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THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN THE LIGHT OF THETHE CHURCH OF ENGLAND IN THE LIGHT OF THE SCRIPTURESSCRIPTURES

First Revised EditionOctober 9, 2000

Also by the Author:The Roman Catholic Church in the Light of the Scriptures

Questions Concerning Catholic Doctrines & Dogmas AnsweredThe Lutheran Church in the Light of the Scriptures

The Baptist Church in the Light of the Scripture

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THE CHURCH OF ENGLANDTHE CHURCH OF ENGLAND_________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION A. History of the early Church of Christ in EnglandB. Middle Ages: Era of Submission to the Pope of RomeC. The Church of England Separated from the Church of RomeD. The Church of England TodayE. Calendar of Events in Church of England’s History

TEACHINGS AND PRACTICES OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND

I. CONCERNING CHURCH GOVERNMENTA. Union of church and state; their church is headed by the monarch of England;

episcopalian church government, etc.B. Refutation

II. CONCERNING SOURCES (BASIS) OF HER DOCTRINESA. She teaches: Bible plus Book of Common Prayer; 39 Articles of Religion; etc.B. Refutation

III. CONCERNING SALVATIONA. She teaches: Salvation by faith onlyB. Refutation

IV. CONCERNING BAPTISMA. She teaches: Pouring as baptism; infant baptism; etc.B. Refutation

V. CONCERNING PREDESTINATION AND ELECTIONA. She teaches: The Calvinistic theory of salvationB. Refutation

VI. CONCERNING SINA. She teaches: Original and actual sinsB. Refutation

CONCLUSION: The Church of England is not the church of Jesus.A. She is a product of her times.B. In none of these instances is it proven that she is the church of Christ.

APPENDIX: The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion

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THE CHURCH OF ENGLANDTHE CHURCH OF ENGLANDINTRODUCTION

A. History of the Early Church of Christ in England It is generally believed that Christianity came to the British Isles before the end of

the 2nd century. Tertullian (c. 155) spoke of places in Britain1 not yet reached by the Romans2 but yet subject to Christ.3 This could mean that the forces of Christ came first before the forces of Rome. Other writers believe Christianity was introduced by the Roman soldiers.4

At first, the church of Christ in England was not one of vigor, but later it acquired new strength because of the example set by its martyrs. One such exemplary martyr to the cause of Christ in England was a Christian named Alban of the Roman colony of Verulam.5 Formerly a pagan, Alban was converted to Christianity by a Christian teacher whom he had protected from the persecution waged by Rome. Later, Alban would die for his faith, the first martyr for the cause of the Lord in England.

1Britain comes from the Latin Britannia, which was the name applied by the Romans to the island before its Anglo-Saxon invasion. It is “still the name used to mean Great Britain or even all of the British Isles” (Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia [Columbus OH: Funk & Wagnalls Corporation, 1993], 4:358). A limited monarchy, it is now known officially as the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.” The kingdom “includes the island of Great Britain, consisting of England, Scotland, and Wales; and Northern Ireland... [which occupies] part of the island of Ireland” (12:118). Wales was annexed in the 14th century; Scotland became a part of the kingdom by virtue of the Act of Union in 1707, although it still continues “to have separate traditions of law and separate established churches-- the Presbyterian in Scotland, the Anglican in England and Wales” (12:139).2The Roman conquest of Britain began with Julius Ceasar who invaded it in BC 55, as a “sort of an afterthought to his conquest of Gaul,” and he returned a year later to defeat the native forces (FWNE, 4:359; 9:260, 262). But even that contact was temporary, for the permanent occupation of the island had to wait until the coming of Emperor Claudius in AD 43. Rome left Britain in AD 410, just before its fall to the Germanic tribes that besieged it (FWNE, 4:359; 9:262).3 FWNE says: “The earliest unquestioned historical evidence of an organized Christian church in England is found in the writings of such early Christian fathers as Tertullian and Origen in the first years of the 3d century, although the first Christian communities probably were established some decades earlier” (FWNE, 6:279).4FWNE says, “Christianity was introduced by the Roman soldiers but made little headway with the populace” (FWNE, 9:260).5An ancient British tribe of Iceni, led by its queen named Boudicca (d. 60), sacked the Roman colonies of Londinium and Veralamium (which must be the Latin variant of Verulam, ETM), in revenge over the death of her husband who perished at the hands of the Romans. Her large army says the Roman historian Tacitus, “killed some 70,000 Romans.” The Roman governor of Britain, absent at the time of the sacking, advanced against the queen and destroyed her force. Boudicca killed herself by taking poison. The colony of Londinium is now known as London, and Veralamium is now the present St. Albans, named perhaps in honor of the first British Christian martyr (FWNE, 4:263).

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Constantius, the Roman governor of Britain who had an inclination to favor the Christians, complied with the emperor’s edict to demolish Christian chapels but allowed the Christians freedom to exercise their religion, and even protected them from insult and injury. He died at York, unconverted, although tradition says his wife became a disciple of the Lord. Constantius was succeeded by his son, Constantine, in A.D. 306.

How organized was early British Christianity? “The best illustration of the early organization of Christianity in Britain is the fact that British bishops attended the Council of Arles, A.D. 314,”6 as well as other councils, a fact of history that has never been questioned.7

In the 4th century, Pelagianism took root in Britain. The author of this doctrine was himself a native of Britain, named Pelagius. Pelagianism is the doctrine that denies original sin and consequently holds that man has the freedom to do either right or wrong. The British bishops called in Germanus and Lupus from Gaul, who refuted Pelagius at the Conference of Verulam, in A.D. 446.

After nearly four hundred years of occupation, Rome abandoned Britain. But if left a superb network of roads, “the best that Britain would have for 1400 years.”8 The Anglo-Saxons, who occupied Britain after the departure of the Romans, gave their own names to these Roman roads, and chased Christianity into Wales.9

B. The Middle Ages: Era of Submission to the Pope of RomeFunk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia says, “The ritual and discipline of the early

English church were largely introduced by the Celtic and Gallic missionaries and monks,” such as “St.” Columba, who brought it from Ireland to Scotland, and “St.” Aidans, who then brought it to Northumbria.10 “St.” Aidans founded the monastery of Lindisfarne. The Celtic church founded by these monks differed much from the church introduced by Rome.11

Up to the 6th century, British Christianity had been independent of the Church of Rome. But not for long. Gregory the Great, one of the very powerful popes of Rome, sent Augustine together with a number of monks in A.D. 596, who converted the English

6McClintock and Strong, Encyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, 3:197. Art. “England, Church of.”7 FWNE says: “Three English bishops are known to have been present at the Council of Arles in 314. Others attended the Council of Sardica in 347 and that of Ariminum in 360, and a number of references to the church in Roman Britain are found in the writings of the 4th-century Christian fathers” (FWNE, 6:279).8FWNE, 9:262.9FWNE, 9:263.10FWNE, 6:279, 263.11Their differences include “in the way the monks tonsured their heads, in its reckoning of the date of Easter, and, most important, in its organization, which reflected the clans of Ireland rather than the highly centralized Roman Empire” (FWNE, 9:263).

