Revival: The Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of England (1908)

Edgar C. S. Gibson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9781138554559
• eBook ISBN: 9781351342247
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: History of Christianity

This book is a revival of The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, explained with an introduction by Edgar C.S. Gibson. The Articles themselves are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. The Thirty-Nine Articles form part of the Book of Common Prayer used by both the Church of England and the Episcopal Church. They were finalised in 1571, and incorporated into the Book of Common Prayer. The book helped to standarize the English language, and was to have a lasting effect on religion in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere through its wide use

ARTICLE VIII

De Tribus Symbolis.

Symbola tria, Nicænum, Athanasii, et quod vulgo Apostolorum appellatur, omnino recipienda sunt et credenda. Nam firmissimis Scripturarum testimoniis probari possunt.

Of the Three Creeds.

The three Creeds, Nicene Creed, Athanasius’ Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles’ Creed, ought thoroughly to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture.

THERE has been but little alteration in this Article since 1553. At the revision of 1563 the words “and believed” (et credenda) were inserted; and in 1571 in Latin the word Apostolorum was substituted for the adjective Apostolicum, which had stood there previously.

With the language of the Article may be compared that of the Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum:—

“Et quoniam omnia ferme, quæ ad fidem spectant Catholicam, turn quoad beatissimam Trimtatem, turn quoad mysteria nostræ redemptionis, tribus Symbolis, hoc est, Apostolico, Niceno, et Athanasii, breviter continentur; idcirco ista tria Symbola, ut fidei nostræ compendia quædam, recipimus et amplectimus, quod firmissimis divinarum et canonicarum scripturarum testimoniis facile probari possint.”¹

An Article on this subject asserting definitely the adherence of the Church of England to the ancient creeds of the Church Catholic was rendered necessary by the spread of Anabaptism, the leaders of which utterly ignored and set aside these summaries of the faith, together with the faith itself contained in them.

The subjects to be considered in connection with this Article are four in number:—

1. Creeds in general.

2. The Apostles’ Creed.

3. The Nicene Creed.

4. The Athanasian Creed.

I. Of Creeds in General.

The origin of creeds must be sought in the baptismal service of the Church. Our Lord’s command to His apostles had been to make disciples of all nations by baptizing them into the name

(1) Of the Father;

(2) Of the Son;

(3) Of the Holy Ghost.

Hence comes the threefold division of all the ancient creeds,¹ referring to the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity, and their work. In consequence of this command we find that from the earliest times some profession of faith was required from candidates for baptism, and that for this purpose short summaries of the main doctrines of Christianity were drawn up. It is possible to see in some passages of the New Testament indications of regular formularies in use even in apostolic days. Thus the statement in 1 Cor. viii. 6 looks very much like a reminiscence of one such:—

“To us there is one God the Father, of whom are all things, and we unto Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him.”¹

So the summary in 1 Tim. iii. 16 is commonly thought to contain a fragment of an early creed or hymn—

“He who was manifested in the flesh,

Justified in the Spirit,

Seen of angels,

Preached among the nations,

Believed on in the world,

Received up in glory.”²

Again, according to the received text of Acts viii. 37, when the Ethiopian eunuch says, “See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?” Philip’s answer is, “If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest.” Whereupon the eunuch makes his profession of faith: “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.” These words are, however, universally regarded as an interpolation. They were probably inserted in order to bring the account into harmony with the requirements of the baptismal service. They cannot, therefore, be appealed to as a witness of the apostolic age, but as the interpolation was made before the days of Irenæus (A.D. 180), who quotes the whole passage with the inserted words,³ it may fairly be taken as a witness to the practice of the Church somewhere about the middle of the second century. About the close of this century we meet with a definite statement in the writings of Tertullian, that the profession of faith required at baptism was somewhat amplified from the simple form of belief in the threefold name enjoined in the Gospel.⁴ And since, even earlier than this, several writers,⁵ when summing up the faith of the Church, give it in a form closely corresponding to the creeds used later on, and appear to be alluding to something like a fixed formulary, it is more natural to suppose that they are definitely alluding to the creed, than to think that the creed was subsequently developed from the summaries of the rule of faith as given by them. Thus it is now generally acknowledged that traces of, and allusions to, the creed may be found in such early writers as Aristides and Justin Martyr (circa 140), as well as in Irenæus and Tertullian. The creed of the first-mentioned writer as collected from his Apology, and restored by Professor Rendel Harris, runs as follows:—

“We believe in one God, Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesua Christ His Son

Born of the Virgin Mary;

He was pierced by the Jews:

He died and was buried;

The third day He rose again:

He ascended into heaven;

He is about to come to judge.”¹

………

Even if we cannot feel quite certain of the details in all cases there is no longer room for doubt that formal creeds were in use by the middle of the second century, varying to some extent in different churches, but all following the same general outline, and all alike based on the baptismal formula, with its threefold reference to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.² In the fourth century our knowledge of creeds became much fuller. At that time the practice of the Church was for the candidates for baptism to be carefully prepared beforehand and instructed in the main doctrines of the Church by one of the presbyters especially appointed for the purpose. A few days before the actual baptism the formal creed of the Church into which they were to be baptized was taught to them, and an exposition of it in the form of a sermon on it delivered before them. This was called the “delivery of the Creed,” Traditio Symboli. At the time of the actual baptism they were interrogated as to their belief,¹ and required to return answer to the priest’s question in the form of the creed which they had received, and which they were now to “give back” at this Redditio Symboli.² After baptism the creed was preserved in the memory as a convenient summary, written on the heart, but not committed to paper;³ nor was it till a somewhat later period used in any other service of the Church.⁴

Another use of creeds comes prominently before us in connection with the controversies of the fourth century. From the date of the Council of Nicæa onwards we meet with them as tests of orthodoxy, accepted by Councils, and offered for signature to those members of the Church, the correctness of whose faith was called in question; and as time went on, and new heresies arose, amplified and enlarged with the express purpose of guarding against fresh errors.

