Introduction to the 39 articles

Introduction to the 39 articles

Part one: Of creeds, councils, and controversy

The faith once delivered

• 2 Thessalonians 2:15 "Stand fast and hold to the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or by our letter.“

• 2 Timothy 2:2 "The things which you have heard of me among many witnesses, commit those to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."

Early creeds of the ancient church: “the rule of faith”

“The church, though dispersed throughout the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the apostles and their disciples this faith in on God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven, earth, and the sea and everything in them; and in one Christ Jesus, the Son of God, who became incarnate for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who proclaimed through the prophets the dispensations, the advents, the birth from a virgin, the suffering, the resurrection from the dead, and the ascension into heaven in the flesh of the beloved Christ Jesus, our Lord, and his appearance from heaven in the glory of the Father to gather all things into one and to raise up anew all flesh of the whole human race, in order that every knee should bow… (Iranaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies A.D. 180)

Tertullian’s ‘rule of faith’“This rule of faith prescribes the belief that there is one only God, and that He is none other than the Creator of the world, who produced all things out of nothing through His own Word, first of all sent forth; that this Word is called His Son… heard at all times in the prophets, at last brought down by the Spirit and Power of the Father into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb… He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of heaven, worked miracles; having been crucified, He rose again the third day; having ascended into the heavens, He sat at the right hand of the Father; sent instead of Himself the Power of the Holy Ghost to lead such as believe; will come with glory to take the saints to the enjoyment of everlasting life… This rule, as it will be proved, was taught by Christ, and raises amongst ourselves no other questions than those which heresies introduce, and which make men heretics."

The council of Jerusalem, Acts 15

“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and the elders about this question…When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders… The apostles and the elders were gathered together to consider this matter. And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers… God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith...” And all the assembly fell silent Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas… with the following letter… (Acts 15)

Apostolic authority and succession

Pope Clement I

“Our apostles also knew, through our Lord Jesus Christ, and there would be strife on account of the office of the episcopate. For this reason, therefore, they appointed those ministers already mentioned, and afterwards gave instructions, that when these should fall asleep, other approved men should succeed them in their ministry. We are of opinion, therefore, that those appointed by them, or afterwards by other eminent men, with the consent of the whole Church, and who have blamelessly served the flock of Christ in a humble, peaceable, and disinterested spirit, and have for a long time possessed the good opinion of all, cannot be justly dismissed from the ministry.” (Clement I, Ch. 44, circa A.D. 96)

The Council of Nicaea, A.D. 325

• First ‘ecumenical’ council• Called by Constantine I to

gain doctrinal uniformity• Intended to answer the

‘Arian controversy’• Nicene Creed—homoousios

“being of one substance with the Father”

• Authority and equality of three patriarchal bishops

The Great schism, 1054

Pope Leo IX & Michael I of Constantine

• Eastern & Western churches drift apart• Holy Roman Emperor attempts reunification

after 962• Leo IX adds supremacy clause to Nicene creed in

1014, contrary to Nicaea’s original canons

Canons, commentary, and systematic theology in the Medieval Roman church

Dectretum Gratiani Thomas Aquinas Lombard’s Four Sentences

Disputations and theses

Disputation of the Doctors by Duccio di Buoninsegna, circa 1310

Martin Luther in Wittenberg, 1517

• Canon law was often altered through disputations over theses in universities• Luther’s famous ninety-five theses were intended in the spirit of this tradition