DOCSLIB.ORG

TRACES of a LUTHERAN EUCHARISTIC DOCTRINE in THOMAS CRANMER When Thomas Cranmer Was Questioned in Oxford M September 1555, Marti

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
TRACES of a LUTHERAN EUCHARISTIC DOCTRINE in THOMAS CRANMER When Thomas Cranmer Was Questioned in Oxford M September 1555, Marti CHAPTER ONE TRACES OF A LUTHERAN EUCHARISTIC DOCTRINE IN THOMAS CRANMER When Thomas Cranmer was questioned in Oxford m September 1555, Martin, Queen Mary's commissioner at that interrogation, observed concerning the eucharistic teaching of the accused: "For you, master Cranmer, have taught in this high sacrament of the altar three contrary doctrines, and yet you pretended in every one verbum Domini". Cranmer's answer was a denial: "Nay, I taught but two contrary doctrines in the same". To the question, which eucharistic doctrine Cranmer taught at the time he condemned Lambert as a heretic ( 1538), the reply was: "I maintained then the papists' doctrine". Martin insisted, however, on the grounds of Cranmer's translation of Justus Jonas' catechism in 1548 that the archbishop, having aban­ doned the Roman viewpoint, had become a Lutheran. "Then from a Lutheran ye became a Zwinglian, which is the vilest heresy of all in the high mystery of the sacrament". Cranmer's only acknowledg­ ment was: "I grant that then I believed otherwise than I do now" and he added that this state of affairs lasted until Nicholas Ridley persuaded him otherwise.1 Cranmer's contemporaries were inclined to share his judge's opinion. Both the martyrologist John Foxe 2 and Cranmer's biographer John Strype 3 mention that the archbishop went through a Lutheran period in his ideas concerning the eucharist. Others, however, have denied this. 4 Our aim here is to show that Martin's observation was correct and that in consequence one must distinguish three phases in Cran­ mer's view of the eucharist, a Roman, a Lutheran, and one closely related to that of the Swiss reformers. It is the second phase which we will be discussing here. Its begin­ ning is obscure. The transition from the Roman to the Lutheran 1 Miscellaneous Writings and Letters of Thomas Cranmer, ed. for the Parker Society, Cambridge 1846 (subsequently referred to as PS, II), p. 217 f. 2 Foxe's Acts and Monuments, London 1583, p. 1224. Cit. PS, II, p. 376. 3 John Strype, Memorials of Thomas Cranmer, New Ed. 2 Vis., Oxford 1812, p. 176, 569. 4 PS, II, p. 218, note 1. In our time C. W. Dugmore, The Mass and the English Reformers, London 1958, p. 176-183. Kerkhistorische Bijdragen III 2 LUTHERAN EUCHARISTIC DOCTRINE IN CRANMER standpoint was probably gradual. There is no difficulty, however, in determining the end of the Lutheran phase, i.e. in r 546. We are concerned thus with a period in which Cranmer the archbishop emerged more in the foreground than Cranmer the theologian and accordingly received more attention.1 The lack of interest in his thought between the years 1533-1547 is linked with the idea that during this period Cranmer in his theology was entirely dependent on Henry VIII. This idea dominates the books of A. C. Deane 2 and Th. Maynard 3 who are not favourably disposed towards Cran­ mer. Even Gregory Dix, in his study of the history of the liturgy in which he dismisses Cranmer's entire work as "an incident, and that of no central interest to the subject of liturgy as a whole" ,4 did not consider the period described here as worthy of mention.5 When one reviews the theological estate of the first evangelical archbishop of Canterbury 6, one must agree with G. W. Bromiley when he writes: "the temperament of Cranmer was more that of the pure scholar than of the independent thinker. His primary impulse was to amass knowledge rather than to state or discuss it". 7 Indeed Cranmer's Protestant conviction sprang more from an intellectual need than from the deep religious distress which led Luther to his discovery. It may be an exaggeration to say that: "it was the study of the Scriptures and not the wrestling of the Spirit, that first aroused Cranmer's doubts",8 but it is certain that a difference in mentality between the British archbishop and the continental reformers resulted in a different working out of the great religious questions of the six­ teenth century which, for the rest, were the same on both sides of the North Sea. Contrasted with Luther's passionate conviction we have Cranmer's continual cautious weighing up of various possi- 1 A. D. Innes, Cranmer and the Reformation in England, Edinburgh 1900; A. F. Pollard, Thomas Cranmer and the English Reformation r489-r556, New York/London 1904; C. H. Smyth, Cranmer and the Reformation under Edward VI, Cambridge 1926; F. E. Hutchinson, Cranmer and the English Reformation, London 1951; G. W. Bromiley, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop and Martyr, London 1956; G. W. Bromiley, Thomas Cranmer, Theologian, London 1956. 