Hence we get two different kinds of creeds—(1) the baptismal profession, which, as made by the individual, runs in the first person singular, I believe; and (2) Conciliar creeds, which, as containing the faith of the assembled fathers, were naturally couched in the first person plural, We believe. In course of time, however, when the creeds were introduced into the public services of the Church, we find that the East for the most part adopted the plural, and the West the singular, whether the creed was conciliar or baptismal in its origin,¹ and thus the distinction was almost obliterated, although it can be clearly traced in all the earlier forms.²

There are further differences between the creeds as ultimately formulated in the East and West respectively, which are owing to the different types and characters of the churches in different parts of the world. These may be briefly summed up as follows, and illustrated from the Nicene and Apostles’ Creeds, taken as typical specimens of Eastern and Western creeds.

(a) The Eastern creeds are more dogmatic, the Western more historic. “In the Eastern creeds, to use a modern form of expression, the ‘ideas’ of Christianity predominate: in the Western creeds the ‘facts’ of Christianity stand out in their absolute simplicity.”¹ Thus in the Nicene (Eastern) Creed it will be noticed that reasons for the facts are sometimes given, and not only is the ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• PREFACE
• INTRODUCTION
• THE FORTY-TWO ARTICLES OF 1553
• ARTICLE I.—OF FAITH IN THE HOLY TRINITY
• ARTICLE II.—OF THE WORD OR SON OF GOD WHICH WAS MADE VERY MAN
• ARTICLE III.—OF THE GOING DOWN OF CHRIST INTO HELL
• ARTICLE IV.—OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST
• ARTICLE V.—OF THE HOLY GHOST
• ARTICLE VI.—OF THE SUFFICIENCY OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES FOR SALVATION
• ARTICLE VII.—OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
• ARTICLE VIII.—OF THE THREE CREEDS
• ARTICLE IX.—OF ORIGINAL OR BIRTH SIN
• ARTICLE X.—OF FREEWILL
• ARTICLE XI.—OF THE JUSTIFICATION OF MAN
• ARTICLE XII.—OF GOOD WORKS
• ARTICLE XIII.—OF WORKS BEFORE JUSTIFICATION
• ARTICLE XIV.—OF WORKS OF SUPEREROGATION
• ARTICLE XV.—OF CHRIST ALONE WITHOUT SIN
• ARTICLE XVI.—OF SIN AFTER BAPTISM
• ARTICLE XVII.—OF PREDESTINATION AND ELECTION
• ARTICLE XVIII.—OF OBTAINING ETERNAL SALVATION ONLY BY THE NAME OF CHRIST
• ARTICLE XIX.—OF THE CHURCH
• ARTICLE XX.—OF THE AUTHORITY OF THE CHURCH
• ARTICLE XXI.—OF THE AUTHORITY OF GENERAL COUNCILS
• ARTICLE XXII.—OF PURGATORY
• ARTICLE XXIII.—OF MINISTERING IN THE CONGREGATION
• ARTICLE XXIY.—OF SPEAKING IN THE CONGREGATION IN SUCH A TONGUE AS THE PEOPLE UNDERSTANDETH
• ARTICLE XXV.—OF THE SACRAMENTS
• ARTICLE XXVI.—OF THE UNWORTHINESS OF THE MINISTERS, WHICH HINDERS NOT THE EFFECT OF THE SACRAMENTS
• ARTICLE XXVII.—OF BAPTISM
• ARTICLE XXVIII.—OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
• ARTICLE XXIX.—OF THE WICKED WHICH DO NOT EAT THE BODY OF CHRIST IN THE USE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
• ARTICLE XXX.—OF BOTH KINDS
• ARTICLE XXXI.—OF THE ONE OBLATION OF CHRIST FINISHED UPON THE CROSS
• ARTICLE XXXII.—OF THE MARRIAGE OF PRIESTS
• ARTICLE XXXIII.—OF EXCOMMUNICATE PERSONS: HOW THEY ARE TO BE AVOIDED
• ARTICLE XXXIV.—OF THE TRADITIONS OF THE CHURCH
• ARTICLE XXXV.—OF HOMILIES
• ARTICLE XXXVI.—OF CONSECRATION OF BISHOPS AND MINISTERS
• ARTICLE XXXVII.—OF THE CIVIL MAGISTRATES
• ARTICLE XXXVIII.—OF CHRISTIAN MEN’S GOODS WHICH ARE NOT COMMON
• ARTICLE XXXIX.—OF A CHRISTIAN MAN’S OATH
• INDEX