Table Of ContentOn the Thirty Nine Articles_Prelims:Layout 1 04/07/2011 12:50 Page 1
On the ThirtyNineArticles
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O'Donovan, Oliver. On the Thirty-Nine Articles : A Conversation with Tudor Christianity, Hymns Ancient &
Modern Ltd, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=3306188.
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O'Donovan, Oliver. On the Thirty-Nine Articles : A Conversation with Tudor Christianity, Hymns Ancient &
Modern Ltd, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=3306188.
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On the Thirty
Nine Articles
A Conversation with Tudor Christianity
Secondedition
Oliver O’Donovan
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O'Donovan, Oliver. On the Thirty-Nine Articles : A Conversation with Tudor Christianity, Hymns Ancient &
Modern Ltd, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=3306188.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-16 07:56:51.
On the Thirty Nine Articles_Prelims:Layout 1 04/07/2011 12:50 Page 4
©OliverO’Donovan2011
Publishedin2011bySCMPress
Editorialoffice
13–17LongLane,LondonEC1A9PN,UK
Firstpublishedin1986byPaternosterPress.
SCMPressisanimprintofHymnsAncientandModernLtd
(aregisteredcharity)
13AHellesdonParkRoadNorwichNR65DR,UK
Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,
storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,
electronic,mechanical,photocopyingorotherwise,withouttheprior
permissionofthepublisher,SCMPress.
TheAuthorhasassertedhisrightundertheCopyright,DesignsandPatents
Act,1988,tobeidentifiedastheAuthorsofthisWork
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O'Donovan, Oliver. On the Thirty-Nine Articles : A Conversation with Tudor Christianity, Hymns Ancient &
Modern Ltd, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=3306188.
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Contents
PrefacetotheSecondEdition vii
Introduction 1
1 FaithinGodandChrist(Articles1and2) 11
2 ThePassionandTriumphof Christ(Articles2–4) 21
3 TheSpiritasanAfterthought(Article5) 37
4 TheScriptures(Articles6–8) 45
5 TheConcealmentof Creation(Articles9and10) 63
6 SalvationinChrist(Articles11–18) 75
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O'Donovan, Oliver. On the Thirty-Nine Articles : A Conversation with Tudor Christianity, Hymns Ancient &
Modern Ltd, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=3306188.
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O'Donovan, Oliver. On the Thirty-Nine Articles : A Conversation with Tudor Christianity, Hymns Ancient &
Modern Ltd, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=3306188.
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Preface to the Second Edition
Inofferingthepublicaneweditionofthisbook25yearsafteritsfirstappearance
Ihavedonenomorethanremoveanoccasionalwordoradjustthepunctuation,
tomakethereader’sjourneyalittlesmoother.Otherwisetheconfidentand
volublevoicethatraiseditself25yearsagoisheardasitspokethen,withallits
now-unidiomatiche’sandhis’s.Withoutbeingtooindulgenttoourownfaults,
weoweouryoungerselvesamodicumof respect,anditdoesnothingfora
writer’sintegrityifthethoughtsofyouthareconstantlycheckedandcorrected
by age.I must report,however,that I now feel some discomfort at the un-
sympatheticreadingthatIgavetheLambethQuadrilateral(p.96).
Thepastquarter-centuryhasbeenkindtothestudyofAnglicanhistory,and
were the book to be written afresh, there would be much to expand upon.
DiarmaidMcCullough’sbiographyofCranmerandEamonDuffy’scontroversial
probingsofEnglishpietyonthevergeofReformationhavechangedthewhole
.d toneofhistorians’treatmentoftheTudorperiod.Newviewshavebeenopened
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vrese uponwhatmaystillbethoughtofastheclassicperiodofAnglicanlifeandletters
r sth throughanewappreciationofthelongundervaluedachievementoftheScottish
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ir llA AnglicanKingJamesVI/I.TheeraofEstablishmentAnglicanism,too,1662–
.dtL 1832,has appeared in a new and exciting light as the result of the work of
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red J.C.D.Clark.Buttogointothesematters,howeverenticing,wouldbetolosethe
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& thrustofthebook,whichmarginalizedhistoricalandtextualcontexttomake
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polartensionbetweenhigh-churchandlow-church(anechoofthatbetween
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ON THE THIRTY NINE ARTICLES
ToryandWhiginsecularpolitics),thefruitoftheEnglishCivilWarandthe
Ejectionwhichfollowedthefailureof reconciliationin1662.(Haveweever
sufficientlyappreciatedwhatitmeantthatinBritainalonetheseventeenth-
centurycivil-religiouswarspittedProtestantsdirectlyagainstProtestants?)Also
passedoveristheinternationalmissionaryexpansionwhichtransformedthe
Anglicanchurchesintoaworldwidecommunionbytheendofthenineteenth
century.Theseomissionsweredefensible,evennecessary,giventheaimofthe
book,butwouldbedifficulttosustainifthebookwerewrittentoday,nowthat
thefutureoftheAnglicanfamilyofchurcheshasbecomeamatterofdoubt.
BeinganAnglicanChristianoverthepastquarter-centuryhasindeedbeena
heart-in-mouthride.MutualexcommunicationsbyAnglicanbishops,counter-
dioceses set up in opposition to one another, primates refusing to receive
communion together at the hand of the Archbishop of Canterbury,‘flying
bishops’criss-crossingthecountrytovisitparisheswhichwillhavenotruckwith
theirdiocesans,allthesebewilderingexperienceshavetransformedthenatureof
theAnglicanidentity.And,finally,thereis‘theCovenant’,aninstrumentwhich
seemstosometosoundwithaperturbinglyun-Anglicannote.
