The Books of Homilies

Last updated

The Books of Homilies (1547, 1562, and 1571) are two books together containing thirty-three sermons developing the authorized reformed doctrines of the Church of England in depth and detail, as appointed for use in the 35th Article of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion. The longer title of the collection is Certain Sermons or Homilies Appointed to Be Read in Churches. They belong to the basic formularies of the Church of England. [1]

Contents

Revision and reform

Thomas Cromwell in 1532/1533 by Hans Holbein the Younger Cromwell,Thomas(1EEssex)01.jpg
Thomas Cromwell in 1532/1533 by Hans Holbein the Younger

Following the secession of the Church of England from the jurisdiction of the Church of Rome in 1530, and the designation of the monarch, Henry VIII of England, as the chief power in both the civil and ecclesiastical estates of the realm, it was needed for the establishment of the English Reformation that the reformed Christian doctrines, theology, piety, and practice should be explained and taught as widely as possible among all congregations throughout the realm. Although the liturgy had formerly been conducted entirely in Latin, and holy communion (consisting only of the consecrated bread) was administered twice a year, the progress of reformed faith had long been developing unofficially among the populace at all levels, as much through the Wycliffite tradition, as through the new learning in the universities in its wider European context.

The Bishops' Book and King's Book

Attempts to reformulate the doctrine of the English Church, led by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer under Thomas Cromwell as Vicegerent, begun with the adoption of the (partly Lutheran) Ten Articles in 1536, was augmented in 1537 by a volume of disquisitions known as the Bishops' Book , or The Institution of a Christen Man. [2] This book was divided into four sections as follows:

* The exposition of the Apostles' Creed
* The declaration of the Seven Sacraments
* The exposition of the Ten Commandments
* The exposition of the Pater noster and the Ave , with the articles of Justification and Purgatory.

Dedicated by the bishops to King Henry, this was first ordered to be read from the pulpits, but then suppressed with a view to revision. In 1539 the Six Articles were enacted in law, a reactionary formula with severe penalties for violation. The revised work called the King's Book , or The Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for Any Christen Man, was deliberated upon at the Convocation of 1540 (at the time of Cromwell's fall) and published in 1543. [3] The King's Book contained sections as follows, as in the Bishops' Book giving lengthy paraphrases or expositions on each of the various articles within the sections, line by line:

* The declaration of Faith
* The articles of our belief, called the Creed
* The seven sacraments
* The ten commandments of almighty god
* Our lord's prayer called the Pater noster
* The salutation of the angel, called the Ave Maria
* An article of free will
* An article of justification
* An article of good works
* Of prayer for souls departed.

Edwardian Reform: the First Book of Homilies (1547)

It was under Thomas Cranmer, the reformist Archbishop of Canterbury through the later reign of King Henry (Defender of the Faith) and that of Edward VI (ruled 1547–1553), that the doctrine presented in the first volume (1547) of the Homilies, Certayne Sermons, or Homelies appoynted by the kynges Maiestie, was formulated. [4] The Six Articles were repealed in the same year. An authorized, unified and clearly expressed statement of doctrine for public understanding was needed, to be placed in the hands of the priesthood at large to deliver it. The preface to the first edition, as under King Edward's authority advised by his Protector, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, takes as its premise the need to cast off the "manifold enormities" and "ungodly doctrine" of the adherents of the "Bishoppe of Rome", which (it says) has led so many away "from doing the commandments of God, unto voluntary works and fantasies invented of men". It was the king's command that the parsons, vicars and curates should read through the homilies Sunday by Sunday (except when a sermon was to be delivered) until the whole book was read, and then to begin again. [5]

This volume [6] therefore preceded the publication of the reformed liturgy in the Edwardian Book of Common Prayer of 1549, its revision of 1552, and the issuing of the Forty-two Articles in 1553. Volume I contains twelve sermons and was mainly written by Cranmer. They focus strongly upon the character of God and Justification by Faith and were printed by the King's Printers, Richard Grafton and Edward Whitchurch. [7]

Thomas Cranmer in 1545 Thomas Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke.jpg
Thomas Cranmer in 1545

The homilies are:

  1. A Fruitful exhortation to the reading of holy Scripture.
  2. Of the misery of all mankind.
  3. Of the salvation of all mankind.
  4. Of the true and lively faith.
  5. Of good works.
  6. Of Christian love and charity.
  7. Against swearing and perjury.
  8. Of the declining from GOD.
  9. An exhortation against the fear of death.
  10. An exhortation to obedience.
  11. Against whoredom and adultery.
  12. Against strife and contention.

