Ridley and Latimer could send to one another yet it was not easy for them to send to him without giving Mony to their Keepers In one of Ridley's Letters to Cranmer he said he heard they intended to carry down Rogers Crome and Bradford to Cambridg and to make such a Triumph there as he had lately made of them at Oxford He trusted the day of their deliverance out of all their Miseries and of their entrance into perpetual Rest and perpetual Joy and Felicity drew nigh He prayed God to strengthen them with the mighty Spirit of his Grace He desired Cranmer to pray for him as he also did for Cranmer As for the Letters which these and the other Prisoners writ in their Imprisonment Fox gathered the Originals from all People that had them and Sir Walter Mildmay the Founder of Emanuel College procured them from him and put them into the Library of that College where I saw them but they are all printed by Fox so that the Reader who desires to see them may find them in his Acts and Monuments Of them all Ridley writ with the greatest connexion and force both in the Matter and in the way of Expression The Prisoners in London set out in writing their Reasons against disputing by word of mouth This being now over there was great boasting among all the Popish Party as if the Champions of the Reformation had been foiled The Prisoners in London hearing they intended to insult over them as they had done over those at Oxford set out a Paper to which the late Bishops of Exeter St. Davids and Glocester with Taylor Philpot Bradford Crome Sanders Rogers and Lawrence set their Hands on the 8th of May. The substance of it was That they being Prisoners neither as Rebels Traitors nor Transgressors of any Law but meerly for their Conscience to God and his Truth hearing it was intended to carry them to Cambridg to dispute declared they would not dispute but in Writing except it were before the Queen and her Council or before either of the Houses of Parliament and that for these Reasons 1. It was clear that the Determinations of the Universities were already made they were their open Enemies and had already condemned their Cause before they had heard it which was contrary both to the Word of God and the Determinations they had made in King Edward's Time 2. They saw the Prelats and Clergy were seeking neither to find out the Truth nor to do them good otherwise they would have heard them when they might have declared their Consciences without hazard but that they sought only their destruction and their own glory 3. They saw that those who were to be the Judges of these Disputes were their inveterate Enemies and by what passed in the Convocation House last Year and lately at Oxford they saw how they must expect to be used 4. They had been kept long Prisoners some nine or ten months without Books or Papers or convenient places of study 5. They knew they should not be heard to speak their minds fully but should be stopt as their Judges pleased 6. They could not have the nomination of their Notaries who would be so chosen that they would write and publish what their Enemies had a mind to Therefore they would not engage in publick Disputes except by Writing but they would give a Summary of their Faith for which they would be ready to offer up their Lives to the Halter or the Fire as God should appoint They declared That they believed the Scriptures to be the true Word of God and the Judg of all Controversies in the Matters of Religion and that the Church is to be obeyed as long as she follows this Word That they believed the Apostles Creed and those Creeds set out by the Councils of Nice Constantinople Ephesus and Chalcedon and by the first and fourth Councils of Toledo and the Symboles of Athanasius Ireneus Tertullian and Damasus That they believed Justification by Faith which Faith was not only an Opinion but a certain persuasion wrought by the Holy Ghost which did illuminate the Mind and suppled the Heart to submit it self unfeignedly to God That they acknowledged an Inherent Righteousness yet Justification and the Pardon of Sins they believed came only by Christ's Righteousness imputed to them They thought the Worship of God ought to be in a Tongue understood by the People that Christ only and not the Saints were to be prayed to that immediately after Death the Souls pass either to the State of the Blessed or of the Damned without any Purgatory between that Baptism and the Lord's Supper are the Sacraments of Christ which ought to be administred according to his Institution and therefore they condemned the denying the Chalice Transubstantiation the Adoration or the Sacrifice of the Mass and asserted the lawfulness of Marriage to every Rank of Men. These things they declared they were ready to defend as they often had before offered and concluded charging all People to enter into no Rebellion against the Queen but to obey her in all Points except where her Commands were contrary to the Law of God In the end of this Month the Lady Elizabeth was taken out of the Tower and put into the Custody of the Lord Williams who waited on her to Woodstock and treated her with great civility and all the respect due to her Quality but this not being so acceptable to those who governed she was put under the Charge of Sir Hen. Benefield by whom she was more roughly handled On the 20th of July Prince Philip landed at Southampton Prince Philip Lands When he set foot to Land first he presently drew his Sword and carried it a good way naked in his Hand Whether this was one of the Forms of his Country I know not but it was interpreted as an Omen that he intended to Rule England with the Sword though others said it shewed he intended to draw his Sword in defence of the Nation The Mayor of Southampton brought him the Keys of the Town an expression of Duty always paid to our Princes he took them from him and gave them back without speaking a word or expressing by any sign that he was pleased with it His stiffness amazed the English who use to be treated by their Kings with great sweetness on such occasions and so much gravity in so young a Man was not understood but was look'd on as a sign of vast pride and moroseness The Queen met him at Winchester And is married to the Queen where on the 25th of July Gardiner married them in the Cathedral the King being then in the 27th and the Queen in the 38th Year of her Age. They were presented from the Emperor by his Ambassador with a resignation of his Titular Kingdom of Jerusalem and his more valuable one of Naples which were Pledges of that total resignation that followed not long after So on the 27th of July they were proclaimed by their
