The Thirty-nine Articles
1571 · Church of England
Introduction
The Thirty-nine Articles are the Church of England's articles of religion, agreed by its clergy in 1563 and settled in 1571. They receive the ancient creeds and set out, in the language of the Reformation, the sufficiency of Scripture, justification by faith only and the two sacraments of the gospel; with the Book of Common Prayer they remain one of Anglicanism's historic formularies.
From Cranmer to Elizabeth
The English Reformation began less with a theologian than with a king's marriage. When the Pope would not annul Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, Henry broke with Rome, and in 1534 Parliament declared him supreme head on earth of the Church of England. He dissolved the monasteries, but in doctrine he largely held to the old faith.
Deeper reform came through Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1533 and a friend of the continental reformers. Under the boy king Edward VI (1547–1553) he edited the first Book of Homilies and composed the Book of Common Prayer, the church's worship in English the people could understand, in 1549, revising it in 1552 Cranmer, The Book of Common Prayer. An Ordinal for making bishops, priests and deacons followed, and in 1553 forty-two articles of religion, largely Cranmer's work, were issued in the king's name.
Within weeks Edward was dead. Mary I restored the church's obedience to Rome, the Forty-two Articles never took hold, and nearly three hundred Protestants were burned, Cranmer among them at Oxford in 1556. Blood was shed on the other side too: Thomas More and John Fisher died under Henry for refusing the royal supremacy, and under Elizabeth many Catholic priests were executed.
Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558. The next year Parliament made her supreme governor of the church and restored the Prayer Book, and Matthew Parker, consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury in December 1559, led the revision of Cranmer's articles. In January 1563 (still 1562 by the English reckoning of the time, in which the year began on 25 March) the Convocation of Canterbury agreed to thirty-nine. Articles aimed at several Anabaptist opinions were dropped and new ones added, such as Article 5 on the Holy Ghost; scholars trace some of the new wording to the Lutheran Württemberg Confession of 1552. Their title gives the purpose: to avoid diversities of opinion and to establish consent touching true religion.
The Latin text printed in 1563 had only thirty-eight: Article 29, that the wicked do not eat the body of Christ, was held back, apparently at the queen's wish and perhaps so as not to offend Lutheran princes or her more conservative subjects. In 1571 Convocation restored it and settled the English and Latin texts together, and Parliament required the clergy to declare their assent and subscribe. A royal declaration that Charles I prefixed in 1628, and the ratification of 1571, are not printed on this page.
The shape of the Articles
The thirty-nine fall into six groups. Articles 1–5 confess the faith of the ancient church: the Trinity, the Son made very man, his descent into hell and resurrection, and the Holy Ghost. Articles 6–8 concern Scripture and its canon, the unity of the two Testaments, and the Nicene, Athanasian and Apostles' creeds, to be believed "for they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy Scripture" Article 8. Articles 9–18 treat sin and salvation, from original sin and free will to justification, good works and predestination. Articles 19–24 treat the church, its authority and councils, and reject purgatory and the invocation of saints (Article 22). Articles 25–31 treat the sacraments and Christ's one oblation on the cross. Articles 32–39 gather matters of discipline and the state, from the marriage of priests and the consecration of bishops to the civil magistrate, property and oaths.
These are articles, not a system. Unlike the Westminster Confession, they do not set out the whole body of doctrine; they state the church's mind on the questions disputed in their day, facing Rome on one side and, on the other, the radical reformers who held that goods must be common and oaths are forbidden (Articles 38–39; see Anabaptists). Much is left to other books: worship to the Prayer Book, the ministry to the Ordinal (Article 36), fuller teaching to the Homilies (Article 35). Anglicans have always read the Articles with those books beside them.
Scripture and salvation
The doctrine of Scripture fits in one sentence:
Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.