At the end of the first volume appeared the following statement:

"Hereafter shall follow Homilies of Fasting, Prayer, Almose-deeds, of the Nativity, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Saviour Christ: of the due Receiving of his Body and Blood, under the form of Bread and Wine: against Idleness, against Gluttony and Drunkenness, against Couetousness, against Envy, Ire and Malice: with many other matters, as well fruitful and necessary to the edifying of Christian people, and the increase of godly living. GOD SAVE THE KING."

In this way the completion of the work was projected in 1547.

Elizabethan Reform: the Second Book of Homilies (1563, completed 1571)

Title page of the Book of Homilies, 1562 edition Bookof homiliesI.jpg
Title page of the Book of Homilies, 1562 edition

The First Book saw a new edition in 1562, the homilies divided into parts for better understanding: in its preface, the Queen's injunction for them to be read was given. This, and the editions of 1563, 1567 and of 1571, in which the Second Book of homilies and sermons was added, belong to the time of Matthew Parker as archbishop, from the commencement of the reign of Queen Elizabeth I until his death in 1575. They followed that interruption to the Reforms occasioned by Queen Mary I (ruled 1553–1558) and the Roman Catholic Archbishop Reginald Pole (1556–1558), and the execution of Thomas Cranmer (author of much of the first volume) as a heretic in 1556. The Forty-two Articles had not been enforced during Mary's reign, during which the English Church was reunited with that of Rome, but at once regained importance in Elizabeth's religious settlement.

1563

The Second Book, mainly written by Matthew Parker with Bishop John Jewel and others, was printed perhaps in two or more editions by Richarde Iugge and John Cawood, "printers to the Queenes Maiestie". According to Parker, the Homilies had already been printed in 1562 and only awaited the Queen's approval at Midsummer 1563 for final publication. [8] Entitled Certayne Sermons appoynted by the Queenes Maiestie, it contained twenty sermons. Reprints appeared in succeeding years. [9] The publication followed the Convocation's approval of Thirty-Nine Articles, from which the Queen removed a further article to pacify objections from her Catholic subjects. These complete the promised scope of the Homilies as projected in the final notice of the First Book.

1571

Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury Archbishop Matthew Parker.jpg
Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury

The full second series of twenty-one homilies, entitled The Second Tome of Homilees, was published in 1571. [10] The reinstatement of the Thirty-ninth Article, and the publication of the Second Book of Homilies containing the final, twenty-first homily (against Disobedience and wilful Rebellion), followed the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth by the papal bull named Regnans in Excelsis . The Thirty-fifth Article (still so mandated today) states:

"The second Book of Homilies, the several Titles whereof we have joined under this Article, doth contain a godly and wholsom Doctrine, and necessary for these Times, as doth the former Book of Homilies, which were set forth in the time of Edward the Sixth; and therefore we judge them to be read in Churches by the Ministers, diligently and distinctly, that they may be understanded of the People." [11]

John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury John Jewel from NPG.jpg
John Jewel, Bishop of Salisbury

This volume includes:

  1. Of the right use of the Church.
  2. Against peril of Idolatry.
  3. For repairing and keeping clean the Church.
  4. Of good works. And first of Fasting.
  5. Against gluttony and drunkenness.
  6. Against excess of apparel.
  7. An homily of Prayer.
  8. Of the place and time of Prayer.
  9. Of Common Prayer and Sacraments
  10. An information of them which take offence at certain places of holy Scripture.
  11. Of alms deeds.
  12. Of the Nativity.
  13. Of the Passion for good Friday.
  14. Of the Resurrection for Easter day.
  15. Of the worthy receiving of the Sacrament.
  16. An Homily concerning the coming down of the holy Ghost, for Whitsunday.
  17. An Homily for Rogation week.
  18. Of the state of Matrimony.
  19. Against Idleness.
  20. Of Repentance and true Reconciliation unto God.
  21. An Homily against disobedience and willful rebellion.