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Saxons, plus their kings and queens, to “Christianity” (Romish style). “It is said that 10,000 English were baptized within the year of Augustine’s arrival.”12 Wherever the Roman Church’s influence prevailed, the Romanish view of Christianity was adopted.13

In A.D. 668, the pope of Rome sent Theodore to be the primate of England, specifically as archbishop of Canterbury. Under Theodore’s administration, the Romanish and the British Christians were fused into one body. In the “ensuing fusion of Celtic and Roman influences, the Celtic forms gradually gave way to the liturgy and practices of the Roman West.”14 It was Theodore who “created dioceses and gave the English church its basic structure.”15

Because the “Germanic kingdoms [of Great Britain] tended to coalesce by means of warfare,”16 Rome made use of these wars to advance its cause of proselytization. For example, King Alfred, after his victory at Eddington in 878, “forced the Danish king Guthrum (fl. 865-890) to accept baptism, and a division of England into two parts,” for easier control.17 In 1073, when Gregory VII was pope, papal jurisdiction was pushed all the more over all the British churches.

King John (1167-1216), son of King Henry II and brother of King Richard I, the Lion Hearted, had a long fight with pope Innocent III over the naming of Stephen Langton as archbishop of Canterbury, in 1213. England was then laid under an interdict. Pushed into a corner, King John acknowledged England to be a papal fief and resigned his crown to the pope. Also, in 1215, the barons, led by Langton, forced him to sign the Magna Charta, “by which he admitted his errors and promised to respect English law and feudal customs.”18 During these times, dozens of cathedrals were built and scores of abbeys and parishes were established, and the Roman Catholic Church as well as its monks became wealthy.19

In 1377, John Wycliffe, rector of Lutterworth and first English reformer, was arrested for his “heresy.”20 No harm came to him, however. He died in 1384. Wycliffe’s translation of the Scriptures, and his other writings, had little effect upon the mass of

12MCS, 3:197; cf. FWNE, 9:260. Augustine became the first Catholic bishop of Canterbury.13To make England Catholic, Rome worked with its kings. For example, in AD 664, at the Synod of Whitby, Northumbria’s king Oswy chose to cast his lot with the pope, “giving England a common religion and a vivid example of unification” (FWNE, 9:263).14FWNE, 6:279.15FWNE, 9:263.16FWNE, 9:263.17FWNE, 9:264.18FWNE, 9:267.19FWNE, 9:267.20That is, preaching against the supremacy of the pope, the abuses of the Catholic hierarchy, and the Romanish doctrine of sacraments. This Oxford professor antedated Martin Luther’s Reformation by some two hundred years but much of his ideas were similar to those of the later Protestant reformers (FWNE, 9:268).

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commoners, but they had great impact on the more educated classes. In 1400, his followers became so numerous so as to form a party of their own, known as “The Lollards.”

C. The Church of England, Daughter of the Church of Rome, Separated from the Pope(1) Henry VIII, the “Defender of the Catholic Faith”

In 1509, King Henry VIII, who later was to separate from the Church of Rome to become the head of the Church of England, ascended the English throne. He was the son of Henry Tudor,21 otherwise known as King Henry VII.22 Henry at first proved to be truly Romish. While subject to the pope of Rome, Henry was a faithful proclaimer and defender of the Romanish faith. For “when [Martin] Luther declared war against the pope, Henry wrote his treatise on the seven sacraments against Luther’s book, Of the Captivity of Babylon, and was repaid by the [Roman] pontiff with the title ‘Defender of the Faith’ (1521).”23

By its outward appearance, the Church of Rome was fairly settled in England at the time of Henry’s accession to the English throne. But this “Romish apostle” later turned “apostate.” Later Anglican historians and theologians would attempt to explain Henry’s change. But the fact remains that indeed Henry did change religion.

(2) The “Defender of the Catholic Faith” became head of a Protestant church

Henry had married, in June 1509, his brother’s widow and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.24 Six children and eighteen years later, in 1527, he was already getting tired of

21The house of Tudor was founded by the Welsh nobleman Owen Tudor (1400?-1461). He married Catherine of Valois, widow of the English king Henry V. Owen and Catherine’s eldest son, Edmund Tudor, married Margaret Beaufort, a descendant of King Edward III. Edmund and Margaret’s son, Henry Tudor, killed Richard III of the house of York and became Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch of England. The successive Tudor rulers of England were Henry VIII, his only son Edward VI, and his daughters Mary I and Elizabeth I. All three, Edward, Mary and Elizabeth, died childless. The Tudors were instrumental for reuniting the country and making the English church independent of the Church of Rome. (FWNE, 26:76).22FWNE, 9:269.23MCS, 3:198.24Born in Alcala de Henares, Spain, Catherine was the daughter of Ferdinand V and Isabella I, king and queen of Aragon and Castille. “... The question of her marriage to Henry was a factor in the Reformation in England. Henry’s father, King Henry VII, hoped to form a binding alliance with Spain when he negotiated the marriage of Catherine and his son Arthur, Prince of Wales (1486-1502). She went to England in 1501 and was married in November, but Arthur died in April 1502. A few months later Henry VII arranged a second marriage for Catherine with his second son Henry, then 12 years old. A papal dispensation enabling Henry to marry the widow of his brother was obtained in 1503. Henry succeeded to the throne in April 1509 and in June he married Catherine...” This Spanish princess turned England’s queen “bore Henry six children, only one of whom, a daughter, later Queen Mary I, survived” (FWNE, 5:369).

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her,25 and was planning to divorce in order to marry Anne Boleyn. One reason was Henry’s quixotic quest and obsession for a male heir to the throne.26 But to pope Clement VII, an annulment is out of the question,27 and Henry was vexed.28

Henry secretly married Anne in January 1533. Thomas Cranmer, on his elevation as archbishop of Canterbury two months later, pronounced the divorce between Henry and Catherine, as well as publicly notified the marriage between Henry and Anne Boleyn.29

The pope of Rome declared this act illegal and threatened that, unless things were undone, he would excommunicate Henry.

