education of Christians. He was, indeed, a man for all seasons.
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Thomas More is one of the best known saints of the Catholic Church from the 16th century.
- He was virtually a contemporary of the great founder of the Protestant tradition, Martin Luther, and criticized him harshly.
- He was beheaded in 1535 for refusing to accept Henry VIII as the supreme head of the Church in England, making him a martyr in the eyes of Catholics.
- His best known work, Utopia, appears to have very little to do with Christianity.
- More was not canonized until 1935.
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More grew up in a privileged environment near the centers of political and religious power.
- As a teenager, he lived at the court of Cardinal Morton, who was both archbishop of Canterbury and chancellor of England under King Henry VII.
- He studied at Oxford and later studied in London.
- He became acquainted with Erasmus, the greatest Humanist outside of Italy in the early 16th century.
- More served in Parliament, including one term as speaker of the House of Commons; was widowed, and married a second time to a widow named Alice, who helped him to raise his children.
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In addition to More’s own writings, many other sources are available for the life of Thomas More.
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Erasmus wrote not only to but also about Thomas More.
- Erasmus describes More as one who despised absolute rule and had a great love of liberty.
- No one was ever less swayed than More by public opinion.
- More encouraged the education of his wife and daughters.
- He was content with what he had and was not tempted by bribes.
- He was a man of genuine piety.
- More’s son-in-law William Roper wrote a famous life of More.
- We have several fine portraits of More, most notably one by Hans Holbein the Younger, now in the Frick Collection in New York.
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Erasmus wrote not only to but also about Thomas More.
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More was a great believer in the study of the classics.
- He kept a close eye on the education of his daughters.
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He wrote a famous letter to Oxford University, criticizing a group called the Trojans, who were determined to suppress the teaching of much of the newly rediscovered literature and even the language of ancient Greece.
- More argued that although no one needs Greek (or Latin) literature to achieve salvation, it fosters a life of virtue.
- He criticized many of the professors of theology at Oxford for a narrow and academic theology.
- He pointed out that not just the work of Homer and other pagan Greek writers was available but also the writings of Greek fathers, such as Basil and Chrysotom.
- He believed that it is important to study the New Testament in its original language, Greek.
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More’s great work Utopia consciously imitates Plato both in form (a dialogue) and content (a discussion of an ideal society).
- He presents an internal debate about whether to live a life of leisure or to speak the truth no matter the consequences.
- He makes the case for a life of “rolling up one’s sleeves” and trying to make the world a little better.
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More reminds Christians just how radical Christ’s and the apostles’ teachings are.
- In More’s day, there had been an attempt to fit Christianity into the prevailing culture instead of critiquing the culture by Christian standards.
- The earliest Christian community held property in common.
- More invokes Isaiah’s call to defend widows and orphans, even if doing so means attacking absolute ownership of private property.
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More, in describing the fictional Utopia, creates a place based on reason alone because Christianity was not known when the institutions of Utopia were established.
- When Christianity does become known in Utopia, many people convert because Utopia’s values in general coincide with those of Christianity.
- It is clear that Utopia is, in many ways, a more just society than Europe in More’s day.
- Certain practices in Utopia appear to make sense on the surface but are ultimately silly, suggesting that reason alone is insufficient.
- Ultimately, More challenges the readers in Europe to use the advantage they have over Utopia – they have both reason and revelation – in order to make society just.
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More’s specifically religious thought is found in a variety of his writings.
- More wrote lots of specifically religious works, including prayers and treatises.
- More was involved in the polemic involving the Protestant Reformation and wrote some severe criticisms of Martin Luther.
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More’s career in the service of Henry VII reached the highest office available to a commoner but also led to his execution in 1535.
- More became chancellor of England in 1529, finally resigning in 1532 because of his dispute with Henry VIII over Henry’s claim to be supreme hhead of the Church in England.
- In something of a mockery of a trial, More was convicted of treason and sentenced to death.
- Some of More’s greatest writings, especially concerning conscience, were written as he waited his trial and execution.
- His last words were: “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.”
- Thomas More is indeed a man for all seasons, a phrase that Erasmus used to describe him.
Suggested Reading:
- Thomas More, Utopia.
- Alistair Fox, Thomas More: History and Providence.
Questions to consider:
1. How is “a man for all seasons” an apt term to describe Thomas More?
The 20th-century agnostic playwright Robert Bolt portrayed Thomas More as the tragic hero of his 1960 play A Man for All Seasons. The title is drawn from what Robert Whittington in 1520 wrote of More:
More is a man of an angel's wit and singular learning. I know not his fellow. For where is the man of that gentleness, lowliness and affability? And, as time requireth, a man of marvelous mirth and pastimes, and sometime of as sad gravity. A man for all seasons.
In 1966, the play was made into the successful film A Man for All Seasons directed by Fred Zinnemann, adapted for the screen by the playwright himself, and starring Paul Scofield in an Oscar-winning performance. Scofield, an actor known for many acclaimed performances in Classical theatre, later called Sir Thomas More, "The most difficult part I played."
The film won the Academy Award for Best Picture for that year. In 1988, Charlton Heston starred in and directed a made-for-television film that followed Bolt's original play almost verbatim, restoring for example the commentaries of "the common man".
Next Week’s Lesson: Martin Luther