The Arrow's Path

Well, my friends, I have made it to the end of this series on the Anglican Articles of Religion from 1563. I did a commentary on each article on the 39 days leading up to Pentecost, which is tomorrow. I have actually enjoyed doing this series. I thought I would get bogged down, but I largely did not do huge amounts of research. Sometimes it is fun to just shoot from the hip and see what you hit. I will attempt to do a final recap tomorrow, but for today, the final article is Article 39: XXXIX. Of a Christian man's Oath As we confess that vain and rash Swearing is forbidden Christian men by our Lord Jesus Christ, and James his Apostle, so we judge, that Christian Religion cloth not prohibit, but that a man may swear when the Magistrate requireth ,  in a cause of faith and charity, so it be done according to the Prophet's teaching,   injustice, judgement, and truth. Of all the topics to end with, I have always found this topic to be a curious grand finale. A Grand...

Today's article (We are nearing the very end!) deals with the interesting theological concept of things held in common by the community:  XXXVIII. Of Christian men's Goods, which are not common The Riches and Goods of Christians are not common, as touching the right, title, and possession of the same, as certain Anabaptists do falsely boast. Notwithstanding, every man ought, of such things as he possesseth, liberally to give alms to the poor, according to his ability. This article clearly calls out the Anabaptists by name. Anabaptist, of course, is an umbrella term for quite a few strands of Radical Reforming Protestantism. I have gone into this discussion before. I will only note that one should be sure not to confuse the term Anabaptist with Baptist, as the two are completely different. Most known of the Anabaptists in America are the Amish, Mennonites, and Hutterites. I mention the Hutterites because there are several Hutterite colonies in South Dakota. In fact, th...

I am nearing the end of the blog series on the Articles of Religion. There are only two more after today. Today's is a piggyback on yesterday's article concerning the legal and proper procedure for the Consecration of Bishops. Today's article is cut of the same cloth, but in the civic realm: XXXVII. Of the Civil Magistrates The King's Majesty hath the chief power in this Realm of England, and other his Dominions, unto whom the chief Government of all Estates of this Realm, whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil, in all causes doth appertain, and is not, nor ought to be, subject to any foreign Jurisdiction. Where we attribute to the King's Majesty the chief government, by which Titles we understand the minds of some slanderous folks to be offended; we give not our Princes the ministering either of God's Word, or of the Sacraments, the which thing the Injunctions also lately set forth by Elizabeth our Queen do most plainly testify; but that only prerogative, ...

Now we start getting into the legal domain of the Articles of Religion. None of this is particularly of thrilling theological stuff, but it is interesting in terms of Anglican history.  XXXVI. Of Consecration of Bishops and Ministers The Book of Consecration of Archbishops and Bishops, and Ordering of Priests and Deacons, lately set forth in the time of Edward the Sixth, and confirmed at the same time by authority of Parliament, doth contain all things necessary to such Consecration and Ordering; neither hath it any thing, that of itself is superstitious and ungodly. And therefore whosoever are consecrated or ordered according to the Rites of that Book, since the second year of the forenamed King Edward unto this time, or hereafter shall be consecrated or ordered according to the same Rites; we decree all such to be rightly, orderly, and lawfully consecrated and ordered. One will notice in the 1979 American Book of Common Prayer that this one is altered entirely. The Am...

Today's article is one that the American prayerbook tradition has always either rewords or added some manner of Roger Maris asterisk to:     XXXV. Of the Homilies The second Book of Homilies, the several titles whereof we have joined under this Article, doth contain a godly and wholesome Doctrine, and necessary for these tunes, as doth the former Book  of  Homilies, which were set forth in the time  of Edward  the Sixth; and therefore we judge them to be read in Churches by the Ministers, diligently and distinctly, that they may be understanded  of  the people. Of the Names of the Homilies 1. Of the right Use of the Church 11. Of Alms-doing 2. Against peril of Idolatry 12. Of the Nativity of Christ 3. Of repairing and keeping clean of Churches 13. Of the Passion of Christ 4. Of good Works: first of Fasting 14. Of the Resurrection of Christ 5. Against Gluttony and Drunkenness 15. Of the worthy receiving of the Sacrament of the...

