Introduction to Anglican Theology - Anglicanism and Scripture

(Lesson Four)
In the first three lessons we studied the Articles of Religion. In this lesson we will study the great discovery of the Reformation, the saving message of Scripture as the source of Christian truth and life. To learn of this more fully, we will investigate Article 6 of the Articles of Religion in greater detail, and then we will read a portion of Cranmer’s Preface to the Great Bible of 1540. Before we do that, however, we need to briefly introduce Thomas Cranmer as he was, more than anyone else, the father of the English Reformation.

Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556)

In 1533 Cranmer became archbishop of Canterbury and enabled King Henry VIII to divorce his first wife in violation of the wishes of the pope. This, along with other factors, led to a break with Rome. The severing of the relationship with Rome, however, was far more than a king wanting to divorce his wife; there were profound theological reasons as well.

As a theologian, having studied at Cambridge, Cranmer embraced a number of the theological ideas that characterized the Protestant Reformation and brought about the break with the Roman Church. Among these ideas, four beliefs were especially important. First, Cranmer accepted the complete authority of Scripture and did not believe that traditions had equal authority with Scripture. Further, he believed that Scripture should be read and studied, not only by the clergy, but by the laity as well. Second, he believed that a person was justified and put right with God through the merits of Christ’s sacrifice upon the cross and not by one’s good works. He also believed that good works would follow those who by faith receive the justifying work of Christ, but these good works do not save in and of themselves. Third, he did not believe that the bread and wine of communion actually became the body and blood of Christ, but rather, God used the bread and wine to convey the grace given in the person of Christ. Finally, he believed that worship should be in the language of the people. For that purpose a prayer book in English needed to be written and Cranmer is considered to be the author of the first Anglican Prayer Book, the book of 1549.

Let us now consider Article 6 more fully.

Article Six

You will notice that Article 6 lists the “canonical books of the Old and New Testaments whose authority has never been doubted within the church.” What is meant by the word “canonical”? The word canonical refers to canon, and a canon is something that is designated as the standard for measuring other things. The canonical Scriptures are those biblical books which convey and measure Christian truth. How then did certain books become part of the canon of Scripture? Why were the books listed in Article 6 chosen rather than other books that might give knowledge of God?

As we saw in Lesson One, the transcendent God speaks, acts, and appears. As this happens, he reveals himself as a personal living God. As he reveals himself to his people, they record his revelation. The Old Testament is the record of God speaking, acting, and appearing in the life of his people Israel. The New Testament is the record of his speaking, acting, and appearing as the person of Jesus. These events are revelation, God making himself known. Since God is transcendent he cannot be known as a personal God by created things, the things we see around us or by whatever happens to us. We may be able to know that God is powerful by looking at the created world, but we do not know him as a personal, saving God unless he speaks, acts, and appears. Where are his words found? Does he speak to us directly in a way that we can trust? Does he speak in our day to those who claim direct revelations that we should follow? God has not chosen to reveal himself to just anyone, but to Israel, and supremely, in the Lord Jesus.

Israel knew that God had spoken and acted in her life, and they preserved that revelation in writing. The revelation was preserved because there were many who claimed revelations that were not of God. Many false prophets, for example, claimed to be the voice of God, but they were not. In the years after the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, there were many false teachers who claimed to know the revelation given as the person of Jesus Christ, and they wrote false gospels to record their revelations. These were rejected by the followers of Jesus because they were not apostolic, that is, they were not in accord with the teaching of the apostles. The apostles or their immediate associates were the ones who knew Jesus, and therefore, they knew the truth of God as revealed in Jesus. They wrote gospels and letters to proclaim the true gospel, and these were preserved to protect the revelation of Jesus against all other presumed revelations. In sum, the books of the Old and New Testaments were preserved because they contained the true revelation of God.

