England, Church Of-Esau
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THE AGES DIGITAL LIBRARY REFERENCE CYCLOPEDIA of BIBLICAL, THEOLOGICAL and ECCLESIASTICAL LITERATURE England, Church of - Esau by James Strong & John McClintock To the Students of the Words, Works and Ways of God: Welcome to the AGES Digital Library. We trust your experience with this and other volumes in the Library fulfills our motto and vision which is our commitment to you: MAKING THE WORDS OF THE WISE AVAILABLE TO ALL — INEXPENSIVELY. AGES Software Rio, WI USA Version 1.0 © 2000 2 England, Church of The proper designation of this church since the Act of Union in 1801 is "The United Church of England and Ireland." The Reformed Church of England dates from the 16th century; but it is convenient to treat in this article of the rise of Christianity in England, and of its growth under the protection of the State. (The free churches of England are given under their several titles in this work.) I. HISTORY. — (I.) Early Period (to the mission of Augustine, A.D. 596). 1. To the Saxon Invasion, A.D. 449. It is generally believed that Christianity was introduced into Britain before the end of the 2d century. Tertullian (t about 220) speaks of places in Britain not reached by the Romans, but yet subject to Christ (Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo vero subdita). Eusebius, indeed, declares that some of the apostles preached in Britain (Dem. Evang. 3:7); Stillingfleet (Origines Britannicae, c. 1), Cave (Lives of the Apostles), and others, insist that St. Paul was the founder of British Christianity. Clemens Romanus (A.D. 101) says that Paul went to the limits of the West (to te>rma th~v du>sewv, I Epist. ad Cor.); and Theodoret (t 457) says that Paul brought salvation to the isles of the ocean (tai~v ejn tw~| pela>gei diakeime>naiv nh>soiv, in Psalm 116). But none of these hints amount to proof. Other traditions use the names of St. James, of Simon Zelotes, and of Joseph of Arimathea; asserting that the latter came over A.D. 35, or about the twenty-first year of Tiberius, and died in England. Of all this there is no proof (Fuller, Ch. Hist. of Britain, 1:13; Stillingfleet, Orig. c. 4; Short, Ch. History of England, 1, § 2). Another legend is that an English king, Lucius, sent messengers to Eleutherius (t 192), bishop of Rome, asking for Christian instruction; that the messengers were converted and ordained, one a bishop and the other a teacher; and that on their return king Lucius and his chief men were baptized, and a regular Church order established (Collier, Eccl. History, volume 1, chapter 1; Smith, Religion of Ancient Britain, chapter 5). But it is very doubtful whether there ever was a king Lucius, and the whole story is now generally discredited. The Gospel having been introduced into Britain, a Christian Church subsisted there, though not always in an equal degree of vigor, till the persecution of Diocletian. It then acquired new strength from the fortitude 3 of its martyrs. Though the names of only three have been recorded (St. Alban, Aaron, and Julius), yet all historians agree that numbers suffered in Britain with the greatest constancy and courage (compare Gildas, § 8; Bede, 1:6, 7). The first martyr is said to have been St. Alban, who lived in the town of Verulam, which had a Roman colony; he had been converted from paganism by a teacher to whom he had afforded protection from the general persecution. Though Constantius, the Roman governor of Britain, had an inclination to favor the Christians, yet it was' not in his power to dispense with the edicts of the emperors, and he complied so far with them as to demolish the churches. Though he died a pagan, yet he granted to the Christians the free exercise of their religion, and protected them from injury or insult. This emperor died at York, and was succeeded by his son Constantine, A.D. 306 (Carwithen, Hist. of Christian Church, chapter 16). The best illustration of the early organization of Christianity in Britain is the fact that three British bishops attended the council at Arles, A.D. 314, the canons of which have among their signers Eborius episcopus, de civitate Eboracensi, provincia Britannia; Restitutus episcopus, de civitate Londinensi, provincia suprascripta; Adelius episcopus, de civitate colonia Londinensium (perhaps Colonia Lindi. i.e., Lincoln); compare Jac. Usserii Brit. eccles. antiq. (London 1687); Bingham, Orig. Eccl. 3:557 sq. British bishops also attended the councils of Sardica (A.D 347) and of Ariminum (A.D. 359). Little is accurately known of the real state of Christianity in this period. Pelagianism took root in Britain (the native country of Pelagius), and the British bishops called