ABSTRACT
The Article XVI in the first edition of 1553 was De peccato in Spiritum Sanctum. There is a general resemblance between this Article and the twelfth of the Confession of Augsburg, but the verbal similarity is not sufficiently close to justify us in saying that the last-mentioned document was the source of our own Article. The Article was omitted by Parker in the revision of 1563, probably from an unwillingness to define the nature of this sin, and a desire not to bind the consciences of the clergy to a particular interpretation of a difficult set of passages. The statement of the Article would seem to follow naturally from the position just maintained. The Article as a whole implies, not only that God is willing to forgive penitent sinners, but also, further, that the Church has a commission to declare His pardon, and to grant reconciliation where there is true repentance.