Character of the Homilies

Many of the sermons are straightforward exhortations to read scripture daily and lead a life of prayer and faith in Jesus Christ; the other works are lengthy scholarly treatises intended to inform church leaders in theology, church history, the fall of the Byzantine Empire and those aspects of the Roman Catholic Church and doctrine from which the Reformed Anglican faith had turned away. Each homily is heavily annotated with references to holy scripture, the Church Fathers and other primary sources.

The longest homily is the second of the second book, "Against Peril of Idolatry", which runs to about 136 printed pages (pp. 25–161 in the 1571 edition) and is divided into three parts. The first part elaborates the Mosaic law against the worship of images, and down to St Paul's condemnations: the second part follows the patristic writings on the same point, and traces from the Iconoclastic Controversy (which underlay the schism between Western and Eastern churches, and aroused Rome's hostility towards the parts of Christendom not under papal authority). The third part presents, from the perspective of the Reformed Church, a history of such Roman Catholic religious teachings and practices as were deemed to have led to idolatrous observances, as, for instance:

"And where one saint hath images in divers places, the same saint hath divers names thereof, moste lyke to the Gentiles. When you heare of our Lady of Walsingham, our Lady of Ipswich, our Lady of Wilsdon, and suche other: what is it but an imitation of the Gentiles idolaters? Diana Agrotera, Diana Coriphea, Diana Ephesia, etc., Venus Cipria, Venus Paphia, Venus Gnidia. Whereby is evidently meant, that the saint for the image sake, shoulde in those places, yea in the images them selves, have a dwellyng, whiche is the grounde of theyr idolatrie. For where no images be, they have no such meanes" (at p. 99).

The homilies contain many historical spellings, based on the Vulgate and Septuagint, of Biblical names such as Noe for Noah and Esay for Isaiah. The colourful expression "mummishe massyng" appears in the fifteenth sermon of the second book (Of the worthy receaving of the Sacrament), not to characterize the Mass itself, but (on the contrary) to describe those who come to the Lord's Supper "unreverentlye, not discerning the Lordes bodye" (like the Corinthians blamed by St Paul, I Corinthians, xi, 27–29), with "rude and unreverent ignoraunce", as if it were a mime-show. [12]

Editions

Title page of the 1683 London Mearne and Pawlet reprint Elizabethan Homilies.jpg
Title page of the 1683 London Mearne and Pawlet reprint

The following recensions were issued down to 1623, some under public authority:

Some later recensions include:

The edition of the Homilies most widely available today is that edited in 1859 by John Griffiths and originally published by Oxford University Press. An earlier edition published by Oxford in 1822 has been criticised for its heavy editing. [13]

A critical edition of the Homilies appeared in 2015, edited by Gerald Bray. [14] An edition of the First Book of Homilies in modern English was published in 2021 for the Church Society, edited by Lee Gatiss. [15]

Reception in the United States

The Episcopal Church's version of the Articles endorses the content of the Homilies, but states that it suspends the order for reading them until they can be updated.

See also

Related Research Articles

Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the largest branches of Christianity, with around 110 million adherents worldwide as of 2001.

<i>Book of Common Prayer</i> Prayer book used in most Anglican churches

The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The first prayer book, published in 1549 in the reign of King Edward VI of England, was a product of the English Reformation following the break with Rome. The work of 1549 was the first prayer book to include the complete forms of service for daily and Sunday worship in English. It contained Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, the Litany, and Holy Communion and also the occasional services in full: the orders for Baptism, Confirmation, Marriage, "prayers to be said with the sick", and a funeral service. It also set out in full the "propers" : the introits, collects, and epistle and gospel readings for the Sunday service of Holy Communion. Old Testament and New Testament readings for daily prayer were specified in tabular format as were the Psalms and canticles, mostly biblical, that were provided to be said or sung between the readings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Cranmer</span> Archbishop of Canterbury from 1533 to 1555

Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry's marriage to Catherine of Aragon, which was one of the causes of the separation of the English Church from union with the Holy See. Along with Thomas Cromwell, he supported the principle of royal supremacy, in which the king was considered sovereign over the Church within his realm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mass (liturgy)</span> Type of worship service within many Christian denominations

Mass is the main Eucharistic liturgical service in many forms of Western Christianity. The term Mass is commonly used in the Catholic Church, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Old Catholicism, and Independent Catholicism. The term is also used in some Lutheran churches, as well as in some Anglican churches, and on rare occasion by other Protestant churches.

