Church History Since the Reformation CH507 ormation ef e ... · Transcript - CH507 Church History...

Church History Since the Reformation

Transcript - CH507 Church History Since the Reformation © 2019 Our Daily Bread University. All rights reserved.

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LESSON 05 of 24CH507

The Anglican Tradition

Church History Since the Reformation

Greetings once again in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and let me invite you as we begin to pray with me. Let us pray. Eternal God, we come to You to ask for Your guidance once again as we study today. Teach us by Your Spirit. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Today I want us to explore the development of the fourth major branch of Protestantism, the great Anglican tradition. This of course was a product of the English Reformation. There are some excellent resources available to us as we study. In our text, Kenneth Scott Latourette volume 2, pages 797 to 835, are particularly relevant. But you may also want to look at L. Elliott-Binns, The Reformation in England, or Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, The Reformation in England, or A. G. Dickens, The English Reformation, or F. M. Powicke, The Reformation in England. These are some of the classic studies of this fascinating period of church history. And I’d like to try to summarize it for you and then draw some of its learning for our consideration together.

The story really begins with the death of Henry VII. That came in the year 1509. His energetic and brilliant son inherited a remarkably consolidated nation. There were no serious rivals to the crown. The feuds of Lancaster and York seemed to be in the past, and prosperity beckoned. Henry VIII, who ruled form 1509 to 1547, had as the head of his church Thomas Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor Archbishop of York and papal legate with authority over the whole of the English clergy. Wolsey was a proud and very able man. In 1527, Henry determined to seek a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, his brother’s widow whom he had married after receiving a special papal dispensation. When two years of negotiations ended in failure, Wolsey was stripped of his power, accused of treason, and put to death. Pope Clement VII, who at the time was a kind of prisoner of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and nephew of Catherine, by virtue of the authority that Charles wielded over him had neither the inclination nor seemingly

Garth M. Rosell, PhD Experience: Professor of Church History

and Director Emeritus, Ockenga Institute at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary



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the ability to grant the request. Henry himself was primarily concerned that he be able to produce a male offspring who could take over the power of the government when he died. And that was a deep concern not only for Henry VIII but for many other rulers. Among the primary issues for all of these rulers was the succession of their power particularly to family members. So then one can understand the kind of growing concern which Henry VIII had when his wife, Catherine of Aragon, could not produce for him a male offspring.

Be that as it may, Henry VIII ultimately had to take matters into his own hands [as he was] unable to get satisfaction through the normal church channels. With a swift series of royal and parliamentary acts, he split from Rome. He declared himself supreme head of the church. He took over the complete monastic establishment and liquidated it, giving much of the land that it had represented to lay owners. Many of its old churches were left to crumble. And those who travel through England will see the remnants of many of those old church structures which now are beautiful ruins out in the countryside. All of this was done essentially without reforming fervor or theological justification. Little fuss was raised by the church since it was at that time in a rather decadent condition, although three abbots were in fact hanged for resisting the crown’s actions.

So it was that by the time of Henry’s death in 1547, the English church had been absolutely revolutionized. Nine hundred years of undisputed papal authority had been overthrown. The entire edifice of medieval monasticism had been crushed. Yet doctrine was, for the most part, unchanged and popular piety continued relatively undisturbed. Parish life went on much as it had before. Indeed traditional faith and order represented in medieval Catholicism in England was perpetuated by the so-called Six Articles of 1539. These Six Articles came to be known as the whip with six strings. These were established to help prevent the spread of Reformation doctrines and practices in the country. Henry VIII, you see, was essentially Catholic in his theology and views. He didn’t carry with him deep commitments to Reformed thought, as is true in many other Reformed areas.

These six elements of the articles of 1539 were as follows: an emphasis upon transubstantiation, that is, that the bread and the wine actually are transformed in the mass into the body and blood of Christ. Second, that communion is given by the celebrating priest only in one kind, only the bread not the wine. Third,



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clerical celibacy was to be enforced and continued as it had been established before. Fourth, monastic vows were upheld. Fifth, private masses were defended. And sixth, auricular confession or confession to the ear, confession of sins in the presence of a priest, were maintained and affirmed.

You can see through these provisions that they reflect the kind of ongoing Catholicism of Henry VIII. He was not in his heart a committed, Reformed thinker or theologian. He was a practical politician who had a problem of a proper successor, and the church had gotten in his way. His division with Rome was more over that issue, at least in its initial stages, than it was over any kind of reforming fervor. Yet England had not been completely insulated from the continental Reformation. The things that we’ve been talking about in our earlier lectures had begun to seep into English life and thought.

