Who coined the phrase There but for the grace of God go I?

Answer 1

The actual phrase "There but for the grace of God go I..." means, "I too, like someone seen to have suffered misfortune, might have suffered a similar fate, but for God's mercy." The phrase, when used in prayer, is often concluded with "Thank you, God, for blessing me."

Answer 2

While this phrase is commonly attributed to John Bradford (circa 1510-1555), all of the sources that claim Bradford as the originator themselves ultimately derive from The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. These include an entry in the usually authoritative The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations,which cites the DNB. The biography of John Bradford in the DNB contains no claim that he uttered the words in question. If such a claim appeared there in earlier editions, the editors have now seen fit to remove it.

- An extensive, 1000-page, collection of the writings of John Bradford was published by The Parker Society, in 1848. The 19th century editors do repeat the story, which they describe as "a universal tradition, which has overcome the lapse of time". Despite that, the book contains nothing in Bradford's own writings that could be seen as the source of the quotation.

- The phrase "there but for the grace of God, go I" isn't to be found in print until centuries after Bradford's death. The earliest example of it that I have found is in A treatise on prayer, by Edward Bickersteth, 1822, in which the author repeats the Bradford story.

The expression is likely to be a 20th century coinage, as the lack of earlier printed examples makes an earlier coinage unlikely. The phrase was certainly well-known by the mid 20th century, when Winston Churchill is reported as paraphrasing it, at the expense of the pompous Sir Stafford Cripps, as "There but for the grace of God, goes God". In fact, although it is clear that Churchill disliked Cripps, the attribution is itself unverified. Whether or not Churchill said it isn't that important for dating purposes. The quotation was certainly current in Cripps' lifetime (he died in 1952) and if Churchill didn't say it, then it is likely another contemporary did.