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panel of bishops to revise the Great Bible for easier reading aloud in church. This was completed as the Bishop's Bible in 1568. The Great Bible was Anglican in nature and not Calvinistic like the Geneva Bible. It was never officially accepted by Queen Elizabeth but remained for 42 years, and served as the official basis for the King James Version. Queen Elizabeth took strong action against zealots on both sides of the controversy over the differences between the two versions. It was into this religious and political climate that Stephen Bachiler was born in 1561. He was born into an era that had, for at least 50 years, been heavily laced with intrigue and turmoil. A period when ambitious men were chasing ambitious goals for either lofty motives or self interest, or both. A time when extremely differing thoughts and philosophies were forming and being discussed. A time of considerable change. Stephen was born in southern England in the county of Hampshire or Hants. This area includes the city of Southampton. Flowing through the city is the River Test. He was probably born in Southampton or Winchester. Major events in his life occurred in this area of England, as well as in New England. An assumption can be made that Stephen either came from the upper classes or had the support of the upper classes since he studied at Saint John's College, Oxford. He entered in 1581, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree on February 3, 1587. The Act of Parliament of 1543 restricting reading of the English Bible to the upper classes would tend to enforce that assumption. He probably studied the English Bible and or the Bishops Bible while in college. For his own personal reading, he probably read the Geneva Bible. Since it was published the year before he was born, and was the bible of choice for the home, he would have been more comfortable with it. Since the Geneva Bible seemed to be more readily accepted by Oliver Cromwell and the puritan's, the Geneva Bible was probably the bible that accompanied Stephen to New England. It was probably easier to transport as well. At any rate Stephen was appointed vicar at the little village Church of the Holy Cross and Saint Peter in Wherwell, Hants, on the River Test. He was under the authority of the rector for that parish, and was paid a salary. The rector on the other hand had control of the tithes of the parish. In present day terms Stephen would equate to an assistant pastor. Stephen's young life was under Queen Elizabeth I. If he indeed had access to the Geneva Bible at home, Stephen's sympathy for the puritan's beliefs and problems may have started forming prior to Oxford. However, thoughts don't totally come into focus until the bulk of the analysis has been done. Ninety percent of analysis occurs during the process of putting thoughts to paper. Stephen probably didn't become firm in his sympathy until he started writing sermons. At that point, his independent nature in thought and word forced him to write sermons that weren't in tune with the established Anglican hierarchy. By the time he reached New England he had become a Congregationalist, one of the more extreme puritan groups, a separatist. He was by no means walking the middle road by then. By 1593, Stephen's independent thoughts were showing up in his sermons. His rector possibly, or some of the bishops were concerned enough that Stephen was examined by the Archbishop of Canterbury, possibly Matthew Parker, for a sermon he had delivered at Newbury, a neighboring town to Wherwell. We don't know what the sermon contained, but it doesn't take too much to speculate that it leaned in the puritan direction; in contrast to the less fundamental Bishop's Bible direction. If indeed Matthew Parker was the Archbishop, and Stephen's sermon was sympathetic to the puritan viewpoint, the Archbishop would have had a personal interest in protecting against this attack. We don't even know if at this point Stephen was consciously aware of his drifting from the comfort of conformity. In his sermons, it is possible he was still attempting to define half formed thoughts out of the controversy that was the legacy of Luther's actions. Stephen like many others of his time had caught Luther's mental virus, and was warming up to a fever pitch that eventually would cost him his vicarage at Wherwell. Certainly, by the time of his meeting with the Archbishop, Stephen had to be aware that he was not conforming to the desires of the crown, as shown by the Archbishop. -2-
