Discontent
with the Elizabethan settlement continued to simmer in England. Some
people began to hold their own meetings, fashioning them as they believed the
Scripture required. Convinced that the Church of England was not fully carrying
out the reformation, the Puritans included in their reform efforts attempts to
change the polity of the church according to Scripture.
Stirring the Pot
Thomas Cartwright became a leader
in the fight for ecclesiastical reform. Appointed Lady Margaret Professor at Cambridge in 1569, he
stoked the fires of dissent with his lectures on the book of Acts, in which he
argued for a Presbyterian form of church polity. His biographer Benjamin Brook
summarizes the positions he put forward as follows:
·
That, in reforming the church, it was necessary
to reduce all things to the apostolical institution.
·
That no one ought to be admitted into the
Christian ministry who was unable to preach.
·
That only those who ministered the word ought to
pray publicly in the church, or administer the sacraments.
·
That popish ordinations were not valid.
·
That only canonical Scripture ought to be read
publicly in the church.
·
That the public liturgy ought to be so framed
that there might be no private praying or reading in the church, but that all
the people should attend to the prayers of the minister.
·
That the service of burying the dead did not
belong any more to the ministerial office than to the rest of the church.
·
That equal reverence was due to all canonical
Scripture and the names of God; there was, therefore, no reason why the people
should stand at the reading of the gospel or bow at the name of Jesus.
·
That it was as lawful to sit at the Lord’s table
as to kneel or stand.
·
That the Lord’s Supper ought not to be
administered in private, nor baptism administered by women or laymen.
·
That the sign of the cross in baptism was
superstitious.
·
That it was reasonable and proper that the
parent should offer his own child for baptism, making confession of faith in
which he intended to educate it, without being obliged to answer in the child’s
name “I will,” “I will not,” “I believe,” etc., nor ought women persons under
age to be sponsors.
·
That, in giving names to children, it was
convenient to avoid paganism, as well as the names and offices of Christ and
angels.
·
That it was papistical to forbid marriages at
any particular time of year….
·
That private marriages…were highly inconvenient.
·
That the observation of Lent, and fasting on
Fridays and Saturdays, was superstitious.
·
That the observation of festivals, and trading
or keeping markets on the Lord’s-day, were unlawful.
·
That, in the ordination of ministers,
pronouncing the words, “Receive thou the Holy Ghost,” was both ridiculous and
wicked.
·
That kings and bishops ought not to be anointed.
For this teaching Carwright was
ejected from the university. Nevertheless, he continued to be a major force advocating change in the hierarchical structure of the Church of England.
An Admonition to the
Parliament (1572)
About the
same time Cartwright was being pushed out of Cambridge, Parliament convened and
deliberated questions of religion. The House of Commons had significant Puritan
sympathies. A group of leaders gathered in London and decided to publish a manifesto,
setting forward their objectives. John Brown says, “This manifesto is
historically important as being a clear and deliberate declaration of what the
puritans had in view at this stage in the development of their scheme of
reformation.” Here are some excerpts to give you a flavor of the "Admonition."
Seeing that nothyng in this mortal life is more
diligently to be soght for, and carefully to be loked unto a than the
restitution of true religion and reformation of Gods church: it shall be your partes
(dearly beloved) in this present Parliament assembled, as much as in you lyeth
to promote the same, and to employ your whole labour and studie; not onely in
abandoning al popish remnants both in ceremonies and regiment, but also in
bringing in and placing in Gods church those things only, which the Lord himself
in his word commandeth....
May it therfore please your wysedomes to
understand, we in England are so fare of, from having a church rightly
reformed, according to the prescript of Gods worde, that as yet we are not come
to the outwarde face of the same....The outwarde markes wherby a true Christian
church is knowne, are preaching; of the worde purely, ministring of the
sacraments sincerely, and ecclesiastical discipline which consisteth in
admonition and correction of faults severelie.
Touching the fyrst, namely the
ministerie of the worde, although it must be confessed that the substance of doctrine
by many delivered is sound and good, yet here in it faileth, that neither the
ministers thereof are accordyng to Gods worde proved, elected, called, or
ordayned : nor the function in such sorte so narrowly loked unto, as of right
it ought, and is of necessitie required.
Now to the second point, which concerneth
ministration of Sacraments. In the olde time, the worde was preached, before
they were ministred : now it is supposed to be sufficient, if it be read. Then,
they wer ministred in publique c assemblies, now in private houses. Then by
ministers only, now by midwives, and Deacons, equally. But because in treating
of both the sacraments together, we should deale confusedly : we wyll therefore
speake of them severallie. And fyrst for the Lordes supper, or holy communion.
They had no introite, for Celestinus a pope broght it in, aboute the yeare 430.
