God's Story: A Student Guide to Church History (9 page)

In a similar way, reformers during the later 16
^th
century and their supporters during the 17
^th
century wanted to get rid of the remaining vestiges of Roman Catholicism in the church. To many, it was a putrefying odor and they wanted to
purify
the church from corruption, unbiblical theology, and idolatrous worship.

The Reformation had a profound impact in England and Scotland, which in turn had a greater impact on the establishment of the New World. Unlike the Continental Reformation, the English Reformation began not with a grass-roots campaign and a monk, but at the top, with the king!

At risk of oversimplifying the period between 1500 and 1700, the first half can roughly be identified with the actual events of the English Reformation, while the second half is often called the
Post-Reformation
—the theological, pastoral, social, and political outworking of the Reformation.

England has had a long Christian heritage, dating back to probably the early 2
^nd
century. British bishops attended the Council of Arles in 314, which gives evidence to an organized church in England by that point.

In 597, Pope Gregory the Great sent August-ine of Canterbury (
not 
St. Augustine of Hippo!) to Christianize the Kingdom of Kent and convert the people from Anglo-Saxon paganism (the Anglo-Saxons were a group of Germanic tribes who had migrated there in the 5
^th
century). Within a few months, King Ethelbert of Kent adopted the Christian faith and many of the people followed suit, like a game of Follow-the-Leader. Later on, in 668, Theodore of Tarsus (c.602-690) set about organizing the church in England into various clusters and summoning large-scale church councils. Much of what we know about early Christian history in England comes from Venerable Bede (c.673-735) in his book,
The Ecclesiastical History of the English People
, completed in 731.

The Christian king, Alfred the Great (849-499), who ruled the area of Wessex in Southern England, famously defended the English people from Viking invasions and became the dominant ruler in England. He was regarded as a model of what a Christian king should be—promoting Christian learning and even translating popular works from Latin into English (i.e.
Pastoral Rule
by Gregory the Great). Alfred’s reign increasingly solidified the identity of England as a Christian nation.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the church in England continued to be subject to the Roman Catholic Church. By the 13
^th
century, papal power in England had become very great. However, with a strengthening national pride and a growing awareness of scandals in the church, more and more people in England began to criticise Roman Catholic control. This was during a time when the church in Rome began asking for increasing amounts of money from its constituents in England.

Until the 1500s, English translations of the Bible were forbidden; the Latin Vulgate was the “official” translation. However, the work of John Wycliffe (see last chapter) and William Tyndale (1490-1536) began to shake this foundation with their translations of the Bible into English. Often called the “Father of the English Bible,” Tyndale was the first to translate the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek into English for the general public (Wycliffe had translated it from Latin). In 1535, Miles Coverdale (c.1488-1569) pub-lished the first
complete
English translation, much of the work being Tyndale’s.

With the help of Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556)—then Archbishop of Canterbury and later author of the Book of Common Prayer—every parish church in England would soon have a copy of the English Bible!

As mentioned earlier, the English Reformation began from the top, with the king himself, but not because he liked Luther or believed in Reformed theology! The moment came when King Henry VIII (1491-1547) wanted an annulment with his wife, Catherine of Aragon, so that he could marry Ann Boleyn (he would go on to have a total of
six wives
before his death). When the pope refused the annulment, Henry separated the church
in
England from the Roman Catholic Church in 1534 and declared himself as the “Supreme Head of the Church
of
England,” even though he was theologically opposed to Protestantism.

The theological and church-related changes were introduced only after Henry died and his son, Edward VI (1537-1553), ascended the throne. Edward was only nine years old when he became King of England and, therefore, ruled under the authority of a Council, with Thomas Cranmer taking the lead for church reform. During Edward’s short reign—and under Cranmer’s leadership—the Church of England changed from Catholic to Protestant. A new pattern for worship was laid out in the Book of Common Prayer, largely written by Cranmer, which was to bring a sense of uniformity to the churches across England.

