Anglican Teaching

An Exposition of The Thirty-Nine Articles

by W. G. Wilson And J. H. Templeton

With A Foreword by The Archbishop Of Armagh

Association For Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1962

[Footnotes moved into place of citation or following paragraph in which cited.

Bible citations converted to all Arabic numerals.]

      The authors acknowledge with thanks permission to reprint the article on “Christian Initiation”, which was published in the Church Quarterly Review, Vol. CLVII, Jan.-Mar. 1957.

Contents

Foreword By The Archbishop of Armagh (Most Rev. James McCann)

Preface

Introduction

I           The Persons of the Godhead

            Article 1. Of Faith in the Holy Trinity

            Article 2. Of the Word, or Son of God

            Article 3. Of the going down of Christ into Hell

            Article 4. Of the Resurrection of Christ

            Article 5. Of the Holy Ghost

II          The Scriptures and Creeds

            Article 6. Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures

            Article 7. Of the Old Testament

            Article 8. Of the Three Creeds

III        The Nature of Man

            Article 9. Of Original or Birth-sin

            Article 10. Of Free-will

            Article 15. Of Christ alone without Sin

            Article 16. Of Sin after Baptism

IV        The Salvation of Man

            Article 11. Of the Justification of Man

            Article 12. Of Good Works

            Article 13. Of Works before Justification

            Article 14. Of Works of Supererogation

            Article 17. Of Predestination and Election

            Article 18. Of obtaining eternal Salvation by Christ

V         The Church

            Article 19. Of the Church

VI        The Church’s Authority in Doctrine

            Article 20. Of the Authority of the Church

            Article 21. Of the Authority of General Councils

            Article 22. Of Purgatory

VII       The Church’s Authority in Discipline

            Article 24. Of Speaking in the Congregation

            Article 32. Of the Marriage of Priests

            Article 33. Of Excommunicate Persons

            Article 34. Of the Traditions of the Church

            Article 35. Of the Homilies

VIII      The Ministry of the Church

            Article 23. Of Ministering in the Congregation

            Article 36. Of Consecration of Bishops and Ministers

IX        The Sacraments

            Article 25. Of the Sacraments

            Article 26. Of the Unworthiness of the Ministers

            Article 27. Of Baptism

            Article 28. Of the Lord’s Supper

            Article 29. Of the Wicked which do not eat Christ’s Body in the Lord’s Supper

            Article 30. Of Both Kinds

            Article 31. Of the one oblation of Christ

X          Church and State

            Article 37. Of the Civil Magistrates

            Article 38. Of Christian Men’s Goods not common

            Article 39. Of a Christian Man’s Oath   

Appendix A.  Questions for Use in Discussion Groups

Appendix B. Christian Initiation – A Reprint of an Article on Holy Baptism and Confirmation, published in the Church Quarterly Review, Vol. CLVII, Jan.–Mar. 1957.

Appendix C.  Modern Cosmology and Creation

General Index (omitted for web)

Foreword

      I am happy to accept the kind invitation of Dr. Wilson and his collaborator Dr. Templeton, to write a foreword to this book which they have written on the “Thirty-nine Articles” in our Book of Common Prayer.

      It is most important that the Christian “apologia” should be made clear, as it has been done in this book.

      Our Church of Ireland is greatly indebted to these two scholars, who have used the leisure afforded them, when their parochial tasks have been carried out, to study deeply the records of our Reformation era, and to present their interpretation of our past history in modern language.

      The original purpose of the “Articles” was to instruct people in the Faith.  The essential principles of continuity and change are embedded in our historic tradition.  In each generation, therefore, it becomes necessary to explain the truths of the Christian Creeds in the setting and situation of the day.

      The most remarkable phenomenon in twentieth century Christendom is the worldwide movement towards re-union.  An understanding of the “Thirty-nine Articles” throws light on the special genius and place of the Anglican Communion as a “Bridge Church” which claims to hold firmly every doctrine taught in the Apostolic Age as “de fide” and as “necessary for salvation”.

      This study makes plain the ‘setting’ in which the Articles were produced in the Elizabethan period, when the scholars of that time in “Ecclesia Anglicana” were guided towards a “via media” between the extremes of the Church of Rome on the one hand, and the variety of “sectaries” on the other.  The appeal to Scripture and Antiquity convinced them that Christian Truth was to be found along a “middle pathway”.

      This is illustrated in the study of Articles VI, XIX, XX and XXXIV.  Those who are interested especially in the “ecumenical movement” will find the treatment of these particular Articles illuminating.

      The “Questions for Use in Discussion Groups – Appendix A” is a very valuable addition to this work, and should be most helpful.

      Dr. Wilson’s appendix on “Christian Initiation” and Dr. Templeton’s on “Cosmology” will be of interest also, and of use to students in these subjects.

      I commend this valuable work to all within or without our Communion who are working for Unity and Fellowship in Christ’s Church.

James Armagh

Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland

The Palace, Armagh, .5 April, 1962.

Preface

      This book is offered to members of the Anglican Communion in the conviction that there is a great need within our Church for more teaching manuals which will present the dogmatic principles of Anglicanism in an easily assimilated form.  In many parts of the world members of our Communion are subject to persistent, efforts to undermine their faith and loyalty to the Church.  Quite apart from the spread of humanism and secularized systems of education which foster a purely materialistic outlook on life, and must be met with informed Christian opinion, the activities of the sects often present the Church with a challenge which cannot be ignored.  Even as early as 1536 when the Ten Articles were published, the crop of heresies which sprang from the religious licence accompanying the Reformation, and then known under the general name of Anabaptism, had begun to infect the Church of England.  This fact has an important bearing on the contents of the Thirty-nine Articles, more than half of which deal with “the pestilent and heinous heresies of the sects”, as Ridley described them, rather than with the corruptions of the Roman Church.  Anabaptism revived the whole gamut of erroneous doctrines which vexed the early Church, besides introducing novelties of its own, and demanded a fairly full restatement of orthodox teaching in reply.

      The Commission on Evangelism appointed by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York emphasized the fundamental importance of dogma in any really effective presentation of the Gospel.  “Dogma is the core of every system of faith and worship; without it, religion would dissolve into mere sentiment and would, in a few generations, perish altogether”.  Out of dogma emerges Christian doctrine, which is “the formulation of revealed truth in current terms, together with the deductions implicit within it”.  The Commission considered that “a grasp of doctrine, derived from the Bible as the Word of God, is the essential equipment of an evangelist, and one that has never been more needed than today”.  The revival of interest in theology amongst university students, the increasing emphasis on Adult Religious Education, and the growing recognition of the layman’s place in Evangelism, all underline the need for more authoritative teaching manuals.  We believe that a study of the Thirty-nine Articles in relation to the teaching of the Bible can do much to meet this need.  On the basic Christian beliefs the Articles contain a careful, well-balanced statement of the historic Church’s interpretation of the revelation of God in Christ, with which modern thought is more in sympathy than is usually supposed.  “The times call urgently for the Anglican witness to Scripture, tradition and reason – alike for meeting the problems which Biblical theology is creating, for serving the reintegration of the Church, and for presenting the faith as at once supernatural and related to contemporary man.  This witness demands a costly devotion to truth and a conviction that theology is not merely a handmaid to administration, but a prime activity of the Church.”  [Archbishop A. M. Ramsey, From Goreth Temple (1960) p. vi.]

      A study of the teaching of the Articles is also relevant for another reason.  In many parts of the world members of the Anglican Communion are joining in discussions on Church Unity and are seeking to overcome theological barriers to reunion.  In some cases, however, legal barriers may prove to be more formidable than theological differences.  For instance, it has been pointed out that in the case of the Church of Ireland the tenets and principles of the Church as set out in the Preamble and Declaration adopted by the General Convention in 1870 “are essential to its identity and all church property, and all funds held for any church purpose, are held upon trusts of which the several provisions of the Preamble constitute an integral part”.  [The Constitution of the Church of Ireland, (1946) p. vi.]  The Preamble states that the Church of Ireland will maintain communion with other churches “agreeing in the principles of this Declaration”.  It is difficult to see how she could enter into full communion with any church which felt unable to accept those principles, for if she were to compromise on any of those principles for the sake of reunion, she might risk the forfeiture, by sequestration, of all her property and endowments.  The same risk would doubtless face some other parts of the Anglican Communion contemplating reunion.  As in the case of the Church of Ireland, one of the Fundamental Provisions of the Uganda Constitution declares:

            “I. The Church of Uganda doth hold and maintain the doctrines and sacraments of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded in His Holy Word and as the Church of England hath received and explained the same in the Book of Common Prayer, and in the form and manner of making, ordaining, and consecrating of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons, and in the Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, and further it disclaims for itself the right of altering any of the aforesaid standards of faith and doctrine.”

      If theological discussions on reunion are to achieve practical results cognizance must be taken of such Declarations and of their legal force and implications.  A fresh study of the Reformation formularies (such as the Thirty-nine Articles) against the background of the teaching of Scripture and early Church practice may be useful, before we attempt to draft any doctrinal statements as a basis for reunion.  As Dr. Broomfield so rightly says, “The faith of the One Holy Catholic Church, when it is again united, will not be limited to what is common to all the various groups into which Christians are now divided.  That would be a sad impoverishment.  On the contrary, it must include everything which is true in the faith of each and all of them.  Similarly the Order and practice of the united Church must be such as to preserve everything of real and permanent value... If this is so, unity is to be sought not by a readiness to minimize – much less to abandon – the things which distinguish us from our brethren, but rather by an eagerness to discover whatever is true and valuable in the things which distinguish them from us”. [G. W. Broomfield, Revelation and Reunion, (1942), p. 214f.]  As, in the past, those who sought the reformation of the Church were obliged to think out and express the principles for which they stood, so those who today seek the reunion of the Church must re-examine their principles.  How far, for instance, are the Thirty-nine Articles in accord with the teaching and practices of the Primitive Church?  We hope that a study of the following pages may indicate an answer to that important question.

      We should like to express our gratitude to the Bishop of Cashel, Rt. Rev. W. C. de Pawley, and to the Rev. T. N. D. C. Salmon, who read the typescript and made many helpful suggestions.  We are also deeply indebted to Mr. A. G. Gray for the keen personal interest he has taken in the production of the book.

W. G. WILSON

J. H. TEMPLETON

Feast of the Epiphany, 1962.

Introduction

      The Thirty-nine Articles are associated with many other doctrinal statements issued during the Reformation in Europe.  In order to justify their actions, those who disapproved of the doctrine and practices of the Church of Rome were obliged to examine and express in print the principles for which they stood.  It is necessary to know something of the other formularies of faith which appeared in the sixteenth century, before we state our own position.

      One of the earliest of the Reformation formularies, [There were one or two earlier documents, such as Luther’s Greater and Lesser Catechisms (1527–29), the Articles of Schwabach (1529) and Torgau (1530).] and by far the most important, was the Confession of Augsburg (1530) drawn up mainly by Melanchthon, revised by Luther, and presented to the Diet [The English name for a foreign Parliament.] at Augsburg.  It consisted of 21 Articles on matters of faith, and 7 Articles protesting against abuses.  On the whole it was moderate in tone and aimed at reformation within the Church, if possible.  In 1552 it was enlarged to Thirty-five Articles, and presented to the Council of Trent by the ambassadors of Würtemberg, and in that form is known as The Würternberg Confession.  The influence of these Confessions on our Articles is noted in our exposition.

      In 1530, Zwingli, a Swiss reformer, also presented a Confession to the Diet of Augsburg.  After his death, his followers put forward their views in the Confession of Basle and the First Helvetic Confession (1536).  But none of these documents had any positive influence on our Articles.  Other well-known Continental documents were Calvin’s Institutes (1549), the Saxon Confession (1551), and the Second Helvetic Confession (1566), the work of Henry Bullinger.

      The first English statement of doctrine was issued with the approval of Convocation as The Ten Articles (1536), a compromise designed to promote unity between the Roman Catholic and the reforming parties.  The first five of these Articles dealt with doctrine: the Rule of Faith was based on the Bible, the three Creeds, and decisions of the Four Great Councils; three Sacraments (Baptism, the Eucharist, and Penance) were affirmed as instituted by Christ, and the Real Presence [Cf. Article XXVIII.] was asserted; the Royal Supremacy was substituted for Papal Supremacy. [Cf. Article XXXVII.]  The second five Articles were mainly concerned with ceremonies, and permitted the use of images, the honouring and invoking of saints, [Cf. Article XXII.] encouraged prayers for the dead, and denounced abuses connected with Purgatory and Indulgences. [Cf. Article XXII.]

      The Ten Articles remained effective until 1543.  Meanwhile, a practical handbook of instruction, based on the Ten Articles, appeared in 1537 as The Institution of a Christian Man, commonly called The Bishops’ Book. [The Creed, Seven Sacraments, Ten Commandments, Ave Maria, Lord’s Prayer, Justification and Purgatory were explained. Baptism, Eucharist, and Penance were placed higher than other Sacraments.]  It was the work of a committee under Archbishop Cranmer, and was issued with the authority of the Bishops, though it never gained the King’s authority because of its poor theology and literary style.  In 1543 a revised edition, based on the King’s criticisms, was produced under the title The Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man, commonly called The King’s Book. [Transubstantiation, Clerical celibacy, and implied equality of all Seven Sacraments, were its chief characteristics.]  It was more anti-Protestant, and reflected the. reaction then developing against further reform.

      In 1538, the King had invited three Lutheran Divines over to consult with Archbishop Cranmer and two other Bishops on matters of faith.  The Confession of Augsburg was used as a basis for discussion.  Henry, however, would not agree to Communion in Both Kinds, [Cf. Article XXX.] Clerical Marriage, or the condemnation of propitiatory Masses, and the conference broke down, but not before The Thirteen Articles were compiled. [The Thirteen Articles were derived largely from Seventeen Articles drawn up by Luther and Melanchthon in 1536 and handed to the English Ambassadors, Fox and Heath.  Some of the Thirteen Articles were word for word the same as their German counterparts in the Seventeen Articles.]  They were not published then, but were later found amongst Cranmer’s papers, and are important because they form a link between the Augsburg Confession and our present Articles. [Cf. Article XXIII.]

      When the Pope excommunicated Henry in 1538, the King reacted in proclaiming his orthodoxy by applying “The Whip with the Six Strings” (The Six Articles of 1539), which was incorporated in an Act of Parliament popularly called “The Bloody Statute of the Six Articles.”  The Act compelled the acceptance of Transubstantiation (though the actual word is avoided), Clerical Celibacy, Communion in One Kind, the obligation of Vows of Chastity, the use of Private Masses, and Auricular Confession.  Thenceforth no further move towards the reformation of the doctrine of the Church was possible while Henry VIII lived.

      On the accession of Edward VI in 1547, Cranmer and his colleagues were able to continue the work of reformation.  First came the revised Prayer Books of 1549 and 1552.  Although no new Articles were officially authorized for some years, there is evidence that as early as 1549 Cranmer required preachers and lecturers in Divinity to assent to certain Articles of Religion.  In the same year, a committee under his chairmanship drew up a scheme for the Reform of Church Law (Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum) which, though it was not published by authority, accords very closely with the language of some of our present Articles.

      In 1551, Cranmer was directed to prepare a Book of Articles, which he showed to some of the Bishops.  But it was May 1552 before the Council asked Convocation for them.  They originally numbered 45, but after revision by the Royal Chaplain, were reduced to 42, and published, by Royal command, in Latin and English, in 1553 as The Forty-Two Articles.  They were mainly the work of Cranmer, who in compiling them made use of the Thirteen Articles of 1538, and the Confession of Augsburg. [He apparently did not use the Confession of Augsburg direct, but through the Thirteen Articles, especially on Articles I, II, IV, IX, XIV, XVI, XXIII, XXIV, XXV.]  It is still doubtful whether they were approved by Convocation, but the point is not of great significance, for they were put forth by the King’s authority only seven weeks before his death.  On the accession of Queen Mary they were dropped – they had not been enforced by Act of Parliament and there was no need to repeal them.  Once more the reforming process was halted.

      When Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558, Prayer Book revision took precedence over the Articles.  But, as a temporary measure, Archbishop Parker drew up and circulated amongst the clergy The Eleven Articles (1559), dealing with the authority of Scripture, the rights of National Churches, the Royal Supremacy, and Roman errors such as private masses, communion in one Kind, and the extolling of images and relics.  These Articles were never legally binding except in Ireland, where they were in force from 1566 until superseded by the Thirty-nine Articles in 1615.  All Ministers at their first entry into their cures, and twice yearly afterwards, were required to read them publicly.

      Meanwhile, Archbishop Parker, with the help of Bishop Cox of Ely, and Bishop Guest of Rochester, was working on a revision of The Forty-Two Articles of 1553.  As in 1553, Cranmer had used the Thirteen Articles (based on the Confession of Augsburg), so once more Lutheran influence made itself felt when Parker drew upon The Würtemberg Confession in making his revision of 1563. Four of the original Forty-two were struck out (viz: Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, Of Grace, Of the Moral Law, Against the Millenarians) and four others substituted: Of the Holy Ghost (V), Of Good Works (XII), Of Communion in Both Kinds (XXX), Of the Non-participation of the Wicked in the Holy Communion (XXIX). Convocation passed only 39 of the 42, and the Queen (i) reduced the number to 38 by striking out Article XXIX to avoid offending the Roman Catholic party, and (ii) added the opening clause in Article XX. taken from The Würtemberg Confession.

      The Thirty-eight Articles remained unaltered until 1571.  The Queen’s excommunication by the Pope in 1570 destroyed any hope of reconciliation.  It was no longer necessary, then, to fear that Article XXIX would hurt their feelings, and it was accordingly incorporated.  A few other minor changes were made, including the addition of four books in the list of the Apocrypha (Article VI).  As revised, the Thirty-nine Articles were then passed by Convocation, and received the sanction of Parliament in 1571.  Since then they have been “received and approved” as authoritative standards of doctrine by most of the branches of the Anglican Communion.

      In many parts of the Anglican Communion every clergyman, when he is made a Deacon, ordained Priest, consecrated Bishop, or licensed for a benefice or curacy, is required to declare his assent to the Thirty-nine Articles.  The Ordinal requires every Priest at his ordination to vow “always so to minister the Doctrine and Sacraments, and the Discipline of Christ, as the Lord hath commanded, and as this Church hath received the same.”  The Ordinal thus allows little scope for the teaching of novel or personal opinions; only “received” doctrine is to be taught.  Hence one of the chief uses of the Articles today is that they provide a body of official teaching.

      It was the declared aim and object of the Anglican Reformers to cleave to the faith and practice of the Primitive Church.  They made a two-fold appeal to Scripture and Antiquity one of their basic principles.  In matters of doctrine, the appeal to Scripture as the supreme Rule of Faith was always regarded as final; in questions as to the correct interpretation of Scripture, and in matters of ceremonial they preferred to be guided by the practice of the Primitive Church.  In the fifth century, St. Vincent of Lerins formulated a rule for .distinguishing Catholic truth from falsehood, and his rule has won general acceptance ever since.  The most important part of his rule or “canon” is as follows:

      “In the Catholic Church itself all possible care must be taken that we hold that faith which has been believed everywhere, always, and by all.  For that is truly and in the strictest sense Catholic, which, as the name itself and the reason of the thing declare, comprehends all universally.  This rule we shall observe if we follow universality, antiquity, consent.”

      To put it more simply, St. Vincent’s rule is (a) that we should generally follow the teaching of the majority, but (b) since even the majority of any generation may teach something which is not true, we should verify the teaching of the majority by asking, Have the majority of Christians in every generation believed so?  That is the real test of what is Catholic doctrine and what is not Catholic.

      At the Reformation, the leaders of our Church stoutly resisted any suggestion that they were departing from Catholic teaching.  They maintained that they were merely reforming the teaching of the Church to bring it into line with the teaching and practices of the Primitive Church, by rejecting the new articles which had been added to the Faith by the Church of Rome.

      Following this traditional appeal to Scripture and Antiquity, we have given references to Scripture and early authorities wherever possible, to demonstrate the Catholicity of the teaching of the Articles.

      The Articles also illustrate another basic principle of the Anglican Reformation – the quest for the Via Media, the middle path between extremes.  Faced with the doctrines of Rome on the one hand, and the novel ideas and practices of the Continental Reformers on the other, the English Reformers tried to follow the middle path in many cases – not for reasons of expediency, but because, in Saunderson’s words, “The mean between the two extremes seems to be the truer opinion.”  That principle is generally true in life today, as in every generation, even though some disparage it as mere “compromise”.  If in some of the Articles, the zeal for reform may seem to have gone to extremes, allowance must be made for the fact that the text of many of them was hammered out in the heat of controversy.  “Their statements must always be taken in the light of the circumstances which brought them forth.”

      The relevance of the Articles today lies in the fact that, for the most part, they speak, albeit in dated language, of eternal truth – of the nature of God, the life and work of Christ as Saviour, the origin of the Holy Spirit; of the nature of man, his sinfulness and need of grace; of the mercy and love of God displayed in our justification and salvation; of the nature and work of the Church, its Ministry, its Doctrine and Sacraments; and of the relationship between the Church and the world through which we pass, as pilgrims on the road to an Eternal Destiny.

Chapter  I – The Persons of the Godhead

Article  I: Of Faith in the Holy Trinity

[This Article dates from 1533 and is derived mainly from the First Article of the Confession of Augsburg (1530) and the last of the Thirteen Articles of 1538.]

      There is but one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts, or passions; of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness; the Maker and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible. And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance, power and eternity; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

      The Christian Church does not, in the first instance, attempt to convince men of the existence of God.  She is a witness rather than an uncertain inquirer.  Instead of speculating how to establish God’s, existence, she teaches men, on God’s authority, what God is like.  The Articles rightly commence with certain dogmatic statements about the Godhead, in unity of substance and Trinity of Persons, because a true conception of the nature of God is the fundamental basis of true religion.

      A study of the Bible suggests that we should not expect the existence of God to be demonstrated like a problem in mathematics.  “He that cometh unto God must begin by an act of believing (Greek, pisteusai) that He is, and that He is found a Rewarder to them that seek Him out.” [Heb. 11:6.]  Our logical faculties must be supported by an act of faith on our part, but having made that initial act of faith in God, we find that it is reasonable to believe in Him.  Belief in a supernatural power seems to be part of man’s nature, for no tribe is known that has not some such belief.  The presence of life in a world in which there was originally no life, proclaims the existence of a Life-giver.  Everything in existence must have an adequate cause, the existence of the Universe showing evidence of intelligence, presupposes an intelligent First Cause.  Likewise, the evidence of a moral sense in mankind points to a moral Creator.

      The Article declares “there is but one living and true God”.  The unity of God was affirmed in the Creed of the Jewish Church: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord,” [Deut. 6:4.] endorsed by Jesus, [Mark 12:29.] and proclaimed by the Apostolic Church. [1 Cor. 8:4, 6; Ephes. 4:6: Jas. 2:9.]  It is more than numerical unity: it is essential unity. [Deut.6:4; Isa.41:4; 44:6; 48:12.]  There cannot be more than one First Cause.  The Bible repeatedly describes Him as the “Living God”, [Josh. 3:10; Dan.6:26; Matt. 16:16; Jn.6:57; Acts 14:15, etc.] and in the Article the use of vivus instead of vivens indicates that He is not merely “alive”, but is the Source of all life. [Jn.5:26, cf. Ps.42:2.]  He is also described as “the living and true God” in the Bible [Jer. 10:10; 1 Thess.1:9; 1 Jn. 5:20.], and the use of the Greek word alethinos, paralleled by the Latin word verus in the Article, means that He is the only true, genuine, Gods [Jn. 17:3; Isa. 44:8ff.] as contrasted with false gods.  This belief that the Divine Nature is one and indivisible is quite an exceptional conception.  In fact, belief in “one living and true God . . . the Maker and Preserver of all things both visible and invisible”, Who freely wills the existence of all else that is, is reached and maintained only in the Hebrew-Christian revelation.  It is not found in ancient mythology, according to which the gods themselves are evolved in the course of Nature.  The idea of a Creator-God first appears among the most historically conscious people in the world, Israel; they were the only nation that believed their God had given them the promise of a glorious future, and that He was sufficiently powerful to control events for that purpose.  It is because He is the “living God”, the God of effective Providence who performs “mighty acts” in pursuance of His intention in history, that He is also the “true” God, whose Name has reality behind it.

      When we talk or write about God we find ourselves, like the biblical writers, describing Him in words normally associated with human life.  We think of Him as a “personal” God.  He can love [Hos. 11:1; Isa.43:4; Jn. 15:9.] or be angry, [Jn. 3:36; Deut.33:16; Rev. 14:10.] be grieved, [Ps. 78:40; Isa. 63:10 (R.V.); Ephes. 4:30.] jealous, [Exod. 20:5; Deut. 32:16.] or merciful. [Ps. 86:15; Ps. 103:8, 11; Heb. 8:12.]  He is said to have a will, [Matt. 7:21; Jn. 6:39; Ephes. 1:11; 1 Jn. 5:14.] and a mind and a purpose, [Rom. 11:34; 1 Cor. 2:16; Jn. 10:15; Acts. 4:28.] and we find frequent metaphorical references to His hands, [Ps. 102:25; Heb. 1:10, etc.] heart, [Gen. 8:21; Job. 34:14.] lips, [Job 11:5.] mouth, [1 Kings 8:15.] arms, [Job 40:9; Ps. 77:15.] eyes, [Ezra 5:5; Ps. 30:18.] and voice. [Job 40:9; Deut. 4:33.]  If such metaphorical references were interpreted too literally, we would be in danger of thinking of God as little more than a man, [Anthropomorphism, the attribution of a human form to the Deity.] with all the limitations and imperfections of our finite human personalities.  To guard against this error, the Article declares that God is “everlasting, without body, parts, or passions, of infinite power, wisdom and goodness”.  Our lives are subject to all the limitations imposed upon us by time and space; but God is “everlasting”. [Ps. 90:2; Rom. 1:20; 16:26; Rev. 1:8.]  There was no moment of time when He first came into being.  Time does not hamper His knowledge or His power.  He does not grow old or weary. [Isa. 40:28.]  Because He is Spirit, [Jn. 4:24 (R.V.).] He is “without body” unlimited by any considerations of space, and can be present in all places at the same time. [Ps. 139; Prov. 15:3; Acts 17:27.]  He is also “without parts” (Latin, impartibilis), incapable of being divided in any sense.  We may suffer from inner conflicts, but He is at one within Himself.  What from our standpoint are separate attributes, such as His love and His wrath, are really “aspects of one consistent and unchanging being”.  Likewise, He is “without passions” (Latin, impassibilis); He is not fickle and does not change, [Mal. 3:6; Jas. 1:17.] or do anything inconsistent such as contradicting Himself, [2 Tim. 2:13.] or telling a lie. [Heb. 6:18 (R.V.); Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29.]

      The Article then proceeds to state some of the more positive attributes of God, as possessing “infinite power, wisdom and goodness”.  All things are possible with Him, [Matt. 19:26.] nothing can escape His knowledge, [Matt. 10:29f.] and His “great goodness” is self-evident. [Ps.cxlv.7–12; Rom.ii.4.]  He is also “the Maker and Preserver of all things visible and invisible”.  We do not know how God created the world, but we believe that He did.  “It is by faith that we understand that the world was fashioned by the Word of God, and thus the visible was made out of the invisible. [Heb. 11:3 (Moffatt).] “He spake and it was done.” [Ps. 33:9.]  “He commanded and they were created”. [Ps. 148:5.]  As a building originates in the mind of the architect before it becomes visible in outward form, so all created things had their origin in the Creator. [Acts 17:28.]  God also dwells in His world and is present in all life.  “‘In Him we live, and move and have our being,” [Rom. 11:36.]  He is over all and through all and in all. [Ephes. 4:6.]

      The declaration in the Article on the creative and preserving relationship of God to all other existence requires further explanation.  The Old Testament depicts God calling His servants the prophets to whom He reveals the divine secret; [Cf. Amos 3:7.] the ambitions and aggressions of powerful empires are seen to further His designs, and world leaders, unknown to themselves, are the instruments of His purpose; [Isa. xlv.1–14.] even the distribution and migrations of mankind are according to His will. [Amos 9:7, etc.]  Evidence of the “mighty acts” of God in history suggested that not only history itself, but also the world, the scene of history, must owe its existence to God; all things whatsoever derive from and depend on Him.  The Old Testament doctrine of God, in its highest expression, brings together His sovereignty in the over-ruling of history and His lordship over Nature; [Isa. 40–55.] the one is the complement of the other.  He who appoints the heathen king, Cyrus the Persian, to free His people from captivity in Babylon is also the Creator of the host of heaven and of the ends of the earth; the heathen deities are idols and nothing, and their worship is scorned. [Isa. 40, 44, 45.]  The growing perception among the Jews of divine omnipotence led at last to the view that God made the world “out of nothing” (ex nihilo); the logic of Providence, as Origen saw, required it, and this belief became the Standard one in Christianity. [It first occurs in the apocryphal Second Book of Maccabees, 7:28, and appears again in an early Christian writing, The Shepherd of Hermas, Visions I. 1. – “God, who dwelleth in the heavens, and created out of nothing the things which are . . .”]

      God is not a fabricator working on matter which is already there; but must we think of Him as a conjuror Who calls something into being from non-existence?  By its researches into the nature of matter, science has followed it beyond the boundaries of the concrete, and found that it is nothing like the stuff of our work-a-day surroundings; under analysis it passes into a concept in the mind of the mathematician and is represented by an algebraic formula.  Hence, there is nothing either in science or theology against viewing the universe as a projection of divine thought.  This means that “creation out of nothing” is better expanded into “creation out of nothing outside God Himself”.

      The problem of creation, then, turns out to be one of describing the conversion of thought into matter.  According to some scientists the borderline between the visible and the invisible has now been reached; new matter is coming into existence before our eyes: “at one time the various atoms composing the material do not exist, and at a later time they do”.  In answer to the question where the new atoms come from, Dr. Hoyle says “it does not come from anywhere.  Material simply appears – it is created”. [F. Hoyle, The Nature of the Universe, p. 105.]  A statement like this is full of weaknesses; to say that something comes from nothing or nowhere is not science at all, for the scientific dictum is: ex nihilo nihil fit “nothing comes from nothing”, and to equate a thing’s appearance with its creation is to confuse the language of science and religion.  In this region of ultimate data scientific theory has reached its limit; it can neither pronounce whether new matter is self-existing nor that it is created, and if religion affirms that “It is by faith that we understand that the world was fashioned by the Word of God, and thus the visible was made out of the invisible”, [Heb. 11:3 (Moffatt); “the visible came forth from the invisible” (N.E.B).] it is not for science to endorse or deny it – the question is beyond the scope of its method.

      The traditional Christian doctrine of a universe beginning and ending with time seems to have the majority support among cosmologists at present.  Natural processes are ordinarily considered to have an evolutionary trend, that is, towards increased organization and complexity.  But this only holds for the development of life in our immediate surroundings; evolution is a biological theory.  In the universe as a whole movement is not by evolution, but by devolution; on the large scale organization is breaking up, and things are passing from the complex to the simple.  The evidence of this disintegrating process is perceived by us in the light and heat of stellar bodies, and this radiation is matter in its most rudimentary form.  Now if it is supposed that from this elemental matter or free radiation there started a substance-building process, science is unable adequately to describe it; devolution by radiation is irreversible.  Science will either have to take an organized universe for granted, or else assume an external cause of cosmic beginnings: “everything points with overwhelming force to a definite event, or series of events, of creation at some time or times, not infinitely remote.” [J. Jeans, Eos, p. 55.  Cf. Appendix C on Modern Cosmology and Creation.]

      Modern theories of the universe are not unsympathetic to the place of Christ in the Christian doctrine of creation.  As the outgoing, expressed divine Word or Reason, He is the Agent of God’s creative, sustaining and ordering action in the world. [Cf. Jn. 1:3; Col. 1:16f; 1 Cor. 8:6.]  How did the first generation of Christians ever come to ascribe a role of such stupendous meaning to One who had appeared on earth in their day?  There is but one sufficient explanation, and it lies in that experience which found its theological interpretation in belief in the Trinity.  As we shall see, redemption is also creation – the indwelling Christ in communicating God’s saving grace operates creatively; in Him man has entered the new order under the New Covenant, and has become an original creation.  For Pauline thought creation is not a cosmological theory; it is a fact of experience. Christ’s place and work in the universe are simply an extension of His regenerating effect in the faithful soul.