By the time of Christ, the process by which the books of the Old Testament were established was essentially complete. The process by which the documents that were to form the New Testament were recognized as apostolic was completed by the third or fourth century. In this process, the church decided which documents set forth the revelation of Christ and which did not. The fact that the church decided which documents were authoritative does not mean, however, that the church had the authority to create revelation. The church could only receive and preserve the true revelation, and from the beginning, the church knew that the authoritative revelation was given to the apostles who knew Jesus. This can be seen throughout the New Testament. For example, Matthew’s gospel ends with the risen Jesus speaking these words to the apostles, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20). Jesus did not say that the nations were to obey the teaching he was going to give them by direct revelation, but rather, the revelation the nations were to obey were the commands given to the apostles which they were to carry to the nations. Or, in Galatians, Paul will say, “But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8-9). In other words, there was and is no authoritative gospel except the one Paul and the other apostles preached from the beginning. Or, just prior to his ascension, Jesus told his disciples that they would be his “witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8). It is the apostolic witness that is given to the world, and as the gospel made its way among the nations, that witness was enshrined in the canon of Scripture to protect it from distortions for all time. In summary, it can be said that the books of the New Testament were recognized as canonical because they were written by the apostles or their associates, for it was the apostles who knew Jesus and were authorized by him to proclaim and protect the revelation of God.

This is not to deny that God speaks, acts, and appears to people today. The primary way this happens is through Scripture, especially as set forth in worship which includes preaching and Holy Communion. He also speaks and acts through Christian fellowship and the ministry of the church, as well as immediate words, dreams, and visions. He can also speak and act through circumstances. All acts and words of God given in the lives of Christians today, however, need to be measured against Scripture, and even if they are consistent with Scripture, are to be received with some caution. Scripture is the place, above all, where God speaks. Scripture is the canon, that is, the measure by which we know the truth of all God’s words and deeds. Article 6 does not allow other revelations, other words and deeds, to become decisive sources of truth. All this follows from the fact that God chose to reveal himself to the Jews, culminating in Jesus, God’s last revelation until Christ comes again and we see him face to face.

We may note that Article 6 refers to “other books,” the Apocrypha,” and lists them, beginning with 1 Esdras and ending with 2 Maccabees. The Roman Church placed a number of these book in their canon of Scripture in 1546. These books, however, are not accepted by Anglicans as sources of doctrine. They are only useful as examples of life. Anglicans, and Protestants in general, do not accept the Apocryphal books for a number of reasons. Among other reasons, they did not belong to the Hebrew canon of the Jewish Old Testament, they were not accepted by the early church, and they are never quoted by New Testament writers who often quote the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament. In short, the books included in Scripture are those, to quote Article 6, “whose authority has never been doubted within the church.”

Article 6 states that “Holy Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation.” What then is salvation? First and foremost, Scripture itself tells us the meaning of salvation. Salvation means an eternal relationship with the Lord Jesus who reveals the transcendent Father, the living God of love, and all this takes place in the power of the Holy Spirit and in community with other believers. Salvation is more than this, but this is the heart of it, and in the final day, it entails the creation of a new heaven and earth in which the redeemed will live with God forever. This is all we need, and this is always the most important thing.

Note that the emphasis of Article 6 is salvation. Scripture is a revelation of God, and as we receive and believe this revelation of God, we come to know God and are saved. That is the purpose of Scripture and it is to be read with that purpose in mind. It is not to be read as scientific text, giving for example, a scientific account of the creation of the world. Nor is its primary purpose to give us information about the geography of Palestine, ancient social customs, or Hebrew agricultural practices. In recent centuries a great deal of information has been learned through archaeology and the study of other ancient texts. This information can shed some light on the context of biblical texts, but the men and women of God were saved by the knowledge of God given in Scripture long before these recent discoveries. This is because Scripture speaks directly to universal conditions – the need for food, clothing, and shelter, the realities of family, friends, and country, the fact of sorrow, destruction, and death, and the longing for God and the hope of eternal life. These conditions exist in all times and places, and Scripture speaks to these conditions, revealing a living God who sent his Son to save us. That is the purpose of Scripture, salvation.