Today's article is pretty stock Anglican Common Prayer doctrine: XXXIV. Of the Traditions of the Church It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one, and utterly like; for at all times they have been divers, and may be changed according to the diversities of countries, times, and men's manners, so that nothing be ordained against God's Word. Whosoever through his private judgement, willingly and purposely, doth openly break the traditions and ceremonies of the Church, which be not repugnant to the Word of God, and be ordained and approved by common authority, ought to be rebuked openly. (that others may fear to do the like,) as he that offendeth against the common order  of  the Church, and hurteth the authority of the Magistrate, and woundeth the consciences  of  the weak brethren. In other words, the Anglican Church does not have to follow the liturgical uniformity that Rome or Orthodoxy imposes, and yet we do so writ small . An...

Today's article is something that I think the modern Church might well consider re-applying to today's world. XXXIII. Of excommunicate Persons, how they are to be avoided That person which by open denunciation of the Church is rightly cut off from the unity of the Church, and excommunicated, ought to be taken of the whole multitude of the faithful, as an Heathen and Publican, until he be openly reconciled by penance and received into the Church by a Judge that hath authority thereunto. The Episcopal Church's current mantra is "radical inclusiveness." I do not claim to support, or even fully understand, what exactly this terms means. Frankly, I recoil from buzzwords like this because I find them simplistic sloganisms that are self-congratulatory to the point of being patently self-righteous. My other pet peeve is the one about 'Episcopalians don't check their brains at the door,' the logical inference being that other Christians are just ignorant ...

Today's article is on the ever-fixated upon teaching of the Catholic church on the issue of celibacy in the clergy. XXXII. Of the Marriage of Priests Bishops, Priests, and Deacons are not commanded by God's Law, either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from marriage: therefore it is lawful for them, as for all other Christian men, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness. This, and Marriage in general, was a major issue for the Reformers, Luther in particular. Luther, though, had all sorts of baggage on the issue. He was a former Augustinian priest who ended up marrying a former Catholic nun. As such, he, like most other Protestants after him, began to understand marriage as nothing more than a civil contract for two people to live together. The Church would simply "add some God stuff" to it and out of the oven can a Christian marriage. As such, Protestants seldom understand or agreed with mandator...

Anyone familiar with the Rite I service in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer will likely have heard the phraseology of this 31st Article of Religion in the Eucharist Prayer (emphasis mine): All glory be to thee, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, for that thou, of thy tender mercy, didst give thine only Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption; who made there, by his one oblation of himself once offered, a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world ; and did institute, and in his holy Gospel command us to continue, a perpetual memory of that his precious death and sacrifice, until his coming again. I always have to be sure to take this paragraph slowly when I am the Celebrant because I get thrown off if I rush through it with so many uses of the word 'oblation.' The word oblation means the making of a prayerful offering. This is actually one of the 7 types of prayer that the Catechism ta...

Today's article has to deal with one of the Reformation era liturgical bugaboos for Protestants:   XXX.  Of both kinds   The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the Lay-people: for both the parts of the Lord's Sacrament, by Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be ministered to all Christian men alike. One of the unfortunate customs that evolved in the Western church during the Middle Ages, partly out of theology and partly out of fear of the plague, was the practice of the priest not giving the chalice of wine to the laity during Communion. In actual fact, in the high Middle Ages, the laity would not receive either the wine or the bread all, or if they did, it was only once a year or so, and then only in bread form. The priest did everything and consumed everything. Or if there was a deacon, the deacon might be allowed to partake of the Eucharist. Practically speaking, people looked onto the Bread and Wine and did not receive them. Again,...

