Chapter V: The Reformation in England

To say that the Reformation in England was brought about by the desire of Henry VIII to be divorced from Catharine of Aragon is to ignore the well-established facts of history. No king, however despotic, could have forced on such a revolution unless there was much in the life of the people that reconciled them to the change, and evidence of this is abundant.

There was much that was called "heresy" in England long before Luther raised his voice against Catholicism in Germany. Wycliffe's writings and translations of the Scriptures into English had a tremendous influence on the people in England and for many years the fires of martyrdom were kept burning in the mad endeavor to stop the spread of the "heresy," and so great was the exasperation that forty years after the death of Wycliffe Romanists dug up his bones and burned them, and still the "heresy" spread. As I have already shown in a former article, the work of Tyndale, "who won a martyr's crown," had a wonderful influence over the English people.

In the Dictionary of National Biography, Dr. Rashdall says:

It is certain that the Reformation had virtually broken out in the
secret Bible readings of the Cambridge reformers before either the
trumpet call of Luther or the exigencies of Henry VIII's personal and
political position set men free once more to talk openly against the
pope and the monks, and to teach a simpler and more spiritual gospel
than the system against which Wycliffe had striven. (Wycliffe, Vol.
63, p. 218.)

The Parliaments showed themselves anti-clerical long before Henry threw off his allegiance to Rome; and Englishmen could find no better term of insult to throw at the Scots than to call them "Pope's men." These, and many other things that might be mentioned, indicate a certain preparedness in England for the Reformation, and that there was a strong national force behind Henry, when he at last decided to defy the Pope of Rome. The possibility of England breaking away from papal authority and erecting itself into a separate church under the archbishop of Canterbury had been thought probable before the divorce precipitated the quarrel between Henry and the pope.

Henry clung strenuously to the conception of papal supremacy, and advocated it in a manner only done hitherto by canonists of the Roman court. It is evident that the validity of his marriage and the legitimacy of his children by Catharine of Aragon depended on the pope being in possession of the very fullest powers of dispensation. Henry had been married to Catharine under very peculiar circumstances, which suggested doubts about the validity of the marriage ceremony.

To make the alliance stronger between England and Spain the pope had a marriage arranged between Arthur, Prince of Wales, and Catharine, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The wedding took place in St. Paul's, November 14, 1501, but Arthur died April 2, 1502, and it was proposed from the side of Spain that the young widow should marry Henry, her brother-in-law, now Prince of Wales. Ferdinand insisted that if this was not done Catharine should be sent back to Spain and her dowry returned. Pope Julius II was then besieged to grant a dispensation for the marriage. At first he refused to give his consent. Such a marriage had been branded as a sin by canonical law, and the pope himself had grave doubts whether it was competent for him to grant a dispensation in such a case; but he finally yielded to the pressure and granted the dispensation. The archbishop of Canterbury, who doubted whether the pope could grant dispensation for what was a mortal sin in his eyes, was silenced. The marriage took place June 11, 1509.

The first four children were either stillborn or died soon after birth; and it was rumored in Rome as early as 1514 that Henry might ask to be divorced in order to save England from a disputed succession. Mary was born in 1516 and survived, but all the children who came afterwards were either stillborn or died soon after birth. There is no doubt that the lack of a male heir troubled Henry greatly. There seems to be no reason for questioning the sincerity of his doubts about the legitimacy of his marriage with Catharine, or that he actually looked on the repeated destruction of his hopes of a male heir as a divine punishment for the sin of that contract. Questions of national policy and impulses of passion quickened marvelously his conscientious convictions. In the perplexities of his position the shortest way out seemed to be to ask the pope to declare that he had never been legally married to Catharine. He fully expected the pope to grant his request; but the pope was at the time practically in the power of Charles V, to whom his aunt, the injured Catharine, had appealed, and who had promised her his protection. From the protracted proceedings in the divorce case, Henry learned that he could not depend on the pope giving him what he wanted; and although his agents fought the case in Rome, he at once began preparing for the separation from papal jurisdiction. In the meantime, Henry had taken measures to summon a parliament; and in the interval between summons and assembly it had been suggested that Cranmer was of the opinion that the best way to deal with the divorce was to take it out of the hands of the pope and lay it before the canonists of the various universities of Europe. Through Cranmer this was so successfully done that the universities of England, France and Italy decided that the marriage was null and void. The king separated from Catharine, married Anne Boleyn, and fell under the papal ban.

Parliament sundered the connection between England and Rome, and passed an act declaring that the king was "their singular protector and only supreme lord, and, as far as that is permitted by the law of Christ, the Supreme Head of the Church and of clergy." The king's desire was to destroy the influence of the pope over the Church of England, to which, in other respects, he wished to preserve the continuity of its Catholic character; but it was impossible, however, for the Church of England to maintain exactly the same place which it had occupied. There was too much stirring of reformation life in the land. "The cloisters were subjected to visitation in 1535, and totally abolished in 1536; and the Bible was diffused in English in 1538 as the only source of doctrine; but the statute of 1530 imposed distinct limits upon the Reformation, and in particular confirmed transubstantiation, priestly celibacy, masses for the dead, and auricular confession."