two several times that is to say the Sundays next following Easterday and St. Michael the Arch-Angel or on some other Sunday within one month after those Feasts immediately after the Gospel FOrasmuch as it appertaineth to all Christian Men but especially to the Ministers and the Pastors of the Church being Teachers and Instructers of others to be ready to give a Reason of their Faith when they shall be thereunto required I for my part now appointed your Parson Vicar or Curat having before my Eyes the Fear of God and the Testimony of my Conscience do acknowledg for my self and require you to assent to the same I. First That there is but one living and true God of infinite Power Wisdom and Goodness the maker and preserver of all Things And that in Unity of this God-head there be three Persons of one Substance of equal Power and Eternity the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost II. I believe also whatsoever is contained in the Holy Canonical Scriptures In the which Scriptures are contained all things necessary to Salvation by the which also all Errors and Heresies may sufficiently be reproved and convicted and all Doctrine and Articles necessary to Salvation established I do also most firmly believe and confess all the Articles contained in the Three Creeds The Nicene Creed Athanasius Creed and our Common Creed called the Apostles Creed for these do briefly contain the principal Articles of our Faith which are at large set forth in the Holy Scriptures III. I do acknowledg also that Church to be the Spouse of Christ wherein the Word of God is truly taught the Sacraments orderly ministred according to Christ's Institution and the Authority of the Keys duly used And that every such particular Church hath authority to institute to change clean to put away Ceremonies and other Ecclesiastical Rites as they be superfluous or be abused and to constitute other making more to Seemliness to Order or Edification IV. Moreover I confess That it is not lawful for any Man to take upon him any Office or Ministry either Ecclesiastical or Secular but such only as are lawfully thereunto called by their High Authorities according to the Ordinances of this Realm V. Furthermore I do acknowledg the Queen's Majesty's Prerogative and Superiority of Government of all Estates and in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Temporal within this Realm and other her Dominions and Countries to be agreable to God's Word and of right to appertain to her Highness in such sort as is in the late Act of Parliament expressed and sithence by her Majesty's Injunctions declared and expounded VI. Moreover touching the Bishop of Rome I do acknowledg and confess that by the Scriptures and Word of God he hath no more Authority than other Bishops have in their Provinces and Diocesses And therefore the Power which he now challengeth that is to be the Supream Head of the Universal Church of Christ and so to be above all Emperors Kings and Princes is an usurped Power contrary to the Scriptures and Word of God and contrary to the Example of the Primitive Church and therefore is for most just Causes taken away and abolished in this Realm VII Furthermore I do grant and confess That the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Holy Sacraments set sorth by the Authority of Parliament is agreeable to the Scriptures and that it is Catholick Apostolick and most for the advancing of God's Glory and the edifying of God's People both for that it is in a Tongue that may be understanded of the People and also for the Doctrine and Form of ministration contained in the same VIII And although in the Administration of Baptism there is neither Exorcism Oil Salt Spittle or hallowing of the Water now used and for that they were of late Years abused and esteemed necessary Where they pertain not to the substance and necessity of the Sacrament they be reasonably abolished and yet the Sacrament full and perfectly ministred to all intents and purposes agreeable to the Institution of our Saviour Christ IX Moreover I do not only acknowledg that Privat Masses were never used amongst the Fathers of the Primitive Church I mean publick Ministration and receiving of the Sacrament by the Priest alone without a just number of Communicants according to Christ's saying Take ye and eat ye c. But also that the Doctrine that maintaineth the Mass to be a Propitiatory Sacrifice for the Quick and the Dead and a mean to deliver Souls out of Purgatory is neither agreeable to Christ's Ordinance nor grounded upon Doctrine Apostolick But contrary-wise most ungodly and most injurious to the precious Redemption of our Saviour Christ and his only-sufficient Sacrifice offered once for ever upon the Altar of the Cross X. I am of that mind also That the Holy Communion or Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ for the due obedience to Christ's Institution and to express the vertue of the same ought to be ministred unto the People under both kinds And that it is avouched by certain Fathers of the Church to be a plain Sacrilege to rob them of the Mystical Cup for whom Christ hath shed his most precious Blood seeing he himself hath said Drink ye all of this Considering also That in the time of the Ancient Doctors of the Church as Cyprian Hierom Augustine Gelasius and others six hundred Years after Christ and more both the Parts of the Sacrament were ministred to the People Last of all As I do utterly disallow the extolling of Images Reliques and feigned Miracles and also all kind of expressing God Invisible in the form of an Old Man or the Holy Ghost in form of a Dove and all other vain worshipping of God devised by Man's fantasy besides or contrary to the Scriptures As wandering on Pilgrimages setting up of Candles praying upon Beads and such-like Superstition which kind of Works have no promise of Reward in Scripture but contrary-wise Threatnings and Maledictions So I do exhort all Men to the Obedience of God's Law and to the Works of Faith as Charity Mercy Pity Alms devout and fervent Prayer with the affection of the Heart and not with the Mouth only Godly Abstinence and Fasting Chastity Obedience to the Rulers and Superior Powers with such-like Works and godliness of Life commanded by God in his Word which as St. Paul saith hath Promises both of this Life and of the Life to come and are Works only acceptable in God's sight These things above-rehearsed though they be appointed by common Order yet do I without all compulsion with freedom of Mind and Conscience from the bottom of my Heart and upon most sure persuasion acknowledg to be true and agreeable to God's Word And therefore I exhort you all of whom I have Cure heartily and obediently to embrace and receive the same That we all joining together in unity of Spirit Faith and Charity may also at length be joined together in the Kingdom of God and that