Thirty-nine Articles, Article 6
Paul reminds Timothy of "the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). The other books, the Apocrypha such as Tobit and the Maccabees, are those that "the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine," as Jerome had said Article 6, and the Prayer Book appointed some of them for daily prayer. The Belgic Confession is similar; the Westminster Confession is stricter, allowing them no other use "than other human writings." The Catholic Church defined these books as canonical at Trent in 1546 Council of Trent, Decree on the Canonical Scriptures, and the Orthodox receive most of them. See The canon: which books are Scripture.
Original sin, says Article 9, "standeth not in the following of Adam," as the Pelagians taught, but "is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man" Article 9, and it remains even in the regenerate. The article names it in Paul's Greek, phronema sarkos: "the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so" (Romans 8:7). The word is phronēma (φρόνημα), what the mind is set on. Though there is no condemnation for those who believe and are baptized, the desire that remains "hath of itself the nature of sin"; the Council of Trent taught instead that this concupiscence inclines to sin but is not properly sin Council of Trent, Decree on Original Sin. See Original sin and its effects.
Can fallen people turn themselves to God? Article 10 says they cannot, and goes on:
Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.
Thirty-nine Articles, Article 10
To prevent, in the English of the time, is to go before. Grace first gives the good will and then works with it: "For it is God who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose" (Philippians 2:13). The Council of Orange had confessed the same a thousand years earlier. Wesleyans read this prevenient grace as given to all, enabling everyone to respond; the Reformed read it as the grace by which God effectually calls his elect.
The heart of the Articles is Article 11:
We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings: Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.
Thirty-nine Articles, Article 11
Notice where the first "only" falls. The ground of our acceptance is only Christ's merit; faith is how we receive it. We "are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). Two centuries later John Wesley, a priest of the Church of England, wrote that faith justifies "not as it is a work, but as it receives Christ" Wesley. Here the Articles stand with the Augsburg Confession, Article 4 and the Westminster Confession, 11.1. Catholic teaching since Trent holds that justification includes inward renewal as well as forgiveness Council of Trent, Decree on Justification. See Faith and justification.
Good works cannot put away our sins, says Article 12, yet they please God in Christ and "do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith; insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit" Article 12. As Jesus said, "a tree is known by its fruit" (Matthew 12:33).
Article 17 opens: "Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God" Article 17. Those chosen in Christ are called, justified, adopted, and at length brought to everlasting felicity. It is Paul's golden chain:
And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
Romans 8:30
What marks the article is its pastoral care. To the godly the thought of their election is "full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort." But for "curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God's Predestination, is a most dangerous downfall," driving them "either into desperation, or into wretchlessness of most unclean living" Article 17. So we are to receive God's promises "as they be generally set forth to us in holy Scripture," and follow his will declared in his Word. "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever" (Deuteronomy 29:29). The article speaks only of predestination to life and is silent on reprobation, and Calvinists and their opponents in the Church of England have read it differently. Its caution is close to the Westminster Confession, 3.8, which asks that this "high mystery" be "handled with special prudence and care." See Grace and election.
The church and the sacraments
Article 19 defines the church by what happens in it:
The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ's ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.
Thirty-nine Articles, Article 19
These are the marks of the Augsburg Confession, Article 7, and of the first church: "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer" (Acts 2:42). The Belgic Confession adds discipline as a third mark; the Articles treat it separately (Article 33).
The church's authority has limits. It may decree rites and judge controversies, says Article 20, but may ordain nothing contrary to God's Word written, "neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another." It is "a witness and a keeper of holy Writ" Article 20, "the pillar and foundation of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). Councils, being assemblies of men, "may err, and sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining unto God" Article 21, words the Westminster Confession, 31.4 would echo. See What the church is.
The sacraments ordained by Christ, says Article 25, are "not only badges or tokens of Christian men's profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses, and effectual signs of grace" Article 25. There are two sacraments of the gospel, baptism and the Supper of the Lord. Confirmation, penance, orders, matrimony and extreme unction, which Catholics, and generally the Orthodox, count with them as seven, are "not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel," having no visible sign ordained of God, though Anglicans keep confirmation, ordination and marriage as solemn rites.