Henry responded to this papal threat by causing the English Parliament to enact statutes and laws abolishing all papal authority over the church in England, and to stop all payments to the Roman exchequer.30 Says FWNE, “He thus reaffirmed the ancient right of the Christian prince, or monarch, to exercise supremacy over the affairs of the church within his domain,” citing secular precedents in the relations between the church and the state in the Roman Empire in the East, as well as that involving Charlemagne and the pope.31

25Perhaps, their age difference, not to mention Catherine’s pro-Spanish sympathies, had exacted a heavy toll on the English crown. (FWNE, 5:369). Catherine at this time was 42 years of age while Henry VII was 37. At her marriage to Arthur, in 1501, she was sixteen while Arthur was fifteen. When her marriage to Henry was arranged in 1502, she was seventeen while Henry was twelve, but the marriage was consummated when Henry, age 19, was already king, in June 1509.26FWNE, 5:369. In 1533 Henry was married to Anne. A year later, the pope finally declared the validity of the first marriage, and thus brought about Henry’s alienation from the Roman Catholic See. “Catherine did not quit the kingdom, but was thereafter closely guarded. During this time she displayed heroic courage and steadfastly refused to sign away her rights and those of Mary” (FWNE, 5:369). 27FWNE, 22:161. Pope Clement was a captive of the most powerful ruler at that time, Charles V, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. Charles V, a great grandson of emperor Maximillian, was also a nephew of Catherine of Aragon (cf. FWNE, 6:38; 5:369).28FWNE, 6:280. 29FWNE, 22:161. Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife, and Catherine Howard, his fifth, were relatives. Both were nieces of Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk, England’s most powerful peer during the reign of Henry VIII. Anne was the daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, earl of Wiltshire and Ormonde. She was crowned in June and in September gave birth to the future queen Elizabeth. Later, Henry too got tired of Anne. This unfortunate lady was “imprisoned in the Tower of London on charges of adultery with her brother, three gentlemen of the privy chamber, and a musician of the court and of conspiring with these men against the king’s life. The four commoners were tried on May 12, and Anne and her brother on May 15; all were convicted of high treason. Whether Anne was guilty of these crimes has never been determined. It is known that Henry wanted to remarry. Anne’s uncle, Thomas Howard, 3d duke of Norfolk, presided over the judges who condemned her to death. No record of the evidence remains. On May 17, the musician was hanged, and the other four beheaded. Two days later, Anne was also beheaded. King Henry was betrothed to Jane Seymour the next day” (FWNE, 4:193, 194; 13:248). 30The exchequer (Lat. saccarium, “chessboard”) “is the department of the British government charged with the receipt and disbursement of national revenues,” and is administered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, who serves as the national finance minister (FWNE, 10:30). The exchequer, the royal treasury, was established at the time of Henry I (FWNE, 9:266).31FWNE, 6:280.

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This action of a secular monarch, though revolutionary, “received the support of the overwhelming majority of Englishmen, clerical and lay alike.”32 Support to Henry’s revolutionary action was given “chiefly because no drastic change was made in the Catholic faith and practices to which England was accustomed.”33 “The acts of [the English] Parliament between 1529 and 1536 mark the beginning of the Anglican church as a national church independent of papal jurisdiction.”34

The convocation of English bishops, pressured by Henry, proclaimed the King of England as “the only supreme Lord, as far as the law of Christ permits, even the supreme head of the Church of England.”35

In 1536, Henry issued a proclamation to draw up a Creed that would contain what the Church of England must believe, since it had already rejected the pope of Rome. In 1539, the English Parliament passed an “act for abolishing diversity of opinions.”36 The break of the English church from the Romish church became final.

By and large, the Church of England, although she is being classed as Protestant, is definitely a daughter of the Roman Church. For example, its Creed also contains the doctrine of transubstantiation as taught by the Church of Rome.

(3) The First Confession of the Church of EnglandIn 1540, Thomas Cranmer persuaded Henry to appoint a commission that would

draw up a formal Confession for the newly separated Church of England, which appeared under the title “The Erudition of a Christian Man.” This Confession contains: (1) Recommendation to pray for the dead because “it is not yet known what condition the departed souls are in”, and “we ought only to recommend them to the mercy of God.” 37 (2) An affirmation of the doctrine of justification by faith. (3) A prohibition of the worship of images but allows their use to excite the feeling of devotion in its devotees.

In 1549, the first Book of Common Prayer for the now separated Church of England was published and its use was required of the Anglican clergy by an Act of Uniformity.38 A second prayer book that reflected more strongly the Continental Reformation influence was issued in 1552, and was followed shortly by Forty-Two Articles which contains the doctrinal statement of the Church of England.39 Both the prayer book and the articles, however, were swept away upon the accession of Mary

32FWNE, 6:280.33FWNE, 6:280. We must not lose sight of the fact that the fire of the German Reformation started by Martin Luther was now being felt in England, too, and even more strongly after Henry’s death.34FWNE, 6:280.35 MCS, 3:199.36 MCS, 3:199.37MCS, 3:200.38FWNE, 6:280.39FWNE, 6:280.

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Tudor, otherwise known as Mary I, Catherine of Aragon’s only surviving child and Protestant England’s only Catholic queen (1553), “who returned England to a formal obedience to the papacy that lasted until her death in 1558.”40

At Henry VIII’s death, Edward, his only son (by his third wife, Jane Seymour) came to the throne. The reign of Edward did not last long.

(4) The Rise of the Romanist Party in the Reign of MaryWhile the ailing young King Edward was alive, he approved a deed declaring Lady

Jane Grey, granddaughter of Henry VII and daughter of Henry Grey, duke of Suffolk, as his successor. Lady Jane Grey indeed became queen but only for nine days. Mary Tudor “contested the succession,” and got the crown. She then had Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Guildford Dudley, accused of treason and imprisoned in the Tower of London, and both were beheaded on Feb. 12, 1554.41 Mary (otherwise known as “Bloody Mary” because of the great persecution she waged against Protestants in England) reestablished Romanism, declared the Book of Common Prayer and the Catechism as heretical, reconciled her kingdom to the See of Rome, surrendered all church lands that had been seized by Henry, filled the English prisons with “heretics,” and made martyrs out of the chief English reformers: Rogers burned at Smithfield, Hooper at Gloucester, Saunders at Coventry, Taylor at Hadley, and Cranmer, Latimer, and Ridley at Oxford.

Although Mary was herself a Romanist, she approved of the colonization of Catholic Ireland by Protestant English settlers, the first one to do so, driving out the Irish people of Kings and Queens Co. and giving their lands to the English colonists.42

Mary Tudor’s attempt to reform the English “reformed” Church was not the first. King James II “attempted to reintroduce the practice of Roman Catholicism in England. James lost his throne to William III and Mary II in the ensuing revolution of 1668.”43

(5) With the Rise of Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603), Protestantism rose also The religious controversy in England became settled when Elizabeth I succeeded Mary I as queen of England in 1558. Queen Elizabeth took various political measures to reform the English church, including the revival of Henry VIII’s ecclesiastical laws, and the drawing up of an Act of Supremacy, which defined more cautiously the English monarch’s authority in the Church of England. Another Act of Uniformity imposed the use of a Book of Common Prayer and “avoided the Protestant excesses of the second prayer book.”44 40FWNE, 6:280.41FWNE, 12:235.42FWNE, 14:213.43FWNE, 6:280.44FWNE, 6:280.

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During Queen Elizabeth’s time, the more extreme party in the church of England, called the “Puritans,”45 appeared. With the increase of their political power in the Parliament, they “became more insistent in their demands for further reform in the Church of England in the direction of the Protestantism of Geneva and other continental centers.”46

These people thus became the object of Queen Elizabeth’s persecution. Many of these “Puritans” sailed for the New World, and became the founding fathers of the United States of America.