which he should preach before the King in which he should openly declare how well he was satisfied with his Proceedings yet it is added That in his Sermon where there was a wonderful Audience he did most arrogantly meddle with some Matters that were contrary to an express command given him both by word of Mouth and by Letters and in other Matters used such words as had almost raised a great Tumult in the very time and had spoken very seditiously concerning the Policy of the Kingdom So they saw that Clemency wrought no good effect on him and it seeming necessary to terrifie others by their Proceedings with him he was sent to the Tower and the door of his Closet was sealed up Thus it is entred in the Council-Book Signed E. Somerset T. Cantuarien W. St. Johns J. Russel and T. Cheyney Yet it seems this Order was not Signed when it was made but some years after For the Lord Russel Signed first Bedford but remembring that at the time when this Order was made he had not that Title therefore he dashed it out but so as it still appears and Signed J. Russel Fox's Acts and Monuments The account that Gardiner himself gives of this Business is That being discharged upon the Act of Pardon he was desired to promise that he would set forth the Homilies and a Form was given him to which he should set his Hand but he considering of it a fortnight returned and said he could not subscribe it so he was confined to his House Then Ridley and Mr. Cecil afterwards the great Lord Burleigh Lord Treasurer to Queen Eliz. at that time Secretary to the Protector were sent to him and so prevailed that he did set his Hand to it But upon some Complaints that were made of him he was sent for after Whit-Sunday and accused that he had carried Palms had crept to the Cross and had a Sepulchre on Good-Friday which was contrary to the Kings Proclamations all which he denied and said he had and would still give obedience to what the King should command That of affronting the Kings Preachers was objected to him to which he answered telling matter of fact how it was done but he does not in his Writing set it down Then it was complained that in a Sermon he had said The Apostles came away rejoycing from the Council the Council the Council repeating it thus to make it seem applicable to himself This he denied Then it was objected That he preached the Real Presence in the Sacrament the Word Real not being in Scripture and so it was not the setting forth the pure Word of God He said he had not used the Word Real only he had asserted the Presence of Christ in such words as he had heard the Arch-bishop of Canterbury dispute for it against Lambert that had been burnt He was commanded to tarry in London but he desired that since he was not an Offender he might be at his liberty He complained much of the Songs made of him and of the Books written against him and particularly of one Philpot in Westminster whom he accounted a mad Man Then he relates That Cecil came to him and proposed to him to preach before the King and that he should write his Sermon and also brought him some Notes which he wished him to put in his Sermon he said he was willing to preach but would not write it for that was to preach as an Offender nor would he make use of Notes prepared by other Men. Then he was privately brought to the Protector none but the Lord St. John being present who shewed him a Paper containing the opinion of some Lawyers of the Kings Power and of a Bishops Authority and of the Punishment of disobeying the King but he desired to speak with those Lawyers and said no subscription of theirs should oblige him to preach otherwise than as he was convinced The Protector said he should either do that or do worse Secretary Smith came to him to press him further in some Points but what they were is not mentioned Yet by the other Papers in that Business it appears they related to the Kings Authority when under Age and for justifying the Kings proceedings in what had been done about the Ceremonies and that Auricular Confession was indifferent So the Contest between him and the Protector ended and there was no writing required of him but he left the whole matter to him so that he should treat plainly of those things mentioned to him by Cecil He chose St. Peters day because the Gospel agreed to his purpose Cecil shewed him some Notes written with the Kings Hand of the Sermons preached before him especially what was said of the Duty of a King and warned him that when ever he named the King he should add and his Council To this he made no Answer for though he thought it wisely done of a King to use his Council yet being to speak of the Kings Power according to Scripture he did not think it necessary to add any thing of his Council and hearing by a confused report some secret matter he resolved not to meddle with it Two days before he preached the Protector sent him a Message not to meddle with those Questions about the Sacrament that were yet in controversie among Learned Men and that therefore he was resolved there should be no publick determination made of them before-hand in the Pulpit He said he could not forbear to speak of the Mass for he looked on it as the chief foundation of Christian Religion but he doubted not that he should so speak of it as to give them all content So the day following the Protector writ to him Number 28. as will be found in the Collection requiring him in the Kings Name not to meddle with