However, when Edward fell ill and died, his half-sister, Mary I (1516-1558)—a staunch Catholic—became queen. Because of her brutality and persecution of Protestants, overseeing the execution of over 280 Protestants (including Thomas Cranmer) she has become known as “Bloody Mary.”

Understandably, many Protestants fled for safety to the Continent. They ended up in bastions of Reformation thought and practice, like Strasbourg and Geneva, which proved to be important for the development of Reformation ideas back in England. When Mary died in 1558 and her Protestant half- sister, Elizabeth, took the throne, these exiles returned to England with a greater zeal to see a more complete and thorough Reformation take place in England.

Unfortunately, Elizabeth I (1533-1603) adopted a politically wise agenda—known as the
via media
, the “middle way”—between a Protestant theology and a Roman Catholic look. While the theology changed back to Protestantism, the structure and feel of worship still looked like Roman Catholicism. Elizabeth also changed her title from Supreme Head of the Church of England to “Supreme Governor” (as Jesus is the only “Head” of the church).

Many, however, were not happy with this middle-road and wanted to purify the Church of England from its Roman Catholic vestiges. These became known as the “
Puritans
.”

But while there were many varieties of Puritans, a Puritan was one who reacted against Elizabeth’s via
media
in favor of a more thorough reformation in England; one who promoted evangelism, catechism (a series of questions and answers), and spiritual growth through the preaching and teaching of the Bible; one who embraced the doctrines of justification by faith alone and God’s saving work by grace alone; and one who strove for personal holiness.

In particular, the Puritans—or as one historian called them, “intense Protestants”—wanted to purify the Church of England from certain practices and symbols: ministers wearing ceremonial vestments and surplices (religious clothing) that symbolized a mediatorial role between God and man. The Puritans rightly believed that Jesus was the only Mediator between God and man (cf. 1 Tim. 2:5). They wanted to remove crucifixes (crosses with Jesus on them) because Christ had risen from the dead. They sought to eliminate kneeling at Communion because it was seen as worshiping the bread and wine, which is idolatry. The Puritans wanted more preaching, catechism, and church discipline against immoral parishioners and clergy. To some, they seemed like killjoys and, thus, their neighbors did not always like them!

When Elizabeth died in 1603, James VI of Scotland became James I of England, uniting the two kingdoms under one monarch. James had a Protestant upbringing, which gave false hope (as it turned out) to the Puritans. Even though the Puritans argued their case before him—against the bishops at the Hampton Court Conference in 1604—James sided with the bishops and the establishment, who said, “No bishop, no king.” James believed that his monarchy and the church government stood or fell together. Thus, the Catholic structure, its look and feel remained bonded to a Protestant theology. This is seen today in the Anglican and Episcopal Churches.

However, not all was lost. James did order a fresh translation of the Bible, published in 1611, as the “King James” (kjv) or “Authorized Version”—the most influential Bible ever produced in the English-speaking world. James also required all churches to subscribe to the Book of Common Prayer, but he didn’t do a great job at
enforcing
his policies against the Puritans. His successor, however, King Charles I, did enforce policy and many Puritans came under intense persecution for not conforming to the state church.

We should note, at this point, that Scotland went through a more thorough Reformation more rapidly. In 1547, when England was about to convert to Protestantism, Scotland was still controlled by the Catholic French. However, St. Andrews was a Protestant holdout and a young fiery man named John Knox (1514-1572) tutored there. The French stormed the city and took Knox prisoner to serve on a big rowboat called a galley.

After two years, in 1549, he was released and took refuge in England. However, when “Bloody Mary” took the throne in 1553, he fled to Geneva, where he met Calvin. In a letter in 1556, Knox stated that Geneva “is the most perfect school of Christ that ever was in the earth since the days of the apostles.” He stayed busy in Geneva, preaching several times a week and conducting multiple meetings and visitations.