Baptism, says Article 27, is "a sign of Regeneration or new Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church," and the promises of forgiveness and adoption "are visibly signed and sealed" Article 27. Paul speaks of "the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). Anglicans have read this language more strongly or more cautiously. The article ends: "The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ." Peter preached, "This promise belongs to you and your children" (Acts 2:39). Here Anglicans and the Reformed stand together on infant baptism; Baptists confess that those who "do actually professe repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience, to our Lord Jesus, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance" Second London Baptist Confession, 29.2. See Baptism and the Lord's Supper.
On the Lord's Supper, Article 28 takes up Paul's words:
Is not the cup of blessing that we bless a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ?
1 Corinthians 10:16
To those who receive rightly, worthily and with faith, "the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ" Article 28. The article rejects transubstantiation as "repugnant to the plain words of Scripture," and says how Christ is given:
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.
Thirty-nine Articles, Article 28
So the wicked, though they "press with their teeth" the sacrament, "yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ" Article 29. The article cites Augustine, who wrote on John 6: "He that dwells not in Christ, and in whom Christ dwells not, neither eats His flesh, nor drinks His blood: but rather eats and drinks the sacrament of it to his own damnation" Augustine. This is the teaching of the Belgic Confession, Article 35 and the Westminster Confession, 29.8. Lutherans confess with the Augsburg Confession, Article 10 that Christ's body and blood are truly present and given to those who eat; the Catholic Church teaches transubstantiation Council of Trent, Decree on the Most Holy Eucharist. Since the Oxford Movement many Anglicans have spoken more strongly of the real presence and read "heavenly and spiritual" in that light. See The Supper: Christ's spiritual presence.
Article 31 confesses that Christ's offering once made is "that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the whole world" Article 31, for "by a single offering He has made perfect for all time those who are being sanctified" (Hebrews 10:14). On that ground it condemns in the sharpest words the sacrifices of Masses offered for the living and the dead. The Catholic Church teaches that the Mass is a true sacrifice, the one sacrifice of the cross offered without the shedding of blood Council of Trent, Decree on the Sacrifice of the Mass.
Bishops, the crown and the Reformed churches
In their doctrine of salvation and the sacraments the Articles stand close to the Reformed confessions: Scripture's sufficiency, original sin, justification by faith only, predestination to life, two sacraments, and Christ's body received by faith. When the Westminster Assembly met in 1643, its first task was to revise these Articles; it had worked through the first fifteen when Parliament turned it to church government and worship, and in time to a new confession. The Church of England went its own way in the ministry and in worship.
First, bishops. Article 36 declares that the Edwardian Ordinal "doth contain all things necessary to such Consecration and Ordering: neither hath it any thing, that of itself is superstitious and ungodly" Article 36. The Ordinal's preface holds that bishops, priests and deacons have been in Christ's church since the apostles' time, and Anglicans keep the three orders as received from the early church (see bishop). The Reformed read the New Testament as using "overseer" and "elder" for one office: Paul tells the elders of Ephesus that "the Holy Spirit has made you overseers" (Acts 20:28). So the Belgic Confession, Article 31 gives all ministers of the Word equal authority under Christ, "the only universal Bishop," and pastors, elders and deacons together form the council that governs the church (Article 30; Presbyterian church government). The Elizabethan church did not, on the whole, deny that the Reformed churches abroad were true churches, and Article 23 defines a lawful calling simply as one given by those with public authority in the church.
Second, worship. "Every particular or national Church hath authority to ordain, change, and abolish, Ceremonies or Rites of the Church ordained only by man's authority, so that all things be done to edifying" Article 34, for "everything must be done in a proper and orderly manner" (1 Corinthians 14:40). So Anglicans pray in the Prayer Book's set forms, keep the Christian year, and have retained the surplice, kneeling at communion and the sign of the cross in baptism. The Westminster Confession, 21.1 holds that acceptable worship is "limited to his own revealed will," the regulative principle, and from a like conviction Elizabethan Puritans pressed for those ceremonies to be removed (Protestant orthodoxy and the Puritans).