Particularly this was true at Cambridge. Luther’s writings had already stirred students like Thomas Cranmer and the circle of future bishops who counseled Henry on his marital problems in 1529. Vernacular Bibles furthermore were beginning to circulate. Although the version of Tyndale was suppressed, the Coverdale and Rogers versions were licensed. And the Great Bible, a somewhat more tradition-minded version of Matthew’s Bible, was published by royal order in 1539. Cranmer, who became archbishop of Canterbury in 1533, was advocating plans for liturgical reform. And he succeeded in translating a great litany into English before Henry’s death. In addition to all of this, the king had put his son under Protestant tutelage. These elements seemed to point in the direction of an openness to the continental Reformed thought. This was further developed under the reign of Edward VI (1547–1553). He was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. He was a frail lad, only nine years of age when he came to the throne. He had received Protestant education and was hailed by some as a kind of new Josiah to purify the temple of its idolatries. Since he was young, he served under two regents, that is, adults who gave guidance to the government. These folk were chiefly interested in political and economic questions, though they were open to some of the religious patterns and movements of the day.

The first of those was Edward’s uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who was protector from 1547 to 1549. He permitted a number of moderate church reforms. John Dudley, the Earl of Warwick and Duke of Northumberland who succeeded Edward Seymour, encouraged more radical religious policies. And under



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him, the nation moved increasingly toward the Reformation. So it was that Protestant influence gradually deepened in England even though it had not been launched for that purpose. It certainly opened the door to that kind of development. Lutheran refugees from Augsburg were welcomed. Reformed teachers at Oxford and Cambridge such as Peter Martyr Vermigli, Martin Bucer, John Alasco, and the like continued to teach and preach the new Reformed faith. And these emphases come to be seen very clearly in the so-called Edwardian homilies of 1547 actually written by Thomas Cranmer but which were produced under the rule of Henry’s son, Edward VI.

Let me read just a portion of these famous homilies, because they will give you a flavor better than anything else of the kind of Reformed emphasis in thought which was beginning to make its impact in the life of the church. One of the first acts of the Reformation under Edward VI was the issuance of these twelve homilies by the Council of Regency. The first five expound Christian doctrine. The last seven are concerned really with the moral life of the Christians. And these homilies were to be read in local churches as the true setting forth, the pure declaring of God’s Word. One of the homilies of the salvation of mankind has been described as one of the finest pieces of theological writing in the English language. Let me read just a bit from that, and you will see in the reading many of the central Reformed principles that we’ve talked about before emerging now in English form and under the pen of Thomas Cranmer.

Because all men be sinners and offenders against God and breakers of His law and commandments, therefore can no man by his own acts works and deeds, seem they never so good, be justified and made righteous before God. But every man of necessity is constrained to seek for another righteousness or justification. To be received at God’s own hands, that is to say the forgiveness of his sins and trespasses and such things as he hath offended. And this justification or righteousness which we so receive of God’s mercy and Christ’s merits, embraced by faith is taken, accepted, and allowed of God for our perfect and full justification. For the more full understanding hereof, it is our parts and duties ever to remember the great mercy of God how that all the world being wrapped in sins by breaking the law, God sent His only Son our Savior Christ into this world to fulfill the law for us and by shedding of His most precious blood to make a sacrifice and satisfaction, or as it may be called,



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amends to His Father for our sins, to assuage His wrath and indignation conceived against us for the same.

In that brief reading, you will hear much of the flavor of continental Reformed thought now being translated into English church life through these homilies which were to be read by the worshipping community. It’s in this way that the archbishop, Cranmer, the protectors, and parliament all combined to provide a favorable atmosphere for Reformed thought to grow. 1549 and 1552 produced new prayer books; [in] 1553 the 42 Articles of Religion were issued which are heavily influenced as we’ll see by Reformed thought. Edward died three weeks after signing the 42 Articles. But by that time, the form of the church had been massively altered. Although the followers of Luther had dominated in those early years, by the time of the death of Edward VI (1553) Reformed figures were in the ascendancy: Zwingli and Bullinger in Zurich, Oecolampaidius in Basel, and other Rhineland Reformers. And to a great extent the groundwork for later English Puritanism, including its emphasis on the covenant, was laid during these years. In the same spirit, steps were taken to eliminate what were called popish vestments, ornamentation, and church furnishings.

