England, Church of: Creation of the Church

Creation of the Church

During the Middle Ages the church in England was affected by the same clashes that bedevilled the relationship between church and state elsewhere in Europe. A modus vivendi was finally achieved in the matter of investiture, but quarrels over the taxes demanded by Rome and appeals going from English courts to Rome were not resolved until Henry VIII broke the union of the English church with Rome. This action, which created the Church of England, was occasioned by the pope's refusal to grant Henry's request for an annulment of his marriage to Katharine of Aragón. The Act of Supremacy (1534) acknowledged the king as “the only supreme head on earth of the Church of England.” Thus the Reformation in England under Henry was at first a matter of policy, not doctrine.

The theology of the new national church as shown in the Six Articles (1539) and the King's Book (1543) was largely unchanged, although some Lutheran influence may be detected. Henry authorized the Great Bible (1539), a revision of the English translations of William Tyndale and Miles Coverdale, and some slight alterations in service. The monasteries were suppressed, chiefly at the hands of Thomas Cromwell. Under Edward VI changes came rapidly, and Protestantism gained ground. The first and second Book of Common Prayer, produced by Thomas Cranmer, were adopted in 1549 and 1552, respectively, and a statement of doctrine, the Forty-two Articles, was drawn up.

Under Mary I all the measures that had separated the Church of England from Rome were reversed; the Roman ritual was brought back, and the nation was received again into the communion of Rome. Elizabeth I restored independence. The Elizabethan Settlement steered the English church upon a middle course between Roman Catholicism and Calvinism. The prayer book of 1552 was restored, and the Forty-two Articles, revised toward a more Catholic position and reduced to Thirty-nine, were adopted as a doctrinal standard. The national church maintained the historical episcopate and retained its continuity with the early church of Britain and much of the ritualism sanctioned by the older rubrics. By the Act of Supremacy (1559) ecclesiastical jurisdiction was restored to the crown to be exercised by a court of high commission. The classical statement of the peculiar Anglican position was made by Richard Hooker.

Under James I the steadily rising tide of Puritanism made necessary the Hampton Court Conference (1604). At that conference, James gave his decision for the existing doctrine. The great achievement of the conference was the King James, or Authorized, Version of the English Bible (1611).

Sections in this article:

Introduction
The Oxford Movement to the Present
The Eighteenth Century
The Glorious Revolution
The English Civil War and the Restoration
Creation of the Church
Origins
Organization and Doctrine
Bibliography

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