      “And in unity of this Godhead there be three Persons, of one substance power, and eternity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.”  The Apostolic Church affirmed “there is but one God, [Jas. 2:19; 1 Cor. 8:6.] and within the unity of the Godhead there are three distinct Persons. [Matt. 3:16f; 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14.]  The Father is God, [Mtt. 11:25; Rom. 15:6.] the Son is God, [Jn. 1:18; Jn. 20.] and the Holy Spirit is God. [E.g., lying to the Holy Spirit is lying to God, Acts v:3, 4.]  The title “Trinity” is not a biblical one; it first occurs in the Church author Tertullian, [Adv. Prax. 11.12.] and is as distinctive among divine names as the reasons which required the formulation of such a conception of God.

      Why did the Church not keep to the belief in God which it inherited from Judaism?  What led it from the idea of God as a Monad (unity without distinction) to that of a Triad (unity with distinctions)?

      Momentous changes like this do not just happen; there are compelling reasons behind them, and it is most important that we should understand those reasons.  At the outset, it cannot be too strongly emphasized that although the word Trinity is not found in the New Testament the foundation of the doctrine is solidly laid there.  They are mistaken who suppose that it was the outcome of philosophic inquiry into the nature of ultimate being, or even the conclusion reached by a conference of theologians trying to harmonize all the statements about God in Scripture.  The basis of the belief in a triune Divine Nature lies in believing experience of the saving grace and power of God in Christ, through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in Christ’s Body, the Church. [Ephes. 4:15f.; Col. 2:19; 1 Cor. 12:27]  It is an unique experience which was not possible before the Divine economy, or God’s way with mankind, was fully unfolded in the Incarnation and the bestowal of the Spirit, nor can it be had elsewhere.  So there is no cause for surprise in the fact that the Christian conception of the Trinity stands by itself among the theologies of world religions: the intellectual interpretation of an exclusive spiritual experience simply led back to a correspondingly peculiar view of the God whose action produced the experience.

      Let us turn to a consideration of what the standard account of it, the New Testament, has to say about this starting point of Trinitarian theology, Christian religious experience.  The most concise, and yet the fullest, expression of the estimate of Jesus in the original proclamation of the Gospel is contained in one of the earliest emblems of the Faith, a fish; for the letters of the Greek word for “fish” (ICHTHUS), are the initials of the words in the Greek phrase Iesous CHristos THeou Uios Soter: “Jesus Christ Son of God Saviour”.  Only the last of these names, Saviour, is directly connected with our Lord’s work, the others refer to His Person and Office.  But they reveal that the dominant thought in the earliest understanding of Christ’s achievement is that He has wrought salvation; He is preeminently Saviour, and this is not unconnected with His divine Sonship.  All these names and designations are to be found in the apostolic preaching recorded in Acts, but we are here concerned with one – “Saviour”. St. Peter declared before the Jewish Council that God had raised up and exalted Jesus to be “a Saviour”; [Acts 5:31.] he exhorted the people on the Day of Pentecost to be baptized “in the Name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of sins”; [Acts 2:38.] and told their rulers that He is the sole Mediator of salvation; in His Name alone must men be saved. [Acts 4:12.]  If the Resurrection, which is given such prominence in St. Peter’s addresses in the Acts, made the Gospel message possible, it did so as the guarantee of the validity of Christ’s atonement, and because it reveals Him as the Bearer of redemption.

      In order to see how the saving power made available through Jesus is applied to our case, we turn to St. Paul, the first and supreme interpreter of Christian religious experience.  For the Apostle the definition of the believer’s calling is “life in Christ”; he is in Christ, and conversely, Christ is in him; an interpenetration of personalities takes place. [Cf. Rom. 8:2; 16:7; 2 Cor. 5:17.]  St. Paul is so realistic about this relationship between Christ and believers that he thinks of them inclusively as the instrument of Christ’s continuing expression in the world; they comprise His new Body, the Church. [1 Cor. 12:27; Ephes. 4:12; Col. 1:18...]  Union with Christ begins with reception into the faithful community when we “were baptized into Christ”; we then died to sin, put on Christ, and rose with Him to newness of life. [Rom. 6:2, 14; Gal. 3:27.]  So deep and intense is St. Paul’s sense of the inner presence of Christ that he feels He has taken possession of Him; it is no longer he who lives, but the Christ who dwells in him. [Gal. 2:20.]

      Through the life hidden with Christ in God, the Apostle found the solution to the problem that engaged the best minds of his day, namely, how to attain the mastery of self and circumstance, and live the full, fear-free life.  When he claims: “I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want.  I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me”, [Phil. 4:12f. (R.V.).] he has realized the ideal of Stoicism, and more, because he could also declare that for him to die was gain, and this was precisely what no Stoic could say.

      This quality of Christian experience is just one of those things that our Lord would have found it unprofitable to try to explain to His disciples during His Ministry; it had to happen before it could be intelligible, and so there is nothing about it in the teaching of Jesus in the first three Gospels.  Was it long meditation on the nature of Christian spiritual experience which recalled for St. John the sayings of Jesus about His return to his followers through the sending of the Holy Spirit?  Did their verification in the subsequent life of the Church throw a light on words of Jesus, not understood at the time, and cause them to be remembered?  Be that as it may, the Fourth Gospel tells us that our Lord assured the disciples that His coming departure would not mean absence from them.  On the contrary, the Ascension was the condition of His presence with them in a far more intimate way than was possible before.  Jesus’ promise to return to the disciples is to some extent fulfilled in the sending of the Spirit. [Jn. 14:16–20; 16:7.]  The same equivalence occurs in St. Paul; the Spirit is Christ’s Spirit and also God’s, [Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:19.] and mediates His energizing presence in the faithful soul.  To be strengthened with power through the (Father’s) Spirit, and to have Christ dwelling in the heart through faith, [Eph. 3:14–17.] are merely different descriptions of the same fact.  Life in the Spirit and life in Christ are interchangeable states.  And by participating in the life of Christ by the indwelling of His Spirit the Christian has all that constitutes salvation, – forgiveness of sins, reconciliation to God, victory over the world, and hope for destiny.

      No terms are too strong to express the contrast between the experience of being in Christ and of being without Him.  It is the difference between light and darkness, [Acts 26:18; 1 Pet. 2:9.] between life and death, [1 Jn. 3:14.] in fact, the change from the one state to the other can only be understood as a fresh creative act of God.  Man  in Christ, says St. Paul, is a “new creation”. [2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15.]  Christians are “begotten again”, [1 Pet. 1:2, 23.] and Christ is the Second Adam, the progenitor of a new, redeemed race. [1 Cor. 15:45.]  Creation, absolute and original – for that is what the Pauline phrase means, and not a reconditioning of used materials [2 Cor. 5:17 – “the old things are passed away”.] – is the reverse side of salvation.  But the truth is never forgotten that salvation has its source in God: “God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself”. [2 Cor. 5:19.]

      It is questions arising out of a knowledge of the redeeming grace of God in Christ that go to the heart of Trinitarian theology.  How is He to be regarded Who passes through the barriers of the personality, and by right makes His abode within the precincts of the soul?  Who is He whose presence brings a sense of sins pardoned, of peace with God, and of a power not our own working within us for righteousness?  This is not the relation of an ordinary leader to his followers: imagine anyone speaking of being “in Socrates” or “in Confucius”, or they in him!  By definition both the relation and its effect require Deity for their support.  Only He who is the ground of our being, on whom we utterly depend, and Whose claim upon us is complete could properly establish this relationship with us, and the salvation flowing from it is something exclusively ascribed to God.  “The overwhelming sense of divine redemption in Christ led Christians to ascribe absolute Deity to their Redeemer.” [Prestige, God in Patristic Thought, p.xxii.]

      Here is the reason behind the high titles and functions accorded to Jesus in the New Testament: He is “Lord”, [Acts 2:36; Phil. 2:11; Rom. 14:9.] the Logos or Word of God, [Jn. 1:14.] the Judge of mankind – living and dead, [Acts 10:42; 17:31; Jn. 5:22.] the Power and Wisdom of God. [1 Cor. 1:24.]

      It must be underlined that it is the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning work, perceived in the enjoyment of its benefits in believing experience through His indwelling presence by the Holy Spirit, that forms the basis and motive of the Christian doctrine of God.  In modern terms we should say that the Saviour and the Sanctifier have each the value of God for the soul, and it is only expressing this in another way to affirm that both have a place in ultimate Being, the Godhead.

      The doctrine of the Trinity of Persons in unity of substance was thus based primarily on the experience of the first disciples.  They found that Jesus claimed an unique intimacy with God, [Matt. 11:25–27.] and later died for His claim to be the Son of God. [Mk. 14:61.]  He also spoke of the Holy Spirit as divine yet distinct from Himself, [Jn. 14:16; 15:26.] and when they experienced the Spirit’s power they knew that He could be no less than God.  Hence, though the doctrine of the Trinity is not formally stated in the New Testament, it is implicit in the Apostolic teaching and experience, and becomes a reality in the experience of every faithful member of the Church.

Article  II:  Of the Word, or Son of God, Which Was Made Very Man

[The words in italics were inserted in 1563 from the Confession of Würtemberg.]

      The Son, which is the Word of the Father, begotten from everlasting of the Father, the very and eternal God, of one substance with the Father, took man’s nature in the womb of the blessed Virgin, of her substance; so that two whole and perfect natures, that is to say, the Godhead and Manhood were joined together in one Person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man; who truly suffered, was crucified, dead and buried, to reconcile His Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men.

      This Article, derived mainly from the Augsburg Confession through the Thirteen Articles, is carefully framed to preserve the truth against heresies concerning the Nature and Person of Christ.  Many of those heresies originated in the early centuries of the Church’s life, and are often called after their originators, [E.g., Nestorianism, called after Nestorius, who was condemned for teaching that there were two distinct persons in Christ.] but they are sometimes repeated in modern times.

      The Article may be considered under four main assertions:

      (1) Christ is the eternal Son of God “begotten from everlasting... of one substance with the Father”.  This declaration is directed against Arianism and all who, like Arius, say there was a time when the Son did not exist. [Condemned at Council of Nicaea.  The Article is also relevant as an answer to Jehovah’s Witnesses who relegate Jesus to the status of a “creature”.]  Whereas Article I is concerned with the distinctions in the Godhead, and of the relation of the Son and the Holy Spirit to the Father, this Article treats primarily of the Son’s relation to the world.  The most general way in which Christians think of Christ is that He is the Mediator, the Agent in God’s contact with the world: God acts through Him in creating [Jn. 1:3; Col. 1:16. (R.V.).] and giving cohesion to the universe, and He brings salvation.  Now the intellectual atmosphere of early Christianity was full of ideas of intermediary powers and principles, [1 Cor. 8:5. 6.] and by far the most widespread and important of these was Logos, the Greek term for “Word” or “expressed reason”.  In view of what the Church believed about Christ, no more fitting name could have been applied to Him.  He was the Mediator par excellence; all that had been ascribed to the old intermediaries, and more, was found in Him.  Later Christian thinkers made great use of the Logos-idea in discussing the significance of Christ, but it does not occur in the New Testament outside the Johannine writings.  No canonical writer alludes so frequently to Christ’s mediatorial function as St. Paul, and yet he never once refers to Him as “the Word”.  The Apostle distrusted the wisdom of the world and avoided its terminology; the Christ of the inner life is the dominant factor for him.  In the classical New Testament passage for the designation of Christ as the Word, St. John 1:1–14, the central thought of the Article is plainly stated, “the Word” or only-begotten Son “became flesh, and dwelt among us”.  The intermediaries of contemporary philosophy were abstractions, and through the Christian use of it the venerable term “Logos” was personalized and enriched by its identification with the Son.

      At the human level the relation between father and son is expressed by “begotten”; the father “begets” his son; and since the terms “Father” and “Son” are employed to denote the First and Second Persons in the Trinity, it is inevitable that we should conceive of the relationship between them in this way.  But the human analogy is utterly inadequate to indicate the relations in the Godhead.  We are in the realm of mystery when discussing this subject, and the inadequacy of human language to describe conditions in ultimate Reality is to be expected.  The religious attitude of awe and wonder is appropriate here, not the quest for rational comprehension.  It must always be realized that the definition of the Divine Nature was not a problem which the Church’s theologians set themselves; it grew step by step as one opinion after another, incompatible with the faith and religion of the New Testament, appeared and had to be resisted, until the Church’s mind was eventually expressed in the decisions of the Councils of Nicaea (A.D. 325) and Chalcedon (A.D. 451.

      The Father-Son relation in the Godhead must be exclusive and without parallel; in St. John’s words, the Son is monogenes, “only begotten”, [Jn. 1:14, 18; 3:16; 1 Jn. 4:9.] or as the Apostles’ Creed has it, He is God’s “unique” (unicus) Son. May we venture to think of it in this way – If love is the quality of the inner life of the Godhead, with the Father as Lover and the Son the Beloved, [Ephes. 1:6.] that love is expressed in the eternal generation of the Son. [Jn. 17:24.]  Creation is due to an overflowing of divine love, for love desires to share its blessedness; as Plato said, the Creator’s intention was to make something as like Himself as possible, and we should say that under present conditions the divine purpose in Creation is realized in the fellowship of the Church.  But the coming of a world order made no difference to the constitution and life of the Godhead; the Father did not beget the Son to be the Agent in Creation as certain heretical teaching maintained.  If time began with Creation, the Arians would have agreed that there was no time when the Son did not exist, but they also held that He was not co-eternal with the Father; that He had no distinct being before Creation and outside Time: “there was when the Son was not”.  On this view the Son was merely a creature with the rest of creation, which is an unsatisfactory conception of the Person of the Saviour.  Hence it became necessary for the Council of Nicaea to affirm in its Creed that the Son was “of one substance with the Father” [This clause in the original Greek text of the Creed means literally “of the same substance as the Father”.] to refute the Arian view that the Son had been created out of nothing and had no community of being with the Father.  Article II thus follows the Creed in asserting that the Son was generated out of the Father’s very substance or being, the implication being that He shared the divine essence to the full.  Since He is of the same substance as the Father, He is not in any sense inferior to the Father.

      (2) The Article then affirms that Jesus was born of a Virgin.  Since He is the eternal Son of God, His birth in Bethlehem at a particular time in history was not the beginning of His existence, but only his entry into human life.  From the Virgin Mary He received His human nature, without the intervention of a human father.  Various attempts have been made to cast doubts on this belief, mainly on the grounds that it is not well authenticated in the New Testament, and may have been derived from similar legends in other religions.  But the silence of St. Mark and St. Paul may be due to natural reticence to discuss such an intimate matter.  Possible allusions to it have been found in three of the Gospels.*  St. Luke has been proved to be an accurate writer, and it is incredible that he should have deliberately given a false account of the Nativity, after saying that he had accurately traced all things from the very first, and wrote “that thou mightest know the certainty of those things”.  The alleged parallels in other religions are not so impressive when examined. [Cf. “The Virgin Birth and Recent Discussion” in New Testament Problems, by W. K. Lowther Clarke.]  Even though human life normally comes into existence by the union of male and female, it does not follow that the Son of God (Who existed before Creation) could enter human life only by means of such a union.  Belief in the Virgin Birth was widely accepted by the time of Ignatius [Ep. ad Eph. 19, ad Trall. 9, ad Smyrna 1.] (c. A.D. 110) and “everything we know of the dogmatics of the early part of the 2nd century agrees with the belief that at that period the virginity of Mary was a part of the formulated Christian belief”. [Dr. Rendell Harris, cited in A New Commentary on Holy Scripture, S.P.C.K. 1928, p. 319.]  In addition to the evidence of Ignatius and the Gospel allusions already mentioned, the clause on the supernatural birth is found in the earliest form of the Apostles’ Creed – the Old Roman Creed – which was probably a statement of belief required of candidates for Baptism and dates from about the middle of the second century.

      * Matt. 1:18, 20, 24f.; Lk. 1:34f.; Jn. 1:14.  It has been suggested that Luke 1:34, 35 is an interpolation, and that St. Luke had no knowledge of the Virgin Birth.  But Dr. Vincent Taylor has shown that the two vital verses are “thoroughly Lukan, and no suspicion of textual confusion appears”.  Dr. Lowther Clarke has drawn attention to the remarkable parallelism of the Annunciations to Mary and to Zacharias – verse 33–17, 34–18, 35–19, 36–20.  If St. Luke – or anyone else – interpolated verses 34 and 35, he must also have interpolated verses 18 and 19 to complete the parallellism!

      In this way there were joined in the Person of Christ two natures, the human derived from the Virgin Mother and the divine by the action of the Spirit; it was an indissoluble union, the natures were “never to be divided”.  With this conjunction of the divine and human the final work of redemption has begun; now the Seed of the woman is about to bruise the serpent’s head. [Gen. 3:15.]

      The Incarnation [The technical term to describe the embodiment in flesh (Latin, in cama) of the Son of God, cf. Jn. 1:14.] is the essential condition of salvation.  Only by uniting Himself with the object of redemption, humanity, could the Redeemer effect His purpose.  And further, although St. Paul thinks of Christ primarily as Saviour, He is also regarded as Consummator; the entire creation, “the things in the heavens, and the things upon the earth”, [Eph. 1:10.] is to be summed up in Him.  In what way is this conceivable except by His Incarnation?

      Modern knowledge enables us to have a far deeper apprehension of Christ as cosmic Consummator than was possible in the first century.  Even if the theory of evolution is accepted in its most rigorous form, so that from the atoms in a nebula to man there has been a continuous development, one state issuing from the preceding one and passing into the next without a break anywhere, this means that in a real sense the whole world order gathered up in man.  Were the universe to perish tomorrow nothing of worth would be lost, for its true nature is conserved for ever through the Incarnation of the Word.

      (3) It follows from the preceding statements that if Jesus was “of one substance with the Father” and was born of the Virgin “of her substance”, then in Him “the Godhead and Manhood were joined together in one Person, never to be divided, whereof is one Christ, very God and very Man”.

      The New Testament writers plainly declare the deity of Christ.  They record the voice from heaven that declared Him to be the Son of God at His Baptism [Matt. 3:17; Mk. 1:11.] and again at His Transfiguration. [Mk. 9:7; Lk. 9:35.]  They support that declaration with the testimony of Jesus Himself, [Mk. 14:16f; Jn. 5:17ff.; 17:l, et.al.] and of John the Baptist, [Jn. 1:34.] the disciples, [Mtt. 14:33; Jn. 6:69.] and even evil spirits. [Lk. 4:41.]  St. Paul asserted that “in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead”, [Col. 2:9.] and the Apostolic Church had no doubt about His Divine Nature. [Jn. 1:1, 18; Rom. 8:3; 1 Cor. 1:19; Phil. 2:6; Heb. 1.]

      But it is equally evident that He was also perfectly human.  He grew and developed in body, mind and soul. [Lk. 2:40, 52; Heb. 5:7–9.]  He displayed human emotions such as sorrow, [Mk. 14:33f.] sympathy, [Jn 11:33.] astonishment, [Mk. 6:6; Lk. 7:9.] anger, [Mk. 3:5.] and experienced hunger, [Mtt. 4:2.] thirst, [Jn 4:7ff.] and weariness. [Mk. 4:38.]  He was in all points tempted like as we are, [Heb. 4:15; 2:18; Lk. 4:2.]  He experienced all the desires common to us, * and His knowledge appears to have been limited for He sometimes asked questions to obtain information. [Mk. 9:21; Jn. 11:34; cf. Mk. 13:32.]

      * There is therefore nothing inherently sinful in our natural desires; only the over indulgence or abuse of them is sinful.  For instance thirst is a natural desire, but if over indulged it can lead to drunkenness.  “For whatsoever is naturally in us, is naturally in Him; but a man is not a man without natural desires; therefore these were in Him, in Him without sin; and therefore so in us without sin” – Jeremy Taylor, A Further Explication of the Doctrine of Original Sin. VI. 30.

      At first sight it may appear that these two sets of facts are contradictory.  For instance, God is omniscient, we cannot imagine His knowledge as being limited in any way.  Hence, if Jesus possessed “all the fulness of the Godhead” we would expect Him to be omniscient too; how then do we explain His apparent limitations?  In short, how could He be Son of God and also perfectly human?  It was in attempting to answer this question that many ancient writers fell into heresy.  Possibly the simplest explanation is to follow St. Paul’s suggestion that Jesus “emptied Himself”. [Phil. 2:5–8.]  When he came down to earth He laid aside His glory, but not His Godhead.  In order to have a real and complete human experience He willed that His divine knowledge might be restrained, so that He might fully share the normal human experience of growing “in wisdom and stature”.*

      * Luke 2:52.  “The omniscience of God does not mean that it is incapable of limitation, but rather that, with more power than finitude has, it is also more capable of limitation.  Only it is self-limitation: He limits Himself in the freedom of holiness for the purposes of His own end of infinite love.”  P. T. Forsyth, The Person and Place of Jesus Christ, (1909), p. 311.

      (4) Finally, the Article affirms the reality and purpose of our Lord’s death and passion, that He “truly suffered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to reconcile His Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men.”

      In the Greek culture in which Christianity spread, the remoteness of the divine Nature from earthly conditions was the prevailing idea; physical existence was despised, the body was regarded as “the tomb of the soul”, to escape from which was salvation.  With an intellectual background like this the conception of a God-Man was extremely difficult; it was unthinkable that a divine Being should undergo the privations, sorrows and sufferings of our mortal lot.  Yet the Christian tradition of the life of Jesus contained in the Gospels presents Him as pre-eminently the Man of Sorrows.  Heresy appears to have originated in an attempt to solve the problem by denying the human side of Christ’s Person – a tendency which is not unknown in our own day and generation, though, perhaps for different reasons.  Jesus, it was suggested, was immune against our common temptations and infirmities; He only “seemed” to suffer and die, but did not really, and the Gospel evidence for such things was the account of a huge pretence.  Already towards the end of the first century this teaching was considered the arch-enemy of the Faith, the very spirit of Anti-Christ, [1 John 4:2.] and it is against it that the Article asserts that Christ “truly (vere) suffered, was crucified, dead and buried”.

      An interesting question, at one time much debated, is whether the Word would have assumed our humanity had there been no sin in the world. If man had always acted according to the law of his being and been obedient to God’s will for him, would the Incarnation still have happened?  Since the world was created in God’s love, and it is the nature of love to seek the closest contact possible with its object, it would seem to follow that the Incarnation is implied by the divine character.  But in fact the Incarnation is everywhere in the New Testament associated with sin and its remedy, as Article II asserts.  “For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world; but that the world should be saved through Him”; [Jn. 3:17. (R.V.)] in such words the uniform teaching of the New Testament on the purpose of Christ’s coming is concisely expressed.  In the words of the Article, “He is ‘to reconcile His Father to us, and to be a sacrifice, not only for original guilt, but also for all actual sins of men”.  It will be noticed, however, that the Article reverses the regular scriptural phrase; St. Paul speaks of our being reconciled to the Father, never the Father to us. [Rom. 5:10; Eph. 2:16; 2 Cor. 5:18f.; Col. 1:20.]  No doubt the words of the Article are aimed at the Socinian heresy which held that there was no reaction in God against sinners; no divine wrath to be met by Christ’s atonement. But the truth is that being under the wrath of God is an outstanding feature of the human situation in the New Testament, and deliverance from it is one great result of the saving work of Christ. [Jn. 3:36; Rom. 1:18, 5:9; Eph. 2:3, 5:6; 1 Thess. 1:10, 2:16.]  The death of Christ is a sacrifice, [Eph. 5:2; Heb. 9:26.] and a propitiation [Rom. 3:25; 1 Jn. 2:2, 4:10.] both for original guilt, that is, the innate evil tendency within us, and also for the particular sins in which it issues.

      Two things are necessary for right thinking about the Death of Christ as a sacrifice.  First, it is the sacrifice of a person, and therefore is on a different plane from animal sacrifice; and secondly, it must be seen as the decisive test of obedience to the Father’s will. [Phil. 2:8.]  It is in the Death itself, as the demonstration of utter dedication and absolute commitment, and not in the form it takes that its sacrificial character lies.

      This quality of Christ’s sacrifice also relates to the fundamental need of humanity, the conquest of sin, which St. John says is “lawlessness” or disobedience.  Its disobedience is what is radically wrong with the human race, and from which it requires to be redeemed.

      St. Paul in an important passage contrasts Adam’s disobedience and its consequences with Christ’s obedience and its effect: “For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one shall the many be made righteous.” [Rom. 5:19.]  Christ’s life of perfect obedience to the divine will and the death on the Cross belong together; in a fallen world like ours the one leads to the other [1 Cor.2:8.]: the Cross is not an arbitrary demand of God.

      The New Testament represents Christ’s atoning death, so necessary for human salvation, [Heb. 9:22f.] as the fruit of God’s love toward us, [Rom. 5:8; 1 Jn. 1:7; Rev. 1:5.] effecting perfectly what ancient sacrifices could only do imperfectly; [Heb. 9:9–16.] purging from guilt and cancelling condemnation; [Rom. 8; 1 Jn. 1:7; Rev. 1:5.] averting wrath and opening the way for mercy; [Heb. 2:17; 1 Jn. 2:2.] a most powerful incentive to repentance and a life of sacrifice and service; [Rom. 6:1ff.; 1 Cor.6:20.] effecting our redemption from wrath, [Rom. 5.9.] from the power of sin, [Rom. 6:6; 8:2.] from bondage to Satan, [Heb. 2:14.] from the tyranny of the evil world, [Gal. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:18.] and from the effects of sin in death. [1 Cor. 15:20ff.]  Through the death of Christ, the lives of men and their relationship with God have been transformed.  They have found peace with God, [Rom. 5:1.] forgiveness of sins, [1 Jn. 4:10.] experienced new life [1 Pet. 2:24; Rom. 6:3–11.] and a capacity for righteousness, [1 Cor. 6:9–11.] and fellowship with God. [Ephes. 2:12–19.]  That such experience is no mere figment of the imagination, is proved by the changed conduct and amazing spirit of fellowship in the Christian community. [Acts 2:42, 47.]  Reconciliation with God promotes reconciliation with our fellowmen, for faith without works is dead. [Jas. 2:14ff.; Mtt. 25:31ff.]

Article III: Of The Going Down of Christ Into Hell

[The original Article of 1553 as written by Cranmer included the words: “For the body lay in the sepulchre until the Resurrection; but His ghost departing from Him, was with the ghosts that were in prison, or in hell, and did preach to the same as the place of St. Peter doth testify” (a reference to 1 Pet. 3:18, 4:6).  But this clause was omitted at the revision of the Articles in 1563.]

      As Christ died for us, and was buried, so also it is to be believed that He went down into hell (ad inferos decendisse).

      Christ died on Good Friday, His body was buried and remained in the grave until His Resurrection, but where was His soul during that period?  The Article, like the Apostles’ Creed, merely affirms that “He went down into hell”.  Unfortunately, the word “hell” is often misunderstood, because it is used in the Authorized Version to translate two different Greek words – gehenna which means the place of torment, and hades which is the equivalent of the Hebrew word sheol, meaning “the place of departed souls”.  By the “descent into hell” we mean that our Lord’s soul went on Good Friday to “the place of departed spirits” where the souls of all men go at death to await the resurrection.

      The fact of His descent into Hades is undisputed and is clearly taught in Acts 2:27, 31, where St. Peter interprets the words of Psalm 16:10 as being fulfilled in Christ, explaining that the Psalmist “foreseeing this, spake of the Resurrection of Christ, that neither was He left in Hades nor did His flesh see corruption” (R.V.).  Thus St. Peter obviously believed that Jesus was in Hades between His death and His Resurrection.*

      * Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. V.xxxi.l) quotes St. Matt. 12:40 and Ephes. 4:9 as evidence of the Descent; other early writers cite Matt. 12:29; 8:11; Luke 13:28f.; Col. 2:15; Heb. 11, 12.

      But while the fact of His descent is generally accepted, the purpose of the Descent has been the subject of controversy.  On the one hand, 1 Peter 3:18 and 4:6 have been interpreted as meaning that our Lord’s human spirit went to Hades to preach to the souls of the departed.  This appears to have been the general view of the Reformers.*  On the other hand, 1 Peter 3:18ff. was seldom used in the Patristic writings as evidence of the descent into Hades, [E. G. Selwyn, The First Epistle of Peter (1947), p. 340.] and the idea of Christ “preaching” to the dead does not appear to have been taught in the Church before A.D. 150. [E. G. Selwyn, Op. cit., p. 343f.]  There are weighty reasons for believing that “the spirits in prison” in 1 Peter 3:19 refers not to the dead, but to archetypal spirits of evil. [Ibid., p. 353.]  The present Article does not commit us to any particular interpretation of that passage.

      *As is evidenced by the 1553 Article and by the statement in the Catechism of 1554: “Then He truly died . . . not only the living but the dead, were they in hell or elsewhere, they all felt the force of His death, to whom lying in prison (as Peter saith), Christ preached, though dead in body, yet re-lived in spirit.”  Note also that 1 Pet. 3:17–22 is the Epistle for Easter Eve in the Prayer Book.

      The really important point, beyond dispute, is that Christ has shared in every human experience, even in death.  Whatever lies before us, He has endured it first and emerged victorious.  “Christ in dying shared to the full our lot. His body was laid in the tomb.  His soul passed into that state on which we conceive that our souls shall enter.  He has won for God and hallowed every condition of human existence.  We cannot be where He has not been.  He bore our nature as living; He bore our nature as dead. . . . it carries light into the tomb.  But more than this we dare not say confidently on a mystery where our thought fails and Scripture is silent”. [B. F. Westcott, The Historic Faith, p. 77.]

Article  IV: Of The Resurrection of Christ

      Christ did truly rise again from death, and took again His body, with flesh, bones, and all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature; wherewith He ascended into heaven, and there sitteth, until He return to judge all men at the last day.

      This Article was composed by the English Reformers in 1553, and contains five positive assertions:

      (1) “Christ did truly rise again from death”.  Jesus often predicted that He would rise again on the third day, [Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19; 27:63; Mk. 8:31; 9:9; 9:31; 10:34; 14:28, 58; Lk. 9:22; 18:33; Jn. 2:19–21.] but His disciples did not understand His predictions [Matt. 16:22; Mk. 9:32; Lk. 18:34.] and in fact believed that His death was the end of all their hopes. [Lk. 24:21.]  After the Crucifixion they lived in fear, [Jn 19:38; 20:19.] and sadness, [Lk. 24:17.] and so little were they expecting His resurrection that at first they refused to believe that it could be true. [Mk. 16:11; Lk.24:22; Jn. 20:25.]  The women who first discovered that He was risen had gone to the tomb with the intention of anointing His dead body. [Mk. 16:lff.]  This evidence of the unexpectedness of the Resurrection is very important, for it rules out any possibility that the witnesses of the Resurrection were suffering from hallucinations.  Men do not imagine what they do not believe or expect.

      Proof of the Resurrection rests on the cumulative effect of several lines of evidence:

      (a) The number and variety of those who saw the risen Christ – Mary of Magdala and her companions, [Matt. 28:1–10; Mk. 16:1–11; Lk. 24:1–12; Jn. 20:l–18.] Simon Peter, [Lk. 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5.] Cleopas and his companion, [Mk. 16:12ff.; Lk.24:13–35.] the Ten and others, [Lk. 24:36–43; Jn. 20:19–21; 1 Cor. 15:5.] Thomas and the other Disciples, [Jn. 20:26–28.] the Seven by the Sea of Galilee, [Jn. 21:l–23.] the Eleven on the Mountain, [Mtt. 28:16–20; Mk. 16:15ff.] “above five hundred brethren”, [1 Cor. 15:6.] James, [1 Cor. 15:7.] the Eleven before the Ascension. [Mk. 16:19f.; Lk. 24:50–52; Acts 1:4–11; 1 Cor. 15:7.]  After the Ascension Jesus was also seen to be alive by Stephen, [Acts 7:55f.] Saul of Tarsus, [Acts 9:3–9; (1 Cor. 9:1, 15:8); Acts 18:9f.] and the Apostle John. [Rev. 1:10–17.]  Perhaps the most important of all these witnesses is Saul of Tarsus, for no evidence is more convincing than that of a zealous Jew who was determined to stamp out Christianity, yet the evidence of his own senses compelled him to realize that Jesus was alive – which could only mean that what the Christians said about the Resurrection must be true.*

      *“Lord Lyttelton and his friend Gilbert West left Oxford University at the close of one academic year, each determining to give attention respectively during the Long Vacation to the Conversion of St. Paul and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, in order to prove the baselessness of both.  They met again in the autumn and compared experiences.  Lord Lyttelton had become convinced of the truth of St. Paul’s conversion, and Gilbert West of the Resurrection of Christ”, Griffith Thomas, Principles of Theology, p. 79f.