Under Elizabeth I and James I, the authority of the Anglican state church was also extended over Ireland. The Church of England obtained all that belonged to the Church of the Pale, that is, in and around Dublin, Ireland. The Church of the Pale thus became affected by the Reformation, but the Celtic church of Ireland became increasingly Roman Catholic, and the feud between the two Irish churches became increasingly hostile. “Nearly the entire Celtic population of Ireland and the majority of the inhabitants of the Pale remained Roman Catholic,” says FWNE, “and the Anglican church served as a political instrument of the English rulers in Dublin Castle.”47 Furthermore, at the accession of James I, “English law was pronounced the sole law.”48

(6) King James I ascended the throne of England. The first Stuart king of Great Britain, James was a cousin of Queen Elizabeth and

the only son of Mary, queen of the Scots49 and her second husband, Lord Darnley. When his mother abdicated, he was proclaimed James VI, king of Scotland, 1567-1625.50 In 1603, when Queen Elizabeth died without an heir, James VI, already king of Scotland, was proclaimed James I, king of England, 1603-1625.51

It was during the reign of James that the King James Version of the Bible was made, at the suggestion of the leaders of the Puritans, through the Hampton Court Conference which he convoked.52 At his ascension, the Puritans calculated on having his support to the amendments in the various ceremonies of the Church of England, including the Presbyterian form of church government and Calvinism. King James, however, was

45Puritanism too is Calvinistic in its doctrinal tradition, and the Westminster Confession of Faith (1646) is an expression of their theology. The Confession was adopted by the Church of Scotland in 1648, and has become the basic creed of Presbyteriian groups ever since. Many English Puritans, dissatisfied with the Anglican Church, immigrated to America during the colonial period. (FWNE, 5:162).46FWNE, 6:280.47FWNE, 14:213.48FWNE, 14:213.49She was the daughter of James V, king of Scotland (1513-1542) and a nephew of Henry VIII, king of England. When Henry VIII became head of Church of England, he induced James V to repudiate the authority of the pope, but the latter refused, resulting in the strained relationship between them (FWNE, 14:391). 50FWNE, 14:389. Mary, the ex-queen of the Scots, was executed for treason in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.51FWNE, 14:389.52FWNE, 14:389.

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inclined toward episcopacy as more reformable to the English monarchy. Henceforth, the Calvinist party in the Church of England declined, and King James himself turned against it.

The agitation for religious change in James I’s reign too was closely related with the Parliament’s struggle against Stuart absolutism. The Parliament party became so strong enough they outlawed the use of the prayer book in 1645, had their king, Charles I,53

executed in 1649, and for a time overthrown the monarchy.54 When another Stuart, Charles II, was restored to the English throne,55 the prayer book was “revised to essentially its present form,” as required by a third Act of Uniformity, in 1662.56

(7) The Church of England gave birth to other sects. The great rebellion and the English civil war, however, led to the putting down of

“episcopalian party” and the reestablishment of “presbyterianism” on the basis of the Westminster Confession of Faith.57 The Puritans in the Church of England from henceforth became “presbyterians.” While a liberal English king was reigning, the Presbyterian faction of the Church of England was not hindered. However, in 1662, the Act of Uniformity was passed which imposed uniform religious beliefs among those in the English church. Rather than take the test the Act prescribed, 200 Puritan clergy decided to leave the Church of England and formed the Presbyterian Church. This sect is the subject of our discussion in Denominational Dogmas No. 5.

The Church of England, daughter of the Church of Rome, became a mother for the second time, in the early 18th century, when the Methodist church separated from it. Methodism, then a new party within the Anglican church, resulted from the Evangelical Revival of the 18th century that had “infused a new sense of piety and of personal consecration into the popular religion of the established church, arousing the people to a deeper understanding of Christian responsibility toward missions, religious education, and

53Son of James I (first Stuart king of England), he succeeded to the throne in 1625, but his marriage aroused the ill-will of his non-Catholic subjects because his wife, Henrietta Maria, princess of France, was a Catholic. Believing in the divine right of kings and in the authority of the Church of England, he attempted to impose the Anglican liturgy in Scotland, which led to rioting by Presbyterian Scots. Unable to quell the revolt, he resorted to arbitrary measures, imposing taxes to finance his wars, and putting to prison those who opposed him. His authoritarian approach brought him into conflict with the Parliament, which ultimately led to a civil war. He was beheaded on Jan. 30, 1649. Subsequently, Oliver Cromwell took over as head of the council of state, governing England as a republic. (FWNE, 6:34, 35).54FWNE, 6:280.55In 1658, following the death of Oliver Cromwell and the succession of his son Richard Cromwell as Lord Protector, the people clamored for the restoration of the Stuart royalty. In February 1660, a royalist army led by George Monck marched into London and forced the Rump Parliament to dissolve. A new Parliament asked Charles II, eldest surviving son of Charles I, to return and proclaimed him king on May 8, 1660. He was crowned on April 23, 1661. His reign “marked a period of relative stability after the upheaval of the English Revolution” (FWNE, 6:35, 36).56FWNE, 6:280.57MCS, p. 200.

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the social and moral evils of the times.”58 The founder of this sect, John Wesley, however died as a good priest of the Church of England and was buried in his Anglican robes. The Methodist Church will be the subject of our discussion in Denominational Dogmas No. 4.

John Smyth (c. 1554-1612) and Thomas Helwys (c. 1560-1616), both English separatists from the Anglican Church, organized the first Baptist churches in Holland and England in the early 17th century.59 The Baptists will be the subject of another study (See Denominational Dogmas No. 6).

D. The Church of England TodayDuring the 19th century, a group of Anglican clerics in the University of Oxford

launched a religious movement “for the purpose of recalling the Church of England to the Catholic elements in its spiritual heritage that had been preserved through the years of the Reformation,” preferring adherence to the Catholic sacraments and liturgy.60 It was called the High Church Movement. The Low Church members, whose piety and practice were akin to characteristic Protestantism, feared this “excessive tendency” toward things Catholic and opposed the High Churchists. Despite this fear, however, “the High Church Oxford movement prospered, transforming the face of the English church,” giving “a new emphasis to the dignity and beauty of religious observances and to the central place of worship... [and] enlarged the theological concern of the church for the ancient Catholic and apostolic character of the ministry...”61 That both the Low Church and the High church members could exist and develop within the Church of England illustrates the “breadth and flexibility of the Anglican tradition of faith and practice.”62

The Broad Church movement also existed for some time in the late 19th century, consisting of those Anglicans who “fell between the Low Church and High Church parties.”63

Presently, members of the Church of England are also known as “Anglicans.” The Anglican church “is the state church and the nominal church of nearly three-fifths of the population” of England.64 The so-called “Anglican Communion, a “worldwide fellowship of national and regional churches in communion with the Church of England and the archbishop of Canterbury,”65 binds as one all the 385 Anglican dioceses throughout the world,66 including the Episcopal church in the U.S. Total membership of this communion

58FWNE, 6:280.59FWNE, 3:269.60FWNE, 6:280.61FWNE, 6:280.62FWNE, 6:280.63FWNE, 6:280.64FWNE, 9:259.65 “The Anglican Communion,” FWNE, 2:131.66Says FWNE: “Communion unites churches that share a common heritage and subscribe to the Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1884. The Quadrilateral, a statement of the doctrines considered essential from the Anglican

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is “approximately 73 million.67 The communion is intended to “promote mutual understanding and cooperation in common tasks.”68 But the departure of the Puritans (or Presbyterians) from their fold, the remaining party also became known as “Episcopalians,” because of their belief in the “episcopalian” form of church government.