2 A. C. Deane, The Life of Thomas Cranmer, London 1927. 3 Th. Maynard, The Life of Thomas Cranmer, London 1956. 4 G. Dix, The Shape of the Liturgy, London 1960, p. 613. 5 G. Dix, I.e., p. 640. 6 Collected in two parts: Writings and Disputations of Thomas Cranmer, relative to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, ed. for the Parker Society, Cambridge 1844 (subsequently referred to as PS, I) and the Miscellaneous Writings already mentioned. 7 G. W. Bromiley, Th. Cranmer, Theo/., p. 7. 8 A. F. Pollard, I.e., p. 228. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018
    Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2018 Conforming to General Convention 2018 1 Preface Christians have since ancient times honored men and women whose lives represent heroic commitment to Christ and who have borne witness to their faith even at the cost of their lives. Such witnesses, by the grace of God, live in every age. The criteria used in the selection of those to be commemorated in the Episcopal Church are set out below and represent a growing consensus among provinces of the Anglican Communion also engaged in enriching their calendars. What we celebrate in the lives of the saints is the presence of Christ expressing itself in and through particular lives lived in the midst of specific historical circumstances. In the saints we are not dealing primarily with absolutes of perfection but human lives, in all their diversity, open to the motions of the Holy Spirit. Many a holy life, when carefully examined, will reveal flaws or the bias of a particular moment in history or ecclesial perspective. It should encourage us to realize that the saints, like us, are first and foremost redeemed sinners in whom the risen Christ’s words to St. Paul come to fulfillment, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” The “lesser feasts” provide opportunities for optional observance. They are not intended to replace the fundamental celebration of Sunday and major Holy Days. As the Standing Liturgical Commission and the General Convention add or delete names from the calendar, successive editions of this volume will be published, each edition bearing in the title the date of the General Convention to which it is a response.
    [Show full text]
  • Magis ... Pro Nostra Sentencia
    "Magis ... Pro Nostra Sentencia": John Wyclif, his mediaeval Predecessors and reformed Successors, and a pseudo-Augustinian Eucharistic Decretal Augustiniana [Institutum Historicum Augustianum Lovanii], 45, fasc. 3-4 (1995), 213-245. John Wyclif had not a high regard for Lanfranc. There were general grounds: though he lived three hundred years earlier, Lanfranc was on the wrong side of the great millennial divide. For the first one thousand years after the ascension of Christ, Satan, the father of lies had been bound, as the Apocalypse says. Consequently, in that time, there had been a succession of truthful teachers, "correctly logical, philosophers conformed to the faith of Scripture".1 Ambrose, Augustine and Jerome were the principal of these, and "any of them is one thousand times more valuable than a dozen subsequent doctors and popes, when the enemy of truth is free and sowing lies contrary to the school of Christ".2 There were, moreover, particular grounds which moved Wyclif to go far beyond despising Lanfranc's authority. He both made him an object of invective, and also directed reason, as well as, scriptural and patristic authority against him. There was the manner of Lanfranc's attack on Berengarius, to whom Wyclif had a most ambiguous relation. He was strongly enthusiastic for the decretal "Ego Berengarius" which recorded the confession of Berengar. But this was, after all, an enforced retraction!3 They were, in Wyclif's view, fellow soldiers in the army of truth. Like the Berengar of the decretal, Wyclif held both that the sacrament of the altar was truly, even, "substantially", the body of Christ, and also that the identity of the sacrament and Christ's body was figurative.