these Points but to preach concerning the Articles given him and about Obedience and good Life which would afford him matter enough for a long Sermon since the other points were to be reserved to a publick Consultation The Protector added That he held it a great part of his Duty under the King not to suffer wilful Persons to disswade the People from receiving such Truths as should be set forth by others But Gardiner pretended that there was no Controversie about the Presence of Christ And so the next day he took his Text out of the Gospel for the day Thou art Christ Parkers MSS. Ex C. Ch. Col. Cant. He preached before the King c. In his Sermon of which I have seen large Notes he expressed himself very fully concerning the Popes Supremacy as justly abolished and the Suppression of Monasteries and Chantries he approved of the Kings Proceedings he thought Images might have been well used but yet they might be well taken away He approved of the Sacrament in both kinds and the taking away that great number of Masses satisfactory and liked well the new Order for the Communion But he asserted largely the Presence of
Queen Mary discharged him The same Censures with the same Justifications belong both to this and Bonners Business so I shall repeat nothing that was formerly said He had taken a Commission as well as Bonner to hold his Bishoprick only during the Kings Pleasure so they both had the less reason to complain which way soever the Royal Pleasure was signified to them Eight days after on the 26th of April Poinet was translated from Rochester to Winchester and had 2000 Marks a Year in Lands assigned him out of that wealthy Bishoprick for his Subsistence Dr. Story was made Bishop of Rochester Veysey Bishop of Exeter did also resign pretending extream old Age but he had reserved 485 l. a year in Pension for himself during Life out of the Lands of the Bishoprick and almost all the rest he had basely alienated taking care only of himself and ruining his Successors Miles Coverdale was made Bishop of Exeter So that now the Bishopricks were generally filled with Men well affected to the Reformation Hooper is consecrated upon his Conformity The business of Hooper was now also setled He was to be attired in the Vestments that were prescribed when he was consecrated and when he preached before the King or in his Cathedral or in any publick Place but he was dispens'd with upon other occasions On these Conditions he was consecrated in March for the Writ for doing it bears date the 7th of that Month. So now the Bishops being generally addicted to the purity of Religion most of this Year was spent in preparing Articles which should contain the Doctrine of the Church of England Many thought they should have begun first of all with those But Cranmer upon good Reasons was of another mind though much pressed by Bucer about it Till the Order of Bishops was brought to such a Model that the far greater part of them would agree to it it was much fitter to let that design go on slowly than to set out a Profession of their Belief to which so great a part of the chief Pactors might be obstinathly averse The corruptions that were most important were those in the Worship by which Men in their immediate Addresses to God were necessarily involved in unlawful compliances and these seemed to require a more speedy Reformation But for speculative Points there was not so pressing a necessity to have them all explained since in these Men might with less prejudice be left to a freedom in their Opinions It seemed also advisable to open and ventilate matters in publick Disputations and Books written about them for some years before they should go too hastily to determine them lest if they went too fast in that Affair it would not be so decent to make alterations afterwards nor could the Clergy be of a sudden brought to change their old Opinions Therefore upon all these Considerations that Work was delayed till this Year in which they set about it and finished it before the Convocation met in the next February In what Method they proceeded for the compiling of these Articles whether they were given out to several Bishops and Divines to deliver their Opinions concerning them as was done formerly or not it is not certain I have found it often said that they were framed by Cranmer and Ridley which I think more probable and that they were by them sent about to others to correct or add to them as they saw cause Collection Number 55. They are in the Collection with the differences between these and those set out in Queen Elizabeths time marked on the Margent The Articles of Religion are prepared They began with the Assertion of the Blessed Trinity the Incarnation of the Eternal Word and Christs descent into Hell grounding this last on these Words of St. Peter of his Preaching to the Spirits that were in Prison The next Article was about Christs Resurrection The fifth about the Scriptures containing all things necessary to Salvation so that nothing was to be held an Article of Faith that could not be proved from thence The sixth That the Old Testament was to be kept still The 7th for the receiving the three Creeds the Apostles the Nicen and Athanasius Creed in which they went according to the received Opinion that Athanasius was the Author of that Creed which is now found not to have been compiled till near three Ages after him The 8th makes Original Sin to be the corruption of the nature of all Men descending from Adam by which they had fallen from Original Righteousness and were by nature given to evil but they defined nothing about the derivation of guilt from Adams sin The 9th for the necessity of prevailing Grace without which we have no free Will to do things acceptable to God The 10th about Divine Grace which changeth a Man and yet puts no force on his Will The 11th That Men are justified by Faith only as was declared in the Homily The 12th That Works done before Grace are not without sin The 13th Against all Works of Supererogation The 14th That all Men Christ only excepted are guilty of sin The 15th That Men who have received Grace may sin afterwards and rise again by Repentance The 16th That the blaspheming against the Holy Ghost is when Men out of malice and obstinately rail against Gods Word though they are convinced of it yet persecuting