in Germanus and Lupus from Gaul, who refuted Pelagius at the conference of Verulam (A.D. 446). They also founded a cathedral at Llandaff, making Dubricius bishop, with extensive jurisdiction. The monastery of Banchor (Bangor), near Chester, was founded at about the same time. 2. From the Saxon Invasion,449, to the Invasion of Augustine, 596. — Hengist and Horsa, retained by Vortigern, A.D. 449, to aid him with 5000 men in expelling the Scots and Picts from Britain, remained in the island as conquerors. The greater part of Britain was again plunged into barbarism, and Christianity kept its ground only in Wales and Cornwall. (Its history in Ireland and Scotland is given in separate articles.) The patron saint of Wales, St. David (6th century), is said to have been consecrated a bishop at Jerusalem; he held a synod against Pelagianism at Brevy, and became archbishop of Caerleon SEE DAVID, ST. In Cornwall the British rites and 4 usages were preserved until near the end of the 7th century. Iona, where Columba (q.v.) established his foundations about 565, was a center of light not only for Scotland, but also for north Britain SEE IONA. (II.) Middle Age: Era of Submission to the Papacy (6th to 16th century). Up to the 6th century British Christianity had been independent of Rome. But at that time Gregory the Great determined to seek the conversion of the English Saxons to Christianity. Ethelbert, king of Kent, had married. a Christian wife, Bertha, daughter of Charibert, king of the Franks. She induced her husband to favor Christianity, and thus prepared the way for the mission of Augustine (sent by Gregory), who, with a number of monks, landed in 596. They converted Ethelbert, who was not only king of Kent, but Braetwalda, or chief of the Saxon monarchs. His example was soon followed by the kings of Essex and East Anglia, and gradually by the other chieftains of England. It is said that 10,000 English were baptized within the year of Augustine's arrival. In 597 Augustine went over to Aries, in France, where he was consecrated by bishop Virgilius, and on his return he became the first bishop of Canterbury. His see was immediately endowed by king Ethelbert, who likewise established the dioceses of Rochester and London. Another portion of the Anglo-Saxons were converted by Aidan and other Scottish missionaries. But the ecclesiastical system set up by the Roman missionaries was entirely of the Roman type, which differed from that of the Irish and of the old British Church in various points, e.g. the reckoning of Easter, the clerical tonsure, chrism, etc. More important were the questions of the marriage of the clergy and of the papal jurisdiction. Wherever the Romish influence prevailed, the Roman view, of course, was adopted. But Scottish and Irish missionaries were also at work in the kingdom, and up to the 7th century the converts of the latter were probably in the majority. In 664, king Oswy of Northumberland held a conference at Whitby, where Colman (q.v.) of Lindisfarne maintained the old British and Irish views, and Wilfrid (q.v.) took the Roman side. The king was persuaded by Wilfrid (or perhaps by his queen, who was a Romanist), and went over to the Roman party. Colman and all his clergy then went to Ireland. In 668 the pope sent over Theodore to be primate of England, and under his administration (668-689) the Roman and British Christians (what remained of them) were fused into one body. SEE THEODORE. But for many ages we hear little of any exercise of jurisdiction ,by the popes in England: the English bishops and kings did not permit appeals to Rome. When Wilfrid, bishop of York, appealed, A.D. 680, against an English 5 synod which had deposed him from his diocese, and obtained a decree in his favor from the pope, that decree was disregarded in England, even Theodore himself refusing to obey it. From this period England was in formal connection with the see of Rome up to the time of the Reformation. A few great names shine amid the general gloom, e.g. Bede (t 735), Alcuin (t 804), king Alfred (t 900). The Anglo-Saxon Church, from the time of Alfred, grew more and more Romish. "At length, from the time of Gregory VII (A.D. 1073), the papal jurisdiction was pushed into England, as it was into other countries; legates made frequent visits, held councils, exacted subsidies. Appeals, dispensations, mandates, reserves, annates, bulls, and all the other inconveniences of papal usurpation, followed each other in rapid succession; and for four centuries no country in Europe suffered more, and with greater reluctance, than England. But the popes and the kings of England had, after much disputation, made their agreement, and the Church was their prey" (Palmer, Ch.