Third, the crown. Article 37 gives the queen the chief government of all estates, "whether they be Ecclesiastical or Civil," and states that "The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England." Yet it adds at once, "we give not to our Princes the ministering either of God's Word, or of the Sacraments" Article 37; the prince rules those in his charge and restrains evil-doers with the civil sword, for "there is no authority except that which is from God" (Romans 13:1). The Reformed churches of the age shared this ideal of the godly magistrate, and many later revised it; in 1801 the Episcopal Church in the United States rewrote the article to deny the civil power any authority in things purely spiritual.
The Articles in the church today
In the Church of England the Articles are printed with the Book of Common Prayer of 1662, and with the Prayer Book and the Ordinal they are its historic formularies. Since 1975 clergy at ordination, and whenever they take up a new office, declare their belief in the faith revealed in the Holy Scriptures and set forth in the catholic creeds, to which the historic formularies bear witness. Evangelicals read the Articles as a Reformation confession, while John Henry Newman's Tract 90 of 1841 gave classic form to an Anglo-Catholic reading that seeks to harmonise them with the teaching of the undivided church.
The Anglican Communion has no single confession binding all its churches. The Lambeth Conference of 1888, taking up what American bishops had set out at Chicago two years before, named four foundations for unity: the Scriptures as containing all things necessary to salvation, which is Article 6 in other words, the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds, the two sacraments, and the historic episcopate. The Episcopal Church prints its revised Articles of 1801 among the historical documents of its Prayer Book; the Jerusalem Declaration of the Global Anglican Future Conference (GAFCON) in 2008 upheld them as authoritative for Anglicans today. In 1784 John Wesley abridged them to twenty-four articles for the Methodists in America (Wesley and the Methodist movement). In Korea, the Anglican Church of Korea, which began with Bishop Charles John Corfe's arrival in 1890, became an autonomous province of the Communion in 1993.
How should the Articles be read today? With the Prayer Book, whose collect for the second Sunday in Advent asks that we may "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" the Scriptures, and in whose prayers the teaching of the Articles is prayed (The Catholic Reformation and the English Reformation). With an open Bible, since Articles 6, 20 and 21 place everything, themselves included, under Scripture. In their setting: their sharpest words against Rome and the Anabaptists come from an age when blood was shed on every side, and we may hold fast what they guard, that Christ's one sacrifice is enough and we are accepted for his merit alone, while meeting Christians of other traditions as brothers and sisters. And as a book of comfort: justification by faith only is "very full of comfort" Article 11. Behind it stands the apostle's word: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1). The other Reformation confessions are introduced in The Reformed confessions.
Source
- Thomas Cranmer, The Book of Common Prayer 1549
- Council of Trent, Decree on the Canonical Scriptures 1546
- Council of Trent, Decree on Original Sin 1546
- Council of Trent, Decree on Justification 1547
- Council of Trent, Decree on the Most Holy Eucharist 1551
- Council of Trent, Decree on the Sacrifice of the Mass 1562
Text
The royal declaration and the ratification are left out.
Article 1 Of Faith in the Holy Trinity
There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker, and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power, and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
Article 2 Of the Word or Son of God, which was made very Man
The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, and of one substance with the Father, took Man's nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin, of her substance: so that two whole and perfect Natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood, were joined together in one Person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God, and very Man; who truly suffered, was crucified, dead and buried, to reconcile His Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men.
Article 3 Of the going down of Christ into Hell
As Christ died for us, and was buried, so also is it to be believed, that He went down into Hell.
Article 4 Of the Resurrection of Christ
Christ did truly rise again from death, and took again His body, with flesh, bones, and all things appertaining to the perfection of Man's nature; wherewith He ascended into Heaven, and there sitteth, until he return to judge all Men at the last day.
Article 5 Of the Holy Ghost
The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.
Article 6 Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation
Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the holy Scripture we do understand those canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.
Of the Names and Number of the Canonical Books.