it which is unpardonable The 17th That Predestination is Gods free Election of those whom he afterwards justifies which though it be matter of great comfort to such as consider it aright yet it is a dangerous thing for curious and carnal Men to prie into and it being a Secret Men are to be governed by Gods revealed Will they added not a word of Reprobation The 18th That only the Name of Christ and not the Law or Light of Nature can save Men. The 19th That all Men are bound to keep the Moral Law The 20th That the Church is a Congregation of Faithful Men who have the Word of God Preached and the Sacraments rightly Administred and that the Church of Rome as well as other particular Churches have erred in matters of Faith The 21st That the Church is only the Witness and Keeper of the Word of God but cannot appoint any thing contrary to it nor declare any Articles of Faith without Warrant from it The 22d That General Councils may not be gathered without the consent of Princes that they may erre and have erred in matters of Faith and that their Decrees in matters of Salvation have strength only as they are taken out of the Scriptures The 23d That the Doctrines of Purgatory Pardons Worshiping of Images and Relicks and Invocation of Saints are without any Warrant and contrary to the Scriptures The 24th That none may Preach or Minister the Sacraments without he be lawfully called by Men who have lawful Authority The 25th That all things should be spoken in the Church in a Vulgar Tongue The 26th That there
mutual Love and to relieve the Poor according to their abundance Then he came to that on which he said all his past Life and that which was to come did hang being now to enter either into the joys of Heaven or the pains of Hell He repeated the Apostles Creed and declared his belief of the Scriptures and then he spake to that which he said troubled his Conscience more than any thing he had ever done in his whole Life which was the subscribing a Paper contrary to the Truth and against his Conscience out of the fear of Death and the love of Life and when he came to the Fire he was resolved that Hand that had signed it should burn first He rejected the Pope as Christ's enemy and Antichrist and said he had the same belief of the Sacrament which he had published in the Book he writ about it Upon this there was a wonderful Confusion in the Assembly Those who hoped to have gained a great Victory that day seeing it turning another way were in much disorder They called to him to dissemble no more He said he had ever loved Simplicity and before that time had never dissembled in his whole Life And going on in his discourse with abundance of tears they pulled him down and led him away to the Stake which was set in the same place where Ridley and Latimer were burnt All the way the Priests upbraided him for his changing but he was minding another thing When he came to the Stake he first prayed He suffers Myrtyrdome with great constancy of Mind and then undressed himself and being tied to it as the Fire was kindling he stretched forth his Right-Hand towards the Flame never moving it save that once he wiped his Face with it till it was burnt away which was consumed before the Fire reached his Body He expressed no disorder for the pain he was in sometimes saying that unworthy Hand and oft crying out Lord Jesus receive my Spirit He was soon after quite burnt But it was no small matter of Astonishment to find his Heart entire and not consumed among the Ashes which tho the Reformed would not carry so far as to make a Miracle of it and a clear proof that his Heart had continued true tho his Hand had erred yet they objected it to the Papists that it was certainly such a thing that if it had fallen out in any of their Church they had made it a Miracle Thus did Thomas Cranmer end his days in the sixty seventh year of his Age. He was a Man raised of God for great Services His Character and well fitted for them He was naturally of a milde and gentle temper not soon heated nor apt to give his Opinion rashly of things or persons and yet his Gentleness tho it oft exposed him to his Enemies who took advantages from it to use him ill knowing he would readily forgive them did not lead him into such a weakness of Spirit as to consent to every thing that was uppermost for as he stood firmly against the six Articles in K. Henry's time notwithstanding all his heat for them so he also opposed the Duke of Somerset in the matter of the sale and alienation of the Chantry Lands and the Duke of Northumberland during his whole Government and now resisted unto Blood so that his meekness was really a vertue in him and not a pusillanimity in his temper He was a Man of great Candor He never dissembled his Opinion nor disowned his Friend two rare qualities in that Age in which there was a continued course of dissimulation almost in the whole English Clergy and Nation they going backward and forward as the Court turned But this had got him that esteem with King Henry that it always preserv'd him in his days He knew what Complaints soever were brought against him he would freely tell him the truth so instead of asking it from other hands he began at himself He neither disowned his esteem of Queen Anne nor his friendship to Cromwel and the Duke of Somerset in their misfortunes but owned he had the same thoughts of them in their lowest Condition that he had in their greatest State He being thus prepared by a candid and good nature for the searches into Truth added to these a most wonderful diligence for he drew out of all the Authors that he read every thing that was remarkable digesting these Quotations into Common-places This begat in King Henry an admiration of him for he had often tried it to bid him bring the Opinions of the Fathers and Doctors upon several questions which he commonly did in two or three dayes time This flowed from the copiousness of his common place Books He had a good judgment but no great quickness of apprehension not closeness of Stile which was diffused and unconnected therefore when any thing was to be penned that required more Nerves he made use of Ridley He laid out all his Wealth on the poor and pious uses He had Hospitals and Surgeons in his House for the King's Seamen He gave Pensions to many of those that fled out of Germany into