    [Show full text]
  • The Early Success and Gradual Decline of Lutheranism in England, 1520-1600 BASIL HALL
    CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL MONTHLY The Treasure of the Church WALTER R. BOUMAN The Early Success and Gradual Decline of Lutheranism in England, 1520-1600 BASIL HALL A Marxist De-Lutheranization of the German Reformation DOUGLAS C. STANGE Brief Studies Homiletics Theological Observer Book Review 01. xxxvrn October 1967 No.9 The Early Success and Gradual Decline of Lutheranism in England, 1520 -1600 BASIL HALL n a new calendar associated with the But this calendar was an unofficial enter­ I Book of Common Prayer in 1578 there prise intended to oppose the names of are four days of some interest to those con­ "Protestant saints" to those of "Popish cerned with English attitudes to Lutheran­ saints" in the traditional calendars in Eliza­ ism in the 16th century: bethan use, and it cannot be taken to mean "February 16 the learned clerk Philip that a deep or ready sympathy existed for Melanchthon as upon this Lutheran doctrine and religious practices day was born. at that time. In fact it would be difficult to February 18 Martin Luther the servant find an Elizabethan writer approving of of God died as upon this Lutheran teachings and methods of wor­ day. ship and advocating them apart from those February 22 Martin Luther his body as subjects which had become common to upon this day was trans­ lated to Witemberg and Protestantism, including justification by buried in the chapel of the faith. Castle there. For example, in the controversy between October 31 This day in the yeere of the Puritan Thomas Cartwright and Arch­ our Lord God 1517 and bishop Whitgift, Cartwright, in seeking 101 yeeres after ye death suppOrt for his criticism of the state of the of John Hus, Martin Lu­ Church of England, cited Peter Martyr: ther gave his propositions who upon the tenth chapter of II Book of in ye universitie of Wit­ Kings saith: The Lutherans must take heed emberg against ye Pope's lest whilst they cut off many popish errors, pardons." 1 they follow Jehu by retaining also many 1 Liturgies and Occasional Forms of Prayer popish things.
    [Show full text]
  • Lambeth Palace Library Research Guide Biographical Sources for Archbishops of Canterbury from 1052 to the Present Day
    Lambeth Palace Library Research Guide Biographical Sources for Archbishops of Canterbury from 1052 to the Present Day 1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... 3 2 Abbreviations Used ....................................................................................................... 4 3 Archbishops of Canterbury 1052- .................................................................................. 5 Stigand (1052-70) .............................................................................................................. 5 Lanfranc (1070-89) ............................................................................................................ 5 Anselm (1093-1109) .......................................................................................................... 5 Ralph d’Escures (1114-22) ................................................................................................ 5 William de Corbeil (1123-36) ............................................................................................. 5 Theobold of Bec (1139-61) ................................................................................................ 5 Thomas Becket (1162-70) ................................................................................................. 6 Richard of Dover (1174-84) ............................................................................................... 6 Baldwin (1184-90) ............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Church Historical Writing in the English Transatlantic World During the Age of Enlightenment1
    CSCH President’s Address 2012 Church Historical Writing in the English Transatlantic World during the Age of Enlightenment1 DARREN W. SCHMIDT The King’s University College My research stemming from doctoral studies is focused on English- speaking evangelical use, interpretation, and production of church history in the eighteenth century, during which religious revivals on both sides of the North Atlantic signalled new developments on many fronts. Church history was of vital importance for early evangelicals, in ways similar to earlier generations of Protestants beginning with the Reformation itself. In the eighteenth century nerves were still sensitive from the religious and political intrigues, polemic, and outright violence in the seventeenth- century British Isles and American colonies; terms such as “Puritan” and “enthusiast” maintained the baggage of suspicion. Presumed to be guilty by association, evangelical leaders were compelled to demonstrate that the perceived “surprising work of God” in their midst had a pedigree: they accordingly construed their experience as part of a long narrative of religious ebb and flow, declension and revival. Time and time again, eighteenth-century evangelicals turned to the pages of the past to vindicate and to validate their religious identity.2 Browsing through historiographical studies, one is hard-pressed to find discussion of eighteenth-century church historical writing. There is general scholarly agreement that the Protestant Reformation gave rise to a new historical interest. In answer to Catholic charges of novelty, Historical Papers 2012: Canadian Society of Church History 188 Church Historical Writing in the English Transatlantic World Protestants critiqued aspects of medieval Catholicism and sought to show their continuity with early Christianity.
    [Show full text]
  • DISSERTATION-Submission Reformatted
    The Dilemma of Obedience: Persecution, Dissimulation, and Memory in Early Modern England, 1553-1603 By Robert Lee Harkins A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in History in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Ethan Shagan, Chair Professor Jonathan Sheehan Professor David Bates Fall 2013 © Robert Lee Harkins 2013 All Rights Reserved 1 Abstract The Dilemma of Obedience: Persecution, Dissimulation, and Memory in Early Modern England, 1553-1603 by Robert Lee Harkins Doctor of Philosophy in History University of California, Berkeley Professor Ethan Shagan, Chair This study examines the problem of religious and political obedience in early modern England. Drawing upon extensive manuscript research, it focuses on the reign of Mary I (1553-1558), when the official return to Roman Catholicism was accompanied by the prosecution of Protestants for heresy, and the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603), when the state religion again shifted to Protestantism. I argue that the cognitive dissonance created by these seesaw changes of official doctrine necessitated a society in which religious mutability became standard operating procedure. For most early modern men and women it was impossible to navigate between the competing and contradictory dictates of Tudor religion and politics without conforming, dissimulating, or changing important points of conscience and belief. Although early modern theologians and polemicists widely declared religious conformists to be shameless apostates, when we examine specific cases in context it becomes apparent that most individuals found ways to positively rationalize and justify their respective actions. This fraught history continued to have long-term effects on England’s religious, political, and intellectual culture.
