What is the Church of England?

Question

True Bible Answers · Accepted Answer

The Church of England is the national church that emerged when England broke with Rome in the sixteenth century, with the reigning monarch — not the pope — recognised as its head. The writers in this collection treat it as two things at once: a real deliverance from Rome, and a system tied to the state in a way the New Testament never describes.

A break with Rome, not a conversion

The break began with a king, and one commentator is careful to credit the act while refusing to credit the man.

As for Henry VIII, he threw off the pope's authority, and he was right. Why should a bishop at Rome govern England? But as for his being a Protestant, he was anything but that. He had six articles drawn up, among them the doctrine of transubstantiation, the keystone of Romanism, and he bitterly persecuted those who would not submit — all who held the Protestant faith — just as the pope had done before him.

J. N. Darby

The form it still carries

Its familiar shape — a book of prayers and a list of articles — was settled under Henry's son and daughter.

During the short reign of Edward, every encouragement was given to spreading the English Bible… Articles of religion were also agreed on by the assembly of clergy; they were forty-two in number. In the reign of Elizabeth they were reduced to thirty-nine, which continue, as revised then, to be the standard of the English church. The liturgy was revised and revised again, chiefly by Cranmer and Ridley, and came into use in 1552. It was substantially the Book of Common Prayer now in use.

Church History

Church and state joined

What makes it the Church of England, rather than simply a group of Christians in England, is its legal bond with the crown. That bond is where the objection falls.

While thanking God for the Reformation that released these favoured lands from the superstition and bondage of Rome… we still have to admit that it came partly as a political affair, in which the uncontrolled moods of Henry VIII, whose life was one long act of cruelty and wickedness, played a part. He became head of the Reformed Church of England, and whatever the character of the reigning monarch may be, he holds this office by virtue of being king. The union between Church and State is completely opposed to the teaching of the Word of God.

A J Pollock

Membership by residence, not by faith

The state connection decides who belongs. In a national church, the parish boundary does the work that faith does in the New Testament.

It is well known that, unless they are actually dissenters, the people of a parish, town, or county — even if they are in complete darkness — are all members of the Church of England, so called. They would call themselves so… They are entitled to be received as such, if not openly immoral, though they may not be able to tell you who Jesus was, and though in their ignorance they deny every truth of the gospel… That is, the world, behaving well enough not to shock public decency, is entitled to be received at communion, because the system rests on ordinances, not on faith.

J. N. Darby

A good beginning that lost ground

Commentators differ in tone here. Some write with force; another sets out the story in stages, giving the movement its due before tracing the decline.

The English Establishment, in spite of many and serious drawbacks, had a holy aim at its rise, since it turned its back on a growing and hateful deception. Though much hindered, especially by the king, in its work of clearing itself from many deep-rooted superstitions, it honestly set its face against what was known to be evil. But afterwards it went backwards, until its ritual observances were made a test and forced out many godly nonconformists, whose origin was therefore morally respectable and godly.

William Kelly

Real believers are inside it

Criticism of the system is not a verdict on the people in it, and the writers say so plainly.

The Lord has some of His saints in the Establishment; He dearly loves them, and I trust that we do too. I am not judging them… but saints should seek to distinguish between things that differ.

C J Davis

The measure Scripture uses

Behind every point above lies one test: what does the Bible call the church?

Now what is the church of God, or assembly of God, as found in Scripture? Who is its head, and who is its centre? Is it a nation? Nowhere. Or a number of nations? No. Who then were its members? Every believer on earth. Who is its Head and centre? Christ in heaven.

C Stanley

Summary

- Origin — it began as a break with Rome under Henry VIII, an act these writers call right, done by a king who was "anything but" Protestant himself.

- Form — the Thirty-nine Articles and the Book of Common Prayer, settled under Edward and Elizabeth, remain its standard.

- Union — its defining mark is the bond of church and state, with the crown as head simply by being the crown.

- Membership — that bond makes the whole population members, admitted on ordinances rather than on faith.

- Measure — Scripture knows no national church: its members are every believer on earth, its Head Christ in heaven — and many of those believers are found inside the Establishment today.