All of this had taken place before the coming to power of Mary. And Mary, who ruled from 1553 to 1558, reflects the superficiality of some of those Edwardian reforms. She was fervently Roman Catholic. She was welcomed to the throne and with remarkable ease and persuaded parliament to repeal nearly all of the church legislation which had taken place over the last two regimes. She, as you will remember, is the only surviving child of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII. She wanted nothing less than the complete purge of Protestantism from England and a full return to Rome. In 1554 and 1555 the Protestant bishops, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and John Hooper, were burned at the stake. There’s a monument to them which is in the heart of Oxford. And you can go visit that if you find yourself in that lovely city. The following year, Archbishop Cranmer suffered a similar fate when Cardinal Reginald Pole, who was papal legate and as such had absolved the nation and readmitted it to the Catholic fold, was consecrated as his successor.

The story of Archbishop Cranmer’s death is immortalized in the famous book John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. Some of you will remember reading through that. It’s one of the most popular books in the history of the church. And among the early Puritans here in America, it was one of the few books that they owned if



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they owned any and which they read from regularly. This is a story of three hundred-plus martyrs that run across the history of the church. One of the most interesting accounts is the account which focuses on Cranmer. And let me read just a portion of that from Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. It’s really quite a moving series of events. Cranmer had been put under enormous pressure to renounce Protestantism and to return to the Roman fold. And in fact, he agreed to do so. And this is his statement:

I, Thomas Cranmer, late Archbishop of Canterbury, do renounce, abhor, and detest all manner of heresies and errors of Luther and Zwingli and all other teachings which are contrary to sound and true doctrine. And I believe most constantly in my heart and with my mouth I confess the one holy and Catholic church visible without which there is no salvation. And therefore, I acknowledge the bishop of Rome to be the supreme head on earth whom I acknowledge to be the highest bishop and pope and Christ’s vicar unto whom all Christian people ought to be subject. And as concerning the sacraments, I believe in worship, the sacrament of the altar of the blood of Christ being contained most truly under the forms of bread and wine, the bread, through the mighty power of God, being turned into the body of our Savior Jesus Christ and the wine into His blood. And in the other six sacraments also I believe and hold as the universal church holdeth and the church of Rome judgeth and determineth. Furthermore I believe that there’s a place in purgatory where souls departed be punished for a time for whom the church doth godily and wholesomely pray like as it doth for saints.

It goes on to talk about all of the major affirmations of the Roman church. And he says I’m signing my name to these again. I renounce all of that Reformation thought which I had earlier preached and taught. Mary, of course, is delighted to hear that Cranmer and others have turned around and renounced the old faith and returned to the true church. But she wants to make this more visible. She wants to make this an event. So on March 21, 1556, she plans a special service to be held at St. Mary’s Church in Oxford. That church is still standing, by the way. And you can visit it and bring back with the ethos of the church all of this remarkable event. In fact I’ve been in that church and have read this account to myself while I’ve been there. so it has a special kind of meaning for me. The queen’s revenge was only to be satiated in adding to Cranmer’s blood this great event. So she asked Dr. Pole to prepare



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a sermon to be preached on March 21 before the martyrdom of Cranmer. Dr. Pole visited Cranmer on the day previous and was induced to believe that he would publicly deliver his sentiments confirming the articles to which he had subscribed.

About 9:00 in the morning on the day of sacrifice, the queen’s commissioners attended by the magistrates conducted the amiable unfortunate to St. Mary’s Church. His torn, dirty garb, the same in which they had given him his degradation, excited the commiseration of the people. In the church he found a low mean stage erected opposite the pulpit, on which being placed he turned his face and fervently prayed to God. The church was crowded with people of both persuasions expecting to hear the justification of this late apostasy. The Catholics rejoicing, the Protestants deeply wounded in spirit at the deceit of the human heart. Dr. Pole in his sermon represented Cranmer as having been guilty of the most atrocious crimes, encouraged the deluded sufferer not to fear death, not to doubt the support of God in his torments nor that masses would be said in all the churches of Oxford for the repose of his soul. The doctor then noticed his conversion in which he ascribed the event working the hand of almighty God that the people might be convinced of its reality. Cranmer then was asked to say a few words. And this is where the story gets particularly interesting.

