Change and Continuity in Doctrine

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Liturgy and the Eucharist

Following break with R the liturgy remained as it had been before 1529.

Church servives after 1539 remained foucsed on the Eucharist and were still said in Latin using the existing Catholic Missal

The C was making greater efforts to teach the laity, in parishes were the clergy lacked education, very little teaching took place; sermons were not a feature of the Catholic Church. The liturgy of the C still relfected the centrality of the saving grace of Christ's body and blood which were present in every mass through transubstantiation

Seven sacraments remained central to the C. Important element of the liturgy was the communal participation in the Litany which was a sung procession in Latin, often lasting 2.5hrs, in which the laity led by the clergy, confessed their sins and prayed for God to protect E and the monarchy.

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Henry's own Religious Beliefs

Can be viewe most cleary in his involvement in the trial of John Lambert. 1536- Lambert accused of heresy by the Duke of Norfolk, but escaped punishment until 1538, when he was put on trail for denying the real presence of Christ + doctrine on transubstantiation. Archbishop CM condemned this views, although he later adopted them.

H attended the trial himself and intervened to question Lambert on his beliefs. In doing so H stated his own belief in the importance of the Eucharist and transubstantiation.

Lambert was burnt for heresy + on the day of his execution H issued a royal proclamation which upheld the real presence ie transubstantiation, upheld clerical celibacy and forbade heretical literature

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The Bible

1536- CW injunctions require every parish in E to have a copy of the bible in E

1537- publication of the Bishops' Book a bible in English, the Matthew Bible was published. Was introduced in every parsih church in E+W from 1538 was commissioned from Miles Coverdale and was printed in Paris. Frontpiece appealed to H's sense of his own importance, as it showed his as SH, flanked by CW+CM distrubuting the word of God

1530s- H was pleased with what he saw as the parallels with the Ks in the OT, by the early 1540s he was more cautious, Coverdale's 1535 translation had been very dependent on translations made by Luther and Tyndale. When faced with a choice of Greek or Latin to E, Tyndale favoured those which reflected a P rather than C flavour; those who preferred a P or conservative approach to religion argued the transaltor was wilfully misinterpreting the text. Gardiner insisted that scripture had to be interpreted and to allow ill-educated people to have access to Coverdale's bible would enable them to miscontrsue Christian teaching. H was increadingly sympathetic to this view

H argued that 'the Word of God is disputed, rhymed, sung and jangled in every ale house and tavern' H recognised the only way he could control the direction of religion was by restricting it to those who had a vested interest in maintaining his power

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Doctrinal Disputes

Years between 1536-47 witnessed signif developments of religious beliefs and practices beyond the dissolution of the monasteries. Debate as to why this was. Some argued H and Parliament were influenced by the competinf factions, first that of CW and secondly those that wanted E to reutrn to R.

G.W.Bernard and others have argued that the sole architect of the changes was H8 himself. Not all agree but the changes introduced are more convincingly seen as a coherent development of a doctrine for an emerging COE, rather than as divergent swings from Lutheranism to Catholicism.

At times H's advisers did try and direct the beliefs of the C beyond what was acceptable (e.g Bishops Book) but these were quickly checked. A defining event which stressed H was in control was in the executions of the three Lutherans and three Catholics on the same day in 1540

H's church was a church based on the word of God with himself as head and with an essentially catholic doctrine

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The Ten Articles

First attempt to provied the nascent CIE was an identifiable set of beliefs. The Ten Articles (TA) was not an attack on Catholicism, rather it was intended that these should be distinctive yet simultaneously not deviate from that which was familiar to the laity and clergy. Also an intention to resolve certain disputed doctrinal and ceremonial questions. Consquently the Act of the TA which was passed in July seemed an ambigous statement of beliefs as it did not mane all the seven sacraments and could be interpreted as favouring a reformist view of christinaity: Essentailly it emphasied:

  • the sacraments of Baptism, Penance, the Eucharist. the remain four weren't removed but 'lost'
  • that the body and blood of Christ are really present in the elements of the Eucharist
  • the nature of justification: the TA suggest that a sinner would be saved through faith but good works were necessary
  • images; the laity should not pray to images, only to God, the Cross and the Virgin Mary
  • the intercession of the saints: the saints could intercede with God, but only God could answer prayers
  • rites and ceremonies: all rituals were to be removed other than those named in the Act which were conducive to devotion
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The Ten Articles 2

There was little in the Ten Articles which could be seen as overtly Lutheran

The nature of justification was the concept of St Augustine who was claimed as an authority by both Cs and Ps. The paragraph on the Eucharist attacked rejection of the 'real presence' although the term transubstantiation was not used. The section on rites and ceremonies explained the symbolism of various liturgical actions. Only in the article on purgatory was there any evidence of P thinking and even then there was a recognitition of there being a state after death

Authority for the Ten Articles lay with H alone.