The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, finalised in 1571, are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the English Reformation. The Thirty-nine Articles form part of the Book of Common Prayer used by the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion, as well as by denominations outside of the Anglican Communion that identify with the Anglican tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Parker</span> Archbishop of Canterbury (1504–1575)

Matthew Parker was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 to his death. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder of a distinctive tradition of Anglican theological thought.

The Exhortation and Litany, published in 1544, is the earliest officially authorized vernacular service in English. The same rite survives, in modified form, in the Book of Common Prayer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elizabethan Religious Settlement</span> Part of Englands switch to Protestantism

The Elizabethan Religious Settlement is the name given to the religious and political arrangements made for England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The settlement, implemented from 1559 to 1563, marked the end of the English Reformation. It permanently shaped the Church of England's doctrine and liturgy, laying the foundation for the unique identity of Anglicanism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Jewel</span> English clergyman (1522 – 1571)

John Jewel of Devon, England was Bishop of Salisbury from 1559 to 1571.

Nicholas Shaxton was Bishop of Salisbury. For a time, he had been a Reformer, but recanted this position, returning to the Roman faith. Under Henry VIII, he attempted to persuade other Protestant leaders to also recant. Under Mary I, he took part in several heresy trials of those who became Protestant martyrs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eucharist in Anglicanism</span>

Anglican eucharistic theology is diverse in practice, reflecting the comprehensiveness of Anglicanism. Its sources include prayer book rubrics, writings on sacramental theology by Anglican divines, and the regulations and orientations of ecclesiastical provinces. The principal source material is the Book of Common Prayer, specifically its eucharistic prayers and Article XXVIII of the Thirty-Nine Articles. Article XXVIII comprises the foundational Anglican doctrinal statement about the Eucharist, although its interpretation varies among churches of the Anglican Communion and in different traditions of churchmanship such as Anglo-Catholicism and Evangelical Anglicanism.

Lex orandi, lex credendi, sometimes expanded as Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi, is a motto in Christian tradition, which means that prayer and belief are integral to each other and that liturgy is not distinct from theology. It refers to the relationship between worship and belief. As an ancient Christian principle it provided a measure for developing the ancient Christian creeds, the canon of scripture, and other doctrinal matters. It is based on the prayer texts of the Church, that is, the Church's liturgy. In the Early Church, there was liturgical tradition before there was a common creed, and before there was an officially sanctioned biblical canon. These liturgical traditions provided the theological framework for establishing the creeds and canon.

A homiliarium or homiliary is a collection of homilies, or familiar explanations of the Gospels.

Anglican doctrine is the body of Christian teachings used to guide the religious and moral practices of Anglicans.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">English Reformation</span> 16th-century separation of the Church of England from the Catholic Church

The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England was forced by its monarchs and elites to break away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Reformation, a religious and political movement that affected the practice of Christianity in Western and Central Europe.

Thomas Bennet (1673–1728) was an English clergyman, known for controversial and polemical writings, and as a Hebraist.

<i>Book of Common Prayer</i> (1549) 1st Anglican liturgical book

The 1549 Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is the original version of the Book of Common Prayer, variations of which are still in use as the official liturgical book of the Church of England and other Anglican churches. Written during the English Reformation, the prayer book was largely the work of Thomas Cranmer, who borrowed from a large number of other sources. Evidence of Cranmer's Protestant theology can be seen throughout the book; however, the services maintain the traditional forms and sacramental language inherited from medieval Catholic liturgies. Criticised by Protestants for being too traditional, it was replaced by the significantly revised 1552 Book of Common Prayer.

<i>Book of Common Prayer</i> (1552) Second Anglican prayer book

The 1552 Book of Common Prayer, also called the Second Prayer Book of Edward VI, was the second version of the Book of Common Prayer (BCP) and contained the official liturgy of the Church of England from November 1552 until July 1553. The first Book of Common Prayer was issued in 1549 as part of the English Reformation, but Protestants criticised it for being too similar to traditional Roman Catholic services. The 1552 prayer book was revised to be explicitly Reformed in its theology.