      (b) All the Evangelists record that the tomb was empty [Mtt. 28:6; Mk. 16:6; Lk. 24:3; Jn. 20:2–9.] on the morning after the Jewish Sabbath.  [Mtt. 28:1; Mk. 16:1; Jn.20:1.] There are differences of detail in the accounts of what took place on the first Easter morning. But that is to be expected in the testimony of independent witnesses; if the accounts were identically the same we would suspect that they derived from a single source, or were even the result of deliberate collusion. The differences between the four accounts are no greater than we find between Press reports of a particular current event—different witnesses record their own impressions, and some give details omitted by others, but, the main facts are the same.

      The fact that the tomb was empty on Easter morning must be explained.

      Either Jesus rose from the dead or someone rolled away the huge stone of the tomb that was sealed and guarded,[Matt. 27:62–66.] and took His dead body from the tomb.  If the Jews did so, they had only to produce the dead body to refute the preaching of the Apostles, but no body was ever produced.  It is incredible that the soldiers should have stolen the body which they had been ordered to guard.  The fact that the Jews tried to make people believe that the disciples had stolen the body, [Mtt. 28:11-15.] is further proof that the tomb was empty, but it fails to explain the subsequent life of the disciples.  Men do not readily endure persecution and death to perpetuate a falsehood.  The suggestion that Jesus was not really dead but only swooned on the Cross is contrary to the evidence that the soldiers did not break His legs for they “saw that He was dead already”. [Jn. 19:33.]  Furthermore, if He only swooned, when did He finally die ? The piercing of His side made doubly sure that He did not remain alive. [Jn. 19:34.]

      (c) The fact that a great change took place in the disciples must be accounted for.  The fear [Jn. 19:38; 20:19.] and sadness[Jn. 20:11; Lk. 24:17.] which characterized them after the Crucifixion was transformed into fearless boldness[Acts 4:13, 19f.; 5:27–29.] and gladness. [Lk. 24:41; Jn. 20:20; Acts 2:46.]  The Resurrection of Jesus accounts adequately for their transformation; no other adequate explanation has been offered.  “Jesus and the Resurrection” was the main theme of the Apostolic preaching. [Acts 17:18, cf. 2:32, 36; 3:15; 5:30, 32; 10:40; 13:30; 17:31; 26:23; 1 Cor. 15:1–9.]  Were the Apostles deliberately propagating a deceitful lie?  Such a suggestion does not bear close scrutiny.  “Nothing was easier than to subject them to cross-examination, as indeed the Acts tells us was done.  Is it likely that these simple-minded provincials would have consistently maintained their position throughout a cross-examination, if their bona fides had not been beyond reproach?  Peter, we are told, broke down and lost his nerve at a sudden question from a maid servant.  Judas Iscariot’s defection would surely have been followed by the defection of others had there been an uneasy conscience anywhere among the disciples.” [W. K. Lowther Clarke, New Testament Problems, 1929, p. 106.]

      (d) The fact that the Christian Church observes “the first day of the week” [Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; cf. Mk. 16:1; Jn. 20:1.] as the distinctively Christian day of worship, instead of the seventh day of the week (the Jewish Sabbath).  Why did the first day of the week become the Christian day of worship, if it was not in commemoration of the Resurrection?  In the distinctively Christian service, “the breaking of bread”, Christians do not commemorate a dead Master, but have communion with a Living Lord, and Baptism loses much of its – significance if Christ did not rise from the dead. [Rom. 6:4.]  How did Sunday and the two Sacraments of the Gospel come to be so closely linked with the Resurrection of Christ if no resurrection took place?

      (2) He “took again His body, with flesh, bones, and all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature”.  This statement is obviously based on St. Luke 24:39.  The Article must therefore be interpreted in accordance with the Scripture passage on which it is based, and the latter must be understood in its context.  Jesus appeared so suddenly to the disciples that “they were terrified and affrighted and supposed that they had seen a spirit.”  In order to convince them that they had not seen a ghost Jesus said, “Handle Me and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see Me having” (R.V.).  When He saw that they “still disbelieved” [Lk. 24:41 (R.V.).]  He asked for some food and ate it before them.  But it does not necessarily follow that His resurrection-body was therefore in no respect different from His natural body.  “The alternative – “either a ghost, or an ordinary body needing food” – is false.  There is a third possibility: a glorified body, capable of receiving food.  Is there any deceit in taking food which one does not want, in order to place others, who are needing it, at their ease? [A. Plummer, International Critical Commentary, St. Luke, p. 560.]  Our Lord’s purpose was to emphasize that His Resurrection was an objective reality, and to assure the disciples that they were not merely seeing a ghost.  But His resurrection-body was a glorified body which was not subject to the limitations of our human bodies.  At will, He could make Himself known [Matt. 28:10; Mk. 16:12; Lk. 24:31; Jn. 20:16.] or unknown, [Lk. 24:15f; Jn. 20:14f.]  He could appear [Mtt. 28:9; Mk. 16:14; Lk. 24:36; Jn. 24:14, 19.] and disappear [Lk. 24:31.] without warning and within closed doors.*  Yet though His body was glorified, continuity was preserved with His natural body.**  The Article was intended to refute an Anabaptist error that after the Resurrection our Lord’s humanity was absorbed into His divinity.  It asserts that He rose and ascended with “all things appertaining to the perfection of man’s nature.”

      *Jn. 20:19, 26.  “Our Lord returned to the Father not as He came, but forever united with human nature, the Word made Flesh.  But the Resurrection had placed the flesh of the Word so far under the control of the Spirit that His body as the Gospels show, was, even before the Ascension, independent, when He so willed, of the laws that govern matter”, H. B. Swete, The Ascended Christ, p. 8.

      **“While there was the glorifying of His Body to which the narratives testify, there was also the continuity of the whole manhood, body and spirit, raised from death.  The Son of God took upon Him the whole of human nature (often in the New Testament the word “flesh” is so used) in order that the whole might be raised in glory”, A. M. Ramsey, The Resurrection of Christ, 1945, p. 103f.

      (3) “Wherewith He ascended into heaven.”  Immediately we begin to discuss the life after death we are faced with the inadequacy of language. [Note the variations of language used to describe the Ascended Lord in 1 Pet. 3:22; Acts 1:11; Ephes. 1:20; Heb. 7:26; Ephes. 4:10 (R.V.); Heb. 4:14]  Every word which we use in speech or writing has a definite meaning associated with this earth, and is therefore totally inadequate to describe a different mode of existence.  Hence we can only describe our Lord’s Ascension with the aid of metaphors and symbols.  In this age of Earth Satellites and Moon Rockets it is important to remember the limitations of language when we speak of “going up” to heaven.  “We are not to think of the Ascension of Christ as of a change of position, of a going immeasurably far from us.  It is rather a change of the mode of existence, a passing to God, of Whom we cannot say that He is ‘there’ rather than ‘here’, of Whom we all can say ‘God is with me’, and if God then Christ Who has ascended to the right hand of God.  When therefore we declare our belief in Christ’s Ascension, we declare that He has entered upon the completeness of spiritual being without lessening in any degree the completeness of His Humanity”. [B. F. Westcott, The Historic Faith, p. 80f.]

      The Gospels are primarily concerned with our Lord’s earthly life and only refer incidentally to the Ascension. [Mk. 16:19; Lk. 24:51; Jn. 3:13; 6:62.]  Some such event was necessary to indicate that the post-Resurrection appearances were not to continue indefinitely.  But the writers of the Acts and Epistles emphasize its greater significance as God’s exaltation of Christ [Phil. 2:9.] and His coronation. [Heb. 2:9; 1 Cor. 15:25.]  He is now “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”. [Rev. 19:6.]  Much of the Epistle to the Hebrews is concerned with the High Priestly life of the Ascended Lord. [Heb. 4:14f.; 5:10; 8.]  “His presence in the Holiest is a perpetual and effective presentation before God of the sacrifice once offered ... .  He offers Himself as representing to God man reconciled, and as claiming for man the right of access to the Divine presence.” [H. B. Swete, Op. Cit., p. 43; cf. Heb. 7:26.]  His Ascension was “expedient” [Jn. 16:7.] for all His disciples, for His new position of authority and power enables them to do “greater works” [Jn. 14:12, cf. Acts 2:33, Ephes. 4:8.] through His grace and abiding Presence [Mtt. 28:20; 18:19f.] with them.

      (4) “And there sitteth”.  As in the Creeds, the language is metaphorical [The symbolism is borrowed from Ps. 110:1, which had been cited by our Lord (Mk. 12:36) and was used by St. Peter (Acts 2:34).  The early Church accepted the idea (cf. Rom. 8:34; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3; 8:1; 10:12; 12:2).] and means that the Ascended Lord has been raised to the position of supreme authority and power. [Ephes. 1:20–23 (R.V.), cp. Matt. 28.]  Though He is described as “sitting” He is not inactive.  He shares all the experiences of the Church, even in persecution. [The Acts 9:4f.  “Why persecutest thou Me?” i.e., persecution of the Church is persecution of Christ.]  He bestows the gift of the Holy Spirit. [Acts 2:33.]  He is our Mediator, [Heb. 8:6, etc.] Intercessor, [Rom. 8:34.] and Advocate [1 Jn. 2:l.] with the Father.

      (5) “Until He return to judge all men at the last day”.  Belief in a future “Day of the Lord” which would bring vindication to the righteous and condemnation to the wicked was familiar to our Lord’s contemporaries and to all who read the Jewish Bible. [Amos 5:10ff.]  In much of our Lord’s teaching about His Return in judgement He used phrases and metaphors that were familiar to His hearers.  But He added to contemporary beliefs the idea that He himself would return unexpectedly, [Mtt. 24:27, 42f.] “in glory”, [Mtt. 25:31–46.] as the Judge, [Mtt. 24:30f.; Jn. 5:22, 25.] to render to every man according to his deeds. [Mtt. 7:21; 16:27; 2 Cor. 5:10.]  The final Judgement is generally associated with the resurrection to judgement of “the quick and the dead”. [Acts 10:42; Rom. 14:9f; 1 Pet. 4.]  Various conceptions of Judgement are to be found in the New Testament.  Some of the Apostles thought it would take place before their deaths. [1 Thess. 4:17; 1 Cor. 15:51; Jn. 21:22f.]  Other writers have suggested that judgement is more of a present process than a future event, [Jn. 12:31.] though this view is not inconsistent with belief in a final Judgement yet to come. [W. G. Wilson, Church Teaching, 1954, p. 51.]  The Article is more explicit than the Creeds, inasmuch as it speaks of the Judgement as taking place “at the last day”. [Jn. 12:48; Acts 17:3.]  Belief in a future judgement when we must render account of our lives is a fundamental part of the Gospel. [Acts 24:25; Rom. 2:15f.; 1 Cor. 4:5; 2 Cor. 5:10; Heb. 6:2; etc.]

Article  V: Of The Holy Ghost

      The Holy Ghost, proceeding from the Father and the Son, is of one substance, majesty, and glory, with the Father and the Son, very and eternal God.

      This short Article deals with the nature of the Holy Ghost and His relationship to the Father and the Son.  It affirms the deity of the Holy Ghost, * that He is of one substance, majesty, and glory with the Father, “very and eternal God”. [Heb. 9:14; He existed before Creation (Gen. 1:2).]  The Apostles believed in the unity of the Godhead, [1 Cor. 8:6.] yet the evidence of the New Testament indicates certain inner distinctions between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, which can only be expressed by using the word “Persons”.  The Holy Spirit is a person, because He works by personal activities such as teaching, [Jn. 14:26.] making intercession, [Rom. 8:26f.] witnessing, [Jn. 15:26.] and leading. [Gal. 5:18.]

      *Acts v.3f. (lying to the H.G. is lying to God); Mk. 3:29 (blasphemy against the H.G. is a sin); 1 Cor. 3:16 (those in whom the Spirit dwells are God’s temple, i.e., dwellingplace).  This Article was added in 1563 from the Lutheran Confession of Würtemberg.  It was probably included to complete the statement of Catholic doctrine in Articles I–IV, and to condemn those who followed Arius in regarding the Holy Spirit as the “creature of a creature”.

      “Proceeding from the Father and the Son” is a technical phrase used by St. Augustine to describe the relationship between the Persons in the Godhead.  The word “proceeding” is used as in John 15:26: “When the Advocate is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me.”  Here, as elsewhere in the New Testament, the Spirit is represented as sent by the Son from the Father.  In fact, He is called “the Spirit of Christ” [Rom. 8:9; Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:19; 1 Pet. 1:10f.] and “of Jesus”, [Acts 16:7 (R.V.).] as well as the Spirit of God, [Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 3:16.] and He was bestowed by the Son on the Apostles. [Jn. 20:22.]  But if in time, historically, we speak of the Holy Spirit as “proceeding” from the Father and the Son, we can only describe His relationship to the Father and the Son in eternity by using the same language.  “Just as His temporal mission was from the Father through the Son, just as the Holy Spirit Who descended at Pentecost was the Spirit not only of the Father but of the Son, so within the eternal life of God He received His being not directly from the Father, but mediately through the Son.  The Divine essence was conceived as eternally passing from the Father through the Son into the Spirit” [J. Bicknell, Introduction to the Thirty-nine Articles, 1961, p. 123.]  From the time of Tertullian the formula had been “proceeding from the Father through the Son”, [J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, 1950, p. 358.] but fourth-century writers argued from John 14:16 (“He – the Spirit – will receive of Mine”) that the Son conjointly with the Father was productive of the Holy Spirit.  Augustine, who believed that what could be predicated of one of the Persons could be predicated of the others, did much to promote this view, which won universal acceptance in the Western Church in the 5th and 6th centuries.  The original form of the Nicene Creed merely had “who proceedeth from the Father”, but the words “and the Son” (called the Filioque clause) came to be inserted at an early date in local Latin Creeds. [The Filioque clause seems to have been first inserted in the Creed by the Spanish Church in the fourth century, and was later accepted by other provincial Churches, including the English Synod of Hatfield (A.D. 680).]  The Eastern Church believes that the Father alone is the source or fountainhead of Deity, and has refused to add the Filioque clause to the Creed.  Eastern theologians say that the Western Church has acted irregularly in doing so, for the Council of Chalcedon (451 A.D.) ordered that no additions should be made to the Creed without the authority of a General Council.  To avoid this criticism the Papacy did not allow the Filioque clause to be inserted in the Creed used in Rome, until about the 11th century, though it had become part of the Creed centuries earlier in Spain, France, Germany, and North Italy. [J. N. D. Kelly, Op. cit., p. 366.]  The clause has been the subject of much controversy between the Eastern and Western Churches, and is still regarded by some theologians as an important doctrinal barrier to reunion. If the Western Church were now to drop the Filioque clause it might be regarded as placing the Son in an inferior position.

Chapter  II – The Scriptures And Creeds

Article  VI: Of The Sufficiency Of The Holy Scriptures For Salvation

      [The first paragraph of this Article is based on a similar statement in the 5th of the Forty-two Articles of 1553.  The rest of the Article was added in 1563, except for the Apocryphal books marked † which were added in 1571.]

      Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation; so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation.  In the name of Holy Scripture we do understand those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.

Of the Names and Number of the Canonical Books

Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, The I Book of Samuel, The II Book of Samuel, The I Book of the Kings, The II Book of the Kings, The I Book of Chronicles, The II Book of Chronicles, The I Book of Esdras, The II Book of Esdras, The Book of Esther, The Book of Job, The Psalms, The Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher; Cantica, or Songs of Solomon; Four Prophets the Greater, Twelve Prophets the Less

      And the other Books (as Heirome [The Old English form of Hieronymus, or Jerome, one of the great Latin Fathers (A.D. 342–420), whose translation of the Scriptures into Latin formed the basis of the Vulgate version.] saith) the Church doth read for example of life and instruction of manners; but yet it doth not apply them to establish any doctrine.  Such are these following:

The III Book of Esdras, The IV Book of Esdras, The Book of Tobias, The Book of Judith, The rest of the Book of Esther,† The Book of Wisdom, Jesus the Son of Sirach, Baruch the Prophet,† The Song of the Three Children,† The Story of Suzanna, Of Bel and the Dragon,† The Prayer of Manasses,† The I Book of Maccabees, The II Book of Maccabees

      All the Books of the New Testament, as they are commonly received, we do receive and account them Canonical.

      Articles I–V form a natural group treating of the Christian conception of God, the Trinity, and of the historical manifestation of the Son for our salvation.  Except for the differences between Eastern and Western Christendom over the double procession of the Holy Spirit, all the great Churches are agreed on these essential doctrines of the Faith.  The present Article deals with a question connected with the controversies of the Reformation, and which arose out of a renewed appreciation on the Protestant side of the unique authority of Scripture for Christian faith and practice, as against the beliefs and customs of ecclesiastical tradition.  The Article does not deny a place to devout opinion and sentiment, and suggestive ceremonial, in which Christian thought and feeling have found expression down the centuries; but it does declare that such things are not necessary for salvation, and it admits no ground by which they can be put on a par with the teaching of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments.

      Now in order to think intelligently today of this supreme position of the Bible in the Church, it is of primary importance to have a right idea of what the Bible is.  It is laid down in our Article that Scripture is the authoritative source of a saving knowledge of God, “so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation”.  This view of Scripture as the repository of essential truth brings our Article right up to date, for it is as the record of God’s mighty acts of salvation that the best modern scholarship approaches its interpretation: the Bible is above everything the history of redemption.  It tells of God’s call to responsive souls like the patriarchs, of the deliverance of His chosen people to whom He revealed His Law by Moses, and later sent the prophets with His message, of the lessons of the people’s chastisements and restorations, until in the fullness of time He sent His Son. [Mk. 12:6; Gal. 4:4; Heb. 1:1f.]

      There is nothing even remotely comparable to this long process of the divine education and discipline of Israel elsewhere in the history of religion; if God has been pleased to communicate a knowledge of His character and purpose to man at all, then the main stream of His revelation lies through Israel.  During this period of religious development the word “salvation” bore various meanings – it might refer to deliverance from calamity or oppression as well as forgiveness of sins: both ideas occur together in the Benedictus. [Lk. 1:68–79.]

      The salvation which Jesus wrought related to the removal of the guilt and power of sin, and His exhortations to repentance imply a sin-consciousness among those whom He addressed.  An adequate sense of sin is the outstanding result of Israel’s spiritual training; it made the individual aware of the fundamental wrong in his condition.  Such a consciousness of sin is confined to the faith of Israel; the literature of the ancient world has nothing corresponding to the description and confession of sin found in Psalm 51.  It was necessary that our Lord, whose mission was to meet this radical need in man, should come to His own people among whom that need was appreciated as it was not by the rest of the world.

      The Old Testament is the standard account of religious development in Israel; but it was early perceived by Christians that it was a preliminary movement and incomplete in itself: it was a preparatio evangelica, a preparation for the Gospel.  Step by step, and in various ways, as the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews writes [Heb. 1:1f.], God had formerly made known His will through the prophets, but now at the dawn of a new age He had revealed the truth fully in a Son.  To the Jew, for whom the divine will is entirely contained in the Law (Genesis – Deuteronomy), the Old Testament has a different value from what it has for the Christian who sees in Christ the perfect revealer of God.  For the latter it has the limitations of what is introductory and relative to something beyond it.  But this is not to deny that the Old Testament is a source of a real knowledge of God.  On the contrary, the prophets claimed that they had been admitted into the divine secret; [Amos 3:7.] they appeared before the people with His word and authority, and so we should say that their messages were a true and adequate statement of the divine mind at the stage of the nation’s progress and in the situation when they were delivered.

      For centuries before it was adopted by the Christian Church, the Old Testament was the sacred literature of Israel.  In II Kings 22 there is a reference to the discovery of the lost book of the Law, and according to the Letter of Aristeas, [It is difficult to distinguish between fact and fiction in the details of the story, but it is fairly well established that the translation of the Pentatench was originated in Alexandria c. 285 B.C.] when Ptolemy II Philadelphus (B.C. 285–247) asked for a copy of their laws for his library in Alexandria, the Jews complied by sending seventy-two scholars to help in translating them into Greek.  When the entire Old Testament was eventually translated into Greek it was known as the Septuagint Version (usually designated as “the LXX”), and was popular amongst Jews outside Palestine.  A number of other Jewish books written between 200 B.C. and 100 A.D. were incorporated in the Septuagint, for Jews in different places had different lists of writings which they regarded as “Scripture”. The Palestinian Jews finally fixed their Canonical [The “Canon” is the list of authoritative inspired writings.  The word literally means “a rule”, but when used of the Scriptures it means “list”, hence “canonical” means “on the list” of inspired writings.] Books at the Council of Jamnia (c. 90 A.D.).  But from the middle of the 1st century B.C. the Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria had used and recognized in addition many later writings.  The books common to the Palestinian and Alexandrian lists are known, as in the Article, as the Canonical Books of the Old Testament; the “other books” mentioned in the Article are the Alexandrian and other additions known as the “Apocryphal Books”. [Scholars are far from unanimous as to the original language, date and place of composition of some of the books that conic under this heading.  For a summary cf. R. H. Charles, Religious Development between Old and New Testaments.]  From the LXX they passed into the Latin versions, and thereby into Jerome’s revision, the Vulgate, which became the authorized Bible of the Roman Catholic Church.  From the first the Christian Church has used the Old Testament Canonical Books, and for centuries used also the Apocryphal Books.  But in formal lists the Church has always, like the Jews, made a distinction between Canonical and Apocryphal Books.  This distinction is preserved in the Article, which regards only the Canonical Books as “Holy Scripture”, [Our Lord often used the Canonical Books, but is not recorded in the N.T. as ever having used or cited the Apocryphal Books.] but permits the reading of the Apocrypha “for example of life and instruction of manners” though not for the establishment of any doctrine.  The Roman Church, on the other hand, at the Council of Trent included within the Canon most of the Apocryphal Books.

      In view of what is said in the Article about the exclusive authority of Scripture, the Jewish attitude is of interest.  For Judaism the heart of revelation is the Torah or Law; the other two divisions of the Bible, the Prophets and the Writings, are only so much commentary: anything of worth in them was already there in the Law.  “We know that God hath spoken unto Moses” [Jn. 9:29.] was a typical remark from a Jew, and “What is written in the Law? how readest thou?” was a leading question. [Lk. 10:26.]  To know all that was contained in the Law was to know all religious truth.  Study of Scripture was concentrated on it to see if there was anything which had previously escaped notice or from which a new meaning could be extracted.  The Sadducees rejected the belief in angels, spirits and the resurrection, because they did not find them in the Torah.

      The Old Testament was the Bible of our Lord and the Apostles; whenever “the Scriptures” are referred to in the New Testament, it is the Old Testament which is meant.  Why did the Church, in spite of the hostile opposition shown by the Jewish leaders to Jesus, their continued antagonism to the disciples, and the final break with the Synagogue, still continue to use the Jewish Scriptures?  The decisive reason must be our Lord’s own estimate of them.  And the point here is not the use He made of them in His teaching, or His appeal to them in His arguments with the Scribes [Mk. 7:5–13; 12:24–27, etc.] (that was the only kind of proof they would accept), for we know that Jesus was His own authority. [Mtt. 5:21f.; 27f, 33f., 38f., 43f.]

      The real consideration for the Christian evaluation of the Old Testament is that Jesus saw its fulfillment in Himself and His mission; [Lk. 4:21.] it supplied Him with types of Himself and His work; the purpose of the Scriptures was to testify to Him [Jn. 5:39.]: “for Christ is the end of the Law unto righteousness”. [Rom. 10:4.]

      In a word, the true meaning of the Old Testament is lost apart from Christ; without Him it is like a fruitless tree.

      It was our Lord’s view on the relation between the old revelation and His own which bound them together; the Old Testament became the Church’s first sacred book.  And so intense was the conviction that Jesus’ revelation was the fulfillment of the Jewish Scriptures that it led to the curious denial by some Christians that the Jews had any right to them at all; faith in Christ supplied believers with the key to their interpretation, and therefore, it was suggested, they properly belonged to them alone.

      To the Canonical Books of the Old Testament the Church added the more important Christian writings to form the New Testament Canon.  In order to preserve the early traditional accounts of the life and sayings of Jesus a written record of them had to be made, and St. Luke tells us that even before he wrote his account of the Gospel there had been several attempts in that direction. [Lk. 1:1.]  The writings of the Apostles, the original “eyewitnesses and ministers of the word”, were also held in high esteem in the Church.  But we must guard against thinking that, because these documents were highly prized, that they were at once classed with the Old Testament as Scripture.  For some generations Christians found in the Old Testament, although not by any methods of interpretation which would be accepted today, all that they believed about Christ; it was still their Bible.  Just as the doctrine of the Trinity was developed in conflict with heresy, so too false tendencies within, the Church (and especially a movement like Montanism in the second century with its claim to a new revelation) compelled it to select from its own literature writings of recognized sanctity, and invest them with canonical authority.  [Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, and 1 John were apparently not regarded as “canonical” in Rome when the Muratorian Canon (list) was drawn up (c. A.D. 200).  But most of our present N. T. was commonly received by the 4th century.]

      Along with the Old Testament Christianity took over from Judaism its attitude towards its sacred writings.  For the Jew the Law was God’s word to His people; other books like the Prophets and the Psalms were but aids to the understanding of it.  Later rabbinical exposition – “the tradition of the elders” [Mk. 7:3.] – was also respected in this connection.  But the Law remained the exclusive standard of reference; there was no second seat of authority.  Our Lord came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it, [Mtt. 5:l7f.] and the main fault He found with the Scribes was that their traditional explanations had defeated the intention of the Law and nullified it. [Mk. 7:13.]  He went behind tradition to Scripture in the highest sense, the Law itself.  While the Church never admitted the special place Judaism assigned to the Law, it followed it in regarding Scripture as the record of revelation and of unique religious authority.  Hence our Article emphasizes that “Holy Scripture” (that is, the Canonical Books only) contains sufficient doctrine for salvation “so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an Article of the Faith”.  This declaration was directed against the Roman Catholic Church which at the Council of Trent had placed unwritten tradition on a level with Scripture as a source of doctrine. [The Council declared (session iv) that the truth of the Gospel is “contained in the written books and in the unwritten traditions”.]  Our Church respects and values tradition, as Article XXXIV testifies, but if unwritten tradition is given equal authority with Scripture in establishing doctrine, the way is open for unlimited additions to, and perversions of, the ancient Faith. [For instance, neither the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary nor the dogma of Papal Infallibility can be proved from Scripture; they depend entirely on comparatively modern tradition.]  “For we know a doctrine is neither more nor less the Word of God for being written or unwritten; that is but accidental and extrinsical to it; for it was first unwritten and then the same thing was written; only when it was written it was better conserved, and surer transmitted, and not easily altered, and more fitted to be a rule.  And indeed only can be so: not but that every word of God is as much a rule as any word of God; but we are sure that what is so written, and so transmitted, is God’s word; whereas, concerning other things which were not written, we have no certain records, no evident proof, no sufficient conviction; and therefore it is not capable of being owned as the rule of faith or life, because we do not know it to be the Word of God.” [Jeremy Taylor, Of the Sufficiency of Holy Scripture, sect.i.]

      Some Protestant extremists regarded all Scripture as unnecessary; the Article stresses the necessity of using Scripture as an objective test of doctrine.  Only such doctrines as are “read therein” or “may be proved thereby” are to be accepted as Articles of Faith.

Article  VII: Of The Old Testament

      [Compiled in 1563 from two of the 1553 Articles.  The first part of this Article (down to “promises”) was Article VI of 1553, and the remainder formed the first part of Article XIX of 1553.]

      The Old Testament is not contrary to the New: for both in the Old and New Testament everlasting life is offered to Mankind by Christ, who is the only Mediator between God and Man, being both God and Man. Wherefore they are not to be heard which feign that the old Fathers did look only for transitory promises. Although the Law given from God by Moses, as touching Ceremonies and Rites do not bind Christian men, nor the civil precepts thereof ought of necessity to be received in any commonwealth; yet notwithstanding, no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral.

      It has often been said that the Gospel was rediscovered at the Reformation, but it is certain that with the widespread movement against the degeneracy of the Western Church many fanatical sects arose which restored heresies going back almost to the beginning of Christianity: the association of these byproducts of spiritual revivals with heterodoxy is a curious feature of Church history.  The error repudiated in this Article, that there is an opposition between the Old and New Testaments, appeared as early as the first half of the second century, and is chiefly associated with the name of Marcion (c. 135 A.D.).  He wrote a book called Antitheses, and as the title denotes, it dealt with the contrasts between the respective teaching of the Testaments.  In Marcion’s view creation and redemption were the work of two different Gods: the God of the Old Testament was an inferior Creator.  God, “the god of this world”, was the God of the Jews and their Law; the Christian’s God was the supreme Saviour-God, “the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”, the God of grace.  The Old Testament was not the account of a divine preparation in history for Christ; He appeared suddenly on earth with a message of redemption from the true God.

      On the evidence of the New Testament, and especially with our Lord’s testimony to the witness of the Old Testament to Himself in mind, such a distinction between the two parts of the Church’s Scripture is altogether inadmissible.  And if the Old Testament history describes a providential ordering of events with a view to the revelation of Christ, then it must be anticipatory of, and in harmony with, that end – in short, there is a tendency towards the New Testament in the Old.  From the Christian standpoint this tendency is due to the direction of the Spirit of Christ.  Under that influence, St. Peter says, the prophets eagerly looked forward to the time of salvation, and the manner of its accomplishment. [1 Pet. 1:10–12.]  It is in this sense that the Article rightly states that “both in the Old and New Testaments everlasting life is offered to mankind by Christ”.

      For an appreciation of the Old Testament and its bearing on the New, it is important to trace that meaning that is seeking expression in the characters of its leading personalities and institutions, and in the wonderful prophetic insights, with their feeling of inadequacy and frustration, and yet of certain hope.  In our discussion of Article VI we noticed that one of the vital ideas in thinking of the relationship between the Old Testament and the New is that of “fulfillment”.  But how that term is to be understood is very important.  It is a mistake to suppose that prophetic vision or insight contained a clear picture of the future, every detail of which was realized in the event; prophecy is never equal to fulfillment like that; fulfillment is always richer and more meaningful than prophecy.  Fulfillment in relation to prophecy is like Life in relation to its material support.  Scientists tell us that after ages of evolution matter became organized in a way that fitted it to be a bearer of Life.  But this is not to say that Life is the natural product of the process which preceded it, that it can be resolved into the material synthesis it occupies, and described in terms of physics and chemistry; this is just what cannot be done.  No one could foretell from a lifeless world that one day Life would appear in it.  Life is more than the fulfillment of all that has gone before; it is the new and unpredictable thing which comes in the fullness of time, and takes for its own use what has been prepared for it.  There is a tendency towards Christ in the Old Testament; it is the divine historical preparation for Him.  But a tendency towards something, and a tendency to produce it, have to be distinguished.  While the ancient Scriptures provided Him with titles, types and illustrations for His Person and work, none of these, nor all of them by themselves, is sufficient for Him.  He selects among them, and arranges them in a unity in His Person which surpasses their original sense.  Like Life, He is a new synthesis; under the influence of His Personality old religious institutions and prophetic insights are formed into an original spiritual fact.  And again, like Life, this new combination of truth cannot be analyzed and explained by what preceded it.