The Anglican Church, in many ways, is still like its spiritual mother, the Catholic Church. “A thorough doctrinal reformation was not among the purposes of Henry” when he separated the Church of England from the See of Rome.69

The Anglican churches are now self-governing. The first service of the Anglican Communion in the New World (specifically in what was to become the United States of America) was held in the newly founded colony of Jamestown, Virginia, 1607. For many years, the Episcopalians in the colonies were under the Bishop of London; with the War of Independence (which ended with victory for the thirteen United States of America in 1776), they became self-governing.

The Anglican churches have various types of government in the different countries. In the United States, there are: (1) Parishes, with elected laymen to represent the congregation; (2) Dioceses, with the convention under which the bishop and his clergy carry on the church work; (3) A General Convention, which meets every three years and represents the entire American church.

The Anglican Church is said to be democratic; the delegates to the general convention and the laymen to the diocesan conventions are also elected. At the general convention, the House of Deputies composed of laymen and priests and the House of Bishops, in which all bishops may sit, must concur in legislative measures. Neither the bishop nor the parish clergy have any autocratic rights; all must cooperate with the laity.

The Anglicans believe that a prescribed form of church service, with parts assigned to clergy and people, is the most fitting way to adore God. Frequent revisions are made to meet the need of the succeeding ages and generations. The principle of ordered worship still remains at the heart of Anglicanism. Episcopalian worship is summed up and met in the proclamation of the gospel, the sacramental worship, and the reasonable presentation of Christianity, as they understood it. “Episcopalians appeal to the

standpoint, upholds the catholic and apostolic faith and order of the Christian church as found in Scripture, the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist, the Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed... and episcopal government. All the churches use the Book of Common Prayer..., reformed and adapted to the needs of times and of particular locales” (2:131).67FWNE, 2:131.68FWNE, 2:131.69Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, 1:726. Great Britain’s monarch is the head of state, although power is wielded by the prime minister, who is head of the government. The Parliament consists of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Lords is made up of 2 [Anglican] “archbishops, [24] senior bishops, law lords and life peers” (FWNE, 12:135, 136). Thus, politics and religion are truly unified in the Anglican Church. See also FWNE, 13:59.

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[Holy] Scriptures, [church] traditions, and personal experience as well as reason, for the vindication of the Christian faith. Differences in emphasis are welcomed in the Episcopalian churches, as long as the central affirmations are maintained.”70

Like the Roman Catholic Church from which she came, the Anglican church also makes use of the “ancient creeds,” the decisions of the “General Councils of the Christian Church,” as well as the interpretations of the “Catholic fathers and ancient bishops.”71

E. Calendar of Events in England’s History:

BC 55 Julius Ceasar invaded the island of Britain.72

BC 54 Julius Ceasar returned to Britain and defeated the native force.

AD 43 Emperor Claudius permanently occupied the island. Christianity was supposedly introduced by Roman soldiers (?) but it made only a littleheadway with the people.73

60 Queen Boudicca, queen of the ancient British tribe of Iceni, sacked the Roman colonies of Londinium (London) and Veralamium (the ancient Verulam, presently known as St. Albans), killing some 70,000 Romans.When the Romans came back and destroyed her forces, she committedsuicide.

155 Tertullian wrote about places in Britain that had been Christianized.74

306 Constantius, Roman governor of Britain, died and was succeeded by hisson Constantine.

314 British bishops attended the Council of Arles.

347 British bishops attended the Council of Sardica.

360 British bishops attended the Council of Ariminum.

410 Roman forces left Britain for good.

446 The Conference of Verulam, in which Pelagius was refuted by Germanusand Lupus of Gaul.

70 W. Norman Pittenger, Denver Post, January 25, 1955.71FWNE, 6:281.72FWNE, 4:359; 9:260, 262.73FWNE, 9:260.74FWNE, 6:279

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596 Gregory the Great sent Augustine to the British Isles to convert the EnglishSaxons to Roman Catholicism. Augustine became the first archbishop of Canterbury.

664 Northumbria’s King Oswy cast his lot with Catholicism, giving England a common religion.

668 The pope of Rome sent Theodore to become primate of England. Theodorecreated dioceses and gave the English church its basic structure.

878 After his victory at the Battle of Eddington, Alfred the Great forced the Danish king Guthrum to accept baptism.

1073 Gregory VII pushed papal jurisdiction over all the British churches.

1154 Henry Plantagenet became king as Henry II and attempted to reduce the jurisdiction of church courts.

1170 Death of Thomas a’ Beckett, Henry’s former chancellor whom he had madearchbishop of Canterbury. Beckett’s intransigence angered Henry, which led to his martyrdom in the Canterbury cathedral.

1213 King John fought with pope Innocent III over the appointment of StephenLangton as archbishop of Canterbury. England was placed under aninterdict and King John resigned his crown to the pope.

1215 The English barons led by archbishop Stephen Langton forced King John to sign the Magna Charta.

1258 The Provisions of Oxford attempted to give control of the government toa committee of barons.

1264 Civil war broke out in England, and Baron Simon de Montfort came briefly to power.

1265 Simon de Montfort died in the battle of Evesham, and power returned tothe English royalty.

1295 Establishment of the Model Parliament, patterned after that of Simon deMontfort’s.

1297 King Edward I assented to the demands of the Parliament in order to finance his wars, by the Confirmation of Charters.

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1309 The papacy was moved from Rome to Avignon in France.

1311 King Edward II gave back the barons their ruling power.

1327 Edward II abdicated in favor of his son, Edward III.

1337 Edward III initiated the Hundred Years War to vindicate his claim to theFrench throne.

1349 Black Death struck England, reducing it population by as much as a third.

1376 Papacy was moved from Avignon to Rome.

1377 John Wycliffe, first English reformer, was arrested for “heresy,” that is,for teaching doctrines that are anti-Catholic.

1378 Beginning of the Great Schism, in which rival popes opposed one another.The Schism lasted till 1417.

1384 John Wycliffe died.

1400s The Lollards, followers of John Wycliffe, became so many.

1400’s England annexed Wales.75

1485 Birth of Catherine of Aragon, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain.

1486 Birth of Arthur, prince of Wales and heir apparent of King Henry VII.

1491 Birth of Henry VIII, in London, on June 28.

1501 Catherine of Aragon went to England to become the wife of Arthur, the prince of Wales.

1502 Arthur, prince of Wales, died, leaving Catherine a widow.

1502 King Henry VII arranged for Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

1503 A papal dispensation enabled Henry VIII to marry his brother’s widow.

1509 In April of this year, Henry VIII ascended the English throne, and in June of the same year he married his brother’s widow and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.

75 FWNE, 12:139.

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1509 Birth of Jane Seymour.76

1516 Birth of Mary, Henry VIII’s daughter by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon,in London, on February 18.