    [Show full text]
  • Parte Seconda Bibliotheca Collinsiana, Seu Catalogus Librorum Antonji Collins Armigeri Ordine Alphabetico Digestus
    Parte seconda Bibliotheca Collinsiana, seu Catalogus Librorum Antonji Collins Armigeri ordine alphabetico digestus Avvertenza La biblioteca non è solo il luogo della tua memoria, dove conservi quel che hai letto, ma il luogo della memoria universale, dove un giorno, nel momento fata- le, potrai trovare quello che altri hanno letto prima di te. Umberto Eco, La memoria vegetale e altri scritti di bibliografia, Milano, Rovello, 2006 Si propone qui un’edizione del catalogo manoscritto della collezione libra- ria di Anthony Collins,1 la cui prima compilazione egli completò nel 1720.2 Nei nove anni successivi tuttavia Collins ampliò enormemente la sua biblioteca, sin quasi a raddoppiarne il numero delle opere. Annotò i nuovi titoli sulle pagine pari del suo catalogo che aveva accortamente riservato a successive integrazio- ni. Dispose le nuove inserzioni in corrispondenza degli autori già schedati, attento a preservare il più possibile l’ordine alfabetico. Questo tuttavia è talora impreciso e discontinuo.3 Le inesattezze, che ricorrono più frequentemente fra i titoli di inclusione più tarda, devono imputarsi alla difficoltà crescente di annotare nel giusto ordine le ingenti e continue acquisizioni. Sono altresì rico- noscibili abrasioni e cancellature ed in alcuni casi, forse per esigenze di spazio, oppure per sostituire i titoli espunti, i lemmi della prima stesura sono frammez- zati da titoli pubblicati in date successive al 1720.4 In appendice al catalogo, due liste confuse di titoli, per la più parte anonimi, si svolgono l’una nelle pagi- ne dispari e l’altra in quelle pari del volume.5 Agli anonimi seguono sparsi altri 1 Sono molto grato a Francesca Gallori e Barbara Maria Graf per aver contribuito alla revi- sione della mia trascrizione con dedizione e generosità.
    [Show full text]
  • Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 I I
    INFORMATION TO USERS This material was produced from a microfilm copy of the original document. While the most advanced technological means to photograph and reproduce this document have been used, the quality is heavily dependent upon the quality of the original submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help you understand markings or patterns which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or "target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is "Missing Page(s)". If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting thru an image and duplicating adjacent pages to insure you complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a large round black mark, it is an indication that the photographer suspected that the copy may have moved during exposure and thus cause a blurred image. You will find a good image of the page in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., was part of the material being photographed the photographer followed a definite method in "sectioning" the material. It is customary to begin photoing at the upper left hand corner of a large sheet and to continue photoing from left to right in equal sections with a small overlap. If necessary, sectioning is continued again - beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. The majority of users indicate that the textual content is of greatest value, however, a somewhat higher quality reproduction could be made from "photographs" if essential to the understanding of the dissertation.
    [Show full text]
  • Richard Chiswell and His Publications in the Late 17Th Century
    Richard Chiswell and his Publications in the Late 17th Century TAKANO Michiyo Abstract Richard Chiswell (1640-1711) was one of the leading London publishers of the latter half of the seventeenth century. Although he was an important figure in the book trade, not much is known about him. This paper attempts to discover more about Chiswell through his publications and booklists. The booklists are the pages of book advertisements usually found at the end of books. In England the practice of using booklists to advertise books started in the mid 17th century. Chiswell made some 120 booklists and used them to sell his stock. His publications count over a thousand, but he did not advertise every single title in his booklists. Therefore, those advertised were selected with some intention. Chiswell started this practice in the 1670’s, and later on, from the 1680’s, he more regularly inserted his booklists at the end of his publications. His booklists were varied in style and in contents. In this paper we look at Chiswell’s booklists produced between 1680 and 1700, and examine the changes in them. These changes and what they reflect will be the key to understanding more about Chiswell the man and the bookseller. Key words: Richard Chiswell, booklists, book history Richard Chiswell was one of the leading London Britain. After the Great Fire of London he started publishers of the latter half of the 17th century. The his business in St. Paul’s Churchyard, which was English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) lists over indeed the centre of book trade in the 17th century.