      To illustrate this bearing of the Old Testament on the revelation of Christ, let us take the two references which meant most to our Lord Himself, Jeremiah’s great prophecy of the New Covenant, [Jer. 31:31–34.] and Isaiah’s Suffering Servant of the Lord. [Isa. 53.]  Jeremiah perceived, as did St. Paul, that a covenant written on tables of stone was not suitable to unregenerate man, and that it must be replaced; at some future time God would make a new covenant “with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah”, written in the heart.  Jesus claimed to institute this New Covenant by His Death. [Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:25; Heb. 8:7.]  The very idea of a New Covenant is revolutionary enough, but the point is that not even a Jeremiah could rise above Israelite nationalism; the future Covenant was to remain with the Chosen People.  In our Lord’s fulfillment of the prophecy the Covenant is universal; it includes all mankind.

      Isaiah’s profound conception of the Suffering Servant derived from reflection on the mystery of the suffering of the agent of God’s purpose.  The identity of the Servant is a well-known Old Testament problem.  But whether the prophet has in mind his people’s afflictions at the hands of the nations, or the treatment of the prophets by their own people, the thought is the same: willing acceptance of humiliation and suffering is the divine way of reclaiming those who cause them.  As the Christ or Anointed One, Jesus was pre-eminently God’s representative, and by taking the Suffering Servant for the type of Himself, He completely transformed the Jewish view of Messiahship.  A good example of the Old Testament idea of the Coming One and of what He would accomplish is found in Isaiah 11:1–9: a scion of the House of David will arise, and by overwhelming physical power he will execute judgement, establishing virtue, destroying wickedness, and inaugurating the reign of righteousness and peace.  There is no thought here of a Messiah who will give his life as a ransom, and by enduring a shameful death on a Cross will draw all men to Himself. [Mk. 10:45; Jn. 12:32.]  The fact is that in the light of our Lord’s revelation the Old Testament takes on a different meaning, and Christians recognized this from the very first.  An unmistakable note of wonder at a new discovery appears in the words of the Emmaus disciples: “was not our heart burning within us, while He spake to us in the way, while He opened to us the Scriptures”. [Lk. 24:32; cf. 5:27.  N.E.B. has: “Did we not feel our hearts on fire as he talked with us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”]  As read by Christians eyes the Old Testament becomes in the deepest sense a new book; in fulfillment its meaning is transformed.

      The Jews divided the Old Testament into three parts:

(1) The Law (comprising the five books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy [Sometimes “the Law” means the whole contents of the Old Testament (Jn. 10:34; 12:34; 15:25) but it usually means only the Pentateuch.]) was regarded, as we saw in Article VI, as the most sacred part of the Scriptures; (2) the Prophets, which included the chief historical books (viz. Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Minor Prophets); and (3) the Writings (including the Psalms and remaining Old Testament books).  Our Lord’s disciples were left in no doubt about His general attitude, for He repeatedly emphasized that what was written “in the Law of Moses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms” concerning Him “must be fulfilled” [Lk. 24:44; Mk. 9:11–13; 12:26; 14:49; Lk. 16:17; 18:31; 20:17, 37.] – and the fulfillment was accomplished in the sense which we have indicated.  He often cited the Old Testament Scriptures with approval, [Mk. 10:19; 12:29ff; 12:35ff.] and the Apostolic Church freely used them as “witnessing” to Him, [Jn. 5:49, 36; 8:56, Acts 10:43; 18:28; Rom. 3:21; Gal. 3:24 (R.V.).] and regarded them as divinely inspired. [Acts 4:25; Heb. 3:7; 2 Tim. 3:15.]

      But the Old Testament is obviously incomplete in itself.  While other nations often looked back to a glorious past, Israel looked forward to the establishment of the Kingdom of God in the future.  In this respect “the old Fathers did not look only for transitory promises”.  The Messianic hope took different forms at different periods in the history of the Jews.  Though their ideas of “everlasting life” were vague, and only in the later period of their history did some of them come to believe in a personal resurrection [Acts 23:8, cf. Dan. 12:2.], Jesus showed them it was implied in the language of an earlier age. [Mk. 12:26f., cf. Ps. 16:12.]  But without His fulfillment [Mtt. 2:15, 17, 23; 8:17; Jn. 12:38, etc.] and exposition [Lk. 24:27, 44f; Jn. 5:46.] of the prophecies, many parts of the Old Testament would have remained incomplete and incomprehensible.  In short, throughout (from Genesis 3:15 to Malachi 4:1) it points to Him, and without it much of the New Testament would be meaningless.  The inclusion of the Old Testament in the Bible of the Christian Church is therefore fully justified.

      The Article declares that “the Old Testament is not contrary to the New”, but that does not mean that its moral and spiritual teaching is throughout on the same level as the New Testament.  Though our Lord did fulfill many prophecies, and had no intention of destroying “the Law and the Prophets” [Mtt. 5:17.], He found it necessary to expand and develop – and even to supersede – the teaching of the Old Testament.  He showed that an observance of the letter of the Law was not enough, [Mtt. 5:21–48; 12:1–8.] and that the vengeful spirit of parts of the Old Testament was not to be followed [Lk. 9:54ff.; Mtt. 5:43f.] He superseded the Mosaic law on divorce by pointing to a prior principle [Mk. 10:2–12.] and the law concerning clean and unclean meats. [Mk. 7:18f.(RV), cf. Lev. 11.]  Following His example [Mk. 7:lf., Lk. 11:38f.] the Apostles regarded ceremonial laws as outdated, [Rom. 14:14; Col. 2:16, 20–22; Tit. 1:15; Galatians (passim).] and in civil matters the general teaching of the New Testament is that Christians are subject to the law of the land, [Acts 22:25.] but there is no appeal to the Civil precepts of the Old Testament.  Even Circumcision was superseded by Christian Baptism, [Col. 2:11f.; Acts 15:24.] and “the Lord’s Day”, [Rev. 1:10.] or “first day of the week” [Acts 20:7.] (Sunday) replaced the Sabbath as the Church’s sacred day, since it was the day of Christ’s Resurrection.

      Morality, however, belongs to our common humanity, and therefore claims universal allegiance.  In the judgement predicted by Amos, [Amos 2:1–8.] Israelite and heathen alike are under moral law.  Hence the Article declares that the Ceremonial and Civil precepts of the Mosaic Law are not binding upon Christians, but the Old Testament Moral Law (such as the Ten Commandments, which were endorsed by our Lord [Mark 10:19.] – and the New Testament writers [Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8.]) is binding upon them.

      In general the Old Testament is to be regarded as preparatory to the New, [Luke 16:16; Matt. 11:13.] a shadow of the truth as revealed in Christ. [Col. 2:17; Heb. 8:5; 9:9, 15; 10:1; Gal. 3:24 (R.V.).]  As such it is to be valued, but its teac hing is to be understood and applied only in the light of Christian principles.

Article  VIII: Of The Three Creeds

      [This Article was composed in 1553 to affirm the Catholicity of the Anglican Church, and in protest against Anabaptists who rejected all Creeds.]

      The Three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius’ Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles’ Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture.

      The tendency today is to decry the value of creeds or dogmatic statements of religious belief and to lay the emphasis on Christian character and conduct; how one behaves and not what he believes or professes is the vital matter.  When this attitude is examined it becomes clear that it is not really the importance assigned by the Church to its Creeds that is criticized, but human inconsistency.  To think before acting is the normal sequence for rational beings, and everyone recognizes that we ought to act in accordance with our convictions; it is weakness, hypocrisy or downright sinful not to do so.  Our beliefs on the highest things, about God, ourselves and our fellowmen should determine the quality of our conduct by providing its motives and ends; no man is ever better than the best that he believes.  Consistent living demands that behaviour should be the practical issue of inner convictions; the Christian life is properly the complement of the Christian Faith.  And conversely, as we have already seen, much of Christian belief is the interpretation of Christian experience.  There are revealed truths which are inculcated and accepted in faith, but all they mean cannot be fully appreciated until we have had the experience of acting upon them.  The theology of the Gospels is the theology of revelation, which is verified and amplified in the religious experience behind the theology of the Epistles.

      Before the earliest books of the New Testament were written, the Apostolic teaching must have been given orally, and there is much evidence that elementary “forms” or summaries of Christian teaching were used in the Church from the middle of the 1st century.  Attention may be drawn, for instance, to such phrases as “the form of sound words which thou hast heard of me” [2 Tim. 1:13.] and the frequent occurrence in the Pastoral Epistles of references to “the sound doctrine”, [2 Tim. 4:3; Titus 1:9.] “the deposit”, [1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 1:14. R.V.M.] “the faith”, [1 Tim. 1:19; Tit. 1:13 (R.V.).] and “the excellent teaching”. [1 Tim.4:6. (Greek).]  Similar allusions are found in other Epistles to “the faith once delivered to the saints” [Jude 3.] and to “the confession” [Heb. 3:1; 4:14; 10:23.] – all of which suggest a body of objective teaching which was used in giving instruction in the fundamentals of the Faith before any part of the New Testament had been written.  Some of these summaries of Apostolic teaching were doubtless used from an early date in the instruction of adult candidates for Baptism, in preaching, and in teaching. [E.g., 1 Cor. 15:3–7; Phil. 2:5–11; 1 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 1:3f; etc.]  Early Baptism was administered “in the Name of the Lord Jesus” [Acts 8:16.], and candidates would be expected to make a simple confession of Christian faith. [Such declarations as “Jesus is Lord” (1 Cor. 12:3) “Jesus is the Son of God” (1 Jn. 4:15; Acts 8:37), or “Jesus Christ is Lord” (Phil. 2:10f.) may have been the earliest baptismal creeds.]  When the Church began to administer Baptism in the Name of the Trinity [Mtt. 28:19.] the need for a three-fold confession of faith in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost led to the development in the 2nd and 3rd centuries of Creeds in the same three-fold pattern.  With the growth of the Church, greater care was taken in the preparation of adult converts, and they were taught to express their beliefs by reciting at their Baptism a Creed summarizing fundamental Christian beliefs.  In this way “Baptismal Creeds” developed (which varied slightly in details, for local Bishops sometimes added clauses designed to exclude local heresies).  Later, with the growth of heresies and false teachers, representatives of the whole Church met together in General Councils, [Cf. Article XXI.] which issued “Conciliar Creeds” summarizing Bible teaching on disputed points of doctrine.  Such “conciliar creeds” thenceforth became the standards of correct belief for everyone.

      The first General Council (summoned by the Emperor Constantine) opened on 19th June, 325, at Nicaea. [J. N. D. Kelly, Early Christian Creeds, 1950, p. 211.]  The 318 Bishops present issued a Creed designed to refute the errors of Arius, presbyter of Alexandria, who denied the co-eternity and co-equality of the Son with the Father.  It was probably a revised version of an earlier Baptismal Creed [J. N. D. Kelly, Op. cit., p. 229f.] into which they inserted anti-Arian clauses which declared that the Son is “Very God of Very God, begotten not made, Being of one substance with the Father”.  The Creed issued by the Council of Nicaea (technically designated by the letter N) was not, however, identically the same as our Nicene Creed. [For instance, it ended with the words “I believe in the Holy Ghost”.]  In fact, some scholars have denied any connection between the two, and prefer to call our Creed the “Constantinopolitan Creed”.  It is true that the second General Council held at Constantinople in 381 issued a Creed almost verbally identical with our Nicene Creed. [With the notable omission, of course, of the Filioque clause (cf. Article V), and stated throughout in the plural (Baptismal Creeds, as expressing the personal faith of an individual were naturally in the singular, “I believe”; but Conciliar Creeds as expressing the faith of an assembled body were naturally in the plural, “We believe ...”).]  But it has been pointed out that the Council of Constantinople “did not conceive of itself as manufacturing a new Creed” [J. N. D. Kelly, Op. cit., p. 325.  The same writer points out (p. 307f.) that none of the various Synods that met between 381 and 451 make any reference to a “Constantinopolitan Creed”.], and that the description “the faith of Nicaea” in the fourth century “could equally well be used of a Creed, local or otherwise, which was patently Nicene in its general character, while differing from N in much of its language”. [J. N. D. Kelly, Op. cit., p. 323.]  Whoever may have been the original author of the present text of our Nicene Creed, [For a full discussion of the views of various scholars, Ibid. p. 296ff.] it was promulgated by the Council of Constantinople as “the faith of the Nicene fathers” but that faith set forth in a form better adapted than N for dealing with the heresies of the hour. [J. N. D. Kelly, Op. cit., p. 331.]  It was also received and endorsed by the fourth General Council at Chalcedon in 451.  It thus comes to us as a Conciliar Creed possessing the full authority of the Undivided Church.

      The origin and date of the Athanasian Creed has been the subject of much controversy and speculation. [For a summary of the various theories consult Liturgy and Worship, Ed. W. K. Lowther Clarke, 1943, p. 280ff.]  Scholars are agreed that Athanasius did not write it, [It was written in Latin, but Athanasius wrote in Greek.] but are less certain as to the identity of the actual author.  It was probably written in the 5th or 6th century, and is more a Canticle or Hymn than a Creed.  The Orthodox Church of the East has never formally accepted it, and it does not possess the same oecumenical authority as the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds.  The American Church has omitted use of the “Quicunque Vult” (as it is commonly called), and its use is optional in the Irish and Canadian Churches.  It is a theological statement designed to protect the Faith against heretical views concerning the Trinity, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

      For over a thousand years the Baptismal Creed of Western Christendom has been “that which is commonly called the Apostles’ Creed”.  Though not written by the Apostles, it summarizes the Apostolic teaching. [A detailed exposition of the Apostles’ Creed is given by W. G. Wilson in Church Teaching, A Handbook for Members of the Church of Ireland, 1954, pp. 38–59.]  In its present form it was used in Gaul c. A.D. 750 but most of its substance can be traced back to a Baptismal Creed used in the Roman Church about the middle of the second century.

Chapter  III – The Nature Of Man

Article  IX: Of Original Or Birth-Sin

      [One of the Forty-two Articles of 1553.  Some think it is based on the Second Article of the Augsburg Confession (1530) and came through the Thirteen Articles; others, however, consider the resemblance is too slight, and merely indicates the general consensus of Reformed opinion (Gibson, The Thirty-nine Articles, p. 358).]

      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 original righteousness, and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth always contrary to the spirit; and therefore in every person born into this world, it deserveth God’s wrath and damnation.  And this infection of nature doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated; whereby the lust of the flesh, called in the Greek phronema sarkos, which some do expound the wisdom, some sensuality, some the affection, some the desire, of the flesh, is not subject to the Law of God.  And although there is no condemnation for them that believe and are baptized, yet the Apostle doth confess that concupiscence and lust hath of itself the nature of sin.

      *The Article assumes a literal interpretation of Genesis 1–3.  Many scholars prefer to regard these chapters as an allegory, but whichever view is taken, the spiritual truth suggested is that no man in known to have lived (save Jesus) who did not manifest a tendency towards sin.  The doctrine of Original Sin is an attempt to explain the fact of the universal sinfulness of human nature.

      This Article relates to another old error which was revived by the Anabaptists of Reformation times, that of Pelagius (a monk of British origin, A.D. 360–420), who denied any distinction between original or birth sin and actual sin, and taught that we begin life with the nature which Adam had when he was created, that is, a nature without a tendency to do what was contrary to God’s commands.  The followers of Pelagius, emphasizing the importance of free-will, believed that men are capable by their own efforts of being perfectly righteous; there is nothing in us to prevent natural, spontaneous obedience, but in fact we simply choose to disobey.  This view springs from a totally inadequate conception of the nature of sin.  To Pelagius, “sin” was only a name for an act which, once committed, is over and done with and does not affect man’s nature.  Consequently, he did not believe that men could inherit any inborn tendency to sin.  Against this view, the Article asserts that every person “naturally engendered” [Excludes our Lord, whose birth was supernatural (Luke 1:34f.).] possesses a corrupt nature “very far gone” from righteousness and “inclined to evil”.  This estimate of human nature is fully endorsed by Scripture [Gen. 6:12; .Job 14:4; 15:14; 25:4; Ps. 14:1; 51:5; Isa. 53:6; Jer. 17:9 (RV); Mk. 7:21f; 10:18 (RV); 1 Jn. 1:8, etc.] and by experience.  Our Lord did not explicitly state any doctrine of Original Sin, but He recognized the facts that the doctrine was formulated to express.  He always assumed that men are in a state of “fallenness”; that they are sick and need a physician [Mtt. 9:12; Mk. 2:7; Lk. 5:31.]; that evil is present in human hearts [“If ye then, being evil ...”  Mtt. 7:11; Lk. 11:11.]; and that men need redemption. [Mtt. 18:11; Lk. 19:10.]

      Pagan moralist and Christian Apostle alike testify to the frustrating contradiction which lies at the centre of our personalities.  “I see the better things, and approve them; I follow the worse”, says Ovid: “the good which I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I practice”, says St. Paul. [Rom. 7:19.]  What is the cause of this weakness?  How is it that if man was made for fellowship with God, and the divine will is the law of his being, obedience is so hard, and the besetting sin so easy?  The Article declares that it is the consequence of Original Sin.  Instead of being employed in following the course the Creator intended for him, which is the only full and satisfying life possible, man used his capacities for self-centred ends, and they acquired an aberrant rebellious bent, which became hereditary.  Our careers do not start on an even keel; urges of self-interest, clamant for expression, have got a start, and consciences and wills, dulled and vitiated by yielding to temptation, are incapable of checking them.

      This “fallen” state is the main practical fact about him in the biblical view of man, and although it is never connected in the Old Testament with Adam’s lapse, as it is by St. Paul, much that he says about man’s sinful condition has a parallel there.  The human heart is “desperately wicked”, [Jer. 17:9.] and from youth its thoughts are continually evil. [Gen. 6:5: 8:21.]  “For from within, out of the heart of man”, says our Lord, “evil thoughts proceed, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, covetings, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, railing, pride, foolishness: all these evil things proceed from within, and defile the man.” [Mk. 7:21–23.]  Indeed, our nature is infected with evil from the very beginning. [Ps. 58:3; 51:5.]  In Romans 7:7–25 St. Paul gives his classical description of the inner conflict between the impulsion of the flesh (“the law of sin which is in my members”) and his moral judgement, which is also the law of God and approves the Commandments.  So far as our psychological make-up is concerned, the evil principle dominates.  And if a knowledge of the good is not accompanied by the will-power to implement it, the case is rendered worse; for what was formerly innocent becomes sinful. [Rom. 7:7.]  The cry of man in his actual condition is: “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of this body of death?”. [Rom. 7:24 (R.V.)]  Something must reach us from outside if the deepest human need is to be met.  The efficient counteraction to the law of the members is not the law of the mind, but the law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. [Rom. 8:12; cf. Phil. 4:13; 2 Cor. 3:5.]

      Science has another way of accounting for this fact of the divided self.  It would explain the clash of the body’s appetites and instincts with the moral sense as due to the difference between life at the animal and human levels.  The supreme aim of every animate creature is to survive; all its activity and habits are directed to that end, and it develops a structure and economy of organism best suited for success: it lives in the service of its own interest.  This is the nature, shaped in the struggle for existence, that man has inherited from his animal ancestry.  But a nature determined by the unrestricted pursuit of individual ends was not adapted to life in a community, for which man has a strong tendency.  A code of conduct was necessary to protect personal rights against the self-seeking of others, and to maintain a stable order of society.  It is obvious that covetousness and stealing, hatred and killing, suspicion, deceit and lying do not favour desirable human relations, and must be denounced and prohibited, while their opposites, justice, truth and kindliness are to be inculcated and enjoined.  On this theory original sin is not due to the infection of an innocent nature by sin, but to the continuance in us of the law of the jungle; and morality is a rule of behaviour for community life with social requirement for its sanction.

      Two comments on this scientific view of man may be made.  First, science does not, and properly cannot, say whether pre-human conditions might have been different; but the Bible is also aware of the internecine strife in the animal world, [Isa. 11:6–9; Ps. 104:21.] and says that it is not a natural state of affairs.  A “Nature red in tooth and claw” is a Nature in “the bondage of corruption”, to which it was reduced to bring it into conformity with fallen humanity; deliverance from it and entrance into ideal conditions will be one result of redemption. [Isa. 11:9; Rom. 8:21; 2 Pet. 3:13.]  Secondly, while science may offer a plausible description of what has actually happened, the reason lies with Christianity why man, after so long a time in barbarism, should at last reach a communal way of life.  A creature formed in the image of the God of love was made for life in a social order; the ultimate foundation of morality is the divine intention for man, and not the rule of convenience.  This is evident from the complete failure of the evolutionary theory to explain conscience.  Conscience demands a loyalty to what is held to be true and right, which is nothing less than the absolute claim of God upon our allegiance.  Only the Pauline doctrine that the moral sense is also the divine law for us [Rom. 7:24.] provides an adequate reason why a man will give his life for conscience’ sake, and thus surrender the very thing the entire struggle for existence was concentrated on preserving.

      Experience confirms the biblical estimate of man’s fallen condition.  “When we look into ourselves we discover the fact, so mysterious to all who believe in a good God, that we find there evil tendencies and desires, similar to those which result in indulgence in actual sin, but which are prior in time to, and independent of; any such actual sin. . . . They are not simply imperfections; they are positively evil.  They are loyalties that conflict with and weaken our loyalty to God.  Nor do we show any signs of outgrowing them.  They do not disappear when we get older.  In other words, our nature, as we receive it, appears to be not merely undeveloped but to possess a bias towards evil, a disunion within itself, an inability to rise to higher levels.” [E. J. Bicknell, Essays Catholic and Critical, 1926, p. 206.]  Nor is this estimate of human nature confined to theologians.  A Nobel Prize winner who has made a scientific study of man and his life, declares “The number of people who are interested in science, letters, and art has grown.  But most of them are chiefly attracted by the lowest forms of literature and by the imitations of science and of art.  It seems that the excellent hygienic conditions in which children are reared, and the care lavished upon them in schools, have not raised their intellectual or moral standards ... . The environment born of our intelligence and our inventions is adjusted neither to our stature nor to our shape.  We are unhappy.  We degenerate morally and mentally.  The groups and the nations in which industrial civilization has attained its highest development are precisely those which are becoming weaker and whose return to barbarism is the most rapid.  But they do not realize it.”. [Alexis Carrel, Man the Unknown (1948 Pelican Edn.), pp. 32, 30.  Dr. Carrel, a French research scientist, worked in the Rockefeller Institute.]  The need for policemen, gaols, and reformatories, and the existence of slave labour camps and “brainwashing” processes in highly civilized nations; the need for societies for the prevention of cruelty to children, and the abundant evidence of tension and friction between individuals and groups – all testify abundantly that man “is of his own nature inclined to evil.”

      Whereas the corruption of nature was “not of its own will”, [Rom. 8:20.] but was imposed upon it, man’s culpable failure diminished the natural disposition to obedience of a being made in the divine image (‘original righteousness’), and the resulting inclination to evil “deserveth God’s wrath and damnation”. [Cf. Rom. 1:8; Eph. 5:6; Col. 3:6.]  How could it be otherwise?  “How can we suppose that such a nature looks in the eyes of God according to the standard of perfect righteousness which we also suppose to be God’s standard and law?  Does it satisfy that standard?  Can He look with neutrality on its divergence from His perfect standard?  What He may do to cure it, to pardon it, to make allowances for it in known or unknown ways, is another matter about which His known attributes of mercy alone may reassure us; but the question is, How does He look upon the fact of our nature in itself, that without exceptions it has this strong efficacious germ of evil within it, of which He sees all the possibilities and all the consequences?  Can He look on it, even in germ, with complacency or indifference?  Must He not judge it and condemn it in itself; because evil, deserving condemnation?” [Dean Church, Life and Letters, p. 295.  If this seems a harsh doctrine, it is balanced by God’s readiness to justify the sinner (Article XI).]

      Common experience, as well as Scripture, teaches that “this infection of nature doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated”. [Rom. 13:14; Gal. 5:16, 17; 1 Pet. 2:11.]  In Baptism the benefits of Christ’s atonement begin to be applied to us, and no account is taken by God of this thing in us which is at enmity with God; so “there is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus”. [Rom. 8:1.]  Baptismal regeneration does not involve a break with the innate proneness to evil; but it does mean our introduction to a new life in the Spirit in which we are equipped with power to strengthen us in the struggle which still goes on. [Rom. 8:9, 11, 14; Gal. 5:16, 25.]

Article  X: Of Free-Will

      [The first part of this article was added from the Würtemberg Confession in 1563.  The second part is taken almost verbatim from Augustine’s treatise De Gratia et Libero Arbitrio, chap. xvii.]

      The condition of man after the fall of Adam is such that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith, and calling upon God: Wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will.

      It would take a substantial volume to give an account of the opinion and arguments which have appeared on the question raised in this Article.  What happens when a man passes from his “fallen” state into that of salvation?  Is the change due entirely to the operation of divine grace or can man find his way to salvation by himself?  Or again, is it brought about by God and man working together?  The position adopted in our Article is, as usual, a moderate one, and is in line with the great theological tradition which begins with St. Paul.  It asserts that in his lapsed condition man is unable to “turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God.”  The good will essential for performing “works pleasant and acceptable to God” comes by His prevenient grace, and this aid must remain with us as cooperative or concurrent grace for the continued exercise of the good will.  Grace may be defined briefly as “the power of God that worketh in us”, [Eph. 3:7, 20.  Oscar Hardman defines grace as God’s “radiant adequacy”.  The Christian Doctrine of Grace, p. 30.] or the “unearned favour” of God.  The Article, in common with the Prayer Book, acknowledges that we need God’s help and power to enable us to do His will: “we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves”; [Collect, Lent II; Rom. 8:8.] “because through the weakness of our mortal nature we can do no good thing without Thee. [Trinity I.]  God is the source of all goodness, “from Whom all holy desires, all good counsels, and all just works do proceed”. [Evg. Prayer, Coll. II., Jas. 1.]  Man needs God’s grace, not merely because of “the fall of Adam”, but because his whole life – moral and spiritual as well as physical – is entirely sustained by God, “in Whom we live and move and have our being”. [Prayer for Recollection of God’s Presence.]

      The Article mentions two ways in which God’s grace acts:

      (1) By “preventing us that we may have a good will” – usually called “prevenient grace”, which goes before (Latin, preavenire) or “prevents” us, [Hence it does not mean “hinder”.] to give us a good will.  The term “prevenient” was probably suggested by the Latin of Psalm 59:10, “The God of my mercy will prevent me”.  We need the prompting of God even to desire to do what is right, and this truth is emphasized often in the Bible [Jn. 6:44; 15:5 (RV); Acts 16:14; Eph. 1:8; Phil. 2:13( RV).] and in the Prayer Book. [Epiphany I, Easter Day, Trinity IX, XVII.]

      (2) By “working with us when we have that good will” – usually called “cooperating grace”.  Our Lord [Jn. 15:41, cf. Mk. 16:20.] and the Apostles [Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 3:5f.; Gal. 2:20.] frequently emphasized our need of such grace, and the Prayer Book has many references to our need of “continual” help. [Collects, Trinity IX, XIV, XV.]  Several Collects mention both “prevenient” and “cooperating” grace, such as the Post Communion Collect: “Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings with Thy most gracious favour, and further us with Thy continual help . . .”. [Cf. Trinity XVII, and Easter Day Collect I.]

      We shall never reach a conclusion on a subject like this, which will at least leave us easy minds before the mystery of the divine counsels until we stop thinking of God’s grace versus human freedom, and try to understand them both in relation to God’s purpose of love in creation.  God is love, [1 Jn. 4:8, 16.] and love seeks to impart itself, to share its blessedness and evoke an answering love in its object.  The divine love is the reason and cause of our existence.  But it is the nature of love that it cannot be forced.  God wants our responsive love to the love wherein He has created and redeemed us, but it must be freely offered.  No matter how deeply we may love our friends, and show it, and desire their affection in return, we cannot compel them to love us.  For some selfish end they may pretend to respond; but whether they do so from the heart is their own secret.

      The highest form of God’s almightiness is the constraining tenderness of His love; [2 Cor. 5:19, 14.] this is the ultimate power in a moral order.  Should the love of God in Christ fail to draw all men unto Him, [Jn. 12:32.] there is no other way.  If love is the nature of the relationship between God and us, then it requires on our part the free and glad dedication of ourselves and our lives to His service in responsive love.  We are made for freedom; our wills are the great thing about us that God longs to have: He will ever work to win them, but He will never nullify or destroy them, for that would amount to the defeat of His own purpose.  Any interpretation of God’s dealings with man which allows no place for a real exercise of moral choice is wrong somewhere.

      Man’s unregenerate state is nowhere treated in Scripture as one of total depravity; the divine image in him is not utterly obliterated by his “fall”.  Even in heathendom he still has the light of the moral sense and the witness of Nature to its Creator, and therefore is “without excuse”. [Amos 1:3–2:3; Rom. 1:20; 2:11–16.]  But can the common intellect and moral judgement of the “natural” man afford fully convincing grounds for believing the Gospel, so that his conduct may be inspired by the Christian motive and “pleasant and acceptable to God” in the highest sense?  It does not appear that this is possible, and for this reason.  Christianity illustrates the principle of the paradox: that is to say, “things are not what they seem”, we see them “in a riddle”, as St. Paul says, [1 Cor. 13:12.] and the truth about them is not evident.  The world’s standards and those of the Christian are poles apart.  Christ’s idea of greatness is entirely different from the general one; [Mk. 10:42–45.] “the wisdom of the world is foolishness with God” [1 Cor. 3:19; cf. 1:27.]; the meaning of the Cross is so contrary to men’s way of thinking that it cannot be preached in terms of what they call wisdom, and keep its saving power. [1 Cor. 1:17.]  St. Paul is not exaggerating in the sharp contrast he draws between the divine and worldly wisdoms.  The reaction of the “natural” man to the Gospel is vividly expressed in an early pagan representation of the central theme of Christian preaching as a human figure with an ass’s head stretched on a gibbet.  To the philosopher and those who prided themselves as being versed in the world’s wisdom, Christian preaching sounded like fanatical drivel. [Acts 17:32.]

      How can one come to accept the contradiction of the Gospel which sees greatness in service, self-fulfillment. and abundant life through self-effacement and death, glory through humiliation and shame, God’s triumph over the world’s evil in spite of His apparent decisive defeat by it?  The intellect asks: “How can these things be?” and has no answer.  But Pascal was right; sometimes “the heart has its reasons which the reason does not understand”.  In spite of the vast amount of fear that the history of religion shows, there is a deep-seated feeling in the human breast that the power manifested in the universe is beneficent: there is “a Friend behind phenomena”.  But can the heart’s desire be trusted?  The intellect suspects and doubts, as well indeed it might; but where the head says of the Gospel, “it is too good to be true”; grace whispers to the heart: “nothing is too good to be true; the better it is the truer it is.”  At this point faith comes in.  Faith is the resolve not only to believe the Christian message as true, but to commit ourselves to it without reserve, to live by it here and now, and to rest our destiny upon it.  The teaching of the New Testament is that we are led to belief and trust in the Gospel by the grace of God. [Jn. 6:44; Eph. 2:8; Phil. 1:9.]  At the same time we must make the prompting and encouragement of the Spirit of Grace [Heb. 10:29.] our very own; we must will to believe: “I believe; help thou mine unbelief” [Mk. 9:28.] is the proper approach to the challenge of the Gospel.  Preventing grace is like the helping hand extended to one trying to surmount an obstacle, like getting over a stile; but the point is that he wants, and is attempting to do it himself.  Embracing the way of salvation (by preventing grace), and walking worthily therein (by cooperating grace), is a joint achievement in which God and man act together [Phil. 2:12, 13.] and since God is no respecter of persons, [Acts 10:34; 1 Pet. 1:17.] it is open to all.

      The relationship between God’s grace and man’s free-will has been the subject of much controversy, and is still widely debated.  Some, like the Pelagians, believe that the human will can do what is right without prevenient grace; others, like John Calvin, believe that God’s grace cannot be resisted by man’s will.  The Article takes an intermediate position between these two extremes.  A little consideration will show that man’s will cannot be completely free without grace, [St. Paul had the will to do good, but was unable to do so (Rom. 7:15).] but neither does grace take such control of man’s will as to deprive him of free choice.  The true relationship has been summed up in the saying, “Man without God cannot; God without man will not”.  Man cannot save himself without God’s grace, but neither does God save any man against his own will.  Our salvation depends on our voluntary cooperation with the grace of God.