Then rising, he said he was desirous before his death to give them some pious exhortations. And now for as much as I come to the last end of my life, whereupon hangeth all my life past and all my life to come either to live with my Master Christ forever in joy or else to be in pain forever with the wicked in hell, and I see before my eyes presently either heaven ready to receive me or hell ready to swallow me up, I shall therefore declare unto you my very faith how I believe without any color of dissimulation. For now is no time to dissemble. Whatsoever I have said or written in time past, first I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. (He repeated the Apostles’ Creed, no problem there). And I believe every article of the catholic faith, every word and sentence taught by our Savior Jesus Christ, His apostles and prophets in the Old and New Testament. And now I come to the thing which so much troubleth my conscience more than anything I ever did or said in my whole life. And that is the setting abroad of a writing contrary to the truth which I now here renounce and refuse as things written with my hand contrary to the



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truth which I thought in my heart and written for fear of death to save my life as it might be. And that is all such bills or papers which I have written or signed with my hand since my degradation wherein I have written many things untrue. And forasmuch as my hand hath offended writing contrary to my heart, therefore my hand shall first be punished; for when I come to the fire it shall first be burned. And as for the pope, I refuse him as Christ’s enemy and antichrist with all of his false doctrine.

Upon the conclusion of this unexpected declaration, amazement and indignation were conspicuous in every part of the church. The Catholics were completely foiled, their object being frustrated. Cranmer, like Samson, had completed a greater ruin upon his enemies in the hour of death than he did in his life. And then it concludes. “A chain was provided to bind him to the stake. And after it had tightly encircled him, fire was put to the fuel and the flames began to ascend.” That account, which was probably the most influential, single account of the whole listing of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, had a profound impact upon the church on every side. Popular pressure began to mount. This was intensified in 1554 when Mary married Philip II of Spain. To some, therefore, the almost simultaneous death of Mary and her archbishop in November of 1558 seemed like a decisive stroke of providence.

And to the government came Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry and Anne Boleyn. Her rule spans the years from 1558 to 1603. When she succeeded to the throne, English Protestants who had been nursing their sorrow in exile, this is the famous Marian exile under her predecessor, waited hopefully to see what this new queen would do. Her decision was to compromise. And this was to give no full satisfaction to anyone but at least a measure of satisfaction to all. William Haller commented in his Rise of Puritanism:

Her father, Henry VIII, may be said to have seized the church. Her brother and sister before her had in contrary ways and with unhappy results tried to reform it. She perceived that she must govern it or be ruined. What she chiefly wanted after all was to be queen of England and to live. She had the common sense to know that her people would permit her to do this provided that they were also permitted to live and go about their accustomed affairs with as little interference as might be. So without troubling to be either logical or zealous, she made herself safe. The only religious



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test she unfailingly insisted upon was willingness to swear allegiance to herself as the church’s governor.

It’s under Elizabeth that the Church of England as we know it today emerged, and this under the famous so-called Elizabethan Settlement. She was concerned to ensure the institutional continuity of the Church of England. Therefore, and rather remarkably, she provided for an apostolic episcopate. In 1559, she appointed Matthew Parker. Remember Parker had been ordained to the priesthood before the break with Rome. She appointed him Archbishop of Canterbury, a real stroke of genius, and then in the same year, declared the act of supremacy designating herself as the supreme governor of England’s church and asking that an oath be given by all clergy to that effect. Finally, in the Act of Uniformity, she reinstituted a slightly modified version of the second Edwardian prayer book of 1552 to order the worship of the churches. Then in 1563, a full doctrinal statement was produced. This the famous 39 Articles based upon the great 42 Articles which we talked about just a bit ago. These 39 Articles remain the doctrinal core of Anglicanism worldwide today. And they are deeply influenced by Protestant Reformation thought. In order to give you some of the flavor, I want to read a few of these 39 Articles. And I want you to think along with me as I read them about some of the elements of Reformed thought that we have been discussing early on in this series.

The first of these that I want to read is on original or birth sin, as it’s called. “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 engendered of the offspring of Adam whereby man is very far gone from the 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 the world, it deserveth God’s wrath and damnation.”

Then on 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 so that we may have a good will and working with us when we have that good will.” And on justification, “We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by faith and not of our own works or deserving, wherefore that



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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 and 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 judgment, yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith in so much that by them a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by its fruit.”