    [Show full text]
  • Thought, Word and Deed in the Mid-Tudor Commonwealth : Sir Thomas Smith and Sir William Cecil in the Reign of Edward VI
    Portland State University PDXScholar Dissertations and Theses Dissertations and Theses 1979 Thought, word and deed in the mid-Tudor Commonwealth : Sir Thomas Smith and Sir William Cecil in the reign of Edward VI Ann B. Clark Portland State University Follow this and additional works at: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/open_access_etds Part of the Economic History Commons, and the European History Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Clark, Ann B., "Thought, word and deed in the mid-Tudor Commonwealth : Sir Thomas Smith and Sir William Cecil in the reign of Edward VI" (1979). Dissertations and Theses. Paper 2776. https://doi.org/10.15760/etd.2772 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of PDXScholar. Please contact us if we can make this document more accessible: [email protected]. / AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OF Ann B. Clarke for the Master of Arts in History presented 18 May 1979. l I· Title: Thought, Word and Deed in the Mid-Tudor Commonwealth: Sir Thomas Smith:and Sir William Cecil in the Reign of Edward VI. APPROVED BY MEMBERS OF THE THESIS COlfiMITTEE: Ann Weikel, Chairman Charles LeGuin · Michael Reardon This thesis examines the general economic and intel- lectual climate of the mid-Tudor Commonwealth as a background for a specific study of the financial reforms instituted by Edward VI's government while the Duke of Northumberland controlled the Privy Council. The philosophy behind these measures parallels the principles expressed in A Discourse of the Commonweal of this Realm of England, a treatise written in 1549 by Sir Thomas Smith, Secretary to King Edward.
    [Show full text]
  • The Poor in England Steven King Is Reader in History at Contribution to the Historiography of Poverty, Combining As It Oxford Brookes University
    king&t jkt 6/2/03 2:57 PM Page 1 Alannah Tomkins is Lecturer in History at ‘Each chapter is fluently written and deeply immersed in the University of Keele. primary sources. The work as a whole makes an original The poor in England Steven King is Reader in History at contribution to the historiography of poverty, combining as it Oxford Brookes University. does a high degree of scholarship with intellectual innovation.’ The poor Professor Anne Borsay, University of Wales, Swansea This fascinating collection of studies investigates English poverty in England between 1700 and 1850 and the ways in which the poor made ends meet. The phrase ‘economy of makeshifts’ has often been used to summarise the patchy, disparate and sometimes failing 1700–1850 strategies of the poor for material survival. Incomes or benefits derived through the ‘economy’ ranged from wages supported by under-employment via petty crime through to charity; however, An economy of makeshifts until now, discussions of this array of makeshifts usually fall short of answering vital questions about how and when the poor secured access to them. This book represents the single most significant attempt in print to supply the English ‘economy of makeshifts’ with a solid, empirical basis and to advance the concept of makeshifts from a vague but convenient label to a more precise yet inclusive definition. 1700–1850 Individual chapters written by some of the leading, emerging historians of welfare examine how advantages gained from access to common land, mobilisation of kinship support, crime, and other marginal resources could prop up struggling households.
    [Show full text]
  • Archbishop of Canterbury, and One of the Things This Meant Was That Fruit Orchards Would Be Established for the Monasteries
    THE ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY And yet — in fact you need only draw a single thread at any point you choose out of the fabric of life and the run will make a pathway across the whole, and down that wider pathway each of the other threads will become successively visible, one by one. — Heimito von Doderer, DIE DÂIMONEN “NARRATIVE HISTORY” AMOUNTS TO FABULATION, THE REAL STUFF BEING MERE CHRONOLOGY “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project Archbishops of Canterb HDT WHAT? INDEX ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY 597 CE Christianity was established among the Anglo-Saxons in Kent by Augustine (this Roman import to England was of course not the Aurelius Augustinus of Hippo in Africa who had been in the ground already for some seven generations — and therefore he is referred to sometimes as “St. Augustine the Less”), who in this year became the 1st Archbishop of Canterbury, and one of the things this meant was that fruit orchards would be established for the monasteries. Despite repeated Viking attacks many of these survived. The monastery at Ely (Cambridgeshire) would be particularly famous for its orchards and vineyards. DO I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION? GOOD. Archbishops of Canterbury “Stack of the Artist of Kouroo” Project HDT WHAT? INDEX ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY ARCHBISHOPS OF CANTERBURY 604 CE May 26, 604: Augustine died (this Roman import to England was of course not the Aurelius Augustinus of Hippo in Africa who had been in the ground already for some seven generations — and therefore he is referred to sometimes as “St. Augustine the Less”), and Laurentius succeeded him as Archbishop of Canterbury.
    [Show full text]