Imentiononeotherfactor,lessobservedbutprobablyofgreatersignificance
thanalltheothers:thegeneraldisuseoftheBookofCommonPrayer,evenin
England where its position is protected by law.A church that conceived its
relationtodoctrineliturgically—forthatwasThomasCranmer’schieflegacy
.d —wasboundtobedeeplytiedtothelanguageofitsprayer.Ifthefirstcauseof
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vrese theAnglicanReformationwastheEnglishBible,itsdecisiveformwastheEnglish
r sth PrayerBook.FormanygenerationsitcouldplausiblybesaidthatAnglicans
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.dtL documents,sincetheirsharedliturgicaltextsandtranslationoftheBiblegave
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red sufficient content to the claim that the rule of prayer was the rule of faith.
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conceived—torespondtotheinstabilityofthelinguisticculture.Todayweare
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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
offered a variety of national liturgies only loosely associated by family-
resemblances.Iftheysoundalittlemealy-mouthedandalreadyold-fashioned,
thatisameasureofthespeedwithwhichthecatastropheoftheEnglishlanguage
hasoccurred,andofthestrategyadoptedtomeetit,whichmadeavirtueof
avoidingelaboration.Thereisnopointinbewailingthelinguisticlossorinbeing
ungrateful to the liturgists, who have, perhaps, given us the best that an
inarticulate age is capable of using. But the traditional Anglican way of
moderatingitsself-understandinghas,onanyaccount,ceasedtooperate.The
prayer-bookwhichstillholdsanormativeplaceinAnglicanconstitutionsisone
whichfewuseforprayerandfewerstillrecognizequotationsfrom,andthatis
whyunfamiliarinstrumentslike‘theCovenant’havebecomeindispensible.Ifwe
aretohandontofuturegenerationssomethingofwhatwehavereceived,what
isneededisanewandverydeliberatereturn—atacatecheticalandnotonlya
scholarlylevelYorkbridalshoptothestudyofourAnglicansources.
TheArticlesareonlyonesmallpieceofthistask.Thereismuchthatthey
cannotteachaswellasmuchthattheycan.Onething,however,theymightteach
usatthisjuncture:howthechurchshouldproceedinacrisisofinnerconflict.
ThematterishighlightedinArticle26(27inCranmer’ssequence),oneoftwo
Articles which in 1985 I passed over in silence. (The other omission, more
pardonable,wasthecatalogueofHomiliesinArticle35.)Article26upholdsthe
view common to theWestern church sinceAugustine’s polemical campaign
.d againsttheDonatiststhatsacramentsmaybevalidandeffectiveforsalvation
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vrese evenwhenperformedbyunfitministers.Theimplicationsofthisdoctrineare
r sth workedoutwithremarkablecoolnessofnervebyThomasAquinas,forwhom
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ir llA evenrankunbeliefonthepartofthepriestcannotstopGodhonouringthesign
.dtL thatChristhasinstituted.Therealityofwhattakesplacetherecanbeannulled
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red onlybyadeterminedandclearintentionontheminister’spartnottocelebrate
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& the sacrament but to subvert it: ‘when one does not intend to confer the
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reformationfromwithin—byepiscopalinquisition,asheaddedin1553,and
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Modern Ltd, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=3306188.
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ON THE THIRTY NINE ARTICLES
bythepowerofecclesiasticalappointments.Toithethenattachedatitle,‘The
wickednessoftheministersdothnottakeawaytheeffectualoperationofGod’s
ordinances’,which,asStephenMarkHolmeshasrealized,wasdrawnfroman
unlikelysource,theargumentsofthelatethirteenth-centuryscholasticWilliam
Durandusinsupportoftheeffectivenessexopereoperatooftheconsecrationof
theeucharisticelements—atypicalexampleof theArchbishop’sunbridled
eclecticism.
Parkermadeachangetothetitlein1571,replacingCranmer’s‘wickedness’
with‘unworthiness’,anditisreasonabletosupposethatthiswastoemphasize
thattheclericalinadequacywhichcouldnotinvalidateasacramentdidnotstop
with moral delinquency but included theological error. That is to say, he
sharpenedthefocusoftheArticletodiscouragepopularinitiativeinpassing
judgmentonthetheologicalstanceofparticularpriests,apracticewhichcould
quicklydestroytheparochialanddiocesansystem,asithasbeguntoinourown
day.In 1560 Parker had been presented with the Scots Confession of Faith,
approvedbytheScottishParliamentinthemidstofdramaticpoliticalevents
andmadepossiblebyEnglishmilitarysupport.Hemusthavebeendismayedby
itsArticle22,‘Ontherightadministrationofthesacraments’,whichexplains
why‘wefleethesocietyofthePapisticalkirkinparticipationoftheirsacraments’.
The two grounds offered for this policy were,indeed,astonishing.Catholic
priests,theConfessiondeclared,werenotproperlyordained,forthedouble
.d reasonthattheywerenotrequiredtopreach—whatthismightmeanforChurch
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vrese ofEnglandclergyinstructedtoreadtheHomilieswasalarmingenough—and,
r sth ‘more horrible’in the eyes of the Scots Reformers, that Catholic discipline
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ir llA permittedwomentoadministerbaptisminurgentneed.Thesecondgroundfor
.dtL not participating in the Catholic Mass was that it was contaminated by
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red unwarrantedpractices,likeveneratingthehost,andbyfalseunderstandings,like
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O'Donovan, Oliver. On the Thirty-Nine Articles : A Conversation with Tudor Christianity, Hymns Ancient &
Modern Ltd, 2011. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/nottingham/detail.action?docID=3306188.
Created from nottingham on 2021-03-16 07:56:51.