1517 Martin Luther began the Reformation Movement in Germany.

1519 Charles V, Catherine of Aragon’s nephew, became Holy Roman emperor.77

1521 Henry VIII was repaid by the pope with the title “Defender of the Faith,” for writing a treatise in answer to Martin Luther’s book Of the Captivity of Babylon.

1527 After having six children with Catherine, only one of whom survived, Henry VIII got tired of his wife and planned to divorce her.78

1528 English cardinal Thomas Wolsey, with Lorenzo Campeggio, tried Henry VIII’s divorce case in the English legatine court.

1529 Pope Clement VII summoned the case to Rome. When the prospect of marriage annulment seemed hopeless, Henry dismissed Thomas Wolsey and appointed Thomas Moore in Wolsey’s place. Moore, like Wolsey, was reluctant to support the divorce.

1532 With the aid of the Parliament, Henry secured control of the clergy, compelling that group to sever its ties to the papacy.

1533 In January of this year, Henry VIII secretly married Anne Boleyn.

1533 Two months later, Thomas Cranmer, having been elevated by Henry VIII as archbishop of Canterbury, publicly pronounced the divorce between

Henry VIII and Catherine as well as Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn.

1533 Pope Clement VII declared Henry’s acts illegal and threatened to excommunicate him.

1533 In June, Anne Boleyn was crowned as queen consort of King Henry VIII.

1533 In September, Anne Boleyn gave birth to Elizabeth I.

76FWNE, 23:334.77FWNE, 24:226-227.78FWNE, 22:161.

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1534 The convocation of English bishops, pressured by Henry, formally proclaimed the King of England as the “supreme head of the Church of England.” Thomas Moore was executed for refusing to accept the supremacy of the English monarch.

1536 Henry dissolved the monastic communities and gave much of their property

to the nobles in exchange of the latter’s support.

1536 Anne Boleyn, having been falsely charged with incest and adultery, wassentenced to die. The trial was presided by her uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd duke of Norfolk. A few days after her execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, who bore him Edward VI.79

1536 A Creed was drawn up that would contain what the Church of England must believe.

1537 Death of Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s 3rd wife.

1539 English Parliament passed an “act abolishing diversity of opinions,” thus making final the separation of the English church from Rome. Obedience to the pope remained a criminal offense. However, it also passed the Act of Six Articles, making it heretical to deny the main tenets of Roman Catholicism. As a result, Lutherans were burned as heretics and Catholics were executed for denying the supremacy of the English king.80

1540 Henry VIII married Anne of Cleves to form a tie between England andthe Protestant princes of Germany. After several months, he divorced herand married Catherine Howard, Anne Boleyn’s cousin.

1540 Thomas Cranmer persuaded Henry to appoint a commission to draw up a formal Confession of Faith for the Church of England, titled “The Eruditionof Man.”

1542 Catherine Howard, Henry’s 5th wife, was summarily executed for having been unchaste prior to marriage. Henry then married Catherine Parr, who survived him.

1549 An Act of Uniformity published and required the use of the first Book of Common Prayer for the Anglican clergy.

1552 A second Book of Common Prayer was issued, followed by Forty-TwoArticles of Faith that contain the doctrinal beliefs of the Church of

79FWNE, 23:334.80FWNE, 22:161.

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England.

1553 Death of Edward VI, on July 6. Lady Jane Grey, granddaughter of Henry VII, became queen of England for only nine days (July 10-19). Mary Tudor, otherwise known as Queen Mary I, contested the succession and got the crown.

1553 Queen Mary I swept away the Confessions of Faith and the Prayer Book and sought to return England to the fold of the pope. Mass was restored without opposition and pope’s authority was reestablished, but Parliament refused to restore the church lands seized under Henry VIII.

1554 Queen Mary Tudor’s marriage to Philip II, king of Spain, was greeted by a formidable rebellion in England led by Sir Thomas Wyatt, who sought to depose Mary and put her half-sister Elizabeth on the throne.

1554 On February 12 of this year, Lady Jane Grey and her husband, imprisonedby Mary Tudor on a false charge in the Tower of London, were beheaded.Mary Tudor was called Bloody Mary because of a large number of persecutions that took place during her reign.

1558 At Philip II’s order, Mary Tudor made war against France. Calais, the lastremnant of England’s conquests won during the Hundred Years War, was lost.

1558 Mary Tudor died, in London, on November 17. Her half-sister, Elizabeth I, only child of Anne Boleyn, succeeded her. Elizabeth revived her father’s ecclesiastical laws.

1603 Death of Queen Elizabeth I. Her cousin, James VI of Scotland, son of Mary queen of the Scots, became King James I of England.81

1607 Puritans of England left for the New World and established the colony ofJamestown in Virginia.

1608 John Smyth, separatist priest of the Church of England, established the firstBaptist church in Holland.

1611 During James’ reign, the King James Version of the Bible was made.

1612 Thomas Helwys, another separatist Anglican priest, established the first Baptist church in England.

81FWNE, 23:238.

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1620 One of the sects of the Puritans, called the Brownists, having separated from the Church of England, after much persecution, sailed from Plymouth, England, on September 16, to America, landing at Provincetown Harbor, at the end of Cape Cod. They settled on the site of what is now Plymouth, Mass.

1625 Death of King James I. Charles I became king

1645 English Parliament outlawed the prayer book.

1649 On January 30 of this year, England executed their king, Charles I. OliverCromwell became Lord Protector, governing England as a republic.

1658 Richard Cromwell succeeded his father as Lord Protector. Under his rule,the Englishmen clamored for the restoration of the Stuart royalty.

1659 Richard Cromwell resigned as Lord Protector, and English general JohnLambert attempted to seize dictatorial power.

1660 In February, a royalist army led by George Monck marched into London and dissolved the Rump Parliament.

1660 On May 8, a new Parliament proclaimed Charles II, son of Charles I, as king.

1661 On April 23, Charles II was crowned king of England.

1662 Birth of Mary II, daughter of James II, king of England, in London. Although her father was a Catholic convert, Mary was brought up as a Protestant.

1662 Third Act of Uniformity revised the prayer book to its present form, imposed uniform religious beliefs among those in the English church. Two hundred Puritan clergy left the Church of England and formed the Presbyterian Church.

1668 King James II attempted to reintroduce Catholicism in Protestant England and lost his throne to William III and Mary II in the ensuing revolution. Both Mary and William were crowned as joint rulers in April 1689.

1694 Death of Queen Mary II, wife of William of Orange.

1707 Scotland made a part of the United Kingdom by virtue of the Act of Union.

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1729 Founding of Methodism, by John and Charles Wesley, at the University ofOxford. Both were sons of an Anglican minister.

1776 War of Independence by the thirteen United States of America. The Churchof England in the US became self-governing.

1791 John Wesley, one of the founders of Methodism, died in his Anglican robe.After his death, his followers began to divide into separate church bodies.

1884 The Lambeth Quadrilateral, a statement of the doctrines considered essential from the Anglican standpoint, was formulated.