Do you hear in all of these those profound Reformed ideologies and thoughts? Let me read on the church. “The visible church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men in which the pure word of God is preached and the sacraments duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance in all these things that of necessity are requisite to the same.” And on the authority of the church, “The church hath power to decree rites and ceremonies and authority and controversies of faith. And yet it is not lawful for the church to ordain anything 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 keeper of holy writ, yet as it ought not to decree anything against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce anything to be believed for necessity of salvation [centrality of the Bible].”

On purgatory, “The Romish doctrine concerning purgatory, pardons, worshiping and adoration as well as of images and of relics and also invocation of saints is a fond thing vainly invented and grounded upon no warrant of Scripture but is repugnant to the Word of God [pretty clear statement there], of speaking in the congregations 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 public prayer in the church or to minister the sacraments in a tongue not understood by the people.” You see clearly what they’re referring to there in the ongoing Latin liturgy. “Of the sacraments, there are two sacraments ordained of Christ: baptism and the supper of the Lord.” And it goes on to talk about the elements of those.

These are basic Reformed emphases that we hear coming again and again into the famous 39 Articles which have been taken over with very minor revisions by worldwide Anglicanism down to our own day. They reflect the deep impact of Reformation thought in the English Reformation which some have argued is basically a political kind of affair with Henry VIII simply breaking from



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Rome not from the church so much as from Rome because of the inability to solve his own marital and offspring-related problems. But in effect, the basic elements and foundation of the English church grew out of profoundly Reformed ideology and doctrine, as we see in some of these basic documents.

More important perhaps than the 39 Articles is the Book of Common Prayer. This has had by far the most lasting and permanent influence on the people. It’s certainly the greatest and most lasting monument of the early Tudor phase of the English Reformation. It draws together the rich heritage of medieval, Eastern, and Lutheran traditions. It renders the church’s liturgical treasures in an English of great beauty and one that only the most strict Puritan could complain about. It reflects the influence of Thomas Cranmer, his genuine ecumenical genius, stately in language, scriptural in quality with substance, endearing itself to generation after generation. It is the quintessential expression of Anglicanism at its best. Those of you who have not become familiar with the Book of Common Prayer really ought to do so. It is a rich resource for the church, not only for Anglicans and Episcopalians worldwide, but for all Christians who can find there great help and encouragement.

Now this Elizabethan Settlement didn’t please everybody. Indeed, in 1559, almost immediately after Elizabeth took over, a vigorous and numerous reforming party was demanding more extreme changes. They were glad for what had been done already, but they felt that much more needed to be done. Anglicanism, you see, is one of the broadest of the Reformed patterns. And there were those, namely the Puritans, who felt that it had broadened itself to take in too much of the old “Romish” practice. They wanted to rid it of some of those elements.

The age of Puritanism, which runs in the last half of the sixteenth and the first half of the seventeenth century, is really a kind of second phase of the English Reformation. It’s a period that might justly be called the Puritan century. And we’ll talk a good bit about Puritanism as we move through the next few lectures. But Puritanism at its core was both negative and positive. It was negative in that it wanted to purify England’s religious life, as I’ve mentioned. But it had a positive element of wanting to revive and renew the church. And both of those elements are part of the great Puritan movement in the church. Alan Simpson in his little book Puritanism in Old and New England, one of the very best places to begin in your study of Puritanism, defines Puritanism



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as giving allegiance to two central commitments. The first is the reform of the church and its renewal, and the second is a deep commitment to experiential faith to conversion or new birth as the beginning of Christian experience. We’ll come back to those two themes a number of times as we look at Puritanism, because they are right at the heart of Puritanism not only as it emerges in England but as it takes shape in other parts of the world including here in America as well.

The Puritans drew heavily upon continental Reformers, especially John Calvin. Puritanism was essentially a movement of the Book, of the Scriptures. And we see that in terms of the products of the Scripture in English over the years. The first of these was produced by John Wycliffe in 1380, a translation from the Latin. Then came William Tyndale’s translation from Erasmus’s Greek text. This was distributed in England after 1526. The first complete Bible in English was produced by Miles Coverdale in 1535 which included the Apocrypha. John Rogers issued in 1537 a translation based upon the work of Tyndale and Coverdale which was printed under the pseudonym “Matthew” and hence came to be known as “Matthew’s Bible.”