Article  XV: Of Christ Alone Without Sins

      [Composed by the English Reformers in 1552 and, except for minor verbal changes, still in its original form.  The original title was “No one is without sin but Christ alone”.]

      Christ in the truth of our nature was made like unto us in all things, sin only except, from which He was clearly void, both in His flesh and in His spirit.  He came to be the Lamb without spot, Who by sacrifice of Himself once made, should take away the sins of the world, and sin, as St. John saith, was not in Him.  But all we the rest, although baptized, and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things; and if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

      During the XVIth century the Pelagian view reappeared among some sects that the ideal of Christian perfection was attainable; indeed, a state of sinlessness was to them not merely a possibility, but an actuality.  Against this doctrine, the Article asserts that the sole instance of human perfection is Christ; “all we the rest, although baptized, and born again in Christ, yet offend in many things”; alleged sinlessness is untruthful self-deception.  A feature of the Article is the number of phrases taken from the New Testament, chiefly from the Epistle to the Hebrews: “made like unto us in all things, sin only except” [Heb. 2:17; 4:15.]; “Lamb without spot” [1 Pet. 1:19; cf. Heb. 9:14.]; “by sacrifice of Himself once made” [Heb. 9:26; 7:27.]; “all we . . . offend in many things”, [Jas. 3:2.] and the last clause is a quotation of 1 John 1:8.

      The first part of the Article affirms the perfection of the human nature assumed by our Lord at His Incarnation to be the instrument of redemption.  Constitutionally it was humanity as God intended and created it, consisting of a real body of flesh and blood, a true soul and intellect, all of which were unmarred by sin. [Jn. 8:46; 14:30; 1 Pet. 11:22; 2 Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15.]  “He was clearly void (from sin), both in His flesh, and in His Spirit”.  This distinction between sin in the flesh and in the spirit comes from 2 Cor. 7:1.  The disordered state of the instincts and appetites which belong to the flesh and blood of our humanity, what in Article II is called “original guilt”, had no place in the physical side of our Lord’s incarnate nature; with Him biological urge was subject to his complete obedience to the will of God. [Jn. 4:34; 8:46; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Jn. 3:5.]  But the absence of any innate proneness to sin does not imply that Jesus had no experience of temptation, and that obedience was easy.  Temptation in itself is not a bad thing; rather it is the condition of moral and spiritual achievement; where there is no chance of going wrong, there is no virtue in doing the right.  The trouble with temptation lies in yielding to it, for that results in a seared conscience and a weakened will.  The source of temptation is too readily identified with bodily demands which belong to our present mode of existence, and are in themselves quite legitimate; what has really happened is that instead of functioning under the control of the good will for right purposes, they have gone off on their own in pursuit of unworthy ends.  To use Plato’s illustration, our evil affections and passions are like the horses that have got out of the charioteer’s control, and are pulling in different directions.

      In our Lord’s case physical needs cannot have been the most serious form of temptation.  He never faltered in resolution; His will remained intact. Nevertheless temptation in His case, too, was real; He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin”. [Heb. 4:15.]  (Failure was with Him a theoretical possibility, but not a practical one because He always lived according to the law of our humanity which is obedience to God.)  It was in the region of His deepest spiritual experience that temptation usually took shape for Jesus.  He Himself said later in His Ministry that the mark of an evil generation was its demand for a sign. [Matt. 12:39.]  The fact that His own strongest temptation was to look for a sign is one of the essential points in the account of the Temptation. [Matt. 4:3–11; Lk. 4:3–13.]

      By the time that He was about to begin His Ministry at the age of thirty, Jesus must have reflected long on Himself and His mission, and had come to realize that He was in some special sense the Agent of God.  The voice at the Baptism confirmed this conviction; He was indeed the Beloved Son. [Mk. 1:11; Matt. 2.17; Lk. 3:22.]  The essence of the Temptation is not in Satan’s invitation to satisfy His hunger after the fast in the wilderness, or to accept world power at his hands; it is in the hypothetical clause, “If thou art the Son of God”.  Was there any question in Jesus’ mind concerning the truth of the heavenly declaration at the Baptism that He was God’s Son?  Did He also require a sign, the evidence of a miracle, to assure Him that His consciousness of God was not deceiving Him?  Temptation for Jesus may have assumed the form of misgiving about His trust in God.

      His consciousness of His relationship to God included the belief that He was the Messiah or Christ, and for a convenient description of the role of the Messiah, the Benedictus (St. Luke 1:68–79) may be read.  He was to be the restorer of the throne of David, who in the power of the Lord would deliver and avenge His people, and establish a reign of bliss.  It was in this hope of Israel that Jesus was nurtured.

      According to St. Mark 2:20, He realized at an early stage of the Ministry that it would not take this course; the Suffering Servant of the Lord [Isa. 53.], instead of a conquering prince of the House of David, would be His prototype. [Mk. 10:45.]  Jesus believed He was the Christ [Lk. 9:20; Mk. 14:61f.]; but could He retain this view in the face of a career which increasingly fulfilled the mission of the Suffering Servant?  His fiercest trials and temptations centred in this conflict of conceptions [Lk. 22:28.]: “He trusteth on God; let Him deliver Him now, if He desireth Him: for He said, I am the Son of God”. [Mtt. 27:43.]  This was the taunt of the mocking priests at the Cross, but it went straight to the heart of the struggles of Jesus. His faith never wavered; even with the thought of desertion by God in mind, in a final act of utter commitment, He commended His Spirit to the Father’s keeping. [Mk. 15:34; Lk. 23:46.]

      The sinlessness of Christ is a condition of His redemptive work. [Cf. 2 Cor. 5:21.]  By it He realizes the Old Testament requirement of unblemished sacrifices [Exod. 12:5.]; He is “the lamb without spot”. [1 Pet. 1:19; cf. Jn. 1:29; Heb. 9:14.]  In this connection the Epistle to the Hebrews is particularly interesting and suggestive.  Its author is a Christian Platonist, the first of a succession of thinkers who have applied Plato’s teaching to interpret the Christian Faith.  His argument is that earthly things are but copies of heavenly realities, and as such they are necessarily imperfect.  This is true of the Levitical system of the Old Testament, with its priesthood and sacrifice.  The Aaronic High Priest was a sinner, who entered once a year on the Day of Atonement into the Holy of Holies with the blood of animals, and there offered sacrifices for his own sins and those of the people.  But all this was only a “shadow of the good things to come”. [Heb. 8:5; 10:1.]  In Christ the heavenly substance which cast the shadow had come.  He is the perfect High Priest, “holy, undefiled, separated from sinners”, who once for all by the offering of His own blood became the Author of eternal salvation. [Heb. 7:26–28; 9:12.]

      Christ’s perfection stands by itself; “all we the rest ... offend in many things”.  The general assumption of Scripture is the common sinfulness of men, including members of the Church. [Job 15:14; Ps. 14:3; Jer. 2:35; 1 Jn. 1:8f.; Jas. 3:2.]  There is no exception; even Apostles admit faults in themselves and in each other. [Gal. 2:11; Phil. 3:12; 1 Tim. 1:15.]  Nor does there occur in the New Testament or early Christian history any indication of the later veneration of our Lord’s Mother, which led to the Roman dogma of her Immaculate Conception (1854).  Two striking and quite different ideas on our sinfulness have appeared in the history of Christian thought.  The first comes from the lives of the saints, and may be called the traditional one.  It relates to the fact that progress in sanctification does not bring a weakening of the sense of sin; rather it throws into relief the sin that still remains to be eliminated: the uniform confession of the saints is that they are outstanding sinners.  The second idea is that of perfectionism, the belief that it is possible even now to be free of sin, and appeal is made to Isaiah’s words about the Suffering Servant as the sin-bearer [Isa. 53:12; Heb. 9:28.], which are applied to our Lord.  The advocates of perfectionism also cite 1 John 3:9: “Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin because he is born of God”.  On the basis of these words it is argued that perfection is a practical possibility.  On the other hand, in the same Epistle it is expressly declared that “if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us”. [1 Jn. 1:8.]  It has been pointed out, however, that these apparent contradictions can be resolved if due regard is paid to the different tenses used in the original Greek text.  In particular, it should be noted that in 1 John 3:4–10 the relevant verbs are in the present or imperfect tense and therefore denote “continuous or habitual action”.  Hence on a strict interpretation of the tenses, the author is not affirming that the Christian cannot possibly commit a sin, but he means that it is impossible to conceive of a child of God being habitually sinful, though it remains possible for him to fall [Jn.2:l.] once and again into a single act of sin. [Cf. C. H. Dodd, The Johannine Epistles, (Moffatt Com.) p. 78ff.]  It should also be remembered that Christianity inherited from Judaism a pre-Christian belief that in the Age to Come the people of God would be sinless. [Enoch 5:8ff.; Jubilees 5:12.]  Since many of the early Christians believed that “the Age to Come” had been inaugurated by our Lord, it was very natural for them to expect that sinless perfection might now be possible.  Furthermore, in 3:9 and 5:8 St. John is speaking ideally, and using the language of anticipation.  A central thought with him is that the old world of darkness is passing away; already the light of the New Age is shining, and Christians have been born into the new order. [1 Jn. 2:8.]  At the climax of this great regenerating movement inaugurated in Christ, the faithful will share His likeness, [1 Jn. 3:2, 3.] but that time is not yet.  It is easily intelligible that, in His enthusiasm over such a prospect, St. John forgot about consistency, and read into the beginning what properly belonged to the final issue of the process.  He knew very well that all men are sinners, and plainly said so.

Article  XVI: Of Sin After Baptism

      [Composed by the English Reformers in 1552 under the title “Of sin against the Holy Ghost”.  The present title was substituted in 1563.]

      Not every deadly sin willingly committed after Baptism is sin against the Holy Ghost, and unpardonable.  Wherefore the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after Baptism.  After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, and by the grace of God we may arise again, and amend our lives.  And therefore they are to be condemned, which say, they can no more sin as long as they live here, or deny the place of forgiveness to such as truly repent.

      In the previous Article we were considering the declaration that Christ alone is free from sin; “all we the rest ... offend in many things” [Cf. Jas. 3:2.], and therefore the call to repentance is always relevant to our state.  “Repentance” is a strong term; it goes much deeper than sorrow for particular sins, and a resolve not to repeat them: it means a change of mind, the acquirement of a viewpoint and attitude which are the reverse of those which led to sinning.  When the use of “repentance” and its cognates in the New Testament is studied, it will be found that it seldom occurs with reference to Christians.  It appears most frequently in the Gospels and Acts in exhortations to Jews and Gentiles, and is, in fact, an invitation to people to give up their imperfect or idolatrous faiths and embrace the Gospel, “Repent ye, and believe in the Gospel”, that is how Jesus began His preaching [Mk. 1:15.]; and St. Paul’s message consisted of “testifying both to Jews and Greeks repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ”. [Acts 20:21.]

      On the other hand, admonition and exhortation in the Epistles are usually intended to remind believers of their high calling in Christ; they are already children of light and ought to be have as such. [Thess. 5:4–8; Ephes. 5:8.]  It is not a matter of renouncing what they are, but one of consistency, of living in keeping with their true status.  Hence much modern biblical theology has “become what you are” as its theme; Christians must become in terms of practical living what they already are in status.

      The key to understanding and harmonizing the various statements on this question in the New Testament is the idea of the Church as a divine society, through which the eternal order has been implanted in the world.  Its life is “the Way” [Acts 9:2; 19:9, 23; 24:22.], “the way of salvation” [Acts 16:17.], the very life of heaven on earth.  On their conversion to Christianity men leave a world of darkness and error, and enter the realm of light and truth, and upon the enjoyment of the blessings of their glorious destiny.

      To the Jew also, whose faith was based on the divine revelation in the Law, his religion was his most precious and exclusive possession, [Ps. 1:2; 19:7, 8; 78:5–7.] and Christians inherited from him this religious attitude.  From the second century before Christ, when the Jew had to defend his faith against a paganism which sought to destroy and supplant it, the supreme virtue was martyrdom, and the greatest sin conceivable, apostasy; he hated false brethren, traitors to the Law, even more than national enemies; a future of “shame and everlasting contempt” [Dan. 12:2.] was their just desert.  Some of the most puzzling sayings in the New Testament on the subject of repentance are found in the Epistle to the Hebrews, which has the threat of apostasy for its background; the writer’s aim is to show the ephemeral character of Judaism, with a view to preventing a lapse into Judaism by some Christians.

      Although the view of the finality of some sins, notably apostasy, had representatives in every generation in the early Church, beginning with the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, it was given special prominence when large numbers of Christians abjured the Faith during the sharp Decian persecution in the third century.  In this crisis, Novatian, a Roman presbyter, opposed their restoration to the communion of the Church.  But at a Synod held at Carthage (A.D. 251) provision was made for the readmission of all offenders after certain intervals and courses of penance, according to the circumstances of their lapse.  This rigorist doctrine of Novatian is yet another example of an old extremist belief that was not admitted to the general teaching of the Church, but reappeared in the religious ferment of the Reformation, and is rejected in our Article.

      At the Reformation two erroneous views concerning sins committed after Baptism were current: (a) Novatian had held that apostasy was the unpardonable sin, and certain Anabaptists, following his view, held that every mortal sin committed after Baptism is unpardonable.  St. John, following Jewish teaching [Num. 15:27–31, where distinction is made between the soul that sinneth “through ignorance” and the soul that sinneth “presumptuously”: the latter was to be “cut off”, i.e. punished by death.  Cf. Num. 18:22.], distinguished between “a sin unto death” (mortal sin) and “a sin not unto death”.  But he seems to have been thinking of a kind of habitual sinning [Jn. 5:16ff.  Note R.V. “sinning a sin” (present participle), and habitually above.] which merited exclusion from the Christian fellowship.  He did not enjoin the Christians to pray for such a sinner, but neither did he forbid prayer for him, or suggest that his sin was utterly unpardonable.  On the basis of his words, however, the name “mortal sin” came to be given to any sin deliberately and willfully committed with a full consciousness of guilt, as distinct from sins unwittingly committed.  The Article declares that not every mortal sin is unpardonable, and makes no attempt to define the unpardonable “sin against the Holy Ghost”. [Mk. 3:28–30; Mtt. 12:31f.; Lk. 12:10.  Reluctance in 1563 to define the unpardonable sin explains the omission of the 1553 Article on “Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost”.]  The common assumption of the New Testament is that the faithful share in the universal feature of humanity, its sinfulness; they too need to repent and amend their lives.  Any claim to sinlessness is denied by the fact; but on the acknowledgement and confession of our sins, they are pardoned [1 Jn. 1:8–10.]; the spiritually strong are to support their brethren when overtaken in a trespass [Gal. 6:1.]; to be inconsiderate towards believers with a tender conscience is to sin against Christ [1 Cor. 8:12.]; “our Lord’s patience with us is our salvation” [2 Pet. 3:15 (N.E.B.).], and it is not His wish that any should perish, “because it is. not His will for any to be lost, but for all to come to repentance”. [2 Pet. 3:9 (N.E.B.).]

      (b) The Article also exposes the opposite error, already denied by Article XV, that it is impossible for the regenerate to sin. [The idea probably springs from the A.V. of 1 Jn. 3:9 and 5:18.]  “After we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin, ... And therefore they are to be condemned which say, that they can no more sin as long as they live here.”

      The Calvinists held that when once a man had received grace, even if he fell away for a time, he must in the end arise again and amend his life.  But they failed to get this view incorporated into the Article, which merely says, “by the grace of God we may arise again ...”  The opening words “Not every ...” also leave open the possibility that some deadly sins committed after Baptism may be unpardonable.  The Article thus rejects also the Calvinist doctrine that a man cannot finally fall away from grace (technically called “indefectible grace”).  Both Scripture and experience endorse this repudiation.  St. Paul had undoubtedly received the Holy Ghost, [Acts 9:17.] but he was never presumptuously certain of his final salvation. [1 Cor. 9:27 (RV); Phil. 3:12.]  Our Lord warned us that even branches of the True Vine may be cut off and perish [Jn. 15:1–6.]; the salt may lose its savour and “be cast out” [Mtt. 5:13.]; the seed may grow for a little but yet die, – “these are they which for a while believe and in time of temptation fall away”. [Lk. 8:3.]  The grace of God may be received in vain [2 Cor. 6:1; Gal. 5:4; Heb. 12:15.] and may be resisted. [Acts 7:51; Mtt. 23:37.]  After Baptism we may by our conduct grieve the Holy Spirit, [Ephes. 4:30.] insult Him, [Heb. 10:29.] or even quench the Divine fire in our hearts. [1 Thess. 5:19.]  After escaping the pollutions of the world it is still possible to be “again entangled therein and overcome”. [2 Pet. 2:20 (cf. Heb. 6:4–6).]  Our final salvation depends upon our willing obedience and constant cooperation with the grace of God. Hence the Prayer Book teaches us to pray that we “may ever remain” faithful [Prayer before Baptism.] and “continue in that holy fellowship”. [Prayer of Thanksgiving after Communion.]  But if it does not encourage presumption, neither does if foster despair, for it declares with the greatest authority it can command that God “pardoneth and absolveth all them that truly repent and unfeignedly believe His holy Gospel”. [Absolution in Morning and Evening Prayer; Jn. 20:23; 1 Jn. 2:1f.]  Repentance and faith are the only conditions of forgiveness to those who have been baptized.  [It is sometimes thought that Heb. 6:4–6, 10:26–29, and 12:14–17 exclude the possibility of forgiveness in certain cases.  But the Greek tenses bring out the true meaning.  Heb. 6:4–6 means that so long as men “go on crucifying the Son of God afresh and putting Him to an open shame” nothing can be done to bring them to repentance.  Failure to find pardon is due to the sinner’s willful refusal to fulfill the conditions necessary for obtaining it; not to God’s unwillingness to grant it.  The Revised Version of these passages should be studied.]

Chapter  IV – The Salvation Of Man

Article  XI: Of The Justification Of Man

      [The first part of this Article is adapted from the Würtembeig Confession; the second part is an amended form of the XIth Article of 1553.  The Article received its present form in 1563.]

      We are accounted righteous before God only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings; Wherefore, that we be justified by faith only is a most wholesome doctrine and very full of comfort, as more largely is expressed in the Homily of Justification.

      It was on the subject of this Article that the growing dissatisfaction within the Western Church was at last expressed in the formal protest and challenge of the Reformation.

      The question here is whether any merit attaches to our conduct, even if it proceeds from faith, which justifies us before God, or does justification rest entirely on Christ?  Sometimes things have been alleged in the heat of controversy against the Roman Church which do not fairly represent her teaching, and are easily rebutted; but she does allow that it is possible to acquire merit by doing more than the commandments of God specifically enjoin.  More will be said on this subject under Article XIV Of Works of Supererogation; for the present we need only observe that it was flagrant abuse of the doctrine of Merit which provided the spark that gave flame to the smouldering discontent with the corruptions of Western Christendom.

      The cardinal doctrine of the reform movement, Justification by Faith, is firmly declared in our Article: “We are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith, and not for our own works or deservings”.

      When we turn to the Homily on Justification (Salvation) to which the present Article refers for a fuller statement on the subject, it is there maintained that the exclusive ground of our acceptance with God is Christ’s merit.  “Justification is the office of God only, and it is not a thing which we render unto Him, but which we receive of Him ... by His free mercy, and by the only merit of His most dearly beloved Son.”  Since it is God’s “nature and property ever to have mercy and to forgive”, justification is a divine function, and man can have no part in it; not only are works without merit, but there is none even in the faith by which God’s grace in Christ is received: Christ’s person and work alone have merit.*

      *This is made clear in the Homily on Salvation (there is no Homily of justification), thus: “The true understanding of this doctrine, we be justified freely by faith without works, or that we be justified by faith in Christ only, is not, that this our own act to believe in Christ, or this our faith in Christ, which is within us doth justify us, and deserve our justification unto us (for that were to count ourselves to be justified by some act or virtue that is within ourselves) but the true understanding and meaning thereof is, although we have faith, hope, charity, and all other virtues and good deeds, which we either have done, shall do, or can do, as things that be far too weak and insufficient, and unperfect, to deserve remission of our sins, and our justification; and therefore we must trust only in God’s mercy, and that sacrifice which our High Priest and Saviour Christ Jesus, the Son of God, once offered for us upon the cross, to obtain thereby God’s grace and remission, as well of our original sin in Baptism, as of all actual sins committed by us after our Baptism, if we truly repent, and turn unfeignedly to Him again.”

      Justification by faith does not dispense with the necessity for Baptism.  Hooker condemned those “who fixing their minds wholly on the known necessity of faith imagine that nothing but faith is necessary for the attainment of all grace.  Yet it is a branch of belief that sacraments are in their place no less required than belief itself ...  If Christ himself which giveth salvation do require Baptism, it is not for us who look for salvation to sound and examine Him, whether unbaptized men may be saved, but seriously to do that which is required.” [Eccles. Polity, V.lx.4.]  It has been said that “Justification through faith might with equal accuracy be styled justification through union with Christ... .  So it is that St. Paul, after dealing with justification in the first chapters of the Epistle to the Romans, passes on to the ‘mystical union’ of the Christian with Christ”. [E. J. Bicknell, The Thirty-nine Articles, p. 204.]  Since Baptism is the sacrament by which we are incorporated “into Christ” [Gal.3:27; Rom. 6:3.], it is not surprising to find the Apostle associating justification and Baptism.  “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? ... And such were some of you: but ye were washed, but ye were sanctified, [The Greek verb is hagiadzo, which is here used forensically, “to free from guilt”.  It is used in the same sense in Ephes. 5:26; Heb. 2:11; 10:10, 14, 29; 13:12.  Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1944), p. 5.] but ye were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” [Cor. 6:9, 11.]  The three verbs in the same (aorist) tense refer to the same point of time, which is undoubtedly the moment of Baptism.*  In Romans 6 the Apostle affirms that being baptized “into Christ Jesus” means that we have died with Christ, been buried with Him, and been raised up with Him.  Hence he proceeds to argue that “our old man is crucified with Him” [Cp. Baptismal Office, ‘Grant that the old Adam in this child may be so buried that the new man may be raised up in him’.], and that we should not therefore serve sin, for “he that is dead is justified from sin”. [Rom. 6:7 (Greek text).]  We also find justification associated with Baptism in Galatians 3:23–25 and in Titus 3:4–7.

      *Commenting on 1 Cor. 6:9, 11, W. F. Flemington says “This passage is important not only because it uses the phrase ‘in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ’ and speaks of the Spirit of our God (both of which recall similar language used about Baptism in Acts), but also because it links Baptism with the great Pauline conceptions of justification and sanctification,”  The New Testament Doctrine of Baptism (1948), p. 56.  Dr. G. W. H. Lampe also takes this view and describes Baptism as “pre-eminently the sacrament of Justification,”  The Doctrine of Justification by Faith (1954), pp. 53–68.

      In the Article, to be justified is the equivalent of being ‘accounted righteous’ (justi reputamur); it does not mean that sin in us is removed, and that we are actually made perfect. [Some modern biblical scholars say “to justify” means “to make righteous,” but hasten to explain that “righteous” does not mean “morally good”; it refers to status rather than character, and means “being in the right” or “having a right relationship to God.”]  “Justi’ (righteous) bears the forensic sense that “before God” (coram Deo) and under the destiny-deciding judgement upon us, we are acceptable to Him “for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (propter meritum Domini, ac servatoris nostri Jesu Christi.)  The use of the singular “merit” (meritum) may be noted; it reminds us of Hooker’s fine phrase, ‘the infinite worth of the Son of God’. In considering Christ’s merit as the basis or cause (propter meritum) of justification, it must be thought of as belonging to the entire Fact of Him, to the truth about His Person, as well as His life of complete obedience to God’s will and all that it involved.  While the best that men can do is impaired by their general sinful state, and could never avail for justification, there is, on the other hand, more in the merit of Christ than moral perfection; it has also to be asked, Who is this in whom the ideal life is realized?

      The description of our virtues in the above quotation from the Homily as “far too weak and insufficient, and imperfect” implies metaphysical rather than moral defect; yet even were they morally faultless they would still be inadequate for our justification because they belong to creatures.  For the doctrine of Christ’s merit His sinless life has to be seen as the manifested life of the eternal Son of God.  The mind and action in which the merit of Christ consists are well expressed in Philippians 2:5–8.  Although a divine Being, having the essence of God and with the dignity and honour pertaining thereto, He had regard for man’s need, and willingly came to his aid.  This necessitated His entering our situation, and to this end He divested Himself of His heavenly glory and took the role of one whose motive was service. [Lk. 22:27.]  Faithfulness to His mission tested His obedience to the uttermost, even to the point of accepting the pain and shame of death on the Cross. In the other passage where St. Paul refers to this self-impoverishment of our Lord, he calls it the “grace” of Christ. [Cor. 8:9.]  Our Lord’s life on earth was a mission; He was “sent” by the Father, [Jn. 17:18, 20:21.] and so His whole redemptive action was one of obedience.  His choice to become incarnate has in itself the quality of infinite condescension and humble service, and an obedience which accepted the infirmities, sorrow and suffering of our human lot to the point of complete Self-sacrifice is of inestimable moral value.  There is in Christ’s saving achievement an inexhaustible source of merit which is the reason of our reconciliation to God, and is available through faith.  It is this relationship between our faith and Christ’s merit which explains the two statements in the Article that “we are accounted righteous before God, only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by faith”, and “we are justified by faith only”: that is to say, the merit of Christ is the sole basis of our reconciliation to God, and “faith only” the medium of its reception. [That is, “by faith without the deeds of the Law”, Rom. 3:28.]  This is further brought out in one of the post-Communion prayers in the Communion Office, where remission of sins is granted “by the merits and death” (propter merita et mortem) of Christ, and “through faith” (per fidem) in His blood.

      Among the New Testament writers it is St. Paul who found most difficulty about the belief he inherited from Judaism, that the righteousness which made a man acceptable with God was possible by keeping the commandments of the Law.  Yet his faultless observance of them not only failed to bring the soul-peace which satisfies, but a note of pride in personal achievement seems to attach to his claim of blamelessness by the Law’s standard. [Phil. 3:6.]  The fact is that where moral behaviour is the result of human endeavour, as it was in Judaism, rather than the fruit of the Spirit of life in Christ, as in Christianity, it is not possible to avoid a feeling of self-congratulation and pride in independent accomplishment.  The legal method of righteousness fails on two counts: (i) no code of commandments can cover all circumstances, and (ii) we require an enabling strength to help us to do what is seen to be right, even more than a knowledge of the right, and this an external rule of conduct cannot supply. [Rom. 8:3.]  Justification by faith is St. Paul’s interpretation of Christ and His work in view of the failure of righteousness by the Law.  After all, the purpose of the Law was that of a ‘servant’ to lead Israel to Christ [Gal. 3:24.] by guarding against idolatry and enjoining moral conduct.  It was weak both in content and method, and pointed away from itself to another means of salvation.  And so, “when the fullness of time came, God sent forth His Son ... that He might redeem them that were under the Law”. [Gal. 4:4.]  The aim of the Law to make us righteous was not to be realized in itself, but in Christ, else He “died for nought”. [Gal. 2:21; cf. Rom. 3:20; 10:4; 9:30–32.]  The perfect obedience of Christ avails for our benefit; He is our “righteousness and sanctification and redemption”. [Cor. 1:30.]

      It has often been alleged that the transference to us of Christ’s merit is “a legal fiction”; God regards us as righteous in Him when actually we are not.  For St. Paul there are two kinds of righteousness, that which is of the Law, i.e., our present degree of conformity to the commandments of the Law, and the divine righteousness which is “reckoned” to us by faith in Christ [Phil. 3:9; Rom. 9:30; 2 Cor. 5:21.], and by which we are justified.  Now the question is: how is God’s righteousness accounted to us in Christ?  The key to understanding St. Paul’s thought about this is his great conception of our mystical union with Christ through membership of His Body, the Church.  As part of His Body every baptized person is in vital relation with Him and infused with His Spirit [1 Cor. 12:12f.; Rom. 12:5; Eph. 4:15f.; Col. 2:19.]; he is “in Christ” and Christ is in him.  The faithful member of the Body is really a composite personality whom St. Paul could never conceive of out of his relationship to his Saviour.  For the Apostle there is no such thing as an isolated Christian, standing alone and by himself; by definition he is one whose life is bound up with Christ’s as a member of His Body, which is the Church. Our normal status of “life in Christ” involves a certain identity with Him; an inter-permeation of personalities takes place, whereby we participate in His total worthiness.

      The ritual of Christian Initiation, the cleansing in and rising from the baptismal water, is symbolic of a new religious experience.  The crucial events in Christ’s historic achievement of salvation, His Death and Resurrection, have a spiritual counterpart in the meaning of Baptism, according to which the baptizand dies with Christ to his sinful past and sinful self; and rises with Him to a new life. [Rom. 6:3–5; Gal. 3:27; Col. 2:12.]  Progress in sanctification, which is the mark of the new life, consists in an enlarging appropriation of Christ’s atoning merit under the action of His indwelling Spirit.

      Union with Christ is of the first importance for any assessment of the Christian’s position in God’s sight; no pronouncement can be made which does not take account of it

                        Look, Father, look on His anointed face,

                        And only look on us as found in Him.

In virtue of this oneness with Christ we share in the righteousness of His complete obedience, and the relationship has also in it the pledge and potency of that sanctification whereby our immature, undeveloped righteousness eventually becomes what is actual in Him.  Discipleship is growth in ‘putting on’ Christ, and has for its goal the stature of His fullness. [Ephes. 4:13.]  Life in Christ here and now, rudimentary though it is, as St. Paul well knew, is nevertheless the hope and guarantee of our final likeness to Him.

      St. Paul’s conclusion on the ultimate result of God’s redemptive intervention in Christ is the unqualified victory of His saving love; Christ’s rule must continue to spread until God has brought all things into harmony with His mind and purpose.  The Son’s supreme offering to the Father is His perfected work, a ransomed creation.  The position of Christians is that they are the beginning of the end of this all-inclusive movement of redemption, and, by anticipation, the blessings of the glorious consummation are already theirs. [Rom. 8:19–23; 1 Cor. 15:23–28.]  This is the ground and strength of the Apostle’s claim: “there is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus”. [Rom. 8:1.]

      Life in Christ through His indwelling presence, by which we are acceptable to God, comes of faith, which also determines the character of Christian righteousness.  But what precisely is the nature of the faith that leads through the initiation of Baptism to union with Christ?  There is general agreement that the object of faith is the Gospel, the “good news” of God’s saving action in Christ and of His free offer to men of all the benefits of His achievement.  And faith itself is the grateful acceptance and commitment to the truth of that message.  Yet a further question requires consideration: Is the Christian message addressed to all, is it open to every person to consider it, and adopt it or reject it?  Or, on the other hand, is it meant only for those known to God alone and who by His eternal decree on hearing it would inevitably embrace it?  In this connection it is necessary to distinguish between divine foreknowledge and decree.  It has been said that God’s knowledge of what men will do is the same as determining that they will do it, and that therefore divine foreknowledge and human freedom are incompatible.  But if psychologists from a limited knowledge of a person’s inner make-up and disposition, and without undue influence, can predict with a reasonable degree of accuracy how he will behave in particular circumstances, it is not easy to see why God’s foreknowledge should be inconsistent with human freedom.  “Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who it was should betray Him”, but Judas was nonetheless held responsible for his actions and his treachery was condemned. [Jn. 6:64; 19:11.]

      The Article, while commending the teaching of the Homily of Justification does not explicitly contain it.  It merely excludes “our own works, or deservings” as a reason for being “accounted righteous before God”, whereas the Homily allows no place whatever for personal decision in response to the Gospel.  This is against the whole motive behind evangelical preaching.  Did any missionary ever think that in proclaiming the Christian message he was in a single instance working against God’s appointment; that there was one soul divinely intended to refuse his appeal?

