English Reformation Research Paper

One of the first examples of Anglican reform during the English Reformation may be seen in the two ecclesiastical injunctions imposed by Thomas Cromwell in 1536 and 1538. The first injunction demanded that the clergy teach the Articles of Faith and the Ten Commandments to both their congregations and the children of the community. Parents were urged to either educate their children or apprentice them to occupations to lower crime and social disorder. Rich clerics were instructed to support scholars at the universities and grammar schools. Non-resident clerics had to distribute part of their income to both the poor and to the repair and upkeep of churches. The second injunction demanded the examination of parishioners in the articles of faith, quarterly Scripture-based sermons by licensed preachers, and the removal of certain images. These rules were not immensely effective, but they did begin the slow process of alleviating many ecclesiastical practices and bringing them up to the expectations of the Reformers. While these injunctions are not attributed to Cranmer, he certainly adopted the
practice in his later demand for the use of Scripture and unified liturgy throughout the church.
The English Reformers were comprised of the best scholars living in England: William Tyndale, Thomas Cranmer, Nicholas Ridley, Myles Coverdale, John Cheke, Thomas Parker, and John Jewel. The English conservatives that opposed them lacked the intellectual background to become worthy adversaries who could regenerate Catholic theology against them. In addition to these Reformers, men like Thomas Starkey and Philip Melanchthon introduced the doctrine of adiaphora, which are matters that are not regarded as essential to faith but that are nevertheless permissible for Christians or allowed in church. This doctrine eventually found a permanent place in Anglican thought.
In the view of Thomas Cranmer, the true doctrine of the Christian faith should be built on Scriptural authority, set forth by a Christian King in Parliament, and accepted by the people without an opinionated argument over ecclesiastical details.
This approach to Christianity did not typically appeal to the clergy of Cranmer’s time since their traditions and training lead them to an orthodoxy based on a precise scholastic definition of doctrine. However, the concept of a Scripture-based faith favored the humanist and educational ideals of the new generation. Against that Erasmian humanist background, Cranmer’s definition of a true doctrine stressed an education in the text and in the early Church Fathers. Under Cranmer, church leaders were either the patristic scholar or the Bible-reading priest. This is the learned culture that the Anglican Church has never ceased to
produce.