When Henry died in 1547 the English Church was Roman in appearance. Excepting the litany in English, he left the ritual very much as he found it, as he did nearly the whole framework of religious belief. He was, however, the instrument whereby three great barriers to improvement--the papacy, monasticism, and Biblical ignorance--were broken down. The course of national events during Henry's latter years prepared the country for that reformation which it subsequently embraced.

A remarkable thing connected with the issuing of the Bible, in English, is that Tyndale's New Testament, which had been publicly condemned in England at the council called by his majesty in May, 1530, and copies of it had been burned in St. Paul's churchyard, while Tyndale himself had been tracked like a wild beast by the emissaries of the English Government in the Netherlands, was published in 1538, by the king's command, to be "sold and read by every person without danger of any act, proclamation, or ordinance heretofore granted to the contrary." Copies of it were placed in the churches for the people to read, and portions of it were read from the pulpit every Sunday.

When Henry died the situation was difficult for those who came after him. A religious revolution had been half accomplished; a social revolution was in progress, creating popular ferment; evicted tenants and uncloistered monks formed raw material for revolt; the treasury was empty, the kingdom in debt, and the coinage debased.

CHANGES MADE BY EDWARD VI.

Edward VI, "a child in years, but, mature in wisdom, intelligence and virtue," was crowned king, February 20, 1547. He collected learned men around him from every quarter, and ordered the kingdom to be purged entirely of popish fictions, and a better religion to be publicly taught. On July 31st the council began the changes. A series of injunctions was issued to the clergy, ordering them to preach against "the bishops of Rome's usurped power and jurisdiction; to see that all images which had been objects of pilgrimages should be destroyed; to read the Gospel and Epistles in English during the service, and to see that the litany was no longer recited or sung in processions, but said devoutly kneeling." The council were evidently anxious that the whole service should be conducted in English, and that a sermon should always be a part of the service.

The first Parliament of Edward VI made great changes in the laws of England affecting treason, which had the effect of sweeping away the edifice of absolute government which had been so carefully erected by Henry VIII. The kingly supremacy in matters of religion was maintained, but all heresy acts were repealed, giving the people an unwonted amount of freedom. An act was passed ordaining that "the most blessed sacrament be hereafter commonly administered unto the people ... under both kinds, that is to say, of bread and wine, except necessity otherwise require." An act was also passed permitting the marriage of the clergy. The next important addition to the progress of the Reformation was the preparation of a Service Book, commonly called "The First Prayer-Book of King Edward VI." It was introduced by an "Act of Uniformity," which, after relating how there had been for a long time in England "divers forms of common prayer ... and that diversity of use caused many inconveniences," ordains the universal use of this one form, and enacts penalties on those who make use of any other.

The changes made in the laws of England--the repeal of the "bloody statute" and of the treason laws--induced many of the English refugees who had gone to Germany and Switzerland to return to their native land. These, with other learned Protestants, who were invited to come to England, were appointed as teachers in the English universities. Thus the "New Learning" made great strides, leavening all the more cultured classes, leading to the discredit of the old theology, and gave a strong impulse to the Reformation movement. The feeling of the populace changed rapidly, for instead of resenting the destruction of images, they were rather inspired by too much iconoclastic zeal.

In 1552, the "Second Prayer-Book of King Edward VI." was issued. which was enforced by the second "Act of Uniformity," containing penalties against laymen as well as clergymen--against "a great number of people in divers parts of the realm, who did willfully refuse to come to their parish churches." Soon after there followed a new creed or statement of the fundamental doctrines received by the Church of England. This is interesting because they form the basis of the "Thirty-nine Articles," the creed of the Anglican Church of today.

It was during the reign of Edward VI that Puritanism, which became so prominent in the time of Elizabeth, first manifested itself. Its two principal spokesmen were Bishops Hooper and Ridley. Hooper was an ardent follower of Zwingli, and was esteemed to be the leader of the party. While the Reformation was being pushed forward at a speed too great for the majority of the people, Edward died (July 6, 1553), and the collapse of the Reformation afterwards showed the uncertainty of the foundation on which it had been built.

"BLOODY MARY"

Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon, was crowned with great ceremony October 1, 1553, and her first Parliament met four days later. It reversed a decision of the former Parliament, and declared that Henry's marriage with Catharine had been valid, and that Mary was the legitimate heir to the throne; and it repealed all the religious legislation under Edward VI. On taking the throne Mary promised to force no one's religion, but as soon as she dared she began to restore Romanism with a zeal that delighted the pope.

