Thirty-Nine Articles

Thirty-Nine Articles, a set of doctrinal statements generally accepted in the Anglican Communion as having primary doctrinal significance. The articles are not officially acknowledged as a binding creed or confession of faith, but they do record the doctrinal foundations on which Anglican tradition grew.

The Thirty-nine Articles were devised in the Convocation of Canterbury of the Church of England in 1563 and given the support of statutory law by Parliament in 1571, at which time it was required that all clergy subscribe to most of them, a requirement no longer insisted on in most Anglican churches. They represent the end of a process aimed at achieving doctrinal uniformity, beginning with the Ten Articles of 1536 and extending to the Bishops' Book (1537), the Six Articles (1539), the King's Book (1543), and the Forty-two Articles (1553). Thomas Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury under King Henry VIII and King Edward VI, was responsible for much of the Forty-two Articles, which were influenced by the Lutheran Augsburg Confession. Matthew Parker, archbishop under Queen Elizabeth I, was involved in revising those articles to produce the final 39, which were additionally influenced by the Lutheran Württemberg Confession. The articles were meant to define the limits of acceptable doctrine in the Church of England in relation to the teachings of the Roman Catholic church and of the Anabaptists.

Articles 1 to 5 affirm the historic faith of the ancient creeds concerning the Trinity with an emphasis on Christ. Articles 6 to 8 affirm the Scriptures as containing “all things necessary to salvation” and affirm ancient creeds “to be received and believed: for they may be proved by most certain warrants of Holy Scripture.” Articles 9 to 18 concern personal religion and express basic reformed doctrine concerning free will and grace, justification, predestination, and good works. Articles 19 to 36 concern religion, especially the nature, constitution, order, and authority of the church; the sacraments; and a rejection of the doctrine of purgatory. In Article 28 both Roman Catholic and Zwinglian interpretations of Christ's presence in the Holy Communion are rejected in favor of a doctrine that insists on a real partaking of Christ, whose body is received in a heavenly and spiritual manner by faith (see Eucharist). Articles 37 to 39 concern the national church and its relation to the state. It is here that member churches of the Anglican Communion have had to make the most changes, bringing the articles, especially Article 37, “Of the Power of the Civil Magistrate,” into line with political realities. Thus, where the original article referred to the “King's Majesty,” the American version, adopted in 1801 by the Episcopal church, speaks of the “power of Civil Magistrates.”

See also Protestantism; Reformation.