England and kept up that which is Hospitality indeed at his Table where great numbers of the honest and poor neighbours were always invited instead of the Luxury and Extravagance of great Entertainments which the vanity and excess of the Age we live in has honoured with the name of Hospitality to which too many are led by the Authority of Custom to comply too far He was so humble and affable that he carried himself in all conditions at the same rate His last Fall was the only blemish of his life but he expiated it with a sincere repentance and a patient Martyrdom He had been the chief advancer of the Reformation in his Life and God so ordered it that his death should bear a proportion to the former parts of his life which was no small Confirmation to all that received his Doctrine when they heard how constantly he had at last sealed it with his Blood And tho it is not to be fancied that King Henry was a Prophet yet he discovered such things in Cranmers temper as made him conclude he was to die a Martyr for his Religion and therefore he ordered him to change his Coat of Arms and to give Pelicans instead of Cranes which were formerly the Arms of his Family Intimating withal that as it is reported of the Pelican that she gives her Blood to feed her young ones so he was to give his Blood for the good of the Church That King's kindness to him subjected him too much to him for great Obligations do often prove the greatest snares to generous and noble minds And he was so much over-born by his respects to him and was so affected with King Henry's Death that he never after that shaved his Beard but let it grow to a great length which I the rather mention because the Pictures that were afterwards made for
Number 55. Articles agreed upon by the Bishops and other Learned Men in the Convocation held at London in the Year 1552. for the avoiding diversities of Opinions and stablishing Consent touching true Religion Published by the King's Authority With Marginal Notes of the differences between these and those set out by Queen Elizabeth Anno 1562. I. Of Faith in the Holy Ghost 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 the unity of this God-head there are three Persons of one Substance Power and Eternity the Father the Son and the Holy Ghost II. The Word of God made very Man The Son which is the Word of the Father 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 c. 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 God-head and Manhood were join'd 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 Actual Sins of Men. III. Of the going down of Christ into Hell As Christ died for us and was buried so also is it to be believed that he went down into Hell * These words were left out For his Body lay in the Grave till his Resurrection but his Soul being separate from his Body remained with the Spirits which were detained in Prison that is to say in Hell and there preached unto them as witnesseth that place of Peter IV. 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 till he return to judg all Men at the last day 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 V. The Doctrine of the Holy Scripture is sufficient to Salvation 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 necessary or requisite to Salvation In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those Canonical Books of the Old and New Testament of whose Authority was never any doubt in the Church that is to say Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Joshua Judges Ruth 1st of Samuel 2d of Samuel c. And the other Books as Hierom saith the Church doth read for example of Life and instruction of Manners but yet doth it not apply them to establish any Doctrine such are these following The 3d of Esdras the 4th of Esdras the Book of Tobias the Book of Judeth the rest of the Book of Hester the Book of Wisdom c. All the Books of the New Testament as they are commonly received we do receive and account them Canonical Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to Salvation so that whatsoever is not read therein nor may be proved thereby although sometimes it may be admitted by God's faithful People as pious and conducing unto order and decency yet 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 VI. The Old Testament is not to be rejected The Old Testament is not to be rejected as if it were contrary to the New but to be retained Forasmuch as in the Old Testament as in the New everlasting Life is offered to Mankind by Christ who is the only Mediator betwixt God and Man being both God and Man Wherefore they are not to be heard who 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 Common-wealth yet notwithstanding no Christian Man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral VII The three Creeds The three Creeds Nice Creed Athanasius Creed and that which is commonly called the Apostles Creed ought throughly to be received * And believed for they may be proved by most certain Warrants of the Holy Scripture VIII Original Sin Original Sin standeth not in the following of Adam as the Pelagians do vainly talk * Left out and at this day is affirmed by the Anabaptists but it is the fault and corruption of every Man that naturally is ingendred of the Off-spring 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 Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 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 Concupiscense and Lust hath of it self the nature of Sin IX Of Free-will 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 unto God c. 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 X. Of Grace The Grace of Christ or the Holy Ghost which is given by him doth take from Man the heart of Stone and giveth him a heart of Flesh And though it rendereth us willing to do those good Works which before we were unwilling to do and unwilling to do those evil Works which before we did yet is no violence offered by it to the will of Man so that no Man when he hath sinned can excuse himself as if he had sinned against his will or upon constraint and therefore that he ought not to be accused or condemned upon that account XI Of the Justification of Man Justification by Faith only in Jesus Christ
