ABSTRACT
Article XXVI of the Church of England has remained practically unchanged since its first issue in 1553. It is drawn substantially from the fifth of the “Thirteen Articles of 1538,” which in its turn rested to some extent on the eighth of the Confession of Augsburg. Its object is to condemn the view maintained by the Anabaptists, that the ministry of evil ministers is necessarily inefficacious and ought to be rejected. It has been sometimes thought that the Article may have also been aimed at the doctrine of “Intention." The Article as aimed solely against the notions of the Anabaptists, it needs but little comment or explanation. There is ample support in Holy Scripture for the position maintained in the Article. The opinions condemned in it make all ministerial and sacramental acts utterly uncertain, for no man can see into the hearts of the ministers, and say who are in the sight of God “evil” and who are not.