1900s Anglican clerics launched the High Church movement in the Church of England.

TEACHINGS AND PRACTICES OF THE CHURCH OFTEACHINGS AND PRACTICES OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLANDENGLAND

I. CONCERNING CHURCH GOVERNMENTA. The Church of England teaches:

(1) The union of the church and the state. The term “church and state” refers to the “relationship between the organized

church and the government of a country, especially with regard to the extent of their powers within each other’s sphere of activity.”82

Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia says, “The Constitution of the Reformed Church of England is that of an ‘authorized and paid establishment, which is not allowed to persecute those who dissent from it’ (Short). The union of the church and the state was completely secured by the statutes that followed the Reformation up to the Revolution of 1688. The English Church Constitution remained nearly unchanged by the Reformation, only that the crown took the place of the pope.”83

(2) A church headed by the monarch of England.McClintock & Strong says, “The statute of Henry VIII (1534), ch. xxi, declares

entire independence of Rome, and calls the king supreme hede of the Church of England, according to the recognition of its prelates and clergy.”84

82FWNE, 6:285.83MCS, 3:202.84MCS, 3:202.

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“Statute of Elizabeth (1558-1559)...transfers the headship of the church from the Pope to the English crown, and declares the royal supremacy perpetual.”85

“The queen, though subject to the [Anglican] Church order and doctrines, was invested with full power to govern the Church, and to fill the highest ecclesiastical offices. Church and State were fused together, for all citizens of the State were made members of the Church; the officers of the Church were officers of the State, and the head of the State was made the head of the Church.”86

(3) A hierarchy of archbishops and bishops under the authority of the English monarch.

“The management of the Church is in the hands of a hierarchy of archbishops and bishops, subject to the authority of the king and the Parliament.”87 The British Parliament consists of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. “The House of Lords, with about 1200 members, is made up of the bishops of the Church of England and the hereditary and life peers, all of whom are appointed by the Crown.”88

(4) A hierarchy of bishops chosen by the monarch of England.“Archbishops are chosen by the crown [that is, the king or queen of England, ETM]

from among the bishops.”89

(5) This hierarchy of bishops ordains priests in the Anglican Church. “The archbishops and bishops alone have power to ordain clergymen.”90

(6) Parishes, dioceses and general conventions.“In the United States, there are parishes, with elected laymen to represent the

congregation; dioceses, with the convention under which the Bishop and his clergy carry on church’s work; and a general convention which meets every three years and represents the entire American church.”91

B. Refutation:(a) The Bible does not teach the concept of the union of the church and the state.

85MCS, 3:202.86MCS, 3:202.87MCS, 3:203.88FWNE, 20:16289MCS, 3:203.90MCS, 3:203.91W. Norman Pittenger, Denver Post, January 25, 1955.

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(1) Christ teaches his disciples to “render unto Ceasar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21; cf. Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25). The Lord recognizes the need for the separation of the church and the state.(2) Rulers are God’s ministers to execute wrath upon the evil-doers (Romans 13:2-4). This is not the job given the church to do.

(b) The Bible teaches that the head of the Church is Christ.(1) “Head over all things to the church, which is his body” (Ephesians 1:22-23).(2) Christ is the head of the church, as well as the savior of it (Ephesians 5:23).

(c) The Bible does not teach the concept of a hierarchy of archbishops and bishops over the church.(1) No such thing as “archbishops” in the Bible.

(2) Elders are bishops (Gr. Episkopos) (Acts 20:28). It is their job to feed, to shepherd, or to pastor (Gr. poimainein) the church of God.

(3) “Elders (or bishops) in every church” (Acts 14:23).

(4) “Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof” (1 Peter 5:2).

(d) The king or queen has no right to choose the officers of the church.(1) The missionaries of Jesus ordained elders in every church (Acts 14:23).

(2) The choosing of the bishops is done through the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28), based on the qualifications set forth in the word which He inspired (cf. 1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).

(e) The Bible does not teach the concept of a hierarchy of bishops having the sole power to ordain clergymen in the church.(1) Firstly, there is no such thing as “clergymen” in the Bible.

(2) Titus was told to ordain elders (Titus 1:5).

(3) Paul wrote Timothy concerning the qualifications of those who would be bishops (1 Tim. 3). The assumption here is that Timothy, like Titus, should do the ordaining. Timothy was a preacher (2 Tim. 4:2), a minister (1 Tim. 4:6), and an evangelist (2 Tim. 4:5).

(4) Paul and Barnabas did the ordaining of elders (Acts 14:23). Both were apostles (14:14), and since they were sent on a mission, they too were missionaries.

(f) What about parishes and dioceses?

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A parish is an “ecclesiastical unit of area committed to one pastor.”92 A diocese is a “territorial jurisdiction of a bishop.”93 As a unit of area, a diocese is much larger than a parish. A diocese consists of parishes.(1) Both concepts are foreign to the Word of God.

(2) Acts 14:23 teaches the concept of an eldership over the church.

(3) The parish and diocese concepts of the Anglican Church has been borrowed from the Roman Catholic Church.

II. CONCERNING THE SOURCES (OR BASIS) OF HER DOCTRINES.

A. The Church of England teaches:(1) The Standard is the Bible, plus...The Book of Common Prayer, the Creeds (both the Apostles’ Creed and the Nicene Creed), and the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England.94

“The doctrine of the Church of England is found primarily in the Book of Common Prayer, containing the ancient creeds of undivided Christendom, and secondarily in the Thirty-Nine Articles, which are interpreted in accordance with the prayer book. Appeal is made to the first four General Councils of the Christian Church, as well as generally to the Holy Scriptures as interpreted by ‘the Catholic fathers and ancient bishops.’ The Church of England differs from the Roman Catholic Church chiefly in denying the claims of the papacy both to jurisdiction over the church and to infallibility as promulgator of Christian doctrinal and moral truth, and in rejecting the distinctively Roman doctrines and discipline.”95

The Lambeth Quadrilateral of 1884, “a statement of the doctrines considered essential from the Anglican standpoint, upholds the catholic and apostolic faith and order of the Christian church as found in Scripture, the sacraments of baptism and the Eucharist, the Apostles’ Creed and Nicene Creed..., and episcopal government..., reformed and adapted to the needs of the times and of particular locales.”96

(2) In principle, the Church of England also accepts the rules and statutes that may be issued by the monarch of England and the Parliament.B. Refutation:

92 Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, p. 856.93 WNCD, p. 356.94 Cf. New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia, 2:747; MCS, 3:204).95FWNE, 6:281.96FWNE, 2:131.

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(1) The Bible is sufficient (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

(2) Christians have been given all things pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).

(3) If anyone goes beyond the doctrine of Christ, he does not have God (2 John 9).

(4) Both the Old and New Testaments prohibit addition and subtraction from the Word (Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Revelation 22:18-19).

III. CONCERNING SALVATION

A. The Church of England teaches justification by faith only.

“Wherefore that we are justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort” (Article 11, Book of Common Prayer.).

B. Refutation:(1) This doctrine is definitely borrowed from Martin Luther and the Reformation Movement.

(2) The Bible teaches that faith without works is dead (James 2:17).