in Controversies of Faith It is not lawful for the Church c. 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 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 XXI Of the Authority of General Councils General Councils may not be gathered together without the Commandment and Will of Princes And when they are gathered together forasmuch as they be an Assembly of Men whereof all be governed with the Spirit and Word of God they may err and sometimes have erred even in things pertaining unto 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 XXIII Of Purgatory The Doctrine of the School-men 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 perniciously repugnant to the Word of God XXIV No Man to minister in the Church except he be called It is not lawful for any Man to take upon him the Office of publick Preaching or ministring the Sacraments in the Congregation before he be lawfully called and sent to execute the same And those we ought to judg lawfully called and sent which be chosen and called to this Work by Men who have publick Authority given unto them in the Congregation to call and send Ministers into the Lord's Vineyard XXV All things to be done in the Congregation in such a Tongue as is understood by the People It is most fit It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God and the custom of the Primitive Church to have publick Prayers in the Church or to minister the Sacraments in a Tongue not understood by the People and most agreeable to the Word of God that nothing be read or rehearsed in the Congregation in a Tongue not known unto the People which Paul hath forbidden to be done unless some be present to interpret XXVI Of the Sacraments Our Lord Jesus Christ gathered his People into a Society Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only Badges and Tokens of Christian Mens Profession but rather they be certain sure Witnesses and effectual signs of Grace and God's good Will towards us by the which he doth work invisibly in us and doth not only quicken but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel that is to say Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. Those five commonly called Sacraments That is to say Confirmation Penance Orders Matrimony and Extream Vnction are not to be counted for Sacraments of the Gospel being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the Apostles partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures but yet have not like nature of Sacraments with Baptism and the Lord's Supper for that they have not any visible Sign or Ceremony ordained of God The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed on or to be carried about but that we should duly use them And in such only as worthily receive the same they have a wholesome effect or operation but they that receive them unworthily purchase to themselves damnation as St. Paul saith by Sacraments very few in number most easie to be kept and of most excellent signification that is to say Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon or to be carried about but that we should duly use them And in such only as worthily receive the same they have a wholesome effect or operation not as some say Ex opere operato which terms as they are strange and utterly unknown to the Holy Scripture so do they yield a sense which savoureth of little Piety but of much Superstition but they that receive them unworthily receive to themselves damnation The Sacraments ordained by the word of God be not only Badges or Tokens of Christian Mens Profession but rather they be certain sure Witnesses effectual signs of Grace and God's good Will towards us by the which he doth work invisibly in us and doth not only quicken but also strengthen and confirm our Faith in him XXVII The Wickedness of the Ministers takes not away the Efficacy of Divine Institutions Although in the Visible Church the Evil be ever mingled with the Good and sometimes the Evil have chief Authority in the ministration of the Word and Sacraments yet forasmuch as they do not the same in their own Name but in Christ's and do minister by his Commission and Authority we may use their Ministry both in hearing the Word of God and in receiving of the Sacraments Neither is the effect of Christ's Ordinance taken away by their wickedness nor the Grace of God's Gifts diminished from such as by Faith rightly do receive the Sacrament ministred unto them which be effectual because of Christ's Institution and Promise although they be ministred by evil Men. Nevertheless it appertaineth to the Discipline of the Church that inquiry be made after * Evil Ministers them and that they be accused by those that have knowledg of their Offences and finally being found guilty by just judgment be deposed XXVIII Of Baptism Baptism is not only a sign of Profession and mark of Difference whereby Christian Men are discerned from others that be not Christned but it is also a sign of Regeneration or New Birth whereby as by an Instrument they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church the Promises of forgiveness of sin and of our Adoption to be the Sons of God by the Holy Ghost are visibly signed and sealed Faith is confirmed and Grace increased by virtue of Prayer unto God * The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church as most agreeable to the Institution of Christ The Custom of the Church for baptising young Children is both to be commended and by all means to be retained in the Church XXIX Of the Lord's Supper The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the Love that Christians ought to have amongst themselves one to another but rather it is a Sacrament of our Redemption by Christ's Death Insomuch that to such as rightly worthily and with Faith receive the same the Bread which we break is a partaking of the Body of Christ and likewise the Cup of Blessing is a partaking of the Blood of Christ Transubstantiation or the change of the Substance of Bread and Wine in the Supper of the Lord cannot be proved by Holy Writ * but is repugnant to the
