DEFINITION OF IRONY: please read the following true story and share your thoughts?

Question

This is the story of John Bradford.

The old saying "there but for the grace of God go I" was coined by John Bradford. While passing a group of criminals on the scaffold about to be hung while living in 17th century England John uttered this famous phrase.

3 years later Mr. Bradford was burned at the stake for charges of heresy.

Muahahahahaha

what is known of john bradford seems to indicate that he was a just, righteous, kind and good man his entire life. this is what makes the story ironic. john was making a statement that humanity in general were all like criminals awaiting judgement, and was showing mercy and empathy to the criminals when he said this. as for heresy, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time like so many others when England was going through one of its many Catholic or Protestant persecutions, i forget which.

i do not take joy from anyones murder, i only think it dark and rueful that a man as seemingly as good as bradford should misplace his trust in the same god that the people that killed him believed in.

Answer 1

Joan of Arc was given the rank of General because she heard voices from God. After getting the king his crown, she was later burned for being a witch because of the same voices that she heard. The king did nothing to stop it.

It's very sad to know that you are so happy when someone is burned or killed.

Answer 2

Not enough information to go on. It would be ironic if the reader were offered an example of his righteousness, and we aren't given that information.

Based on Bradford's comment, the only thing that kept him off the scaffold that day was God's grace - not the matter of his being guilty.

You could just as easily read the passage as an example of non-irony - Bradford is voicing the expectation that he'll be there someday.

Answer 3

Yeah, it's ironic.

Editorial: No one deserves to be burned alive. There's no possible transgression that could justify that kind of suffering. History's darkest annals can teach us a lot about our capacity for cruelty when we're controlled by a mob mentality and otherwise reptilian thought processes, and hence the dire need for reason. We're smart enough to be rational, empathetic, compassionate people, but we don't always have the self-control.

Answer 4

I don't know anything about Mr. Bradford, but if he was anything like the popular religious leaders of today (i.e. a hypocrite), then I guess the outcome for him was not surprising.

Answer 5

I'm with Willow on this one - this is quite deep. The four elements, wind, fire, earth and water are separate entities. Water desires nothing for itself. Mother Earth is here for us all and the wind is driven but fire is evil. 'Tongues of fire'. 'Flames licking at his flesh'. Fire is alive and your prose gives life to this most fearsome element. I like the line, 'tugged by a wind of its own creation' - this describes fire exactly, fire creates and takes control and only then destroys when it is the dictator of its victim. Nice write - is this the start of something really big?

Answer 6

It can not be said that there exists no Hypocrisy among the "Christian" community. You have to look no further than the president, and the "fundamentalists". It can also not be said that there does not exist "false Christians" and "false teachers"

Answer 7

Heh thats a tough story.

Answer 8

sounds about right, relying on G-d would challenge the churches authority.

Answer 9

Interesting.

Heresy? I'll bet it was Christians who burned him.

Answer 10

Lol! Excellent!