In a rather unfortunate set of circum-stances, Knox wrote a pamphlet entitled
The First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women
, in which he attacked the idea that women (especially wicked women) should rule as queens. He called them “harlots,” “monsters of nature,” and “Jezebels.” His antagonist, of course, was Queen Mary, but it was published the year that Mary died and Queen Elizabeth I took the throne (1558)—and Elizabeth was quite offended! In fact, she never forgave him and refused to let Knox back into England for the rest of his life!

Thus, Knox travelled straight to his homeland in Scotland in 1559. Upon arrival, Knox pushed through a series of Protestant reformations, leading to a formal break with the Roman Catholic Church the next year. The Church of Scotland also produced the Scots Confession of Faith—largely the work of Knox—which expressed the theology of Calvin. Knox continued to encourage a thorough reformation in Scotland, ministering in Edinburgh at St. Giles Cathedral until his death in 1572.

As mentioned earlier, Charles I set out to enforce his anti-Puritan policies when he took the throne in 1625. He demanded absolute conformity to the use of the Book of Common Prayer and the ceremonies that many Protestants couldn’t stand. In 1638, Charles also tried to force these policies on the Scots, who were by that time fully Presbyterian and not under the control of the Church of England. Bad move!

The Scots rebelled. One lady, Jenny Geddes, reportedly threw a stool at the minister in St. Giles who started using the Book of Common Prayer in the worship service! Charles was furious at the Scots’ response and sent an army up to squelch the rebellion. But to his great consternation, the Scots beat his army and the English were forced to retreat. Charles went to Parliament to ask for more money to fight the Scots only to be handed what was called the “Grand Remonstrance of 1640,” which stipulated that they would grant Charles the money
only if
he agreed to their list of grievances; particularly, (1) that only Parliament can raise taxes and not the king and (2) that he must stop the oppression of religious uniformity.

Being an arrogant individual Charles took this as a direct assault to his kingship and declared war on his own Parliament! From 1642 to 1648, England was torn in a brutal Civil War. The two armies fought back and forth with Parliament finally coming out on top, thanks to the Scots coming alongside them to fight and the brilliant English leaders, Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658) and General Thomas Fairfax (1612-1671). King Charles was captured, brought up on charges, and beheaded on January 30, 1649.

Significantly, throughout the war, Parlia-ment controlled the southeastern portion of England, including London. It was there, at Westminster Abbey, that a gathering of nearly 130 ministers would meet from 1643 to 1647 to write one of the most beloved and influential confessions of faith, the
Westminster Confession of Faith
. They also composed a Larger and Shorter Catechism and a Directory for Public Worship.

With Charles executed, England was declared a republic and quickly chose Oliver Cromwell to be their leader. Refusing the title of “king,” Cromwell became “Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England.” Many attribute the 1650s to be the
triumph
of Puritanism. In reality, the sudden change to a Commonwealth caused irreparable damage to the Puritan cause. Disorder, chaos, and confusion reigned and, after only a decade, the people wanted a return to the monarchy.

By 1660, the pendulum of national favor swung back toward a monarchy and Charles II (Charles I’s son) was crowned king—bringing with him the Restoration of the Church of England and the persecution of the Puritans. This period became hauntingly known as the
Great Persecution
. Many faced torture, fines, imprisonment, loss of civil liberties, denial of access to the universities, and (in some cases) execution; all this for simply not conforming to the official church.

After Charles II’s arrival, thirteen men involved in the execution of his father were themselves executed for treason. Two years later, in 1662, Charles enacted the
Act of Uniformity
, demanding that all ministers and churches be uniform, prescribing to the worship as outlined in the Book of Common Prayer. That August, nearly 2,000 ministers, professors, and church leaders (called “nonconformists” or “dissenters”) conscientiously objected and were, thereby, forced out! In 1665, these dissenters were evicted from five miles from their town of ministry—known as the Five Mile Act.