The Student’s Handbook to the Thirty-Nine Articles. By T. A. Blyth. Second Edition. Simpkin, Marshall, 1888. Preface. Encouraged by the very favourable reception accorded to the First Edition of this Handbook, at the various Universities of the United Kingdom, by British and Colonial Bishops and their Chaplains, by Candidates for Holy Orders, and by the public generally, the Author has ventured upon a Second Edition, which, for several obvious reasons, has been made to differ in no respect from the first. He, therefore, now repeats what he stated in his former preface, issued exactly two years ago, namely, that this treatise consists for the most part of notes of Lectures delivered at Oxford to those of his pupils who were reading for the Honour School of Theology, the Oxford University Examination in the Rudiments of Faith and Religion, the Cambridge Preliminary Examination of Candidates for Holy Orders, and the Bishops’ Examinations. The purport of this treatise is to lay before the student the General History, the Classifications, and the English and Latin Texts of the Articles; to point out Noteworthy Equivalents; and to give, as concisely as possible, the History of each Article, an Explanation of the various Terms employed, Scriptural Warrants, the Heresies of different Sects, and some of the principal errors of the Church of Rome. Under the head of Scriptural Warrants the proofs have been collected and arranged as they occur in the Authorized Version. That the bulk, and likewise the price, of the work might not be inconveniently large, many points of minor importance have been omitted. In every case it has been sought to present the precise teaching of the Article, irrespective of any particular opinions. Stoke Park, Coventry, July 27th, 1888. Contents. General History of the Articles Classifications of the Articles Article I. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity II. Of Christ the Son of God III. Of His Going Down Into Hell IV. Of His Resurrection V. Of the Holy Ghost VI. Of the Sufficiency of the Scriptures VII. Of the Old Testament VIII. Of the Three Creeds IX. Of Original or Birth Sin X. Of Free Will XI. Of Justification XII. Of Good Works XIII. Of Works Before Justification XIV. Of Works of Supererogation XV. Of Christ Alone Without Sin XVI. Of Sin After Baptism XVII. Of Predestination and Election XVIII. Of Obtaining Salvation By Christ XIX. Of the Church XX. Of the Authority of the Church XXI. Of the Authority of General Councils XXII. Of Purgatory XXIII. Of Ministering in the Congregation XXIV. Of Speaking in the Congregation XXV. Of the Sacraments XXVI. Of the Unworthiness of Ministers XXVII. Of Baptism XXVIII. Of the Lord’s Supper XXIX. Of the Wicked Which Eat Not the Body of Christ XXX. Of Both Kinds XXXI. Of Christ’s One Oblation XXXII. Of the Marriage of Priests XXXIII. Of Excommunicate Persons XXXIV. Or the Traditions of the Church XXXV. Of the Homilies XXXVI. Of Consecration of Ministers XXXVII. Of Civil Magistrates XXXVIII. Of Christian Men’s Goods XXXIX. Of a Christian Man’s Oath Index (omitted for web) General History of the Articles A.D. 1536. (Henry VIII. Two years after the separation of the Church of England from the Church of Rome, and three years after the consecration of Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury.) The Ten Articles of Religion were published: I.–V. On Doctrines and Sacraments. V.–X. On Ceremonies. These Articles were proposed by the king to the Convocation, agreed on after much discussion, and published by royal authority. They were entitled, “Articles to establish Christian Quietness and Unity among us, and to avoid Contentious Opinions.” In these Articles very little advance was made towards reformation. They were rather directed against the Anabaptists – a very fanatical sect, who did much to bring the Reformation into disrepute. They, however, spoke only of three sacraments – Baptism, Penance, and the Lord’s Supper; and even in the Romish doctrines which they countenanced, there was an effort at the removal of abuses. They declared, that while the worship of images, the invocation of saints, and the rites and ceremonies of public worship were highly profitable, and ought to be retained, they had no power in themselves to remit sin or justify the soul. A.D. 1537. The Ten Articles were embodied by Convocation, and published in a book commonly called The Bishops’ Book. It bore the title of The Institution [or, Instruction] of a Christian Man. It contained an Exposition or Interpretation of the Apostles’ Creed, the Seven Sacraments (which it divided into three of a higher and four of a lower order), the Ten Commandments, the Pater Noster [or, The Lord’s Prayer], the Ave Maria [“Hail, Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”], and two articles on Justification and Purgatory. A.D. 1538. A conference took place between three delegates from Germany and the English Reformers. The