(3) Those who teach justification by faith only could be classed with the devils, for the devils (literally, “demons”) also believe (James 2:19).

(4) We are not justified by faith alone but also by God (Romans 8:33), by Christ (Acts 13:39), by grace (Titus 3:7), by Christ’s blood (Romans 5:9), by the name of Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:11), and by works (James 2:24).

IV. CONCERNING BAPTISMA. The Church of England teaches:(1) That baptism is by pouring or affusion; (2) That infants are regenerated in baptism; “Almighty and immortal God, the Aid of all who need, the Helper of all who flee to Thee for succor, the Life of those who believe in the resurrection of the dead, we call upon Thee for this infant that he, coming to Holy Baptism, may receive remission of sins by spiritual regeneration. Receive him, O Lord, as Thou has promised by Thy well-beloved Son.”97

(3) That confirmation by the bishop is also necessary that the candidate may receive the Holy Spirit.

B. Refutation:(a) On pouring as baptism:

97Book of Common Prayer, p. 230.

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(1) Baptism is immersion, not pouring or affusion. To pour (Gr. echeo) is definitely not the same as to baptize (Gr. baptidzo).

(2) Baptism is pictured as: (a) A going down into the water (Acts 8:39); (b) A burial (Romans 6:4); (c) A planting (Romans 6:5); (d) A birth (John 3:5); (e) A resurrection (Colossians 2:12); (f) A coming up out of the water (Acts 8:39); (g) Needing much water (John 3:23).

(b) On infant baptism:(1) One must hear, repent, believe, confess faith in Christ in order to be baptized (Romans 10:14; Mark 16:16; Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38; Romans 10:10; Acts 8:37).

(2) There is just one baptism (cf. Acts 10:48; Ephesians 4:5).

(3) There is no promise of regeneration even if infants are baptized. They cannot fulfill the commands, for their godmothers or godfathers have to do the answering for them. Furthermore, there is no command, example nor inference for infant baptism in the New Testament.

(4) Infants belong to the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:14; mark 10:14; Luke 18:16).

(5) The Bible does not teach that infants have been tainted with “original sin” (cf. Ezekiel 18:20).

(6) Infant baptism is not an apostolic doctrine but is a carry-over from the teachings of the apostate church. “Infant baptism did not... become universal till the sixth century...”98

(c) On confirmation of children:(1) Christ alone could convey the Holy Spirit through the hands of the apostles, since these alone had been given such an authority to do so. The Holy Spirit was conveyed through the laying of the apostles’ hands, and those over whom they laid their hands were mature men, not grown up children (cf. Acts 6:6; 8:17; 19:6,7).(2) Those who received the Holy Spirit through the hands of the apostles could perform miracles (Acts 6:5-6, 8; 8:5-7, 13; 19:6).

V. CONCERNING PREDESTINATION AND ELECTIONA. The Church of England teaches: The Calvinistic doctrine of predestination and election. (See Article 17, Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, Appendix).

98Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church, p. 88.

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The five points of Calvinism are:(1) Unconditional Election (Predestination)(2) Total Depravity (Original Sin)(3) Limited Atonement (Particular Atonement)(4) Irresistible Grace (Special Grace)(5) Perseverance of the Saints (Eternal Security/ “Once saved, always saved”).

B. Refutation:(a) Concerning total depravity:(1) The doctrine of “original sin” has no biblical basis or authority. Sin is not “inherited” (cf. 1 John 3:4; Ezekiel 18:20).

(2) Christ wants the gospel to be preached to all (Matthew 28:19). No man is totally depraved so as to reject the commands to be saved (Mark 16:15-16; Romans 10:8-13).

(3) The Bible calls man’s heart as honest and good (Luke 8:15).

(b) Concerning unconditional election:(1) God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).

(2) The Lord desires all men everywhere to repent (2 Peter 3:9; 1 Timothy 2:3, 4).

(3) Man’s obedience is a part of the gospel of salvation; for one cannot be saved unless he obeys (Romans 6:17, 18; Hebrews 5:9).

(4) Our manner of election is by obedience to the gospel that has been preached to us (2 Thessalonians 2:13-15).

(c) Concerning limited atonement:(1) The Bible teaches the all-sufficiency of God’s grace (2 Corinthians 9:8; 12:9).

(2) Christ died for all men (1 Timothy 2:6; Hebrews 2:9; Romans 5:6-11; 1 John 2:2).

Note: It must be noted that the Calvinism of the Church of England has been balanced by John Wesley’s Arminianism. Although the Methodist Church later separated from the Church of England, the founder, John Wesley, died in his Anglican robes.

(d) Concerning irresistible grace:(1) If God’s grace is irresistible as Calvin presupposed, then a person would be saved regardless of whether he wanted to or not, whether he had reformed himself of not, whether he repented or not, whether he worshipped God or not. The doctrine makes man a robot.

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(2) Faith on man’s part is necessary to be well-pleasing to God (Hebrews 11:6; John 8:54).

(3) God desires all men to be saved (2 Peter 3:9), but those who would want to be saved should obey (Hebrews 5:8-9; Matthew 7:21-23).

(e) Concerning the perseverance of the saints:(1) One apostle fell (Acts 1:25).

(2) Christians who returned to the Law of Moses fell from grace (Galatians 5:4).

(3) “Take heed lest you fall” (1 Corinthians 10; 12; Hebrews 12:15; 1 Corinthians 5:1-13).

(4) That a Christian can fall is true in the case of Demas (2 Timothy 4:10), and possible in the case of Paul (1 Corinthians 9:27).

VI. CONCERNING SINA. The Church of England teaches the erroneous doctrine of “original sin.” (See Articles 2 & 9, Appendix).

B. Refutation:(1) The Bible does not teach the doctrine of “original sin,” neither in the Old or New Testaments.

(2) Ezekiel 18:20 and 1 John 3:4 refute this doctrine.

(3) We sin when we succumb to temptation (James 1:13).

(4) John classifies sin as (a) “sin unto death” (1 John 5:16); and (b) “Sin not unto death (1 John 5:16-17).

CONCLUSION: The Church of England is not the church of Jesus.A. She is a product of her times.(1) For much of her system, she has borrowed from the mother of all denominations, the Roman Catholic Church.

(2) From Martin Luther and the Reformation Movement she borrowed the concepts of justification by faith alone.

(3) From John Calvin she borrowed the errors of Calvinism.

B. In none of these instances is it proven that she is the church of Christ.(1) She too has been swept away by the apostasy of the Romanists.

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(2) She has to be judged by her fruits: Not Christ-like, but more like her mother, the Church of Rome.

(3) Let them who name the name of Christ depart from her!

_________________________________________________________________________

ABBREVIATIONS AND REFERENCES USED IN THIS STUDY

FWNE Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia. Columbus, OH: Funk & Wagnalls Corporation. 29 volumes.

MCS McClintock & Strong. Encyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature.

Pittenger W. Norman Pittenger, Denver Post, January 26, 1955.

SHE Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia.

Walker Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church.

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