The Forty-two Articles were the official doctrinal statement of the Church of England for a brief period in 1553. Written by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer and published by King Edward VI's privy council along with a requirement for clergy to subscribe to it, it represented the height of official church reformation prior to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It staked out a position among Protestant movements of the day, opposing Anabaptist claims and disagreeing with Zwinglian positions without taking an explicitly Calvinist or Lutheran approach.

John Oswen was an English printer.

References

  1. Bray, Gerald (2016-01-28). The Books of Homilies: A Critical Edition. Cambridge: ISD LLC (James Clarke & Co.). p. 1. ISBN   978-0-227-90511-1.
  2. Church of England; Berthelet, Thomas; Amherst, William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst (1537). The institution of a Christen man: conteynynge the exposytion or interpretation of the commune Crede, of the seuen Sacramentes, of the .x. commandementes, and of the Pater noster, and the Aue Maria, iustyfication [and] purgatory. Boston Public Library. London: Londini: In aedibus Thomae Bertheleti regii impressoris.
  3. Church of England; Berthelet, Thomas; Higgins, Charles Longuet; England and Wales. Sovereign (1536–1547: Henry VIII); Bernard Quaritch (Firm), former owner (1543). A necessary doctrine and erudition for any Christen man. Boston Public Library. Imprinted at London in Fletestrete: By Thomas Barthelet printer to the Kynges Hyghnes.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. MacCulloch, Diarmaid (1996-01-01). Thomas Cranmer: A Life. Yale University Press. p. 206. ISBN   978-0-300-07448-2.
  5. 'Preface', in (T. Cranmer), Certayne Sermons, or Homelies appoynted by the kynges Maiestie, to be declared and redde, by all persones, vicars, or curates, euery Sondaye in their churches, where they haue cure. Anno 1547 (Rychard Grafton, London 31 July 1547), at umich/eebo. Pageview at (Google).
  6. Cranmer, Church of England, T. (1547). Certayne Sermons, or Homelies, appoynted by the kynges Maiestie, to be declared and redde, by all persones, Vicars, or Curates, every Sondaye in their churches, where they have Cure. London, England: Richard Grafton.
  7. Maittaire, Michael, ed. (1725). Annales Typographici: Annales typograpici ab anno M.D.XXXVI. ad annum M.D.LVII. continuati; Pars Prior. Tomi tertii, pars prior [3,1] (in Latin). Vol. 3, part 1. The Hague: apud Fratres Vaillant et Nicolaum Prevost. pp. 396–397.
  8. Bennet, Thomas (1715). An Essay on the Thirty Nine Articles of Religion, Agreed on in 1562 and Revised in 1571: Wherein ... an Account is Given of the Proceedings of Convocation ... : with a Prefatory Epistle to Anthony Collins ... London, England: M.J. for W. Innys. p. 245.
  9. See, e.g., Early English Printed Books in the Cambridge University Library (1475–1640), 4 Vols, (Cambridge University Press, 1907), IV: Appendix, p. 1792, no. 8019, where a 1567 copy of Volume II is bound together with no. 8018, a 1569 printing of Volume I.
  10. The Second Tome of Homilees: of such matters as were promised, and intituled in the former part of homilees. Set out by the aucthoritie of the Queenes Maiestie: and to be read in euery parishe church agreeably (Richard Jugge and John Cawood, London 1571), full text at umich/eebo. 32 pageviews available from the British Library, ref. 4455.b.12 (British Library bl.uk).
  11. '35. Of Homilies', in B. Cummings, The Book of Common Prayer: The Texts of 1549, 1559, and 1662 (Oxford University Press, 2011), at p. 678 (Google).
  12. 'An Homilee of the worthy receaving and reverend esteeming of the Sacrament of the body and blood of Christe', in (J. Jewel), The Second Tome of Homilees (Richard Iugge and Iohn Cawood, London 1571), pp. 397–406 (umich/eebo), at pp. 401–402.
  13. Jo, Kenji. The Two Authorized Books of Homilies (PDF). Teikyo University.
  14. "The Books of Homilies: A Critical Edition" . Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  15. "The First Book of Homilies in Modern English". Church Society. Retrieved 2021-11-15.