three Lutheran delegates were Francis Burckhardt, Vice- Chancellor to the Elector of Saxony; George Boyneburg, a gentleman of Hesse and Doctor of Laws; and Frederic Myconius, a distinguished theologian. The English Reformers were represented by three Anglican Bishops (including Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Tonstal, Bishop of Durham), and five Doctors, who were appointed to negotiate with the “Orators,” for so the Lutherans were called. Thirteen Articles were drawn up. These were founded partly on the Ten Articles of 1536, and partly on the “Confession of Augsburg,” which was drawn up by Melancthon in 1530, and published in 1531. The Thirteen Articles, however, which were intended as a Common Confession of Faith, never acquired any legal force. The negotiations between the Lutheran and English Churches were therefore fruitless. A.D. 1539. The reactionary Act of the Six Articles, “for the abolishing of diversity of opinions,” passed by Parliament under the influence of Henry VIII, and of Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester. These Articles were hostile to the Reformation, and were opposed by Cranmer. They maintained – (1) Transubstantiation. (2) Communion in one kind. (3) The celibacy of the clergy. (4) Vows of chastity. (5) Private masses. (6) Auricular confession. A.D. 1543. The king (Henry VIII) revised “The Bishops’ Book,” under the influence of his Romish advisers. The work was then republished, with the sanction of Convocation, under the title of A Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man. It is commonly called The King’s Book to distinguish it from “The Bishops’ Book.” A.D. 1547. The Act of the Six Articles was repealed in this, the first year of the reign of Edward VI. A.D. 1549. Edward VI was empowered by Act of Parliament to appoint Commissioners for the revision of the Ecclesiastical Laws. A committee, at the head of which was Archbishop Cranmer, drew up a book called Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum. This book was never set forth by authority. A.D. 1551. The same committee directed Archbishop Cranmer to prepare a Book of Articles. A.D. 1552. Edward VI, the first Protestant king of England, published (on July 6) “Forty-two Articles, agreed upon by the bishops and other learned and godly men, in the last Convocation at London, in the year of our Lord MDLII, for to root out the discord of opinions, and stablish the agreement of true religion; likewise* published by the King’s Majesty’s authority.” Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Ridley were the chief men in framing these Forty-two Articles; but “many bishops and divines were consulted, and their opinions collated and maturely examined, before conclusions were made.” [Bishop Burnet.] *[These Articles were printed in Latin and English, annexed to “A short catechism, or plain instruction, containing the sum of Christian learning, set forth by the King’s Majesty’s authority, for all schoolmasters to teach.”] They were, however, for the most part the work of Cranmer; for in his examination before Queen Mary’s Commissioners he acknowledged “that they were his doings.” Cranmer derived much from the “Confession of Augsburg”. The Forty-two Articles were published in Latin and English. It does not appear that they received the sanction of the Houses of Convocation. They were repealed by Mary soon after her accession to the throne. A.D. 1562. The Forty-two Articles were revised, remodeled, and restored. Convocation omitted the following six Articles: (1) X. Grace. (2) XVI. Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. (3) XXXIX. The Resurrection of the Dead is not yet brought to pass. (4) XL. The souls of them that depart this life do neither die with the bodies, nor sleep idly. (5) XLI. Heretics called Millenarii. (6) XLII. All men shall not be saved at length. At the same time two Articles were made into one, parts of each having been previously omitted. These Articles were: (1) VI. The Old Testament is not to be refused. (2) XIX. All men are bound to keep the moral commandments of the law. The two compose our present Seventh Article, “Of the Old Testament”. Four Articles were proposed by Archbishop Parker, and added by the Convocation. These were – (1) V. Of the Holy Ghost. (2) XII. Of good works. (3) XIII. Of both kinds. (4) XXIX. Of the wicked, which do not eat the body of Christ in the use of the Lord’s Supper. The Articles (having been by these means reduced in number from forty-two to thirty-nine) were now restored by Queen Elizabeth, who gave her royal assent to “Thirty-nine Articles, agreed upon by the Archbishops and Bishops of both Provinces, and the whole clergy, in the Convocation holden at London in the year 1562, for avoiding diversities of opinion, and for the establishing of consent touching true religion.” They were drawn up in Latin only, and subscribed by both Houses of Convocation.