Genesis,
Exodus,
Leviticus,
Numbers,
Deuteronomy,
Joshua,
Judges,
Ruth,
The First Book of Samuel,
The Second Book of Samuel,
The First Book of Kings,
The Second Book of Kings,
The First Book of Chronicles,
The Second Book of Chronicles,
The First Book of Esdras,
The Second Book of Esdras,
The Book of Esther,
The Book of Job,
The Psalms,
The Proverbs,
Ecclesiastes or Preacher,
Cantica, or Songs of Solomon,
Four Prophets the greater,
Twelve Prophets the less.
And the other Books (as Hierome saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet doth it not apply them to establish any doctrine; such are these following:
The Third Book of Esdras,
The Fourth Book of Esdras,
The Book of Tobias,
The Book of Judith,
The rest of the Book of Esther,
The Book of Wisdom,
Jesus the Son of Sirach,
Baruch the Prophet,
The Song of the Three Children,
The Story of Susanna,
Of Bel and the Dragon,
The Prayer of Manasses,
The First Book of Maccabees,
The Second Book of Maccabees.
All the Books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive, and account them Canonical.
Article 7 Of the Old Testament
The Old Testament is not contrary to the New: for both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life is offered to Mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and Man, being both God and Man. Wherefore they are not to be heard, which feign that the old Fathers did look only for transitory promises. Although the Law given from God by Moses, as touching Ceremonies and Rites, do not bind Christian men, nor the Civil precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth; yet notwithstanding, no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral.
Article 8 Of the Three Creeds
The Three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius's Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of holy Scripture.
Article 9 Of Original or Birth-Sin
Original Sin standeth not in the following of Adam, (as the Pelagians do vainly talk;) but it is the fault and corruption of the Nature of every man, that naturally is ingendered of the offspring of Adam; whereby man is very far gone from original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation. And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated; whereby the lust of the flesh, called in Greek, phronema sarkos, which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire, of the flesh, is not subject to the Law of God. And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized, yet the Apostle doth confess, that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin.
Article 10 Of Free-Will
The condition of Man after the fall of Adam is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith, and calling upon God: Wherefore we have no power to do good works pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us, when we have that good will.
Article 11 Of the Justification of Man
We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by Faith, and not for our own works or deservings: Wherefore, that we are justified by Faith only is a most wholesome Doctrine, and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.
Article 12 Of Good Works
Albeit that Good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God's Judgement; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith; insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.
Article 13 Of Works before Justification
Works done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of His Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School authors say) deserve grace of congruity: yea rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.
Article 14 Of Works of Supererogation
Voluntary Works besides, over and above, God's commandments, which they call Works of Supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety: for by them men do declare, that they do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to do, but that they do more for his sake, than of bounden duty is required: whereas Christ saith plainly, When ye have done all that are commanded to you, say, We are unprofitable servants.
Article 15 Of Christ alone without Sin
Christ in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things, sin only except, from which He was clearly void, both in His flesh, and in His spirit. He came to be the Lamb without spot, who, by sacrifice of Himself once made, should take away the sins of the world, and sin, as Saint John saith, was not in Him. But all we the rest, although baptized, and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things; and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
Article 16 Of Sin after Baptism
Not every deadly sin willingly committed after Baptism is sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable. Wherefore the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after Baptism. After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and by the grace of God, we may arise again, and amend our lives. And therefore they are to be condemned, which say, they can no more sin as long as they live here, or deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent.
Article 17 Of Predestination and Election
Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) He hath constantly decreed by His counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom He hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour. Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God be called according to God's purpose by His Spirit working in due season: they through Grace obey the calling: they be justified freely: they be made sons of God by adoption: they be made like the image of His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ: they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.
As the godly consideration of Predestination, and our Election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things, as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God: So, for curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God's Predestination, is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the Devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into wretchlessness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation.
Furthermore, we must receive God's promises in such wise, as they be generally set forth to us in holy Scripture: and, in our doings, that Will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the Word of God.
