Remembering the great William Shakespeare

A month before he died, on 25 March 1616, he made his last will and testament. The opening paragraph of his will is a clear statement of his own personal faith and his hope for the future.

“In the name of God, Amen. I William Shakespeare of Stratford upon Avon in the county of Warwick, in perfect health and memory, God be praised, do make and ordain this my last will and testament. First, I commend my soul into the hands of God my Creator hoping and assuredly believing through the only merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour to be made partaker of life everlasting and my body to the Earth whereof it was made.” Most obituaries record the main achievements of the person who has died but say very little, if anything, about their faith in God and their future hope. When the person has had a real and vital faith this may simply be noted briefly towards the end of the obituary. Yet as our lives are drawing to a close it is vitally important that we do not simply look back but also look forward. We are about to enter into the presence of God and the realm of eternity, in comparison to which, our life on earth is but a moment.

William Shakespeare took eternity seriously and had prepared for it. Through the work of men like John Wycliffe and William Tyndale the Bible had been translated into English for the first time and the advent of the printing press had made it available to the people. The Bible made a deep impact on Shakespeare personally and on his writings. He knew he had been created by God and was thankful to him for the good health and sound mind he enjoyed. He knew that after he died he would stand before God in judgement and his humble hope was to enter into everlasting life. He “assuredly believed” that Jesus was the way to “everlasting life”. He called Jesus “my Saviour.” He did not trust in himself but in “the merits of Jesus Christ” who had lived a perfect life for him and died on the Cross to pay the price of his sins. He died in the sure and certain hope that through Jesus he would enter into everlasting life.