August 1536- CW issued injunctions making the TAs binding on the clergy

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The Bishops' Book

Before POG was over CW had called together a number of Bishops to resolve a range of doctrinal and liturgical issues and to determine canon law. Result of these sometimes heated debates was the publication in 1537 of the Institution of a Christian Man or Bishops Book as it was commonly known as.

Bishops Book was much more Lutheran in its views as the bishops who wrote it were influenced by Lutheran ideas. Salvation by faith was emphasised whilst there was no mentions of transubstantiation. H was very disapproving of the BB, although he authorised its usage, he revoked this three years later. H produced a detailed critique of the theology of the BB deomonstrating both his understanding of theology and his determination to control the direction of the newly created CIE

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The Six Articles

The Act of Six Articles of 1539 passed into law the key beliefs of the Church

Lambert case had shown H how far doctrinal deviation amongst the laity had gone. Meanwhile, H himself has be excommunicated and Pope Paul had issued a call for CV+F1 to mount a crusade to return E to R. These factors jointly led H to issuea a proclamation calling a halt to theological experimentation.

In 1539 PT was summonded, The Act of the Six Articles was the outcome of a committee set up to discuss religion. It was intended not as a comprehensive statement of beliefs but as a defence against heresy. Main points were that it:

  • upheld the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation
  • defended communion in one kind (wafer not wine)
  • upheld private Mass
  • upheld auricular confession
  • forbade the clergy to marry
  • held that vows of chastity were binding under divine law
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Act of Six Articles 2

Was not soley inteded for domestic consumption, was intended to make a statement to foreign rulers that despite his break with R, H was essentially Catholic

The belief that the COE was 'Catholicism without the Pope' (+no monasteries or pilgrimages) was further reinforced by the resignation of two reformist bishops.

1540- PT commissioned bishops and theologians of a predominantly conservative viewpoint to produce a replacement for the BB. This was the King's Book, published in 1543

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The King's Book

5 May 1543- new revision issued of the BB which had been published in 1537. The revision A Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man was written by the Bishops but had a preface by the king- known as the King's Book when it was released. Has been argued it was wholly written by H himself.

Clearly emphasised the importance of the Creed, seven sacraments, Ten Commandments and Lord's Prayer according to the Act of the Six Articles. The traditional bishops: Gardiner, Tunstall + Stokesley who were supportive of the book were blamed by te evangelical reformers for the 'damnable doctrine' of the work

Doctrinally, it was far more conservative than BB, reaffirmed traditional beliefs in aspects such as importance of masses for the dead and explicitly rejected the Lutheran views on justification by faith alone and the Freedom of the Will.

10th May another step away from views of the reformers was taken whe PT passed the Act for the Advancement of True Religion, abolished 'erroneous books' and restricted the reading of the bible in E to those of noble status. From May-August, reformers were examined, forced to recant or imprisioned

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Belief in H's last years

taken together provides a statment of beliefs of the COE up to H's death. However, there were changes in practices: CM used his position to develop some reform of liturgy whilst leaving doctrine alone.

1544- English Litany was produced + in 1545 the King's Prymer was introduced to provide guidelines for schoolmasters in religion. CM also produced a book of Homilies which could be used in churches, they were written by CM and other bishops like Edward Bonner (conservative). During the remainder of H's reign the Latin Mass remained central to the spiritual live of the COE

Key feature of H's religious policy is the seeming contradictions between his beliefs and actions, like his attack on chantries: KB's emphasised importance of masses for the dead to reduce time served by soul in purgatory + he will stated masses should be said for his soul. But between 1540-47 there was a sustained attack on chantries including the passing of an Act of PT in 1545

Chantry chapels attached to the majoirty of churchers and many of the monks of dissolved houses had found employment as chantry priests. Between 1540-45 74 chantries taken by the crown. Chantry guilds wealthy institutions owning lots of property, to H offered similiar attraction as monasteries. Money from the chantries used to fund wars against F+S

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