Article 18 Of obtaining Eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ
They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, That every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature. For holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus Christ, whereby men must be saved.
Article 19 Of the Church
The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ's ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.
As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch, have erred; so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of Ceremonies, but also in matters of Faith.
Article 20 Of the Authority of the Church
The Church hath power to decree Rites or Ceremonies, and authority in Controversies of Faith: And yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God's Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree any thing against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of salvation.
Article 21 Of the Authority of General Councils
General Councils may not be gathered together without the commandment and will of Princes. And when they be gathered together, (forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and Word of God,) they may err, and sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining unto God. Wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation have neither strength nor authority, unless it may be declared that they be taken out of holy Scripture.
Article 22 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.
Article 23 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.
Article 24 Of Speaking in the Congregation in such 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.
Article 25 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 of Sacraments with Baptism, and the Lord's Supper, for that they have not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.
The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon, or to be carried about, but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same they have a wholesome effect or operation: but they that receive them unworthily purchase to themselves damnation, as Saint Paul saith.
Article 26 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 the 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 they be ministered by evil men.
Nevertheless, it appertaineth to the discipline of the Church, that enquiry be made of evil Ministers, and that they be accused by those that have knowledge of their offences; and finally being found guilty, by just judgement be deposed.
Article 27 Of Baptism
Baptism is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened, but it is also a sign of Regeneration or new Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed; Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God. The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ.
Article 28 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 it 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 it 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.
The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved, carried about, lifted up, or worshipped.
Article 29 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.
Article 30 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.
Article 31 Of the one Oblation of Christ finished upon the Cross
The Offering of Christ once made is that perfect redemption, propitiation, and satisfaction, for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual; and there is none other satisfaction for sin, but that alone. Wherefore the sacrifices of Masses, in the which it was commonly said, that the Priest did offer Christ for the quick and the dead, to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables, and dangerous deceits.
Article 32 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.
Article 33 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.
Article 34 Of the Traditions of the Church
It is not necessary that Traditions and Ceremonies be in all places one, or 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.
Every particular or national Church hath authority to ordain, change, and abolish, Ceremonies or Rites of the Church ordained only by man's authority, so that all things be done to edifying.
Article 35 Of 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 times, 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.
2 Against peril of Idolatry.
3 Of the repairing and keeping clean of Churches.
4 Of good Works: first of Fasting.
5 Against Gluttony and Drunkenness.
6 Against Excess of Apparel.
7 Of Prayer.
8 Of the Place and Time of Prayer.
9 That Common Prayers and Sacraments ought to be ministered in a known tongue.
10 Of the reverend estimation of God's Word.
11 Of Alms-doing.
12 Of the Nativity of Christ.
13 Of the Passion of Christ.
14 Of the Resurrection of Christ.
15 Of the worthy receiving of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ.
16 Of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost.
17 For the Rogation-days.
18 Of the state of Matrimony.
19 Of Repentance.
20 Against Idleness.
21 Against Rebellion.
Article 36 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.
Article 37 Of the Civil Magistrates
The Queen's Majesty hath the chief power in this Realm of England, and other her 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 Queen's Majesty the chief government, by which Titles we understand the minds of some slanderous folks to be offended; we give not to 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, which we see to have been given always to all godly Princes in holy Scriptures by God Himself; that is, that they should rule all estates and degrees committed to their charge by God, whether they be Ecclesiastical or Temporal, and restrain with the civil sword the stubborn and evil-doers.
The Bishop of Rome hath no jurisdiction in this Realm of England.
The Laws of the Realm may punish Christian men with death, for heinous and grievous offences.
It is lawful for Christian men, at the commandment of the Magistrate, to wear weapons, and serve in the wars.
Article 38 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.
Article 39 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 doth 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, in justice, judgement, and truth.
Reading to the end marks it read; tap to switch it.
Texts: public domain (Creeds.json; Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, 1877; the Book of Common Prayer, 1863; F. H. Woods, 1882; the Concordia Triglotta, 1921). Scripture quotations: BSB.