      Our Lord’s frequent demand for faith in His hearers is for something they had a say in and could act upon, and its absence hindered Him. [Mk. 4:40; 11:22f.; Lk. 17:6; Mtt. 9:29; 13:58.]  The theologians, trying to accommodate the divine attributes to the ruling ideas of their time, have been largely responsible for the confusion surrounding this question.  The problem of grace and freedom cannot be met in this way; it has to be viewed within the general context of God’s character and relation to the world.  That “God is love” [1 Jn. 4:8, 16.] must be the primary thought about Him; His other qualities, His wisdom, power and justice are subservient, and operate for realizing His purpose of love.  If the reason for our existence and redemption is the love of God, and if what He wants from us is responsive love, certain facts follow.  Love by its nature cannot be compelled; it must be freely rendered.  While He ever seeks to accomplish His ideal for us, God will never force us to be what we do not desire to be, for then He would be working against His whole purpose in creation, the triumph of love.  Should we speak at all of God saving “by love or fear”, it ought to be on the understanding that fear must pass into love before it becomes what He requires, for “there is no fear in love”. [1 Jn. 4:18.]  The divine love strives to draw us, to win the concurrence of our wills in pursuance of His beneficent design for us.  Herein lies the essence of God’s way with men, and a right view of the relation between grace and personal decision in the act of faith depends upon it.  However much is due to the movement of the Spirit of grace within the heart and mind, we are still treated as men, not as morons.  It is not for us to trace in detail the divine and human elements in the giving and receiving of salvation; yet we have no deeper conviction than that freedom has its latitude, and we are responsible agents – it is a conviction to be trusted.  In God’s dealings with us a point is reached where His will that we should receive His gift of salvation is accepted and made our own, or rejected: “our wills are ours to make them Thine”.

      The view taken here of God’s relation to the world, and to humanity in particular, is that it is one which requires cooperation between Him and us.  While nothing at all could be done by man in providing the means of salvation, that is God’s exclusive work and He has performed it in Christ; yet there must also be from our side a real act of resolve to receive the redemption He has wrought.  This distinction between the divine and the human in justification is observed and allowed in St. Paul’s most direct statement on the subject: “You must work out your own salvation in fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you, inspiring both the will and the deed, for His chosen purpose”. [Phil. 2:12 (N.E.B.).]

Article  XII: Of Good Works

[This Article was added by Archbishop Parker in 1563, derived partly from the Würtemberg Confession.]

      Albeit that Good Works, which are the fruits of Faith, and follow after Justification, cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God’s Judgement; yet are they pleasing and acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true and lively Faith; insomuch that by them a lively Faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.

      The teaching of this Article is aimed against the calumny of the Roman Church on the one hand, that the cardinal reformed doctrine of Justification by Faith left no place for Good Works, [A technical term for Christian activities.] and also at the view of some fanatical sects – a view still current today – that belief in Christ’s atoning achievement is all there is to faith; conduct does not matter.  Here the position of our Church is made plain.  Nothing that man may do can contribute anything to his reconciliation to God: the ground on which he is pardoned and brought into harmony with Him, and the divine wrath averted, is Christ’s merit.  “Good Works ... cannot put away our sins, and endure the severity of God’s judgement.”  The merit of Christ is an objective fact and altogether independent of our attitude to it.  To believe this is the first step in the exercise of the faith through which the merit of Christ becomes effective unto Justification.  The danger here, and it is a very real one, is to think that faith can be identified with bare intellectual assent to the doctrine of Christ’s merit.  Almost as soon as it was first preached, justification by faith was misunderstood in this way, and St. James had to write his Epistle to correct such mistaken interpretations.  It is easy to say we believe certain facts or statements when we think they are true, especially if they may be neglected as having little interest for us, and with no bearing on our lives.  But the merit of Christ is not a fact of this kind; on the contrary, it is of the deepest concern to us, and belief in it must result in a life of responsive devotion and service to Him whose achievement it is.  Mere intellectual concurrence, as St. James points out, is a faith that the demons could have; they might acknowledge their Conqueror and tremble before Him, but they remain demons [Jas. 2:19; Mk. 1:24.]; theirs is a “dead” faith.  As the Article says, Good Works are the fruits of faith and follow justification, and they “do spring out necessarily of a true and lively faith”.  According to the standpoint of the New Testament, it would be nonsense to think of having the justifying righteousness which is of God by faith in Christ, apart from possession of the mind or Spirit of Christ that issues in conduct bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit [Rom. 8:9; Gal. 5:22.]; the two are properly inseparable.  Christian behaviour is so much the natural outcome of a proper faith that by it “a lively faith may be as evidently known as a tree discerned by the fruit.”  On this both St. Paul and St. James are in full agreement; a saving faith is one that works through love.

      As we have indicated, the Article attempts to strike a mean between extremes.  On the one hand, the Roman Church seems to over-estimate the importance of Good Works, as a means of earning justification, increase of grace, eternal life, and even an increase of glory.*  Against this view, the Article declares that Good Works which follow after justification cannot earn justification for us.**  Note the distinction between “Works” (Article XIII) and “Good Works”.  The Article follows Augustine’s dictum: “Good Works go not before in him which shall afterward be justified; but Good Works do follow after when a man is first justified”. [From St. Augustine’s De Fide et Operibus; cited in Homily “Of Fasting”.]  Our Lord emphasized that ‘the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, [Jn. 15:4. (R.V.)] and St. Paul was insistent that works cannot merit justification. [Acts 13:39; Rom. 3:20; Gal. 2:16; Ephes. 2:8f.; Tit. 3:5.]

      *The Council of Trent affirmed: “Whosoever shall affirm that the good works of a justified man are in such sense the gifts of God, that they are not also his worthy merits, or that he being justified by his good works, which are wrought by him through the grace of God, and the merits of Jesus Christ, of whom he is a lively member, does not really deserve increase of grace, eternal life, the enjoyment of that eternal life if he dies in a state of grace, and even an increase of glory, let him be accursed”, cited in Griffith Thomas, The Principles of Theology, p. 206.

      **Cf. Article XIII.  The Article is emphasizing the imperfection of our good works.  The phrase was taken from the Würtemberg Confession: “For all the good works that we do are imperfect, neither can they bear the severity of the divine judgement.”

      At the other extreme, certain Protestants have so underestimated the importance of Good Works as to encourage “solifidianism” [Latin, “sola fide”, “by faith only”.] and “antinomianism” [Greek, “anti-nomos (law)”.].  The former places so much emphasis on salvation “by faith only” as to suggest that Good Works are not only unnecessary but positively evil; the latter encourages lawlessness by saying that because a Christian is “under grace” and not “under Law”, he is therefore under no obligation to observe even the moral law.  The Article emphasizes the importance of Good Works as “pleasing and acceptable to God”, [Phil. 4:8; 1 Pet. 2:5.] and the necessary fruits of a true and lively faith.  Our Lord held before us the ideal of perfect holiness, [Mtt. 5:48 (RV).] and taught us to regard Good Works as so certainly the product of a living faith, [Mtt. 7:16f.; Lk. 6:43.] that we shall be judged according to our works at the end of life. [Mtt. 16:27.]  St. Paul held the same view, declaring, “We must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” [2 Cor. 5:10; Rom. 2:6.]  The New Testament writers repeatedly emphasize the importance of a practical holiness of life, which may be seen by our good works. [Rom. 6:22 (RV); Eph. 2:10; Tit. 2:7, 14; Jas. 2:17f., 26; 1 Jn. 2:5 (RV).]  The faithfulness and good works of God’s servants forwards His purpose for mankind. [1 Cor. 12:26ff.; Jas. 5:16.]  Confession of Christ is meaningless without obedience to His precepts and example [Lk. 6:46; Jn. 13:15.]; and keeping His words, as distinct from hearing them and acknowledging their truth, makes all the difference between building on a rock and building on sand. [Mtt. 7:24–27.]

      A “lively” faith, as opposed to the barren “dead” faith which St. James describes, passes inevitably into a process of sanctification through the good life.  By their Baptism into Christ believers have died to their sinful past, and have risen with Him to a new life of righteousness.  Once they yielded their members “to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity”, but now they are to present them “as servants to righteousness unto sanctification”. [Rom. 6:19.]  Christians were formerly darkness, but are become “light in the Lord”, and ought to “walk as children of light”, which has its fruit ‘in all goodness and righteousness and truth”. [Eph. 5:8f.]  Christ “gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good works”. [Tit. 2:14; cf. Eph. 5:9; Phil. 1:11.]

      Good Works are “pleasing and acceptable to God” because of their relation to Christ.  They are done by those who are “in Christ” [Jn. 15:4f.], who have His mind and live by His Spirit. [1 Cor. 2:16; Gal. 5:25.]  St. Paul prays for the saints in Christ at Philippi that they may be “filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are through Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God” [Phil. 1:11.]; behaviour becoming to believers is “well-pleasing unto the Lord” [Eph. 5:9.]; to suffer patiently for righteousness’ sake after Christ’s example is “acceptable with God”. [1 Pet. 2:19f.]

Article  XIII: Of Works Before Justification

      [This Article seems to have been composed by the English Reformers as one of the Forty-two Articles of 1553, for it has no close parallel elsewhere.  The title is derived from an early draft in which the first clause ran: “Works that are done before Justification”.]

      Works done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of His Spirit, are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ, neither do they make men meet to receive grace, or (as the School-authors say) deserve grace of congruity; yea, rather, for that they are not done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we doubt not but they have the nature of sin.

      The presupposition of the teaching of this Article is the severe contrast which is drawn in the New Testament and primitive Christianity between the state of the world outside Christ and the order of things under the New Covenant founded by Him.  “The whole world lieth in the evil one,” says St. John [1 Jn. 5:19.]; the purpose of redemption is that men might be delivered “out of this present evil world”. [Gal. 1:4.]  Until Christ’s coming mankind was in darkness, but now “the darkness is passing away and the true light already shineth”. [1 Jn. 2:8.]  By the Incarnation the original act of creation is repeated; God has commanded His light to shine in Christ on the chaotic darkness of the world. [2 Cor. 4:6.]

      The question proposed in the Article might be stated thus : Is it possible for the natural man, who is under the domination of “the world-rulers of this darkness” [Eph. 6:12.], to do anything that is pleasing to God or render himself worthy of receiving grace?  And the answer given is a clear negative.  To be “in Christ” is the pre-requisite of all conduct acceptable to God, so that “works done before the grace of Christ, and the Inspiration of His Spirit, are not pleasant to God”, since they do not spring from faith in Christ, “neither do they make man meet to receive grace, or deserve grace of congruity”.  The Article was composed by the English Reformers in 1552 with the object of repudiating the teaching of the Schoolmen [The School-men were the theologians of the Middle Ages who tried to reconcile faith and reason by reducing theology to a philosophical system.  St. Anselm (d. 1109) is regarded as the first of the School-men; others well known were Albertus Magnus (d. 1280), St. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) and Duns Scotus (d. 1308).] that men may merit God’s favour by actions done in their own strength without prevenient grace. [Cf. Article X.]  The Schoolmen distinguished between two forms of merit: (i) Arguing from the case of Cornelius, they said that men may turn towards God of their own unaided strength, and although such actions do not deserve a reward, yet it is fitting that God out of generosity should reward them: they earn merit de congruo (“of fitness”).  (ii) But good works done with the help of God’s grace deserve a reward: they earn merit de condigno (“as a matter of debt”).  Article XII repudiates the idea of merit de condigno by saying that good works, far from earning merit, deserve “the severity of God’s judgement” because of their imperfections. [Cf. note above, imperfection.]  Article XIII condemns the doctrine of merit de congruo.  The scholastic theory is semi-Pelagian, for it suggests that we earn God’s grace by “making a good start” on our own.  Such an idea is contradicted by the teaching of St. Paul [Rom. 4:1–4; 9:11–13; cf. Tit. 3:5.], and is not supported by the case of Cornelius. [God clearly took the first step in bringing about Cornelius’ conversion; it is an example of prevenient grace (Acts 10:3f.).]

      The Article is relevant to the current opinion, so oft repeated, that “it doesn’t matter what a man believes so long as he leads a decent life” – the inference being that actions are more important than beliefs.  But Scripture and experience alike teach us that motives are most important of all. [Cf. 1 Sam. 16:7.]  Deeds of mercy may be done from selfish motives, pride, self-righteousness, or a desire to win the praise of men.  Only good motives can produce good deeds, and only spiritual motives can produce deeds of spiritual force.  Though a man may give away all that he has, he may even sacrifice his life, yet unless his action springs from a Christian motive it is worthless [1 Cor. 13:3 (RV), cf. Gal. v.22.]; and a Christian motive cannot exist apart from “the grace of Christ”. [Jn. 15:5 (RV).]  Good works, in the full Christian meaning, can only be done by those who are in Christ and share His mind; all other actions are defective in motive and fall short of this, and hence “have the nature of sin”. [A technical phrase based on Article IX (cf. Rom. 14:23; Heb. 11:6).  The Article does not go as far as the Calvinists who regarded such works as wholly sinful.]

      Now if the moral value of our actions depends on their motive, on the reason why we do them, then it may be confidently contended that Christian belief provides the highest conceivable motive, and conduct inspired by it is most pleasing to God.

      But were there no lives, in Israel or in heathendom, before Christ came, that presented features approved by God?  There is evidence in the New Testament for the view that there were.  Enoch was assured that “he had been well-pleasing unto God” [Heb. 11:5.]; the Old Testament prophets were inspired by the Spirit of Christ, [1 Pet. 1:11.] and our Lord found more commendable faith among pagans and converts to Judaism, than among His Jewish contemporaries. [Mk. 7:29; Mtt. 8:10.]  The commandments of the Law are “holy, and righteous, and good”, wrote St. Paul, [Rom. 7:12.] and in Romans ii he argues that by following their moral sense Gentiles kept the Law, and became a law unto themselves.  In spite of the depths of depravity to which paganism had descended, the indications are that an earnest seeking after God was by no means wanting, [Acts 17:28.] and that it did not go unsatisfied.  The case of Cornelius (Acts 10) is an example of this tendency.  Although of Gentile origin, a knowledge of the true God and a desire for the good life were his principal concern, and for the time being he found the answer in the religion of the Jewish synagogue, in which he worshipped and lived acceptably to God. [Acts 10:4.]  But his adopted Judaism was only a stage on his way to Christianity.  It was, in fact, among people who had made the same spiritual pilgrimage as Cornelius, from paganism to Judaism, i.e. proselytes, that the Gospel first secured a firm footing in the world.  Later some important Church writers pointed out that Greek moralists and philosophers did for paganism what the Law did for the Jew; it served as a “tutor (paidagogos) unto Christ”. [Gal. 3:24.]  It is difficult not to believe that in this great trend of preparation for the Gospel, in Jewish Law and Prophets and Greek philosophy alike, there were many worthy souls whose work and influence were pleasing to God.

      If, however, we are thinking of moral virtue not in a relative, preliminary way, but in its highest form, then the central doctrine of the Article is sound: only works which express the mind of Christ and are inspired by His Spirit can have the motive which renders them acceptable to God in the fullest sense; for He is the Beloved in whom the Father is well-pleased, and in Whom also the divine grace is bestowed upon us. [Eph. 1:6.]  Christian morality consists in the imitation of Christ, and the love which it manifests is not comparable with the instinctive parental affection and care so important in biological evolution, or with the outward regard for the rights of others that communal life demands.  In the New Testament it is not even because they are made in the Divine image that we are to love our fellowmen.  There the ultimate fact in the evaluation of the individual is that he is a “brother for whose sake Christ died”. [1 Cor. 8:11.]  Christian love, Agape, to use the New Testament term, is no humanist esteem for persons as such; it is attitude and action towards the objects of God’s reconciling work in Christ.  The motive of the Christian way of life is to return the divine love in meeting our deepest need, redemption; and we do this by treating others as God hath dealt with us and them: “we love (both God and man), because He first loved us”. [1 Jn. 4:19.]  Christian behaviour is not even formal conformity to our Lord’s sayings and example; it is the expression of His mind, which the believer has through union with Him by the indwelling of His Spirit. [1 Cor. 2:16; Gal. 4:6.]

      This basis of Christian living is unique both in content and method; there is nothing like it elsewhere in the history of religions.  It lies in a spiritual experience which is only possible in virtue of the new relation of God to man in Christ.  Thus our Article is strictly correct in stating that works done outside this relation “are not pleasant to God, forasmuch as they spring not out of faith in Jesus Christ.”  And this is the viewpoint of the New Testament.  It is from the heart that evil thoughts and actions proceed, [Mk. 7:21–23.] and similarly the opposite qualities.  The important thing is that the tree should be good, for then good fruit is the inevitable product. [Mtt. 7:17–20.]  The order here is the point to be noted: the good fruit is the evidence of the tree’s condition, not its cause; the tree is not made good by bearing good fruit, rather the fruit is good because it comes from a good tree.

Article  XIV: Of Works Of Supererogation

      [This is another of the Forty-two Articles of 1553, and an original composition of the English Reformers, the only subsequent change being the substitution of “impiety” for “iniquity”.]

      Voluntary works besides, over and above God’s commandments, which they call Works of Supererogation, cannot be taught without arrogancy and impiety; for by them men do declare, that they do not only render unto God as much as they are bound to do, but that they do more for His sake, than of bounden duty is required; whereas Christ saith plainly, When ye have done all that are commanded you, say, We be unprofitable servants.

      A work of supererogation is, literally, some act which is over and above what is required by the explicit commandments of God.  To avoid coveting, theft, murder, and lying, to honour one’s parents, is obedience to definite demands; but there are other worthy decisions and deeds which are not enjoined, like renunciation of the world, and the embracing of poverty or celibacy, as well as innumerable pious practices and exercises of self-denial, and it is alleged that in this way there can be a surplus of merit.

      The Church of Rome distinguishes between “precepts” (commandments binding upon everyone), and “counsels” (recommendations which are desirable, but not binding upon everyone).  In 1 Corinthians 7, St. Paul, discussing the relative merits of marriage and celibacy, says, “Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment (praeceptum, “precept”) of the Lord, but I give my judgement (consilium, “counsel”).”  On the basis of such passages it is argued that those who observe the “counsels” by taking vows of poverty, chastity, and the monastic life, perform thereby works of supererogation. [The Latin rogare meant “to propose a law” or “bring in a Bill” as we would say; erogare meant to propose a law dealing with money matters; and supererogare meant to “pay out more than was necessary”.  Thence supererogatio in ecclesiastical usage meant doing more than God required.]  The excess of merit earned by such works is alleged to belong to the whole Church, so that a sort of “Treasury of Merit” is supposed to exist, from which the Church can draw to help sinners, not only in this life, but also hereafter. [Hence the practice of selling Indulgences to help souls in purgatory.]

      But the whole doctrine of merit is as irrational as it is unscriptural.  “For our whole life, for every power that we possess as well as for every opportunity of exercising it, we are utterly dependent upon God.  He has an absolute claim upon all our life.  Nothing we can do can give us a claim against Him.  Hence, not only is the ‘reward’ that we receive from Him non-transferable, but from the nature of the case even the holiest saint can never possess any ‘merit’ that belongs to him, as it were, in his own right and can be transferred to another’s account.  Our personal relationship to our Heavenly Father cannot be expressed in terms of arithmetic.” [Bicknell, Op. cit. p. 218f.]  The Article, in effect, says that no man can do more than his duty.  Since nothing less than perfection is required of us, [Matt. 5:27; Luke 10:27.] and all our works, as we saw, [Article XII, note, imperfection.] are imperfect, it is impossible for any man to attain to God’s standard, much less to exceed it.  There can be no exception to our Lord’s verdict: “When ye have done all that are commanded to you, say, We be unprofitable servants.” [Luke 17:10.]  If the best of service is “unprofitable,” there can be no excess of merit.

      The distinction between “precepts” and “counsels” is not absolute.  For instance, if God calls a man to the Ministry, he does not earn extra merit by obeying; but he would be committing a sin if he disobeyed; the “counsel” has become for him a “precept”.  The same applies to those who are called to a life of poverty or chastity.  The Rich Young Ruler was asked to become poor as a condition of discipleship, not as a work of supererogation.  By refusing, he did not simply fail to earn merit; he endangered his entrance into the Kingdom of God. [Mark 10:23.]  God does not, however, call all men to make the same sacrifices, or to serve Him in the same way. [Cf. Article XXXVIII.]

      As Christians we hold that God is the source of all good, and that His commandments are good because He is good.  We confidently ask with Abraham: “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right”? [Gen. 18:25.]  This is a religious conviction, and the moral sense obliges us to be loyal to it.  It also means that the moral judgement itself may not always contain the reason for accepting the commandment, although generally the commandments make a moral appeal and evoke a similar response: “the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy, and righteous, and good”. [Rom. 7:12.]  The important thing is to see that the commandments are received and acted upon because we believe, either on religious authority, or moral sanction, that they are right.  And it is not different with regard to conduct which is not formally enjoined.  Everyone would not agree that for progress in the spiritual life celibacy is superior to the married state; but whoever thinks it is, is morally bound to adopt it.  Conscience commits us to honour the best we know; it is our duty, something we owe to ourselves as well as to God.  On whatever ground a course of action is decided to be right, there is no escape from moral obligation to pursue it.  It matters not at all whether it is prescribed by a code or chosen freely; its moral worth is the same.  Since this is so, special merit can never attach to “voluntary works”; there is strictly no such thing as a work of supererogation.  As moral agents we stand under an uncompromising obligation to follow the best we know.  This moral sense, with its supreme claim upon us, is the law of our being; to obey its direction is the way to the full free life; to violate it leads to decline and death.  To think of merit and reward for observing the law of our being is out of place; it is our primary duty to do so.  Even when the moral requirement takes the form of a religious commandment, conformity does not earn merit: “When ye have done all ... say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which it was our duty to do” [Lk. 17:10.]  Throughout Scripture all men are regarded as sinners; there is no overplus of merit.  Before God “shall no man living be justified” [Ps. 143:2.]; “there is none that doeth good” [Ps. 14:3.]; “in many things we all stumble” [Jas. 3:2.]; “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” [1 Jn. 1:8.].

Article  XVII: Of Predestination And Election

[One of the Forty-two Articles of 1553, which suffered only slight verbal changes in 1563 and 1571.]

      Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, whereby (before the foundations of the world were laid) He hath constantly decreed by His counsel secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom He hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation, as vessels made to honour.  Wherefore, they which be endued with so excellent a benefit of God be called according to God’s purpose by His Spirit working in due season; they through Grace obey the calling; they be justified freely; they be made sons of God by adoption; they be made like the image of His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ; they walk religiously in good works, and at length by God’s mercy, they attain to everlasting felicity.

      As the godly consideration of Predestination, and our Election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel in themelves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things, as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God: So, for curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of God’s Predestination, is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the Devil doth thrust them either into desperation, or into wretchlessness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation.

      Furthermore, we must receive God’s promises in such wise, as they be generally set forth to us in Holy Scripture: and, in our doings, that Will of God is to be followed, which we have expressly declared unto us in the Word of God.

      A study of Scripture and experience of life present us with certain facts – the existence of evil; the salvation of some people, and the condemnation of others; the circumstances which often seem to place one person on the road to salvation, and another on the road to condemnation.  These facts have led most theologians to believe in an “election” of “grace” based on certain statements in Scripture; but the majority of them do not suggest that this election of grace, the free and special manifestation of God’s goodness, implies election to death of all who are not elected to life.  The problem was much debated at the Reformation.  John Calvin declared “By predestination we mean the eternal decree of God, by which He determined with Himself whatever He wished to happen with regard to every man.  All are not created on equal terms, but some are preordained to eternal life, others to eternal damnation; and accordingly, as each has been created for one or other of these ends, we say that he has been predestinated to life or to death.” [Institutes, Book III, chap. xxi, sect. 5.]  It will be noted that the Article does not follow Calvin to such an extreme conclusion.  He clearly taught that God, in the fullness of His sovereignty by “His eternal and immutable counsel,” has decreed some to salvation, others to damnation, and as He owes nothing to either, the elect have to bless Him everlastingly, and the reprobate have no right to complain.  Such a harsh conclusion may be the logical one.  But Calvin forgot that God is love, not pure logic.  He forgot, too, that even logic is human.  Logic is reason arrogating to itself the right of judging alone, supremely, and without appeal.  But we should not presume to impose upon God our conclusions, however unanswerable, however clear they may seem to our intellect.

      This whole subject of Predestination must be viewed in the light of one of the basic principles clearly enunciated in Scripture.

      God loves all mankind, and His eternal purpose for men is good.  He “desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness, and live.” [Absolution in Morning and Evening Prayer, cf. Ezek. 33:11; 2 Pet. 3:9.]  It is significant that in His teaching about the Final Judgement, our Lord made important distinctions between the sentences passed:

      Thus, some are blessed by God, but the others are not cursed by Him, – the curse seems to be of themselves.  The kingdom is prepared “for you”; but the “everlasting fire” is “for the devil and his angels.”  The Article follows this principle in affirming that Predestination to Life is the everlasting purpose of God, [It is God’s “good pleasure,” Ephes. 1:5, 9; Phil. 2:13; 2 Thess. 1:11.] and declares that it is the Devil who thrusts “curious and carnal persons” into desperation or “wretchlessness” (i.e. recklessness [Latin, securitatem.]).

      The love of God has two aspects, creative and saving.  It is in the creative side that the divine love appears in the original, absolute and uncovenanted form.  The only reason for the world’s existence at all is that the Creator desired to make something as like Himself as possible.  So man was made in God’s image, that is, with a capacity for enjoying the blessedness of a life in communion with Him; such is the divine intention for every soul without exception.  In this action of pure creative love man has no part; his being, its nature and meaning, are determined by the will of God.  It also belongs to the divine purpose for man that he can accept or refuse his role in its realization.  And in fact he has refused on the largest scale; mankind is in a fallen state and requires redemption.  It is in the application of the same divine love in which it was created to a world which needs saving, that particular arbitrary choices are seen.

      Israel is selected from among the nations of the earth [Amos 3:2.] to be God’s peculiar people, [Deut. 4:2.] and the instrument of His redeeming action, [Isa. 49:6.] and within Israel He raises up Moses and calls the prophets: the whole history of salvation is one of special choices and appointments.  There is no difficulty about such a process of election, provided it is understood not to be an end in itself, but the means of universal salvation.  The greatest tragedy that ever befell a nation was Israel’s failure to appreciate this.  The aim of God’s redemptive action in history is to accomplish the purpose of His love in creation, to bring all men to the blessed life of fellowship with Himself.

      The doctrine of predestination has two roots: one is ideal, the conception of the majesty and omnipotence of God, and the other is empirical, derived from experience and history.  Against the sovereign power with which God pursues His purpose, the lives of individuals and the fortunes of the nations are reduced to insignificance [Isa. 40:12–17; Ps. 144:3, 4.]; they have no independent meaning, but are part of a predetermined plan; history is an exhibition of puppetry, and the feeling of freedom and responsibility is an illusion.

      A less rigid view of predestination is connected with the sense of vocation or mission which some of the great makers of history have had, of whom our Lord and St. Paul are conspicuous examples. [Jn. 12:27; 18:37; Gal. 1:15f.]

      History is not the mechanical unfolding of the divine counsel; within the framework of God’s purpose much happens which need not or should not have happened, and His ultimate control of events is seen in how evil is made to contribute to the good.  Were Israel’s disobedience and rejection of Jesus an integral part of God’s plan for His ancient people?  The prophets and St. Paul answer, No; yet for the Apostle the latter event leads directly to the preaching to the Gentiles, and indirectly to Israel’s conversion.  His reflections on God’s ways with His People created in St. Paul’s mind overwhelming conviction concerning His Wisdom and power in the overruling of history, and it is this idea of complete divine supremacy that lies behind his reference to vessels of honour and dishonour in Romans 9:21.  But he says much besides which it is quite impossible to reconcile with potter-and-clay predestinarianism.

      As the clauses immediately following it show, the opening sentence of the Article: “Predestination to life is the everlasting purpose of God”, refers to the scheme of salvation.  It is rather remarkable that no motive for creation is mentioned in Scripture; the world is never traced to the love of God.  The divine love is always thought of in biblical theology from the standpoint of redemption; God is pre-eminently the God of saving love.  The plan of salvation was conceived in the divine council before creation, and believers are chosen in Christ from all eternity. [Rom. 8:30; Eph. 4:4–6; 1 Pet. 1:1f.]

      After this general statement of the purpose of predestination the Article mentions the several steps in the implementing of it under the influence of the Holy Spirit.  Those “endued with so excellent a benefit” as election respond to the Gospel [Jn. 6:37; 10:27; Acts 13:48; Rom. 8:29f.; 10:17; 1 Thess. 2:12.]; they are freely justified [Rom. 3:24; 5:1, 9; 8:30; 1 Cor. 6:11.]; and in virtue of the New Covenant in Christ they become sons of God by adoption. [Rom. 8:15f; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5.]  By the process of sanctification believers are transformed into Christ’s likeness; following their high calling they bring forth the fruits of the Spirit, and by grace continuing in the same they at last receive their heavenly inheritance. [Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Jn. 3:2; Eph. 1:9–11; 1 Pet. 1:4, 5.]

      If those who answer the call of the Gospel are like “vessels made to honour”, what is the position of those who refuse?  Was their rejection of it predetermined because it was not meant for them?  Were they by arbitrary divine decree outside the scope of salvation?  These questions were vigorously debated, especially among Protestants, in the controversies of the Reformation, and we must be grateful for the moderation of our Article.  As we have seen, Calvin’s doctrine of predestination included election to eternal life, and reprobation, or election to perdition.  Christ died for the chosen few only; the vast majority of the race were foreordained to everlasting punishment.  Romans 9:14–24 was chiefly appealed to in support of this “terrible truth”, as Calvin himself called it.  What appeared to him the incredible spiritual blindness and obduracy of his own people, the Jews, was a distressing problem to St. Paul.  As in Pharaoh’s case, he thought it must be owing to God’s hardening of their hearts, so he concluded: “He hath mercy on whom He will, and whom He will He hardeneth”. [Rom. 9:18.]

      But in neither case is the enforced disobedience God’s real purpose; on the contrary, in both it is the prelude to a typical mighty act for His people’s salvation.  Israel’s rejection of the Apostle’s message opened the door of the Gospel to the Gentiles, [Acts 14:27; 13:46.] and the success of his Gentile mission would at last move the Jews to join them, [Rom. 11:14f.] that they might receive their inheritance of the promises in the New Israel, “and so all Israel shall be saved”. [Rom. 11:26.]  Gentile disobedience in the past, and Israel’s disobedience in the present, find their meaning in the divine purpose of universal mercy: “For God hath shut up all unto disobedience, that He might have mercy upon all”. [Rom. 11:32 (R.V.)]

      The real view of St. Paul is that God’s purpose of salvation, which includes the entire creation, [Rom. 8:20f.] is assured of achievement; Christ must reign till God has brought all things into subjection to Him. [1 Cor. 15:25–28; Eph. 1:22.]  In another important passage, 2 Corinthians 4:3, 4, the Apostle accounts for the spiritual apathy and opposition he has encountered as due, not to human perversion, and still less to the divine counsel, but to the action of “the god of this world” in blinding the eyes of the unbelieving.  The conception of the divine purpose in the New Testament is determined by the doctrine, that God is love, and hence is that of predestination to life in the widest sense. [Jn. 3:17f.; Eph. 1:10f.; 1 Tim. 2:4; Tit. 2:11.]

      Much anxiety has been caused by the question of assurance of election.  The position taken in our Article is that those chosen out of the world for salvation are known to God alone.  It is to be noted that nothing is said about the election of the lost.  There is only personal conviction to go on here, and it is necessary to guard against identifying such inner feeling with divine decree.  The knowledge that we “daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of (Christ’s) most holy life’ by walking in the Spirit, thus “mortifying the works of the flesh” and bringing forth the fruits of the same Spirit [Rom. 8:13f.; Gal. 5:16, 22–24.], – this is the only guarantee of our calling in Christ that we can have or need.  Belief in one’s election on these grounds is of immense psychological value; predestination then is indeed “full of most pleasant, and unspeakable comfort”. [Rom. 8:33, 38f.]  And just as the doctrine of election is for the earnest believer a source of encouragement and inspiration to increasing effort in the Christian life, so where there is morbid obsession with our sinfulness it may induce belief in reprobation, and lead to abandonment to wickedness. [Cf. 2 Tim. 2:24–26.]