I think today's article is certainly one of the oddest Articles of Religion, at least in terms of the wording: XXIX. Of the Wicked which eat not the Body of Christ in the use of the Lord's Supper The Wicked. and such as be void of a lively faith, although they do carnally and visibly press with their teeth (as Saint Augustine saith) the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ, yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ: but rather, to their condemnation, do eat and drink the sign or Sacrament of so great a thing. This is largely an addendum to the last Article, which seemed to suggest that faith is the means through which the Body and Blood of Christ is received and eaten. Logically, therefore, if one does not have a lively faith, particularly if one is 'Wicked,' then the one is not really partaking in any sense the Sacrament. In other words, if you are "Wicked," then you cannot hope to sneak in and illicitly receive the Sacrament and have it in any w...

Today's article should be a fun one. It tackles all things related to the Sacrament of the Eucharist: XXVIII. Of the Lord's Supper The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to have among themselves one to another; but rather is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ's death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and with faith, receive the same, the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ; and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ. Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of Bread and Wine) in the Supper of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ; but is repugnant to the plain words of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to many superstitions. The Body of Christ is given, taken and eaten in the Supper, only after an heavenly and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the Body of Christ is received and eaten in the Supper is Faith. ...

Today's article will remind those familiar with the Rite I language of the Book of Common Prayer of the Prayer of Humble Access, which says, "...We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy table..."   XXVI. Of the Unworthiness of the Ministers, which hinders not the effect of the Sacrament Although in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometimes the evil have chief authority in the Ministration of the Word and Sacraments, yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister by his commission and authority, we may use their ministry, both in hearing the Word of God, and in receiving of the Sacraments. Neither is the effect of Christ's ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor the grace of God's gifts diminished from such as by faith and rightly do receive the Sacraments ministered unto them; which be effectual, because of Christ's institution and promise, although the...

Today's article is one of the longest in the Articles of Religion. I am not sure word count wise, but it certainly has the most paragraphs.  So, marching headlong into the issue of Sacraments: XXV. Of the Sacraments Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses, and effectual signs of grace, and God's good will towards us, by the which he doth work   invisibly in us, and doth not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him. There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say, Baptism, and the Supper of the Lord. Those five commonly called Sacraments, that is to say, Confirmation, Penance, Orders, Matrimony, and extreme Unction, are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the Apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures; but yet have not like nature...

Today's article was indeed revolutionary at the time: actually saying the church service in a language people understood and not Latin. XXIV. Of speaking in the Congregation in suck a tongue as the people understandeth It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God, and the custom of the Primitive Church, to have publick Prayer in the Church, or to minister the Sacraments in a tongue not understanded of the people. I would quibble with whether such a notion is truly repugnant to the Word of God. I cannot think of any verse of scripture that clearly says, "Thou shalt say clearly say a church service in the vernacular." Paul does speak to the issue of the speaking in tongues, but whether he was referring to the gift of linguistics or the modern Pentecostal glossolalia is somewhat debatable. But regardless, he does say "in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an u...

Today's article, though sadly misused to punish and abuse dissenters and non-jurors in the history of England, has a good bit of wisdom to it: XXIII. Of Ministering in the Congregation It is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of publick preaching, or ministering the Sacraments in the Congregation, before he be lawfully called, and sent to execute the same. And those we ought to judge lawfully called and sent, which be chosen and called to this work by men who have publick authority given unto them in the Congregation, to call and send Ministers into the Lord's vineyard. This article likely makes Americans somewhat uneasy, given our penchant for wanting to shoot our mouths off whenever we feel like it. Freedom of Speech is a right, and a good one at that. However, the Church is different than civic society. When ministers speak, they speak both for God and the larger Body of Christ. As such, there is a process in most denominations (usually referred to as...

Today's Article does not get more Anti-Catholic and Anti-Eastern Orthodox than this: XXII. Of Purgatory The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well of Images as of Reliques, and also invocation of Saints, is a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God. So, in one swoop, the Anglican church bemoaned the manifold sins and wickedness of the doctrines of Purgatory, Pardons (and indulgences which we have already discussed), and Worshipping and Adoration of Icons and Holy Relics and the broadly vague "invocation of Saints."  That is so broad a swath of theological topics that Puritans were obsessed with that I am not sure where to begin. I suppose going in order is the best manner. So, batting lead off: Purgatory . This is a particularly vexing doctrine for many Protestants, and I think also for some Catholics because the Church mishandled the teaching of it o...