ABSTRACT

Article XXXVI of the Church of England dates from 1563, when it was entirely rewritten. The corresponding Article in the Edwardian Series was of a much more general character, referring to the Book of Common Prayer as a whole, and not only to the Ordinal. The object of the Article is to assert emphatically the validity of Anglican Orders, and this against objections raised from two opposite quarters. On the one hand, the “Nonconformist” and Puritan party denounced the Ordinal as containing in it things that were of themselves superstitious or ungodly. On the other hand, the disaffected Romanists might deny that the form used could be said to contain all things necessary to such consecration and ordering. As originally drafted and signed by the royal chaplains, it had contained some words referring to the ceremonies of the book as in no way repugnant to the liberty of the Gospel, but rather agreeable to it, and tending to promote it.