Mary was married to Philip of Spain January 1, 1554; but the alliance was very unpopular from the first. Immediately after the marriage "the bloody acts of the tragedy were begun." Care was taken to elect to Parliament members "of a wise, grave and Catholic sort." This body obtained the pope's absolution of the nation for its guilt of schism and abolished all acts which made the sovereign the supreme head of the Church. The Latin service was restored. Fully half of the clergy were thrust out of their offices. Bishop Gardner secured the passage of the terrible edicts and laws, and Bishop Bonner so applied them as to gain the title of "the bloody." The fires of Smithfield and the ax at the Tower were in such active service during four years that some four hundred "martyrs left their record of faith and triumph as one of painful glories of the English Reformation."

Among those burned were Latimer and Ridley. Bound to the stake with his friend, Latimer said, when the lighted fagot was applied: "Be of good comfort, Master Ridley, and play the man; we shall this day, by God's grace, light such a candle in England as, I trust, shall never be put out."

Cranmer had been the decisive agent in the divorce against Catharine, thus branding the birth of her daughter, Mary, as illegitimate. This Mary never forgave. But there were other motives. "To burn the Primate of the English Church for heresy was to shut out meaner victims from all hope of escape." He was more than any other man the representative of the religious revolution which had passed over the land. In an hour of weakness, and under the entreaties of his friends, he recanted. But in the end he redeemed his momentary weakness by a last act of heroism. He knew that his recantations had been published, and that any further declaration made would probably be suppressed by his unscrupulous antagonists. He resolved by a single action to defeat their calculations and stamp his sincerity on the memories of his countrymen. His dying speech was silenced, as he might well have expected; but he had made up his mind to something that could not be stifled. In his speech he said:

And now I come to the great thing that so troubleth my conscience,
more than any other thing that I said or did in my life: and that is
my setting abroad of writings contrary to the truth, which here now I
renounce and refuse as things written with my hand contrary to the
truth which I thought in my heart, and written for fear of death, and
to save my life, if it might be; and that is all such bills which I
have written or signed with mine own hand since my degradation;
wherein I have written many things untrue. And forasmuch as my hand
offended in writing contrary to my heart, it shall be first burned.
And as for the pope, I refuse him as Christ's enemy and antichrist,
with all his false doctrine and as for the sacrament--

He got no further; his foes had been dumb with amazement, but now their pent-up feelings broke loose. "Stop the heretic's mouth!" cried one; "Take him away!" cried another; "Remember your recantations and do not dissemble!" cried Lord Williams. "Alas, my lord," replied Cranmer, "I have been a man that all my life loved plainness, and never dissembled till now against the truth; for which I am sorry;" and he seized the occasion to add that as for the sacrament, he believed that it should be administered in "both kinds." The tumult redoubled. Cranmer was dragged from the stage and led to the place where Ridley and Latimer had been burned.

The friars ceased not to ply him with exhortations: "Die not in desperation," cried one; "Thou shalt drag innumerable souls to hell," cried another. On reaching the appointed place he was bound to the stake with a steel band, and fire was set to the fagots of wood which made his funeral pyre. As the flames leaped up, he stretched up his right hand, saying with a loud voice, "This hand hath offended," and held it firmly in the fire till it was consumed. No cry escaped his lips and no movement betrayed his pain. If the martyrdom of Ridley and Latimer lighted the torch, Cranmer's spread the conflagration which in the end burnt up the Roman Catholic reaction and made England a Protestant nation.

The death of Cranmer was followed by a long succession of martyrdoms. Mary tried most desperately to restore Romanism in its fullness, but failed, and died November 17, 1558, "the unhappiest of queens, and wives, and women." The people who had welcomed her when she was crowned, called her "Bloody Mary"--a name which was, after all, so well deserved that it will always remain. "Each disappointment she took as a warning from heaven that atonement had not yet been paid for England's crimes, and the fires of persecution were kept burning to appease the God of Roman Catholicism."

ELIZABETH, THE PROTESTANT QUEEN

The people of England were coming to the conclusion that Elizabeth must be queen, or civil war would result. It seemed also assumed that she would be a Protestant. Many things contributed to create such expectations. The young intellectual life of England was slowly becoming Protestant. "This was especially the case among the young ladies of the upper classes, who were becoming students learned in Latin, Greek and Italian, and at the same time devout Protestants, with a distinct leaning to what afterwards became Puritanism." The common people had been showing their hatred of Roman Catholicism, and "images and religious persons were treated disrespectfully." It was observed that Elizabeth "was very much wedded to the people and thinks as they do," and that "her attitude was much more gracious to the common people than to others." The burning of Protestants, and especially the execution of Cranmer, had stirred the indignation of the populace of London and the south countries against Romanism, and the feelings were spreading throughout the country.