Article 6 states that “Holy Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation.” It also affirms that other things, not found or proven from Scripture, “cannot be demanded from any person to believe it as an article of the faith.” The implication is that the great truths of Scripture must be believed as an article of faith. For Christians, this is of supreme importance. Since God is transcendent, his ways are not our ways and his thoughts are not our thoughts. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, “’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the LORD. “’For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’” (Isaiah 55:8-9). What we see and do, what we believe and think, may not reflect the biblical revelation, and therefore, the truths of Scripture need to be held in faith. For example, Jesus, in Matthew 28 proclaims that “All authority bin heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18). However, as we look at the world around us, we see terrible injustices and horrible situations where it seems as if Jesus exercises little authority. Or, there may be times when we have been wronged so badly that we seem perfectly justified to get revenge. Or, we may have certain sins that we think do not hurt anyone, but Scripture proclaims that we must repent of all sins at once. Or, many Christians pray without ceasing, and it seems as if their prayers are never answered. Scripture proclaims, however, that Christ does indeed have all authority, that we are called to forgive regardless of the offense, that the wages of sin is death, and that God does hear all prayers. Therefore, regardless of the circumstances, Christians are called to hold fast to the great biblical truths, trusting God to bring all things to their best conclusion.

Finally, Scripture is God’s Word written. It is God speaking to us. Article 6 does not state this directly, but Articles 17, 20, 22, 24, and 34 refer to Scripture as the Word of God, and Articles 19, 21, 26, 37 refer to the ministry of the Word which has its basis in Scripture. Therefore, when reading or listening to Scripture, we are to read it as God speaking, and since he is the living God, a powerful, stern, yet merciful and loving God, we are to approach his Word with reverence, ever attentive to his voice.

For the Reformers, Scripture was of supreme importance, and they urged the faithful to daily immerse themselves in Scripture. Cranmer, the author of the first Anglican Prayer Book, required that major portions of Scripture be read in the liturgy for Sunday worship, as well as in the services for morning and evening prayer. It was his hope that believers would read Scripture each day, morning and evening, and in this way walk with God who speaks daily by his written Word.

More could be said on this important topic of Scripture, but for the moment, we may summarize the teaching of this lesson. God is a personal, living God, and he is not truly known unless he speaks, acts, and appears to his people. He does not reveal himself to everyone, but to those he has chosen. He has chosen Israel, and the Son of Israel, Jesus Christ as known in the apostolic witness. Scripture is the norm of faith, and its books were placed in Scripture because they contain the revelation to Israel and to the Lord Jesus as known by the apostles. As the witness of God’s revelation, it is God speaking to us, and therefore, it is to be approached with reverence and the expectation that he will speak. The purpose of Scripture is salvation, and as believers read Scripture, God reveals himself as a savior. For Anglicans, Scripture is so important that it is amply read in worship and in evening and morning prayer, making it possible to walk daily with God.

Review Questions for the Above Paragraphs

1. Who, according to Lesson Four, is considered to be one of the most important of the English Reformers and when did he live?

2. Who is considered to be the author of the first Anglican Prayer Book?

3. In regard to Scripture, what does the word “canon” mean?

4. First and foremost, to whom did God chose to reveal himself?

5. Why were certain writings about Jesus rejected?

6. Why were the books of the Old and New Testaments preserved?

7. Does the church have the authority to create revelation?

8. What point does the lesson make in reference to Matthew 28: 19-20?

9. Does the essay say that God can speak in ordinary life, and if so, what is the relationship between his speaking in our lives and his Word in Scripture?

10. Give three reasons Anglicans do not accept the Apocrypha?

11. Briefly, how does the essay describe salvation?

12. What is the purpose of Scripture?

13. The lesson mentions several things found in Scripture that are not the purpose of Scripture. List three of these things.

14. The lesson states that God’s ways are not our ways, and therefore, the truths of Scripture may not be something we can readily understand or want to believe. Tell me three things that Scripture proclaims as true that you find difficult to understand, or believe, or apply to your life.