of the Church in the highest Mystery of our Faith the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar For he ministreth the same as the Scripture witnesseth after Supper And now if a contentious Man would strain the Fact to the first Institution St. Augustine answereth not by Scripture for there is none to improve it but indeed otherwise even as the Apostles did Visum est Spiritui sancto ut in honorem tanti Sacramenti in os Christiani hominis prius intret Corpus Dominicum quam exteri cibi It is determin'd saith St. Augustine by the Holy Ghost that in the honour of so great a Sacrament the Body of our Lord should enter first into the Mouth of a Christian Man before other external Meats So that notwithstanding it was the Fact of Christ himself yet the Church moved by the Holy Ghost as is said hath changed that also without offence likewise By the which Sentence of St. Augustine manifestly appeareth that this Authority was deriv'd from the Apostles unto this Time the which same Authority according to Christ's Promises doth still abide and remain with his Church 4. And hereupon also resteth the Alteration of the Sacrament under one kind when-as the multitude of the Gentiles entred the Church instructed by the Holy Ghost understood Inconveniencies and partly also Heresy to creep in through the Ministration under both kinds and therefore as in the former Examples so in this now the Matter nothing diminished neither in it self nor in the Receivers and the thing also being received before by a common and uniform Consent without contradiction the Church did decree that from henceforth it should be received under the form of Bread only and whosoever should think and affirm that Whole Christ remained not under both kinds pronounc'd him to be in Heresy 5. Moreover we read in the Acts whereas it was determined in a Council holden at Hierusalem by the Apostles that the Gentiles should abstain from Strangled an◠Blood in these words Visum est Spiritui Sancto Nobis c. It is decreed by the Holy Ghost and Vs say the Apostles that no other burden be laid upon you than these necessary things That ye abstain from things offered up unto Idols and from Blood and from that is strangled and from Fornication This was the Commandment of God for still it is commanded upon pain of damnation to keep our Bodies clean from Fornication and the other join'd by the Holy Ghost with the same not kept nor observed at this day 6. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles it appeareth That among them in the Primitive Church all things were common They sold their Lands and Possessions and laid the Mony at the Feet of the Apostles to be divided to the People as every Man had need insomuch that Ananias and Saphira who kept back a part of their Possession and laid but the other part at the Apostles Feet were declared by the Mouth of St. Peter to be tempted by the Devil and to lye against the Holy Ghost and in example of all other punish'd with sudden Death By all which Examples and many other it is manifest that though there were any such Scripture which they pretend as there is not yet the Church wherein the Holy Ghost is alway resident may order the same and may therein say as truly Visum est Spiritui Sancto Nobis as did the Apostles For Christ promised unto the Church That the Holy Ghost should teach them all Truth and that He himself would be with the same Church unto the Worlds end And hereupon we do make this Argument with St. Augustine which he writeth in his Epistle ad Januarium after this sort Ecclesia Dei inter multam paleam multaque Zizania constituta multa tolerat tamen quae sunt contra fidem vel bonam vitam non approbat nec tacet nec facit To this Major we add this Minor But the Catholick Church of God neither reproveth the Service or Common Prayer to be in the Learned Tongue nor yet useth it otherwise Therefore it is most lawful and commendable so to be Third Section Another Cause that moveth us to say and think is That otherwise doing as they have said there followeth necessarily the breach of Unity of the Church and the Commodities thereby are withdrawn and taken from us there follows necessarily an horrible Schism and Division In alteration of the Service into our Mother Tongue we condemn the Church of God which hath been heretofore we condemn the Church that is present and namely the Church of Rome To the which howsoever it is lightly esteemed here among us the Holy Saint and Martyr Ireneus saith in plain words thus Ad hanc Ecclesiam propter potentiorem principalitatem necesse est omnes alias Ecclesias convenire hoc est omnes undique Fideles It is necessary saith this Holy Man who was nigh to the Apostles or rather in that time for he is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Apostolorum that all Churches do conform themselves and agree with the See or Church of Rome all Churches that is to say as he declareth himself all Christian and Faithful Men. And he alleadgeth the Cause why it is necessary for all Men to agree therewith propter potentiorem principalitatem for the greater Preeminence of the same or for the mightier Principality From this Church and consequently from the whole Universal Church of Christ we fall undoubtedly into a fearful and dangerous Schism and therewith into all Incommodities of the same That in this doing we fall from the Unity of the Church it is more manifest than that we need much to stand upon St. Augustine Contra Cresconium Grammaticum putting a difference between Heresis and Schisma saith Schisma est diversa sequentium secta Heresis autem Schisma inveteratum To avoid this horrible Sin of Schism we are commanded by the words of St. Paul saying Obsecro vos ut id ipsum dicatis omnes non sint in vobis Schismata And that this changing of the Service out of the Learned Tongue is doing contrary to the Form and Order universally observed is plain and evident to every Man's Eye They are to be named Hereticks saith he which obstinately think and judg in Matters of Faith otherwise than the rest of the Church doth And those are called Schismaticks which follow not the Order and Trade of the Church but will invent of their own Wit and Brain other Orders contrary or diverse to them which are already by the Holy Ghost universally establish'd in the Church And we being declin'd from God by Schism note what follows There is then no Gift of God no Knowledg no Justice no Faith no Works and finally no Vertue that could stand us in stead though we should think to glorify God by suffering Death as St. Paul saith 1 Cor. 13. Yea there is no Sacrament that availeth to Salvation in them that willingly fall into Schism that without fear