      As we saw when considering Article XVI, our final salvation depends on our willing obedience and constant cooperation with the grace of God.  This Article also emphasizes both aspects, the Divine and the human in salvation.  On God’s part, there is the calling, the working of the Spirit, the free justification, the adoption as sons, and the attainment of everlasting felicity.  On man’s part, the obedience to the calling, conformity to the image of Christ, and religious walking in good works.

      God achieves His purpose for mankind through human instruments.  He chose Abraham that through him “all the families of the earth might be blessed”. [Gen. 12:3.]  The nation of Israel was chosen as God’s People so that they might work for the salvation of all mankind. [Isa. 49:6; 60.]  Our Lord sanctified Himself for the sake of others, [Jn. 17:19.] and the Church as the Body of, Christ is God’s instrument for the redemption of the world, [Eph. 3:8, 11; cf. Gal. 1:15f.] its members being “the elect”. [1 Pet. 1:2.]

      Thus we see that God elects, or selects, some men through whom His purposes are worked out for the benefit of mankind, and voluntary cooperation is required on the part of those elected.  But the election of some does not imply the rejection of all others, as Calvin erroneously supposed.  Whatever opinions may be held on this high theme, we are reminded in the concluding paragraph of the Article that the important thing for us is to receive the general teaching of Scripture on God’s will that all men should be saved, that His reconciling work in Christ has all creation for its object [Cf. 1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Cor. 5:19; Eph. 1:10f.] and also in our conduct to observe that same will by obedience to His clearly declared commandments. [Lk. 10:25–28; Mtt. 7:21, 24f.]

Article  XVIII: Of Obtaining Eternal Salvation Only By The Name Of Christ

      [Composed for the Forty-two Articles.  The original Article had “They also are to be had accursed and abhorred”, but the latter expression was dropped in 1571.]

      They also are to be had accursed that presume to say, that every man shall be saved by the Law or Sect which he professeth, so that he be diligent to frame his life according to that Law, and the light of Nature.  For Holy Scripture doth set out unto us only the Name of Jesus, whereby men must be saved.

      The error denounced in this Article is one which Newman regarded as especially insidious and dangerous, because it was fostered by the modern spirit of toleration and laisser-faire, and he devoted his life to combating it.  He named it “liberalism” in religion, and defined it as the view that one faith, or any form of the same faith, was as good as another.  Such a view is widespread today and leads to the conclusion that religious beliefs must be indifferent, for they have no finality; that they are all relative to the culture in which they obtain, and vary from age to age and from place to place.  The important thing, it is suggested, is that a man should be consistent, and behave according to his creed; that is the most that should be expected of him, and would meet God’s demands.

      It will be agreed that God’s justice will never ask of anyone a better life than his circumstances permit; but that is not to say that the best under any conditions is the divine ideal for him.  For Christianity too, consistency is a primary virtue.  But only consistency at the highest level results in character and conduct which correspond to the divine standard for humanity.  A good Christian is a better type than a good Jew or Stoic, because his conception of God and reality is truer.  In other words, consistency in itself is not sufficient; it must be a consistency in which expression is given to true thinking.  This is the point in our Lord’s saying in St. John 3:23, 24, about worshipping God “in spirit and in truth”.  Sincerity (“in spirit”) in our approach to God must be accompanied by right ideas on His nature and character (“in truth”) for the kind of worship He desires, and the guide here is the mind of Christ. [Cf. 1 Cor. 2:16; Phil. 2:5.]

      Jesus claimed an exclusive role in the establishing of right relations between God and man: He is the way of access to Him, the teacher of divine truth, and the great Exemplar. [Jn. 14:6; Rom. 5:2; Heb. 10:20.]  Leadership of mankind is His prerogative; He comes among men as the rightful Shepherd to His flock, and all that preceded Him are “thieves and robbers”. [Jn. 10:1–15.]  He is the Light of the world, and men pass judgement on themselves by their reaction to His message. [Jn. 1:4–9; 3:19; 8:12.]  This unique place of Jesus in the scheme of redemption is endorsed in the apostolic preaching: “And in none other is there salvation: for neither is there any other name under heaven that is given among men, wherein we must be saved”. [Acts 4:12.]  He is the sole Mediator between God and men. [1 Tim. 2:5.]

      If God has revealed one particular way of salvation, we neglect or ignore that way at our peril, and we are in duty bound to proclaim that Way to all mankind.  We cannot leave men utterly dependent upon “the light of Nature”.  At best, “the knowledge of God to be gained from Nature is only partial.  To put it metaphorically: from Nature we know the hands and feet but not the heart of God.  We can know His wisdom and omnipotence, also His justice and even His goodness, but not His forgiving mercy, His absolute will to bring about a communion between man and Himself. [Emil Brunner, in Natural Theology (1946), p. 38.  Cp. Robert Boyle (1627–1691): “those attributes of God ... visibily displayed in the fabric of the world ... are His power, His wisdom, and His goodness”, cited in Anglicanism, More and Cross, p. 203.]  The Church has been “sent” by God to be His instrument in bringing men into communion with Him. [Hence the Church is described as “Apostolic” (Gk. apostellein, to send, cf. Jn. 20:21).]  It is her duty “so to present Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, that men shall come to put their trust in God through Him, to accept Him as their Saviour, and serve Him as their King in the fellowship of His Church”. [Towards the Conversion of England, p. 00 (sic).]

      The Article does not justify any presentation of the Gospel that has the effect of persuading men to renounce their allegiance to the Church in order to join some novel sect.  Nor does it repudiate the principle “Extra ecclesiam nulla salus” (Outside the Church there is no salvation).  The Archbishops’ Commission on Evangelism emphasizes “When the Gospel was first proclaimed, the fellowship of the Church was also proclaimed as an essential element of God’s Good News: ‘They then that received His word were baptized ... And they continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers.’ [Acts 2:41f. (RV).]  To have claimed to be able to live the Christian life apart from the Christian community would have passed the comprehension of the New Testament.” [Op. cit. p. 92; cf. Acts 2:47.]

      A representative group of Protestant theologians recently described the individualistic view of salvation (characteristic of some of the sects) which ignores the doctrine of the Church as “a lapse from the Gospel, from which we have largely recovered, and we assert today the faith of the Reformers that outside the Church there is no salvation.” [The Catholicity of Protestantism, A Report to the Archbishop of Canterbury by a group of Free Churchmen (1950), p. 91f.]  In support of their assertion they quote Luther’s words: “I believe that no one can be saved who is not found in this congregation (that is, the congregation of the saints, or the Church) holding with it to one faith, word, sacraments, hope and love;” “I believe that in this congregation and nowhere else, there is forgiveness of sins.”  They also quote Calvin, speaking of the visible Church: “Outside her bosom no forgiveness of sins, no salvation can be hoped for.” [Op. cit. p. 92.]

      Pagan history is called in the New Testament “the times of ignorance”. [Acts 17:30; cf. 17:23; Eph. 4:8; 1 Pet. 1:14.]  Reason and conscience were inadequate means to a knowledge of God; philosophy led to delusion, and conscience became insensitive in the unequal moral struggle. [Rom. 1:20–25, 32.]  Paganism appears in the most favourable light in the New Testament references to proselytes, i.e., converts from heathenism to Judaism.  St. Paul paints a frightful picture of the pagan world [Rom. 1:24–32; Col. 3:5–7; 1 Thess. 4:5.]; but we know that even in this welter of wickedness there were noble souls that longed after higher things, and minds devoted to the search for spiritual truth.  And many of them found them, at any rate for the time being, in the religion of the synagogue.  Among such was Cornelius [Acts 10:1 k (sic) 7:2–10.] “a devout man, and one that, feared God with all his house”, whose account of his vision drew from St. Peter the comment: “I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he, that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to Him”.  The Apostle’s experience convinced him that Gentiles, even a Roman soldier, should be accepted in the Christian fellowship, Cornelius had done all he could; he had sought and embraced the best that was open to him, and met with divine approval.  But his spiritual quest did not end in Judaism; the faith of the synagogue was for him, and for many like him, a stage on the way to Christ.  Proselytism [Proselytism is here used as a general term to indicate attachment to Judaism, of which there were various degrees.  Cf. The Beginnings of Christianity, vol. V.  Additional Note VIII, p. 74ff.], in fact, was to prove the very seedplot for the Gospel.  Judaism was an imperfect religion; it needed fulfillment, and our Lord saw in His own revelation the accomplishment of this. [Mtt. 5:17.]  The fulfillment, however, took a form which no Jew could recognize and remain loyal to his ancestral faith.  Jesus brought together in His own Person great figures, institutions and prophecies of the Old Testament, which were quite distinct and independent in the Jewish religion, and from their union in Him there emerged an original and unpredictable religious conception.  Even in relation to its parent Judaism, Christianity is something new.

      According to the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Judaism stands to Christianity as the shadow to the substance; to say that they are equally true would be to admit no difference between a reflection and the thing which casts it.

      The Church has always strenuously maintained that she is the custodian of an unique knowledge of God.  Indeed, in early times, points of resemblance between its system and pagan cults were explained as due to the deceitful imitation of demons.  The only other special revelation, that to Israel, was incomplete; the final word of God to man was spoken in His Son. [Heb. 1:2.]  The exercise of reason and moral earnestness was a tendency towards the truth they could never reach unaided in this paradoxical world.  Ultimate religious truth is for us revealed truth, “even as it is in Jesus”. [Eph. 4:21.]

      It will be observed that the Article, while affirming that Christ is the only Saviour, says nothing of those heathen who have had no opportunity of hearing the Gospel.  Doubtless they will be judged according to the light they have had and the use they have made of it. [Jn. 1:9; Lk. 12:48; Acts 10:34f.; Rom. 2:12–16; 1 Tim. 4:10.]  But missionary work does not therefore become unnecessary; evangelism at home and abroad is a “must” for the Church and all her members. [Mtt. 28:19f.; Mk. 16:15; Lk. 24:47; Jn. 15:16.]

Chapter  V – The Church

Article  XIX: Of The Church

      [Another of the Articles of 1553.  It closely resembles the definition of the Church given in the Seventh Article of the Augsburg Confession, viz.: “The Church is a congregation of the saints, in which the Gospel is rightly (recte) taught and the Sacraments are rightly administered.”]

      The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the pure Word of God is preached, and the Sacraments be duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same.

      As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch, have erred; so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of Ceremonies, but also in matters of Faith.

      In the New Testament, the Church is conceived of as a building in course of erection, [Ephes. 2:19–22.] or, more frequently, as a body, a living growing organic unity of members, a Body of which Christ is the Head. [Ephes. 4:15f.; Col. 2:19; 1 Cor. 12:27.]  Theologians differ as to the precise relationship between the Christian Church and Israel.  Some consider it is essential “to emphasize the freshness of the new start through the new covenant, without denying the continuity of the Christian Church with Israel; to others it has seemed more important to emphasize the continuity with Israel without denying the freshness of the start.  The truth appears to be that both are of vital importance, and there should be no question of sacrificing the one to the other: the need is to relate them rightly.” [Archbishops’ Commission on Doctrine in the Church of England (1938) p. 100.]  On the one hand,. our Lord regarded Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as members of the Kingdom, [Matt. 8:11; Luke 13:29.] and many of the terms used to describe the old Israel are in the New Testament applied to the Church.*  On the other hand, it is argued that “the moment we allow the doctrine, mystical though it may be, that ‘the Church is His Body,’ we are committed to the truth that the Church, in both its metaphysical sense and its historical sense came into being with the Resurrection.” [The Ministry and the Sacraments, Faith and Order Theological Commission Report, (1937), p. 478f.]

      *E.g., The Church is called “the Israel of God” (Gal. 6:16); an “elect race” (1 Pet. 2:9f; Deut. 10:15; Isa. 43:20); a “royal priesthood” (1 Pet. 2:9; Exod. 19:6); “an holy nation” (1 Pet. 2:9; Deut. 7:6); a “people for God’s own possession” (1 Pet. 2:9 R.V.) Exod. 19:5; Isa. 43:21; Mal. 3:17).  It will be observed, however, that the identity is not complete – the Church, like Israel, is “an holy nation” not “the holy nation,” etc.  The absence of the definite article may be significant.

      Without entering into the controversy, it may be agreed that our Lord was a member of the nation of Israel, and as such would be conversant with the prophetic doctrine that God’s purpose would be fulfilled through a faithful remnant. [Amos 9:8.]  When, in the Garden of Gethsemane, all the disciples “forsook Him and fled,” [Matt. 26:56; Mark 14:50.] the faithful Remnant was narrowed down to one person, Himself.  He is the link between the Old Israel and the New, the Christian Church.

      By His Resurrection He revitalized the faith and transformed the lives of His disciples, [cf. Article IV, 1, (c) above.] and restored them to union and fellowship with Himself.  The Church is a Divine Society, the “new creation” of God in Christ.  Having commissioned the Apostles, [John. 20:21.] our Lord gave the Spirit to the Church at Pentecost.  The “cloven tongues like as of fire sat upon each” [Acts 2:3.] but if each was separately visited, the outpouring was simultaneous and collective; the Spirit was given to the Church as a whole.  Thenceforth.  “The Spirit was the corporate possession of the Body of Christ, and it became the property of the individual convert when he became a member of the Church.  No man could be Christ’s who had not Christ’s Spirit, and ordinarily no man could have Christ’s Spirit but by being ‘added’ to the Church in Baptism.” [H. B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the New Testament, p. 307.  cf. Acts 2:47.]

      Christ – the Church – faithful individuals, is the right order of thinking.  “Men speak as if Christians came first and the Church after: as if the origin of the Church was in the wills of the individuals who composed it.  But, on the contrary, throughout the teaching of the Apostles, we see it is the Church that comes first, and the members of it afterwards. ... In the New Testament ... The Kingdom of Heaven is already in existence, and men are invited into it.  The Church takes its origin, not in the will of man, but in the will of the Lord Jesus Christ ... .  Everywhere men are called in: they do not come in and make the Church by coming.  They are called into that which already exists: they are recognized as members when they are within; but their membership depends on their admission, and not upon their constituting themselves into a body in the sight of the Lord.” [Archbishop F. Temple in his sermon Catholicity and Individualism.]  “Being the Body of Christ, it is no self-constituted Society of like-minded seekers after ideal truth or admirers of the prophet Jesus: it is a Society founded and constituted by a now Invisible Head, in whom resides all its vitality, and apart from whom it can do nothing.  The distinguishing and confessed characteristic of its being lies in given-ness.  ‘When He ascended up on high He gave gifts unto men.’” [Archbishop J. A. F. Gregg, Reunion, p. 3.]

      The Article, like the Bible, speaks only of “the visible Church of Christ.”  The title, “the Body of Christ,” is used in the New Testament of the union of all the local churches.  But each of those local Christian communities was a visible group of people, with a visible service of admission (Holy Baptism), a regularly appointed ministry, a definite standard of belief, and a visible sacrament of Holy Communion.  “They continued steadfastly in the Apostles’ doctrine, and in the fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in the prayers.” [Acts 2:42 (translated literally).] Such characteristics are marks of a visible society.  If the local parts of the Church are visible, the union of those parts must also be something visible.  The rules for the exercise of Church discipline, as expounded below, [Article XXXIII.] also presuppose a visible Church.  Nevertheless, the evidence of sin in the Church and its members has led some men to believe that the Body of Christ is invisible.  But the apostolic writers cling to the paradox that the Church both is the Body of Christ and also consists of sinful and fallible members.  However corrupt the Christians may be, St. Paul does not suggest that they do not belong to the “true” or “real” Church.  For instance, there was much sin amongst the members of the Corinthian Church, [1 Cor. 3:3; 5:1f.; 6:6f.] yet he regards them as being “in Christ.” [1 Cor. 1:30.] and addresses them as “the church of God which is at Corinth.”  He did not suggest for one moment that the less worthy members of the Corinthian Church were not members of the Body of Christ.  In the New Testament there is a looking forward to the glorious Church of the future, but it and the imperfect Church of the present are one Church.  The Body of Christ is one across the centuries and across the world, for St. Paul regarded schism as “in the Body” [1 Cor. 12:25.], rather than “from the Body”.

      The “faithful men” who comprise the Church are those who have been admitted to membership by Baptism.  They are commonly called “saints” * in the New Testament, but this has nothing to do with moral or spiritual excellence; it denotes sainthood rather than saintliness, and refers to their new calling in Christ.  There are, of course, exemplary and imperfect saints, but both classes are still saints.

      *“All who have entered into the Christian covenant by baptism are ‘saints’ in the language of the Apostles.  Even the irregularities and profligacies of the Corinthian Church do not forfeit it this title.  Thus the main idea of the term is consecration.  But, though it does not assert moral qualifications as a fact in the persons so designated, it implies them as a duty.” J. B. Lightfoot, Commentary on Philippians 1:1.

      Other marks of the visible Church are that in it “the pure Word of God is preached”, and the Sacraments are “duly ministered according to Christ’s ordinance”.  The two things most feared and abhorred in the early Church were apostasy and heresy, and the “pure word” here probably means “sound doctrine” [Cf. 1 Tim. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4:3; Tit. 1:9.], the Apostolic teaching [Acts 2:42.] preserved in the New Testament, Creeds, and historic traditions of the Church.  Christ’s authority can be claimed for the two Sacraments of the Gospel, Holy Baptism and Holy Communion. [Cf. Mtt. 28:19; Jn. 3:5; Lk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:23–26; Chap. IX below.]  Holy Baptism is the indispensable form of initiation into the new status and life of the Church, and the Holy Communion, or Lord’s Supper, is the means whereby sustenance for the new life is drawn from its Source. [Jn. 6:51–58.]

      Both the preaching of the Word and the administration of the Sacraments imply an ordered Ministry.  Our Lord calls and commissions the Apostles to proclaim the Gospel, [Mtt. 10:5–7; Jn. 20:21.] and an authorized Ministry has a necessary place in later evangelism by the Church: “How shall they preach, except they be sent”. [Rom. 10:15.]  The evidence of early Church history is that administration of the Holy Communion was confined to the higher orders of the Ministry, Bishops and Priests.  It is also required that Sacraments should be administered “according to Christ’s ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the same”.  And He commanded that Baptism should be performed with water “in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost”, [Mtt. 28:19 Jn. 3:5.] whilst in the Lord’s Supper He used bread and wine, gave thanks for them, blessed and broke the bread, and declared the elements to be His Body and Blood. [Mk. 14:22–24; Mtt. 26:26–28; 1 Cor. 11:23–25.]  Even the variations in the several versions of Jesus’ words and actions at the institution of the Holy Communion serve to indicate the importance attached to them in the evangelical tradition, and our Article is well warranted in requiring their due observance.

      Our Lord intended the Church to be truly catholic, to “go into all the world” [Mk. 16:15; Mtt. 28:19.] to proclaim “the whole truth” [Jn. 16:13 (Greek).] of the Gospel to “every creature” [Mk. 16:15.] and to deal with every type of sin. [Jn. 20:23; Mtt. 18:18.]  It is also apostolic, as having been “sent” [Jn. 20:21.] and given its mission and Apostolic Ministry by Him.  To these three “Notes” of the Church, given in the Nicene Creed, the Apostles’ Creed adds that the Church is holy too.  The members of the Church are not yet perfectly holy, but we have the capacity for holiness, for, in the words of the Epistle to the Hebrews, already “we are become partakers of Christ” [Heb. 3:14.] and have been “made partakers of the Holy Ghost”. [Heb. 6:4.]

      The doctrine of the Church in the New Testament is in full accord with our own experience.  We know very well that we are often unworthy of our high calling as members of the Body of Christ, yet we remain members of the Body unless we willfully reject the privileges of membership.  The Prodigal Son was still a son even when he was in the far country; he did not become a son by his act of repentance.  We, in our Baptism, became “members of Christ” and “the children of God”.  As St. Paul says to the Galatians, “Ye are all sons of God, through faith, in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ”. [Gal. 3:26f.]  We received “the adoption of sons” in our Baptism, [Gal. 4:5f., Rom. 8:15.] and no subsequent act of ours can confer on us any higher status or privilege.  After our Baptism we may, and should as we grow in grace, become more fully aware of the redeeming love of God, and the realization should make us more zealous to serve Him in the fellowship of His Church.  But the New Testament knows of no case of a person leaving the Church in order to be saved.  On the contrary, those who wanted to be saved joined the Church, as we read in Acts 2:47: “The Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved”.

      That carefulness of statement which is a feature of the Articles appears again in the concluding paragraph: “As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch, have erred; so also the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of Ceremonies, but also in matters of Faith.”  The Church of Rome has admitted many superstitious practices in devotion and ritual, and has added to the Faith such doctrines as Transsubstantiation, Invocation of Saints, and Papal Supremacy, and since the Reformation, the Immaculate Conception and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the Infallibility of the Pope.  On the other hand, the Roman Catholic Church accepts the Scriptures and the Creeds, and has the traditional Form of the Ministry.  As individual Christians do not necessarily forfeit their sainthood through sins and shortcomings, neither do the errors and corruptions of the Church of Rome deprive her of a place in the Body of Christ.

Chapter  VI – The Church’s Authority In Doctrine

Article  XX: OF THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH

      [When first drawn up by the English Reformers, this Article lacked the most important first clause, and commenced, “It is not lawful ...”.  Archbishop Laud was once accused of forging the clause, but he was able to refute the charge by producing four editions published in Elizabeth’s reign which contained it.  The clause was probably inserted on the Queen’s authority, and was ratified by Convocation in 1571.]

      The Church hath the power to decree Rites or Ceremonies, and authority in Controversies of Faith: And yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another.  Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of holy Writ, yet, as it ought not to decree any thing against the same, so besides the same ought it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of Salvation.

      This most important Article asserts the authority of the Church (against those, particularly Puritans, who minimized it), and indicates the limits of such authority (against the Roman Church which exaggerated it).  The Latin text indicates an important distinction between the Church’s authority in matters of Ceremonial, and her authority in matters of Doctrine: In general, authority is of three kinds: (1) legislative, making laws, (2) judicial, applying and interpreting laws and (3) executive, enforcing laws.  The Church can exercise all three types of authority, subject to certain limitations:

      The Church has legislative power to decree (ius statuendi) Rites and Ceremonies [A Rite is a Service, a Ceremony is any act accompanying it.  But the distinction is not always strictly observed; sometimes the two words are used synonymously.], which includes revision of her forms of Worship, etc.  For instance, she could abolish the use of the ring in the Marriage Service, or make regulations concerning the vestments to be worn by the clergy.  Only Scripture limits this authority.  The Church may not “ordain anything that is contrary to God’s word written.” [E.g., the Church may not introduce the worship of Angels, or abolish the use of water in Baptism or wine in Holy Communion.]  Such authority was given to the Church by our Lord, [Matt. 18:18 (cp. 16:19).  In Jewish usage “to bind” = to declare forbidden; “to loose” = to declare allowed.] who recognized the authority of the Jewish Church. [Matt. 23:2f.; Luke 17:14; Matt. 8:4.]  The Apostles exercised such authority, e.g., by making regulations for the conduct of worship. [1 Cor.11:4f.; 14:26ff; Cf. Article XXIV.]

      When people act together for a common purpose, conformity to a prescribed procedure is necessary.  Since the presence of Christ among His followers is specially promised where they assemble in His Name for worship, [Mtt. 18:20.] a fixed Form of Service will help to actualize that unity which their coming together already suggests – that is one of the positive advantages of an Order of Service.  On the negative side, it checks the expression of individual partiality and contention, which would be incompatible with seemly proceedings.  For such reasons the Rites and Ceremonies used in worship are an important concern of the Church.

      There are not many references in the New Testament to details of behaviour in places of worship.  In his ruling on the dress of worshippers, St. Paul defends the established practice of his day, and suggests that if anyone disagrees with him in holding that a man’s head should be uncovered and a woman’s veiled, he is just being troublesome, and has the custom of the churches against him. [1 Cor. 11:2–16.]  Much unbecoming conduct accompanied the observance of the Lord’s Supper in the Corinthian Church, which emphasized the social differences among members, and was contrary to the oneness of all in Christ: the Apostle severely rebukes them and promises to put matters right on a future visit. [1 Cor. 11:34.]  Clearly St. Paul, as an Apostle and leader in the Church, regarded himself as having authority to intervene and regulate.

      The considerations recommended in the New Testament for the performance of the Church’s services are respect for tradition, [1 Cor. 11:2, 16.] the fitness of things for edification, and a sense of comeliness and order. [Ibid. 26, 40.]  Complete uniformity in Rites and Ceremonies is not to be expected among the churches of Christendom; a complete lack of uniformity, on the other hand, can gravely imperil the unity of the Church – a proper balance between the two extremes is essential.

      A varying appreciation of forms of art, and different standards of decency and appropriateness, – these are part of the many cultures in which the Church has been planted and has grown up, and the churches of different nations and civilizations have the power to devise such ritual and Forms of Service as they deem will be most effective in presenting the Christian message: that is the important matter.  Ceremonies, as the Preface Concerning Ceremonies (1549) declares, should be “neither dark nor dumb”, but such as convey their meaning clearly and are least conducive to misunderstanding and superstition.

      In matters of faith the Church’s authority is more like that of a guardian or a judge.  It may be exercised in binding and loosing, that is, in deciding what is lawful or unlawful for the Christian. [Mtt. 18:15–18.]  St. Paul tells the presbyters of the Church in Ephesus that he had communicated to them “the whole counsel of God”. [Acts 20:18–35.]  He knows that after his departure false teachers will appear, and he exhorts them to be vigilant; they are to feed the Church and resist the seducers by continuing to proclaim the Gospel he had preached.  The warning was soon needed.  According to 1 Timothy some of these perverters of the truth, influenced by Gnostic speculations, are known in Ephesus [1 Tim. 1:3, 4.]; and there were others who challenged the Church’s doctrine in the interests of Judaism. [Gal. 1:6, 7; Tit. 1:10, 11; 3:10.]  The bulwark against these dangers was the original apostolic teaching which became the tradition of the churches, and was regarded as the only genuine and authoritative presentation of the Gospel; the Church’s leaders claimed exclusive possession of it by right of their appointment: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema.” [Gal. 1:8; 1 Cor. 11:2; 15:1f.; 2 Thess. 2:15; 3:6.]

      The content of the tradition was the historicity of the life of Jesus, especially His Death and Resurrection, with commentary on their significance.  When the tradition was afterwards committed to writing, selections from the collected words of Jesus and an account of the occasions on which they were spoken, were added to form our Gospels.  The position of the Apostles [1 Cor. 12:28; Gal 2:9; Eph. 2:20.] invested their Epistles with high value among the churches, and along with the Gospels, they made the New Testament very much the property of the Church; it was the Church’s own record of the Gospel of the grace of God in Jesus [1 Cor. 1:4; Acts 20:24.], written by members for members, and it was for the Church to say what its sacred writings meant.  Whenever disputes arose, the Bishop, as head of the local community and successor of the Apostles, was looked upon as the guardian of the Faith, and a decision was sought from him on what the Christian truth was on the questions at issue.

      We have seen from St. Paul’s Epistles the bearing of tradition on the active teaching of the Church, and now that the tradition has been embodied in the New Testament and become Scripture, it is a matter of the relation between Church and Scripture.  And the relation is the same; the Gospel contained in the written tradition governs Church teaching: the Church is “a witness and keeper of holy Writ, yet ... besides the same ought it not to enforce any thing to be believed for necessity of Salvation”.  When considering Article VI we noted that the Church not only took over from the Jews the Old Testament, but also adopted the Jewish attitude to Scripture.  To the Jew the Law was the perfect word of God to man; the Christians of the first centuries had the same idea of finality in the communication of divine truth, only for them it was the revelation of Jesus: “other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ”. [1 Cor.3:11; cf. Gal. 1:8f.]  It is the office of the Holy Spirit to work on the total Fact of Christ, His teaching, example and work, and lead the Church to new and fuller insights into its inexhaustible meaning.  Thus the Church must ever be the teacher and discoverer of the truth which has always been hers in Christ, and never an inventor.  All that is necessary for our redemption is to be found there, and however interesting or helpful beliefs and speculations on other subjects may be, they are not to be held essential to salvation.

      Thus, the Bible is bound up with the life and witness of the Church.  The New Testament books were written by members of the Church; the Church decided which books should be in the Bible;* the Church preserved the Bible by having copies of it made by hand before the invention of printing; the scholars of the Church translated the Hebrew Old Testament and the Greek New Testament into English, and more recently into almost every known language.  Unfortunately these facts are not always acknowledged by those who sometimes use the Bible to persuade people to renounce their allegiance to the Church in order to join some novel sect.

      *At first the selection was made by the Bishop of each church who decided which books would be most edifying, but soon a tradition grew up as to which books were of apostolic origin and should be read.  Amongst the books which were not included in the Canon are The Gospel of Nicodemus, The Gospel of Peter, The Epistle of Bamabas, The Revelation of Peter, etc., Cf. Excluded Books of the New Testament, p. x.

      Biblical truth should be seen and taught as a consistent whole; it is not permissible “so to expound one place of Scripture, that it be repugnant to another”.  There must [be] no resort to favourite proof-texts bearing a construction and interpretation they were never intended to support; that is the way of the Church of Rome and the sects.  It is the duty of the Church’s members, particularly of the Bishops, to safeguard the Faith [1 Tim. 6:20; 2 Tim. 1:13f.; Tit. 1:9, 13; 2:1, 7; Jude 3.] and to preserve her doctrine from diminution or accretion. [2 Jn. 9.]  The early Church was suspicious of any novelty, for novelty was often tainted with heresy.  The principal object of most of the early Councils of the Church was to condemn heresy and to preserve the ancient Faith.  Hence, the words of St. Vincent of Lerins became a rule for testing doctrine: “We within the Catholic Church are to take great care that we hold that which hath been believed everywhere always and by all men (semper, ubique, ab omnibus) ... and that we shall do if we follow universality, antiquity, consent.” [Commonitorium, c.2.  The general acceptance of this principle in the early days of the Church indicates that the Church then did not claim any power or right of adding to the Faith.]  Thus, when controversy arose the Church had to exercise the functions of a judge, and it is this judicial authority (auctoritatem) in controversies of Faith that is asserted in the Article.  As a judge has no legislative power to create new laws (that is the function of Parliament), but only authority to interpret and apply the law, so in matters of Faith the Church has no power to create new doctrines, but only judicial authority to determine what is true doctrine. [The Article thus denies the right of even the Church of Rome to add new dogmas to the ancient Faith, such as Transubstantiation (added 1215), Purgatory (1439), The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1854) and her Assumption (1950) or Papal Infallibility (1870).]

      While the Article repudiates the Roman Church’s practice in adding new dogmas to the ancient Faith, by asserting the Church’s judicial authority, it repudiates also the ultra-Protestant view that the Holy Spirit in the individual is the sole interpreter of Scripture (a doctrine which has produced innumerable Protestant sects).  Article VI limits the Faith to “whatsoever” is “read therein” or “proved thereby”, but it does not state who is to decide what is proveable by appeal to Scripture.  Article XX is therefore supplementary to VI, for it in fact declares that when a dispute arises as to the correct interpretation of Scripture, the Church has authority to decide the issue.  The exercise of private judgement is also controlled by Article XXXIV.  In interpreting Scripture we follow the traditional Catholic practice of interpreting difficult passages as they have usually been interpreted by the Church.  “Let the Scripture, therefore, as sensed by the Primitive Church, and not by the private judgement of any particular man, be allowed and agreed by us to be the Rule of our Faith; and let that be accounted the true Church, whose Faith and Doctrine is most conformable and agreeable with the Primitive”. [Wm. Payne, Rector of Whitechapel (1650–1696).  Cf. further on this point, W. G. Wilson, Church Teaching, pp. 30–34.]

Article  XXI: Of The Authority Of General Councils

      [Only a few small verbal alterations have been made in this Article since its composition as one of the Forty-two Articles, for instance, after “erred” it had originally “not only in worldly matters but also in”.]

      General Councils may not be gathered together without the commandment and will of Princes.  And when they be gathered together (forasmuch as they be an assembly of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and Word of God), they may err, and sometimes have erred, even in things pertaining to God.  Wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation have neither strength nor authority, unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture.