But we have borrowed a peece of one out of the masse booke....They simply
as they receeved it from the Lorde. We, sinfullye, mixed with mannes inventions
and devises. And as for Baptisme, it was enough with them, if they had water,
and the partie to be baptised faith, and the minister to preach the word and
minister the sacraments....And
finally, that nothing be don in this or ani other thing, but that which you
have the expresse warrant of Gods worde for.
Let us come now to the third parte, which
concerneth ecclesiastical discipline....Now then, if you wyl restore the church to his
ancient officers, this you must doe. In stead of an Archbishop or Lord bishop,
you must make equalitie of ministers....The chieffest parte and last punishment of this
discipline is excommunication, by the consent of the church determined, if the
offender be obstinate, which how miserably it hath ben by the Popes proctours,
and is by our new Canonists abused, who seeth not? In the primative church it
was in a many mennes handes: now one alone excommunicateth. In those days it
was the last censure of the church, and never went forth but for notorious
crimes: Now it is pronounced for every light trifle. Then excommunication was
greatly regarded and feared. Now because it is a money matter, no whit at al
estemed. Then for great sinnes, severe punishment, and for smal offences,
little censures. Now great sinnes eyther not at al punished, as blasphemy,
usury, etc, or else sleightly passed over with pricking in a blanket, or
pinning in a sheet, as adulterie, whoredome, drunkennes, etc.
The God of
all glorie so open your eyes to see his truth, that you may not onely be
inflamed with a love thereof, but with a continuall care seeke to promote,
plant, and place the same amongst us, that we the English people, and our
posteritie, enjoying the sinceritie of Gods gospel for ever, may say alwayes :
The Lorde be praysed. To whome with Chryst Jesus his sonne our onely saviour,
& the Holy gost our alone comfortor, be honour, prayse, and glorie, for
ever and ever. Amen.
[Taken
from Frere and Douglas, ed. Puritan
Manifestos: A Study of the Origin of the Puritan Revolt (London: SPCK,
1907), 8-19. Excerpts of the “Admonition” can be found in updated form in Hans
J. Hillerbrand, The Protestant
Reformation, revised ed. (New York: Harper Perennial, 2009).]
The “Admonition” had a sensational impact. Its authors, John
Field and Thomas Wilcocks, were immediately imprisoned. Thomas Cartwright
produced A Second Admonition to the
Parliament, advocating practical means by which the needed reforms could be
carried out. However, John Whitgift produced a reply in defense of the English
church. To this, Cartwright replied with A
Reply to an Answer of M Doctor Whitgift, and Whitgift battled back with Defense of the Answer.
However, Cartwright was not done, so he published The Second Reply Against Master Whitgift’s Second Answer touching the
Church Discipline in two parts. To oversimplify, Whitgift’s basic arguments
were that we do not need to keep to the same form of church government as in
the time of the Apostles and that simply because something was found in the
Roman church does not make it wrong.
Eventually, Whitgift became
Archbishop of Canterbury, and he cracked down on the Puritans. He immediately
began to enforce his requirements: “(1) That none be permitted to read and
preach and catechise in the Church unless he do, four times a year at least,
minister the sacraments according to the Book of Common Prayer; (2) That all
preachers do at all times wear and use such kind of apparel as is prescribed by
the Book of Advertisements and her Majesty's Injunctions; and (3) That none be
admitted unless he subscribe Articles (a) asserting the Queen's supremacy over
all causes ecclesiastical as well as civil; (b) declaring that the Book of
Common Prayer contains nothing contrary to the Word of God, he promising to use
no other form of service; and (c) avowing acceptance of the Thirty-nine
Articles of 1562" (John Brown, The English Puritans).
Despite all
this, those of Puritan sentiments continued to work. Some worked to secretly
establish churches on the Presbyterian model. They also continued publishing. Between October 1588 and September 1589, seven tracts appeared,
written under the pseudonym Martin Marprelate, mercilessly ridiculing the
established church. These witty and vigorous attacks on the Church of England
stirred up increased efforts to stamp out Puritanism. In the end, Archbishop Whitgift
succeeded in crushing all organized efforts at puritan reforms, even though he
could not eliminate the spirit which animated them. Moreover, the Anglicans
found a champion in Richard Hooker, who published his massive Laws of Eccesiastical Polity in an
effort to give Anglican church structures an overwhelming defense.
In her long struggle with
Puritanism, Queen Elizabeth maintained her position as the governor of the
church. She was wiser and gentler than her father, but she certainly had his
iron spirit. By the last decade of the sixteenth century, it was clear that
Puritan views were not going to be allowed. The Puritans had to bide their
time.
JDP
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