The accession of Elizabeth, the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, to the throne, gave new life to the Reformation. As soon as it was known beyond the sea, most of the exiles returned home, and those who had hid themselves in the houses of their friends began to appear; but the public religious service continued for a time the same as Mary left it--the popish priests still celebrated mass and kept their livings. None of the Protestant clergy who had been ejected in the last reign were restored; and orders were given against all innovations without public authority. The only thing Elizabeth did before the meeting of Parliament was to prevent pulpit disputes.

Elizabeth was crowned on January 15, 1559. The bishops swore fealty to the new queen, but took no part in the coronation of "one so plainly a heretic." Her first Parliament passed a new act of supremacy in which the queen was declared to be "the only supreme governor of this realm, as well in spiritual or ecclesiastical things or causes as temporal." While not proclaimed as "Supreme Head of the Church," all the drastic powers claimed by Henry VIII were given to her. It may even be said that the ecclesiastical jurisdiction bestowed upon her was more extensive than that given to her father, for _schisms_ were added to the list of matters subject to the queen's correction, and she was empowered to delegate her authority to commissioners, thus enabling her to exercise her supreme governorship in a way to be felt in every corner of the land.

The same Parliament passed the "Act of Uniformity," which threatened all non-conformists with fines and imprisonment, and their ministers with deposition and banishment. When the provisions of the act began to be enforced, a number of the non-conformist ministers who demanded a greater purity of the church (hence the name Puritan), a simple, spiritual form of worship, a strict church discipline, and a Presbyterian form of government, organized separate congregations in connection with presbyteries, "and a considerable portion of the clergy and laity of the Established Church sympathized with them. The rupture was widened in 1592 by an act of Parliament that all who obstinately refused to attend public worship, or led others to do so, should be imprisoned and submit, or after three months be banished, and again in 1595 when the Presbyterians applied the Mosaic Sabbath laws to the Lord's day, and when Calvin's doctrines of predestination excited animated disputes."

In our study of the Reformation we have found that the pretentions of Roman Catholic infallibility were replaced by a not less uncompromising and intolerant dogmatism, availing itself, like the other, of the secular power, and arrogating to itself, like the other, the assistance of the Spirit of God. The mischief from this early abandonment of the right of free inquiry is as evident as its inconsistency with the principles upon which the reformers had acted for themselves.

Hence under the Protestant banner there arose sectarian churches, professing to take the Bible alone as their rule of faith and practice, when assailing the claims of Rome, and yet binding by creeds, unknown to the Bible, all embraced within their folds; till Protestantism becomes as creed-bound as Romanism. Taking into view the larger results of this inconsistency, they bring under notice the Lutheran Church, the State churches of England and Scotland, as well as non-conformist churches which have arisen from them.

Bible interpretation by the dogmatic and mystic methods even before the death of Luther, but more intensely afterward, made the Lutheran churches a very Babeldom. Then came "Forms of Concord," made obligatory, each one resulting in further discord. Lutherans acknowledge the head of the State as the supreme visible ruler of the Church. The supreme direction of ecclesiastical affairs is vested in the councils or boards, generally appointed by the sovereign termed "consistories," consisting of both laymen and ministers. The Lutheran established churches are so interwoven with the State as to be usually dependent on it. They are almost destitute of discipline, and, in some places, exclude dissent. Dr. Schaff says:

The congregations remained almost as passive as the Roman Church. They
have, in Europe, not even the right of electing their pastor. They are
exclusively ruled by their ministers, as they are ruled by the
provincial consistories, always presided over by a layman, the
provincial consistory by a central consistory, and this again by the
minister of worship and public instruction, who is the immediate organ
of the ecclesiastical supremacy of the crown.

Add to this infant baptism and infant membership, and then you have the world in the Church, and a state of things, if not so bad as that of Rome, yet as completely unlike the apostolic churches, and as wide a departure from what must result from surrender to the Bible alone and submission to Christ and his apostles as it were possible to reach.

The Reformation in England was fraught with immense blessings to the world at large, the advantage of which the English people now enjoy. But in England's so-called Protestant Church there is no trace of the three fundamental principles enunciated by the reformers:

(1) The Bible the only rule of faith and practice.
(2) The duty of every man to judge the Bible for himself.
(3) The priesthood of every member of the Church.

Instead of "the Bible only as the rule of faith and practice," they have creeds and Parliamentary control of church services; in place of "the duty of every man to interpret the Bible for himself," this same State Church has burned and hung Roman Catholics and Dissenters, the one for holding too much Romanism, and the other for not holding as much as the king and the clergy were pleased to demand. Then, in lieu of "the priesthood of every member," there is a limited priesthood, differing but little from that of Rome; with infant baptism, infant membership, and numerous other human inventions "making void the commandments of God."