      In the preceding Article on the authority of the Church we noted the distinction between the Church’s judicial authority in matters of Faith, and her legislative authority in respect of Rites and Ceremonies.  The Preface Concerning Ceremonies (1549) concedes that “every country should use such Ceremonies as they shall think best to the setting forth of God’s honour and glory ... without error or superstition”.  It is generally agreed that, owing to different customs and standards of taste among different peoples, the churches of the various nations must be allowed to decide which Rites and Ceremonies are most convenient and appropriate for use in public worship.  Each national church, as the local representative of the one Catholic Church, acts in such matters through its own synods or councils.

      This Article, however, is concerned with General Councils as distinct from local or national synods or councils.  A General Council is an assembly of the chief persons, especially the Bishops, in the churches throughout the world for the purpose of determining the truth on subjects of controversy which vitally concern the doctrine and order of the whole Church.  Our Lord commissioned the Apostles to “make disciples of all nations” [Mtt. 28:19f.], and promised them the guidance of the Holy Spirit to teach them “all things” [Jn. 14:26; cf. 2:22; 12:16.] and to guide them into “the whole truth”. [Jn. 16:13 (GK).]  The same authority and responsibility for safeguarding the Faith was given to Timothy and Titus and to Bishops generally.  But even Apostles could err [E.g., Peter’s vacillation – In Acts 11:1–18 he justified eating with Gentiles; later he refused to eat with Gentiles and was rebuked (Gal. 2:11f).], and Bishops as individuals have sometimes failed to express the true voice of the Church.  Hence the early Church found it desirable to follow the Apostolic example [The Apostles summoned the Council of Jerusalem to decide the vexed issue of the relation of the Jewish Law to the Gospel (Acts 15.).] of summoning Councils representative of the whole Church to decide disputed points of faith and practice.

      There was no means of summoning a General Council until the Roman Empire became officially Christian, for only an imperial edict could command obedience everywhere, and provide the facilities for attendance.  The first General Council, held at Nicaea (A.D. 325), was summoned by the first Christian Emperor, Constantine, and all the other “General” or “Ecumenical” Councils were summoned by the head of the state: the Council of Constantinople (A.D. 381) by Theodosius I; the Council of Ephesus (A.D. 431) by Theodosius II; the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) by Marcianus ; the second Council of Constantinople (A.D. 553) by Justinian ; the third Council of Constantinople (A.D. 680) by Constantine Pogonatus; the second Council of Nicaea (A.D. 787) by the Empress Irene, (which sanctioned the adoration of images and declared the Bread and Wine in the Eucharist to be the very Body and Blood of Christ).  Hence the remark of the 5th century ecclesiastical historian, Socrates: “We continually include the Emperors in our history, because from the time they began to profess Christianity the affairs of the Church depended upon them, and according to their will the greatest Councils were and are still assembled”. [Socrates, Hist. v.1.]

      There was abundant precedent in the history of Israel for this relation between the civil and religious departments in the state.  It was Moses the leader, and not Aaron the priest, who called together the seventy elders [Num. 11:16.] the predecessors of the standing Council of the Jewish people, the Sanhedrim; David commanded the priests to arrange for the return of the Ark of the Covenant; [1 Chron. 13:1–3.] and Solomon ordered them to bring it to its place in the Temple. [1 Kings 8:1–6.]

      The Church survived the collapse of the declining Empire under the attacks of the heathen Goths and Franks in the 5th century, and set about converting them.  In the work of stabilization and reconstruction that followed, the influence and pretensions of the papacy steadily grew; the struggle for supremacy between Church and State began in earnest, and a decisive event in the conflict took place on Christmas Day, A.D. 800, when the Emperor Charlemange did fealty to the Pope and received from him the imperial crown.  Papal claims were a main issue in the separation between Eastern and Western Christendom in A.D. 1054, after which the West settled down under increasing subjection to the Roman see in the Middle Ages.

      But the desire for freedom was not totally crushed during what Luther called the Babylonish captivity of the Church; there was always an underground resistance movement, which occasionally broke into open revolt.  Several events in the century preceding the Reformation gave an immense impetus to this spirit: the Greeks with the traditional freedom of their civilization poured into western Europe after the capture of Constantinople by the Turks (A.D. 1453); the view was put forward that the earth was not the fixed centre of the universe, but turned on its axis and moved like the stars; most exciting of all, the discoveries of the navigators had proved that there were other peoples and cultures whose existence had never been guessed.  The liberating and expansive effects of these happenings were enormous; they powerfully contributed to the intellectual atmosphere of the Reformation age.  A new-found sense of freedom was abroad which expressed itself in resentment at papal usurpation and fostered demands for national independence.  The Anglican Reformation is the best example of this movement.  By abolishing papal jurisdiction and asserting his headship of the national Church, Henry VIII laid the foundation of future ecclesiastical reform.

      The Act of Supremacy restored at once the ancient rights of the civil power in Church affairs, and implied a return to the original method of summoning General Councils.  At the time of the Reformation considerable effort was made to get a General Council convoked; both Luther and Cranmer appealed for one. Pope Paul III summoned the Council of Trent (1545–1563), but the Reformers did not acknowledge his authority to do so; besides, no representative from the Church of England could have attended without royal consent.

      Many Councils have been held, but not all of the them are recognized as “General Councils”.  In practice, “the ecumenicity of a Council depends on the after reception of its decisions by the whole Church. [E. J. Bicknell, Introduction to the Thirty-nine Articles, p. 272.] . Thus”, the first Council of Nicaea (325) received recognition as “General” because its decisions received general approval, but the Council of Arminium did not.  The Roman Church recognizes eighteen Councils as “General” or Ecumenical, but most of them (like Trent) were purely Roman Councils and not strictly ecumenical.  The Anglican Communion only recognizes the first six Councils “which were allowed and received of all men” [Homily Against Peril of Idolatry, cf. Article XXXV.], and the Greek Orthodox Church accepts only the first seven (including Nicaea II) as ecumenical.  Article XXI was composed by the English Reformers in 1552, and was then intended as an explicit declaration that the Anglican Church would not be bound by the decisions of the Council of Trent.

      The purpose of General Councils has been to state the Church’s belief on disputed questions, and to determine matters of discipline and order.  The qualification for this task is not that the members of a Council are the elected delegates of the churches, but that they should be men “governed with the Spirit and Word of God”.  The supreme requisite is a sincere desire to know and do the divine will: “If any man willeth to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God”. [Jn. 7:17.]  Spiritual things are spiritually judged, and possession of the Spirit is the condition for discerning “the deep things of God”.  To have the mind of Christ is for St. Paul the one way of knowing the saving truth which is in Him. [1 Cor. 2:10–16.]  As the history of the Councils fully shows, these qualities were not prominent in their proceedings, which were ruled too often by political intrigue and party interests.  Composed as they were of fallible men, Councils “may err, and have erred ... wherefore things ordained by them as necessary to salvation have neither strength nor authority, unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture.”  We regard as errors the decrees of the second Council of Nicaea (A.D. 787) which sanctioned the adoration of images; that of the Council of Constance (A.D. 1414) withholding the cup from the laity in the Holy Communion; that of the Lateran Council (A.D. 1215), defining the doctrine of Transubstantiation; the belief in Purgatory drawn up by the Council of Florence (A.D. 1439); and the decrees of the Vatican Councils of 1869 (which declared Papal Infallibility), 1854 (declared Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary), and 1950 (declared the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary).  None of these dogmas satisfy St. Vincent’s Canon as having been believed and taught “everywhere, always, and by all”.

Article  XXII: Of Purgatory

      [Composed as one of the Forty-two Articles (1553) by the English Reformers, but possibly had been derived partially from the Smalcaldic Article of 1537 which refers to the same errors as “not grounded on Scripture” and “most pernicious”.  The word “perniciose” was in the 1553 Article but was omitted in 1563.  The opening words, “The Romish doctrine”, were substituted in 1563 for the original “The doctrine of School Authors” in the 1553 version.]

      The Romish doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration as well of Images as of Reliques, and also invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.

      The significant term for understanding the intention of this Article is the word “Romish”.  It is possible to see behind beliefs and practices like Purgatory, the Worshipping and Adoration of Images and Relics, and the Invocation of Saints some ideas which are harmless and helpful enough; but as developed in Romanism they have been fatally corrupted.  And the most potent cause of this corruption has been a wrong conception of merit.  According to the doctrine of Purgatory a distinction is to be drawn between mortal and venial sins: the reward of the former is everlasting torment, and lies outside the scope of the doctrine; it is with the punishment due to less serious offences, that Purgatory deals.  The Council of Trent affirmed that after the pardon of eternal punishment there still remains “a guilt of temporal punishment to be paid for either in this world, or in the future in purgatory”. [Session vi, Canon 30.  The only Scripture passages cited by Fr. Bertrand Conway are Num. 20:12; 2 Sam. 12:13f.; Wisdom 7:25; Isa. 25:8; Hab. 1:13; Rev. 21:7; 2 Maccabees 12:43–46; Mtt. 11:32; 1 Cor. 3:11–15, but none of these passages really supports the Roman doctrine.]  We have already seen [Article IV, (5) above.] that the Final Judgement is everywhere in the New Testament associated with Christ’s return “in glory” [Mtt. 25:31–46.] when the dead shall rise to be judged. [Acts 10:42; 1 Thess. 4:14–17.]  This suggests an intermediate state of existence between death and resurrection.  Our Lord said to the dying thief “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise,” but we have His own assertion that during the period between His death and resurrection He had not returned to heaven: “I am not yet ascended unto the Father”, He said to Mary Magdalene, [Jn. 20:17.] and St. Peter believed that at death He went and preached to “the spirits in prison”. [1 Pet. 3:19; cf. Article III above.]  Paradise cannot therefore be a synonym for Heaven.  St. Paul did not regard death as severing the union between Christ and the Christian, [1 Thess, 4:13–16.] but as the entrance into a fuller union with Him. [2 Cor. 5:6–8; Phil. 1:23.]  But he regarded the soul, when separated by death from the body, as in some sense “unclothed” and waiting for the resurrection body “our habitation which is from heaven”. [2 Cor. 5:1–4, (R.V.)]  The Christian waits for a Saviour from heaven “Who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory.” [Phil. 3:20f, (R.V.)]  But this clearly refers not to the moment of our death, but to the Appearing of Christ.  The award of “the crown of righteousness” is associated, too, with the Appearance; not with death. [2 Tim. 4:6–8.]  And the putting on of immortality and final defeat of death is also assigned to the general resurrection at the last day. [1 Cor. 15:51ff.; Heb. 9:28.]  Despite difficulties of interpretation in some cases, Scripture suggests that the faithful departed are still awaiting the attainment of their full bliss.  There is a belief in an intermediate state of existence between death and Heaven.  That belief is expressed also in the Collect in the 1662 Burial Office – still widely in use in the Anglican Communion: “We meekly beseech Thee, O Father, to raise us from the death of sin unto the life of righteousness; that when we shall depart this life, we may rest in Him, as our hope is this our brother doth; and that, at the general resurrection in the last day, we may be found acceptable in Thy sight; and receive that blessing which Thy well-beloved Son shall then pronounce to all that love and fear Thee, saying, Come, ye blessed children of My Father, receive the Kingdom, prepared for you from the beginning of the world.”  Note the marked distinction between “rest in Him” [Cp. Rev. 14:13, “rest from their labours”.] the immediate lot of the (presumedly) faithful departed, and the “receive the kingdom”, to be pronounced only “at the general resurrection in the last day”.

      Belief in an Intermediate State between death and Judgement, which is a fundamental presupposition of the doctrine of Purgatory, is part of Christianity’s legacy from Judaism.  For instance, in the Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus [Lk. 16:19–31.] our Lord uses a familiar Jewish conception of the next life, according to which there is a division of souls; some are “comforted”, others are in “a place of torment”, and the “gulf” between them is impassable.  The passage on Christ’s preaching to “the spirits in prison” may have a similar background. [1 Pet. 3:18.]  These Jewish elements in the New Testament are all the support that can be derived from it for the doctrine of Purgatory.  It is interesting, also, to find that the earliest instance of prayer for the dead for release from sin comes from the Jewish apocryphal Second Book of Maccabees [Maccabees 12:39–45.], which the Roman Catholic Church reckons as Scripture, but we do not. [Cf. Article VI, above.]

      In Christian teaching based on Christ’s complete revelation and achievement, the ruling thought is the same for life here and hereafter: the faithful stand in a new relationship to God in Christ now, and after death they “sleep in Jesus” [1 Thess. 4:14; 1 Cor. 15:6; Rev. 14:13.]; for St. Paul to depart from this life is to be with Christ, [Phil. 1:23.] or “at home with the Lord”. [2 Cor. 5:8.]  The evidence of the epitaphs in the Catacombs at Rome to the Christian Hope is at once simple and eloquent: it is either assumed that the faithful departed are in light, refreshment and peace, or their friends pray that they may be; there is not a hint of discomfort or suffering.  In the New Testament future punishment is usually connected with the Last Judgement and after, and not with the experience of spirits in the Intermediate State. [Even in 1 Cor. 3:10–15 the “fire” is probatory rather than purgatorial.]

      Acceptance of belief in an Intermediate State (for which there is considerable evidence) is very different from the Roman doctrine of Purgatory.  It is important to note “the clear and important distinction between the Roman Catholic doctrine of Purgatory and a general belief in spiritual progress in the Intermediate State.  The latter may be held apart from any thought of Purgatory, for the Roman doctrine is really part of a penal process, the payment of a debt which was not fully discharged on earth, a view based on the distinction between mortal and venial sins.  But to carry the penal consequences of sin into the next world is really to deny the fullness and completeness of Atonement and Justification.” [Griffith Thomas, The Principles of Theology, p. 302.]  Belief in Purgatory did not become a dogma of the Faith until the Council of Florence in 1439.  The Eastern Orthodox Church, while accepting a process of purification after death, protests against the Roman view of purgatory as an innovation unknown to Scripture.

      If Purgatory is a corruption of the Scriptural doctrine of an Intermediate State, the second part of the doctrine described in our Article as “a fond thing” (res futilis), Pardons or Indulgences, is closely connected with Purgatory and furnishes a further example of such corruption.  Nothing illustrates better the deep moral earnestness of primitive Christianity than its treatment of offenders.  Those who had committed grave sins were excluded from the normal life of the Church for periods proportionate to the transgression, and had imposed upon them disciplinary and religious exercises to bring about their recovery.  The whole aim of the course of Penance was to induce a sincere repentance, evidence of which was required before offenders were readmitted to full communion with the Church.  Such evidence might appear before the prescribed penance was completed; in which case the remainder could be remitted, and the penitent immediately restored to his Christian privileges; this remission of penance was a Pardon or Indulgence.  Thus, Indulgences were originally only alleviations or shortenings of the terms of penance imposed on offenders.  About the 7th century, however, the system of “Penitentials” developed, whereby an indulgence or remission of penalty could be purchased by almsdeeds and gifts to the Church.  At the Council of Clermont (A.D. 1095) Pope Urban II promised complete remission of penalties to all who would take part in Crusades.  Thenceforth a man could purchase remission of the temporal penalties [We have noted the distinction between mortal sin (deserving eternal punishment) and venial sin (meriting only temporal punishment), cf. Article XVI above.] of sin by performing acts of devotion that would be profitable to the Church.  But the most serious development was the growth of the idea that Indulgences could be purchased to reduce or wipe out the punishment to be worked out in Purgatory. [“Whereas guilt (culpa) of sin was forgiven in absolution, a temporal punishment (poena) was still due, and this punishment must be worked off, if not in this life, then in Purgatory”, E. J. Bicknell, Op. cit., p. 286.]  The Schoolmen taught that in the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross there was infinite merit – more than was required for the salvation of the world.  The surplus formed a “Treasury of Merit” to which was added the merit earned by Works of Supererogation. [Article XIV.]  The Popes claimed, as having the power of the keys, to be able to use this excess merit to help the souls in Purgatory, and a lucrative business developed in “Plenary Indulgences”. [“Plenary Indulgence” means remission of all purgatorial suffering.]  In A.D. 1300 Pope Boniface VIII instituted Jubilee Years, which now occur every quarter of a century, and bestowed a Plenary Indulgence on all who should visit the churches of St. Peter and St. Paul in Rome during the last year of any century.  The abuse of Penance had reached its height when Indulgences were offered for sale; a stock of remission from temporal punishment could then be built up.  It is this debased view that underlies Masses for the dead to mitigate purgatorial pains.  The development of such mercenary traffic in Indulgences did much to precipitate the Reformation.

      The use of carved images, models, or pictures, can be a valuable aid to the teaching of religion, as is recognized in all modern systems of religious education.  The Jews used images for sacred purposes, [E.g., the brazen serpent (Num. 21:9), golden cherubim (Exod. 25:18 ), etc.] and the early Christians adorned the Catacombs with symbolic paintings.  But there are few traces of the use of Christian statues during the first five centuries.  The Greek Church still regards “images” as a violation of the second commandment and uses only “ikons”. [Ikons are representations of our Lord and of the saints in mosaic or painting.]  In Western Christendom, however, the use of images as aids to devotion developed.  Although there was originally no intention of encouraging the worshipping of images, it was difficult for unlearned people to reverence them without developing a superstitious regard for them that, in practice, differed little from worship.  Gregory the Great found it necessary to protest against abuses, [Ep. 7.  He forbade the worship or adoration of images, but permitted their use for instruction purposes.] and in the East the Emperor Leo the Isaurian ordered the destruction of all Ikons.  This led to the Iconoclastic controversy in the 8th and 9th centuries, between the Popes and the Emperors, in which the former generally favoured retention; the latter, destruction of images and ikons.  The Second Council of Nicaea (A.D. 787) decided in favour of the veneration of images, directing that they should be “treated as holy memorials, worshipped, kissed, only without that peculiar adoration (latria) which is reserved for the Invisible, Incomprehensible God”.  The Anglican Church does not recognize Nicaea II as a General Council. [Article XXI. above.]  But the Church of Rome has followed it,* and has made distinctions between three degrees of reverence: (1) Latria, the supreme worship due to God alone, (2) Hyperdulia, a degree of reverence due to the Blessed Virgin alone, (3) Dulia, the degree of reverence due to the saints and their images.  But “there is no such thing as a devotional thermometer”, and such distinctions are not observed in practice.  While the second commandment does not condemn images in themselves, it states unequivocally “thou shalt not bow down to them nor worship them”.

      *The Council of Trent decreed: “The images of Christ and the Virgin Mother of God, and of the other saints, are to be had and to be kept especially in churches, and due honour and veneration are to be given to them ... the honour which is shown them is referred to the prototypes which these images represent; in such wise that by the images which we kiss, and before which we uncover the head, and prostrate ourselves, we adore Christ, and we venerate the saints whose likeness they bear”. (Session xxv).

      With every care to avoid overstatement, it remains true to say that in the Romanism which the Reformers knew, the veneration of images and relics, and the adoration and invocation of saints, had reached the stage of idolatry, the horror of biblical religion.  The worshipping of relics seems to have grown out of the immense regard for the martyrs, as the account of Polycarp’s death would suggest.  Concerning the attitude to saints, St. Peter will not allow the posture of worship, [Acts. 10:26.] and in Revelation, with its background of Emperor-worship, the angel forbids St. John to worship him. [Rev. 19:10; 22:9.]  Scripture and the primitive Church draw the sharpest line between the object of worship and all other being whatsoever; worship is an honour paid to God alone: “God’s laws”, writes Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch (A.D. 168) “forbid not only the worship of idols, but all other creatures, the sun, moon, and the stars, heaven, earth, and sea; and command the worship of the true God alone, who is the Creator of all things.”  The great argument of the Fathers for the divinity of Christ in the Arian controversy was that He had been worshipped in the Church from the beginning.

      The Council of Trent declared that, “the saints, who reign together with Christ, offer up their own prayers to God for men.  It is good and useful suppliantly to invoke them” [“Invocation” may mean (1) a simple request to a saint for his prayers, such as “ora pro nobis”, or (2) a request for some particular benefit.], and to have recourse to their prayers”. [Council of Trent, Session xxv.]  But there is no early evidence to support such a doctrine.  The Invocation of Saints is an infringement of our Lord’s role in the relation between God and Man, and against the uniform teaching of the New Testament and the early Church on His unique mediatorship and high priesthood: “There is one God, one mediator also between God and men, himself man, Christ Jesus”. [1 Tim. 2:5; Jn. 14:6; Heb. 7:24f.]  “Every prayer, and supplication, and intercession, and thanksgiving,” says Origen, “is to be sent up to the supreme God through the High Priest, who is above all the angels, the living Word and God”. [Contra Celsus, v.4.]  Neither in Scripture nor in any Christian writing of the first three centuries is there any allusion to asking departed Christians for their prayers.  “The first introduction of invocations to a saint into public worship is said to have been made by Peter the Fuller, the monophysite Patriarch of Constantinople (c. 480 A.D.).” [E. J. Bicknell, Op. cit. p. 294.]  We reject the practice of invoking the saints to pray for us, for several further reasons: (a) There is no evidence that the saints can hear our prayers.  The strongest argument that can be offered is that “the saints enjoy the vision of God, and as God sees all things they also see them in God as in a mirror”.  But that assumption makes God a medium – we pray to a saint to intercede for us; God hears the prayer and tells the saint; the saint then intercedes!  In short, God acts as a medium between man and the saint; and the saint then acts as a medium between man and God!  (b) There is no evidence in Scripture or the early Fathers that any of the departed enter the full glories of heaven and the inner Presence of God until after the general resurrection “at the last day”. [1 Cor. 15:51ff.; Heb. 9:28.  This is the view also of Justin Martyr (Dial. with Trypho, c.80), Irenaeus (Adv. Haer. v.31), and Tertullian (De Anima, c.55).]  The souls of the martyrs may be viewed as praying “under the altar”, but that does not mean “before the Throne”.  There is in fact no evidence that they are in a position to intercede for us as yet.  (c) If the saints can hear our petitions at any time, and thousands may be continually invoking them, they must share the divine attributes of omniscience and omnipresence!  But there is no evidence that they do.  We refuse to impose this doctrine on our people by practising invocation of saints in public worship, because it has not been practised “everywhere, always, and by all” (semper, ubigue, ab omnibus), and therefore fails to pass that classic test by which Catholic truth is distinguished from error.

      Roman apologists are at their weakest in trying to defend these accretions to the Faith; verses have been taken out of their contexts and had meanings forced upon them which no modern scholarship would support.  The Article gives the simple reason for their impossible task; these beliefs and practices illustrate the declaration in Article XIX that the Church of Rome has erred in matters of Faith, for they are “grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God”.

Chapter  VII – The Church’s Authority In Discipline

Article  XXIV: On Speaking In The Congregation In Such A Tongue

As The People Understandeth

[Derived partly from the Confession of Augsburg, and partly from The Thirteen Articles of 1553.]

      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 understanded of the people.

      If there is one corruption confirmed by the Roman Church at the Council of Trent which is against reason, the teaching of the New Testament and the practice of the Primitive Church, it is the use in worship of a language not understood by the people.  A common tongue is the great medium of realizing the advantages of public worship, the concerted approach to God of His people in intelligible service of praise and prayer, and the spiritual comfort and strength which comes from hearing together the history of our redemption and its meaning expounded.  Agreement in our petitions, which Jesus teaches is so important, is obtained by voicing them together in the meetings of His followers: “If two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them.” [Mtt. 18:19f.]  Speaking with tongues (glossolalia) was a familiar form of the Spirit’s manifestation in the early Church, and he who had this gift might indeed speak to God and edify himself; but unless his utterances were interpreted in language known to all, they contributed nothing to the benefit of Christian assemblies; spiritual support and enlightenment could only come from intelligent worship.  St. Paul did not rate the use of tongues highly: “Greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the Church may receive edifying”. [Cor. 14:5.]  “I thank God”, the Apostle continues, “I speak with tongues more than you all: howbeit in the Church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue”. [1 Cor. 14:19; cf. Eph. 5:18f.; Col. 3:16.]

      Speaking with tongues is almost the last of the gifts of the Spirit listed in 1 Corinthians 12:4–11, and after the rapture and enthusiasm of the first Christian generation had subsided, it waned; ecstatic outbursts made for disorder, and without interpretation were unprofitable.  The language in ordinary use was always that used in the Church’s worship.  Among Christians, says Origen, “the Greeks use Greek names, the Romans Latin names, and everyone prays and sings praises to God in his mother tongue”. [Contra Celsus, 8:37.]  St. Augustine exhorted the priests to cultivate good Latin, so that the people might understand clearly what it is to which they reply, Amen.  “There is nothing more certain in history, than that the service of the ancient Church was always performed in the vulgar or common language of every country, that is, such as was either commonly spoken, or at least commonly understood.” [Bingham, Antiquities. xiii.4.]

      How the Church’s services came to be rendered in an unknown language is easily explained.  The two greatest world-conquering powers of antiquity, Greece and Rome, spread their languages Greek and Latin, throughout their domains.  In the West this meant that Latin became the official tongue; the standard version of the Scriptures, St. Jerome’s Vulgate, and the Church’s Liturgy were in Latin.  It was natural that such should be the case, for Latin was then the language used by educated people throughout the greater part of the Roman Empire, and it was very fitting that Latin should be used in the worship of the Church.  But Latin gradually became a dead language, unintelligible to the majority of the people, for racial and cultural differences effected modifications of the general imperial language, and various dialects developed which eventually led to modern European languages, such as English, French, Spanish or Italian.  Nevertheless, the Roman Church insisted on the use of Latin in her services, and tried to justify its retention on the ground that it strengthened the unity of the Church, was conducive to reverence, and helped to preserve the Faith since it was less liable than modern languages to suffer corruption.

      The Anglican Reformers were particularly anxious to follow the Apostolic principle that “all things be done to edifying” [1 Cor. 14:26.; cf. Acts 9:31; 1 Cor. 8:1; 10:23; Ephes. 2:21.], and insisted that Public Worship should be in the vernacular.  This is in full accord with the biblical emphasis on edification – “Unless your tongue utters language that is readily understood, how can people make out what you say?  You will be pouring words into the empty air,” [1 Cor. 14:9 (Moffatt).] says St. Paul.  He therefore emphasizes that praying and singing, [1 Cor. 14:15.] as well as preaching or “prophesying” [1 Cor. 14:6f.] should be “with the understanding”, [1 Cor. 14:16, 18, 19.] and therefore in the vernacular.

      The Article appeals to “the custom of the Primitive Church” as well as to the Bible.  All the primitive liturgies were in the native language of the people for whom they were written.  Latin cannot be regarded as more sacred than any other language.  The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, but was translated into Greek to suit Greek-speaking Jews.  A Roman Catholic writer points out that “the Italo-Greeks of Southern Italy have said Mass in Greek for over a thousand years, while the Melkites of Syria, Palestine and Egypt use Arabic and Greek.  The Byzantine rite is used by the Eastern Orthodox Church in fourteen different languages. ... Greek was originally the language of the Roman Liturgy, Latin superseding it by the beginning of the 5th century”. [Bertrand L. Conway, The Question Box, p. 272.]

      Some men regard this Article as justifying the revision of the entire Prayer Book on the ground that its Tudor English is “not understanded of the people” [K. N. Ross, The Thirty-nine Articles (1957), p. 81f.]; others extend its scope to include audible and distinct pronunciation, since even the mother-tongue may be unintelligently rendered. [W. H. Griffith Thomas, The Principles of Theology. p. 340.]

Article  XXXII: Of The Marriage Of Priests

[This Article was written by Parker in 1563; the 1553 Article on the subject was less positive.]

      Bishops, Priests, and Deacons are not commanded by God’s Law, either to vow the estate of single life, or to abstain from marriage: therefore it is lawful also for them, as for all other Christian men, to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness.

      The Anglican Church in this Article also exercises her authority to abolish the pre-Reformation law of the celibacy of the clergy.  It is well known that the Jewish priests married [Judges 20:28.], and that the High Priest’s office was hereditary. [The High Priest was succeeded by his son, or son-in-law (John 18:13).]  St. Paul’s views on marriage vary; sometimes he prefers the unmarried state [1 Cor. 7:1, 7f., 38.], probably due to his belief that Christ’s Second Coming was imminent [1 Cor. 7:29, 31.]; at other times he regarded the married state as normal in the Church. [Col. 3:18ff; 1 Cor. 9:5.]  Our Lord recognized the value of celibacy in certain circumstances, [Matt. 19:10–12.] but by His attendance at the wedding in Cana [John 2.] and in His teaching He stressed the sanctity of marriage as a Divine institution. [Matt. 5:32; 19:9; Mark 10:5ff.; Luke 16:18.]  In fact, so sacred is it, that it is portrayed as a type of “the union betwixt Christ and His Church.”  [Ephes. 5:22ff.]  St. Peter was a married man, [Mark 1:30.] as were “the rest of the Apostles and the brethren of the Lord,” [1 Cor. 9:5 (Moffatt).] and the Pastoral Epistles require both deacons and bishops to be the “husband of one wife.” [1 Tim. 3:2, 12; Tit. 1:5f; cf. Acts 21:9.]  There is, therefore, no Biblical authority for imposing celibacy as an universal condition upon all clergy: on the contrary, “forbidding to marry” is classed with “doctrines of devils”. [1 Tim. 4:3.]

      No law enforcing clerical celibacy was passed until the fourth century.  There is ample evidence of married clergy in the earliest centuries of the Church’s life.  For instance, Clement of Alexandria (150–216 A.D.) mentions married priests and deacons, [Strom. iii.12.] and the historian Socrates refers to a married episcopate in the Eastern Churches. [Hist. Eccles. v.22.]  The Council of Nicaea (325 A.D.) refused to enforce celibacy.  In the Eastern Church, celibacy is not enforced upon priests and deacons, though bishops have been expected to observe celibacy since the time of the Emperor Justinian (527–565 A.D.).  In Western Christendom, the Popes have used their influence to promote celibacy since the fourth century, when Pope Siricius in 385 A.D. issued a decree to the Bishop of Tarragona, forbidding the marriage of priests and deacons.

      But despite Papal decrees and decisions of Councils, celibacy was not universally observed, and did not become the universal law of the English Church until the time of Anselm in 1102 A.D.  A Roman Catholic writer says, “Clerical celibacy is not a divine law, but a Church law dating only from the fourth century.  It does not depend on precedent; it is founded on the Church’s estimate of the more perfect following of Christ by her clergy.” [Rev. Bertrand L. Conway, of the Paulist Fathers, in The Question Box (1929) p. 317.]  The Anglican Church, following the teaching of Christ and the Apostles, permits celibacy to those who prefer it, but does not enforce it as an universal law.  We recognize that “There is nothing in marriage that cannot be consecrated to the service of God.” [E. J. Bicknell, Op. cit., p. 314.]  Clergy of the Anglican Communion are therefore free “to marry at their own discretion, as they shall judge the same to serve better to godliness.”

Article  XXXIII: Of Excommunicate Persons, How They Are To Be Avoided

      [The original title of this Article when it was published in 1553 was “Excommunicate Persons are to be avoided”.  No other change of substance has been made.]

      That person which by open denunciation of the Church is rightly cut off from the unity of the Church, and excommunicated, ought to be taken of the whole multitude of the faithful, as an Heathen and Publican, until he be openly reconciled by penance, and received into the Church by a Judge that hath authority thereunto.

      Like any other society, the Church has the right to expel, temporarily or permanently, those who are disloyal to her principles.  The Jewish Church practiced excommunication [To excommunicate means to exclude from the communion and privileges of the Church.] at least from the time of Ezra. [Ezra. 10:8.]  In the Gospels we find several references to “separation from the synagogue” as a penalty imposed on offenders. [Jn 9:22; 12:42; 16:2; cf. Lk. 6:22.]  Our Lord gave the Church authority to “bind and” to “loose” [Mtt. 16:19; 18:18; Jn. 20:23.], which are Rabbinical expressions meaning to “prohibit” and to “permit”, and would suggest to Jews a form of ecclesiastical discipline. [J. H. Bernard, St. John.  I.C.C., vol. ii., p. 680.]  He also suggested a definite procedure (possibly based on a similar Jewish procedure), cons