VIII CHAP if there happen a cause of faith to be settled, a general, that is a national synod of all Spain and Galicia shall be held thereon;' and this in the year 643: where you see it was then catholic doctrine in all Spain that a national synod might be a competent judge in a cause of faith. And I would fain know what article of faith doth more concern all Christians in general than that of Filioque? and yet the Church of Rome herself made that addition to the creed without a general council... And if this were practised so often and in so many places, why may not a national council of the Church of England do the like."5 Decrees of great Gen cils always by the Church of These arguments and illustrations might indeed be strengthened, in the case of the Church of England, by showing that it stood from the first in a peculiar position of independence, from the fact that the country never formed any part of the later empire, and had never therefore been thoroughly assimilated in habits with the Southern Churches of Europe: that the Roman canon law never prevailed to any extent in this country, which had always a canon law of its own: and that its liturgy was always essentially national. It is well-known, however, that as far as matters eral Coun- of faith are concerned, the later Church of England accepted has as constantly received the decrees of the first six General Councils (the only six which have been England universally accepted by Christendom) as the Church of Rome itself has done; and neither her provincial synods nor her convocations have ever attempted to meddle with primary articles of faith except by way of solemn acceptance and confirmation. Nor has the Church of England ever manifested the least reluctance to take part in any General Council. Henry VIII. and Cranmer both made formal appeals 5 Laud against Fisher, § 24, 126, 127, ed. 1839. VII! to such a council, and negotiations were on foot in CHAP Elizabeth's reign for the representation of England at the Council of Trent. But no council can ever be A.d. 153 generally acknowledged as oecumenical by Christen dom at large in which the Pope claims to be more than a presiding moderator: and until a free council is properly constituted, England, at least, must look to its national synods for spiritual guidance, even in matters of faith. It has been already shown that the repudiation of the papal jurisdiction and other matters of disciplinary reform were practical enunciations of the principles indicated in the preceding pages and it will now be shown how the same principles were brought to bear on the reformation of doctrine in the Church of England. vocation of The convocation which was opened at St. Paul's The Conon June 9, 1536, with a sermon by Bishop Latimer, 1536 was evidently expected to do some important work. It was the critical time of the northern rebellion, and the dissolution of the lesser monasteries: the full effects of renouncing the Pope's authority were just beginning to be felt, the seething spirit of controversy was reaching its climax, and a general feeling pervaded society that further great changes were at hand. No session was held for business until June 21st. On that day Cromwell (who appeared in the anomalous position of the King's Vicar-General') brought 6 Cromwell had tried to carry his assumption still further by sending a deputy to take his place in the Convocation. This was Dr., afterwards Sir William Petre, who kept in office under every sovereign from Henry VIII. to few Elizabeth inclusive, and including CHAP VIII A.D. 1536 Royal mes sage re specting discords a message from his Majesty expressing the desire which he felt for the termination of religious discord. "Ye be not ignorant," it said, "that ye be called hither to determine certain controversies which at this time be moved concerning the Christian religion and faith, not only in this religious realm, but also in all nations throughout the world, for the King studieth day and night to set a quietness in the Church, and he cannot rest until all such controversies be fully debated and ended, through the determination of you and of his whole Parliament. For although his special desire is to set a stay for the unlearned people, whose consciences are in doubt what they may believe, and he himself, by his excellent learning, knoweth these controversies well enough, yet he will suffer no common alteration, but by the consent of you and of his whole Parliament.' דיי As soon as the message, of which this is the most important part, had been delivered by Cromwell, "all the bishops did rise up and gave thanks to the King's Majesty for his fervent study and desire toward an unity, and for this virtuous exhortation most worthy of a Christian king." The discussion which followed comes down to us through the Scotch intruder, Aless or Allen, whom Cromwell had taken with him, and the terms in which he writes make his narration unreliable. We can gather generally from it that the debate turned chiefly upon the doctrine of the sacraments, and that Stokesley, Bishop of London, and Archbishop Cran tuous in inviting the Scotch refugee 7 In a book entitled "Of the against the Bishop of London, by Alexander Alane, Scot." Foxe embodies the account in his Acts and Mon., v. 379-384, ed. 1838. Allen calls the authors quoted "stinking glosses and lousy old writers." Perhaps his nationality furnished him with his epithets. mer were the leaders of the two opposing schools of CHAP theology that were represented among the bishops. VIII While the debate was going on in the Upper.4.D. 1536 House, on June 23d the clergy of the Lower House presented a "Protestation" to their Lordships against certain errors and abuses which they declare that they believe in their consciences "to have been and now to be within this realm causes of dissension, worthy special information.' This "protestation" consists of sixty-eight short articles, in which are stated some of the opinions and ribald sayings of the Anabaptists and the rising class of English Dissenters. Among the chief of them are the following:— "It is commonly preached, thought, and spoken, to the Protest of slander of this noble realm, disquietness of the people, damage clergy against of Christian souls, not without fear of many other incon- current veniences and perils, that the sacrament of the altar is not to errors be esteemed. For divers light and lewd persons be not ashamed or afraid to say, Why should I see the sacring of the high mass? Is it anything else but a piece of bread, or a little pretty round robin ? Priests have no more authority to minister sacraments than the laymen have. "All ceremonies accustomed in the Church, which are not clearly expressed in Scripture, must be taken away, because they are men's inventions. "A man hath no free will. "God never gave grace nor knowledge of Holy Scripture to any great estate of rich men, and they in no wise follow the same. "It is preached and taught that all things ought to be common. "It is idolatry to make any oblations. "It is as lawful at all times to confess to a layman as to a priest. Bishops, ordinaries, and ecclesiastical judges have no They will be found at length in Wilkins' Concil., iii. 137, or Strype's Memorials, ii. 266, ed. 1822. CHAP authority to give any sentence of excommunication cr censure, ne yet to absolve or loose any man from the same. VIII A.D. 1536 Convoca to Ten Ar ticles of Religion "All sins, after the sinner be once converted, are made, by the merits of Christ's passion, venial sins—that is to say, sins clean forgiven. "The singing or saying of mass, mattens, or evensong is but a roaring, howling, whistling, murmuring, tomring, end juggling, and the playing at the organs a foolish vanity. "It is sufficient and enough to believe, though a man do no good work at all. "No human constitutions or laws do bind any Christian man but such as be in the gospels, Paul's epistles, or the New Testament; and that a man may break them without any offence at all." The document concludes with a statement that there are many slanderous and erroneous books abroad which ignorant people suppose to be official because they have cum privilegio upon them; that some of these books which had been condemned by a committee of Convocation were not yet condemned by the bishops; and, finally, that apostates and infamous persons took upon themselves to preach slanderously without either royal or episcopal license. This protestation of the Lower House doubtless tion agrees affected the discussion that was going on in the Upper; but as the records of Convocation are unfortunately destroyed, we can only judge of it by the result, which is found in the Ten Articles of 1536, the first of that series which culminated in the present Thirty-nine Articles. The exact course of proceeding by which these came into the form in which they are now on record cannot be traced. But the action of Convocation, like that of Parliament, is very uniform, and it is not 9 It was forbidden by proclamation, shortly after, to use these words without authority. |