The Great Bible of 1539 was the first Bible to be specifically prescribed for use in the churches of England. It was virtually a reissue of Matthew’s Bible. And a second edition of this is the one quoted in the Book of Common Prayer. The Geneva Bible of 1560 was the work of several Marian exiles including Coverdale. This was the most widely distributed English Bible until it was superseded by the King James Version. The Douay–Rheims Bible was translated by exiled Roman Catholics for Catholic use in England, and it has remained down to the time of the Jerusalem Bible the standard Roman Catholic translation. The King James Version of 1604, issued in 1611, was a translation of forty-seven scholars, the very best of the day. It has remained till very recent years the standard Bible for use among many Protestants. One sees in this whole tradition which I have just mentioned the centrality of the Scripture for the Puritans, the importance of the Book at the core of their life and faith.

Puritanism grew rapidly. The first solid impact of the movement was felt during the days when the Elizabethan Settlement was being worked out in the late 1550s and 1560s. The theological leader was Thomas Cartwright, a professor at Cambridge, a thoroughgoing Presbyterian who considered Geneva and Scotland as the models for church structure. Under James I, 1603 to 1625,



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who was King James VI of Scotland, had developed a jaundiced view of Presbyterianism. Royal opposition to Puritanism became increasingly overt, and some became very discouraged by this turn of events. John Fox was one of those who responded to that by calling for England to be an elect nation that its task was to save the Reformation. You have others that are writing and responding under the regime of James I. When Charles I took the throne in 1625, things got even worse. Charles took a Roman Catholic queen. He appointed Bishop William Laud of London, Archbishop of Canterbury in 1633. Before that time, the position had been held by a series of Reformed, sometimes even Puritan ministers: Parker, Grindal, Wycliffe, Bancroft, Abbot, and the like.

This shift of events dimmed Puritan hopes for England’s future. Some began to migrate to Holland. Others, particularly in the 1630s, began the great migrations to America. This is often called “the swarming” of the Puritans. The migrations were interrupted for a time in 1640. The Long Parliament met, episcopacy was abolished, and plans for a Puritan reformation for the Church of England were set forward. The Assembly of Divines at Westminster was drawn together to prepare a blueprint for the new establishment. A strict Reformed directory of worship was prepared and enacted by parliament. A Presbyterian form of government was prescribed and partially enacted. Archbishop Laud was executed. The Westminster Confession and two catechisms were produced, adopted by the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, and in fact adopted by parliament in England and subscribed to by two-thirds of the clergy.

Even more radical tendencies took place when King Charles I was executed in 1649 and Oliver Cromwell assumed political authority as Lord Protector. Congregational independency flourished. The Baptists grew in numbers. Left-wing sectarian movements proliferated. There was great chaos in government and church life. It’s fascinating to read about this rule of Cromwell. It’s much easier to criticize those in power than it is to perform once you’re in power. And it wasn’t long before Presbyterians joined hands with the Episcopalians and the Catholics to restore Charles II to the throne. As a matter of fact, the Puritans, in joining in that kind of strange coalition, helped to produce the Restoration, which reestablished the episcopal form of church life in an even more tightly defined manner. And it was out of that experience then that great pressure and continued persecution came to the Puritans. And you have Puritan groups from Baptists through Quakers to Presbyterians and Congregationalists who are thrown


Christ-Centered Learning — Anytime, Anywhere

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in prison. John Bunyan, for example, wrote his Pilgrim’s Progress while in prison under this new regime.

In addition to this, however, we see emerging this new and final form of Anglicanism, a kind of normative Anglicanism which came to its own between 1660 and 1690. Between Henry’s Act of Supremacy then in 1534 and the Restoration of 1660, the religious travail of England had turned on the question, What should the church be? What should Anglicanism be? The restoration of the Stuart line finally settled the question. While the Church of Scotland should be allowed to retain its Presbyterian form, in England episcopacy was restored. It won the day once again. And this new Anglicanism stressed continuity with England’s Catholic past, its determination to retain traditional forms of ministry, the ancient diocesan government structures. It focused on the liturgical forms enshrined in the Book of Common Prayer as worked out under Elizabeth. There was a strong link between church and state and a certain degree of toleration provided for the non-conformist or dissenting churches. It is out of that mix then that you have not only formed the classic outgrowth of the English Reformation, worldwide Anglicanism, but also the foundation out of which the Puritan rebellion and response continues. And we’ll pick up that story in a later lecture.

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