ABSTRACT
The object of Article XXXVII of the Church of England is to explain and justify the tenet of the Royal supremacy and to assert formally the repudiation of the jurisdiction of the Pope. The object also include: to condemn the attitude of the Anabaptists with regard to the obedience due to the magistrate, and the lawfulness of capital punishment and of serving in war. The subjects in the Article may best be treated of under the following heads: the Royal supremacy, the Papal claims, the lawfulness of capital punishment, and the lawfulness of war. In considering the history of the formal assertion of the Royal supremacy, it will be well to mark out clearly two stages—the recognition of the Sovereign as “Supreme Head,” and his recognition as “Supreme Governor.” The formal recognition of the Sovereign as “Supreme Head” begins in the year 1531.