15. As we read or hear Scripture, what should be our attitude to the Word of God?

The Reading for Lesson Four

Our reading for this lesson will be portions of Cranmer’s Preface to the Great Bible of 1540. This was the first edition of the Bible in English, being authorized by King Henry VIII, the head of the Church of England. Thomas Cranmer oversaw the work of preparing the Bible, and the translation was carried out by Myles Coverdale. Prior to the Reformation, Scripture was not available in English as the Roman Church used the Vulgate translation, a Latin translation by St. Jerome dating from late in the fourth century. Publishing the Bible in English meant that Scripture could be read by those who were literate, and further, the book was to be used in worship. With the advent of the First Anglican Prayer Book, Anglican worship, the readings from the Great Bible and the liturgy, were in English.

Please open Cranmer's Preface to the Great Bible and answer the following questions.

16. Why does Cranmer refer to St. John Chrysostom?

17. In regard to sermons, why does Chrysostom think it important to read the Bible during the week?

18. In the second section of the readings from Cranmer’s Preface, Chrysostom mentions several excuses people give for not reading the Bible. List three of those excuses, as well as similar excuses that you may use for not reading the Bible daily.

19. Chrysostom believes that Christians are at the forefront of the battle against evil, and he mentions a number of struggles and temptations such persons may suffer, beginning with the phrase, “Thy wife provoketh thee to anger …” Read the list of difficulties that follow this phrase, and list those that are most common in your church or community.

20. Where does Chrysostom think one can find protection from these difficulties, as well as healing for the wounds one receives in this sinful world?

21. What insight is being made through the analogy that thieves will not enter a house that is well protected?

22. What effect will the mere sight of the Bible have on those who study it daily?

23. According to the third section from Cranmer’s Preface, to what purpose has the Holy Ghost ordered and tempered Scripture?

24. For what purpose did the apostles and prophets write their books?

25. There are at least two things one should do if one comes upon Bible verses that are hard to understand. What are they?

26. What happens to people who do not know the Scriptures?

27. In the fourth section of Cranmer’s Preface, Cranmer summarizes some of the great benefits of reading Scripture. List at least six of these benefits that you think would be the most important to you and your church.

28. According to the opening lines of Cranmer’s fifth section of Scripture, one should approach Scripture with the fear of God. Write a paragraph on what you think it means to have the fear of God when studying Scripture.

29. Cranmer believed that there were those in his day who were “idle babblers and talkers of the scripture out of season and all good order…”? Reflecting on your own experience of those who talk about Scripture, what do you think he meant by this?

30. What was happening that caused Saint Gregory Nazianzus to say that the religion of Christ had become “nothing else but as it were a sophistry or a talking craft”?

31. Is everyone qualified to speak of high questions of divinity?

32. Saint Gregory Nazianzus thinks that only those who had studied carefully and “cleansed themselves as well in soul as body, or at the least endeavored themselves to be made clean,” were fit to discuss high questions of divinity. What do you think he had in mind when he said that those who investigate Scripture needed to be clean?

33. What does the analogy of not mixing dirt and balm together say about how one should go about seeing and discerning the truth of Scripture?

34. Beginning with the question, “Thirdly, where, and in what audience?” St. Gregory Nazianzus recommends that we not discuss the truths of Scripture with just anyone. With whom shall we discuss such matters, and whom should we avoid?

35. In investigating Scripture, how far should we wade into its difficulties?

36. In the final paragraph of this fifth section from the Preface, St. Gregory Nazianzus is critical of those who read the Bible and then argue about it rather than applying its message to their lives. He gives examples of what one would do who seeks to apply the Scripture to life. Of these examples, list the four that you think are most needed in your community.

37. At the beginning of our sixth section of the Preface, Cranmer says that there are two very important things for studying Holy Scripture. What are they?

38. Once a person has done these two things, they can teach others. In what way is this teaching most effective?

39. What does Cranmer say that God will do to those who do not apply Scripture to their lives?

Discussion Questions

Tell you group about the Great Bible of 1540 and Cranmer’s Preface to the Bible. Also describe what you consider the most important points of Cranmer’s Preface, such things as the benefits of studying Scripture, when to study it, what attitude to take toward Scripture, with whom to discuss its message, and the importance of applying its lessons to life. Ask the group to discuss how they are actually studying Scripture, what effect their study is having on their lives, and how they may be able to come closer to God through a more attentive study of Scripture.

The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D.
February, 2015