''The Books of Homilies'' (1547, 1562, and 1571) are two books together containing thirty-three sermons developing the authorized reformed doctrines of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
in depth and detail, as appointed for use in the 35th Article of the
Thirty-Nine Articles
The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
of Religion. The longer title of the collection is ''Certain Sermons or Homilies Appointed to Be Read in Churches''. They belong to the basic formularies of the Church of England.
Revision and reform
![Cromwell,Thomas(1EEssex)01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/Cromwell%2CThomas%281EEssex%2901.jpg)
Following the secession of the
Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
from the jurisdiction of the
Church of Rome in 1530, and the designation of the monarch,
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...
, as the chief power in both the civil and ecclesiastical estates of the realm, it was needful for the establishment of the
English Reformation
The English Reformation took place in 16th-century England when the Church of England broke away from the authority of the pope and the Catholic Church. These events were part of the wider European Protestant Reformation, a religious and poli ...
that the reformed
Christian
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
doctrines, theology, piety, and practice should be explained and taught as widely as possible among all
congregations throughout the realm. Although the liturgy had formerly been conducted entirely in
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
, and holy communion (consisting only of the consecrated bread) was administered twice a year, the progress of reformed faith had long been developing unofficially among the populace at all levels, as much through the
Wycliffite tradition, as through the new learning in the universities in its wider European context.
The ''Bishops' Book'' and ''King's Book''
Attempts to reformulate the doctrine of the English Church, led by Archbishop
Thomas Cranmer
Thomas Cranmer (2 July 1489 – 21 March 1556) was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII, Edward VI and, for a short time, Mary I. He helped build the case for the annulment of Henry' ...
under
Thomas Cromwell
Thomas Cromwell (; 1485 – 28 July 1540), briefly Earl of Essex, was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII from 1534 to 1540, when he was beheaded on orders of the king, who later blamed false charge ...
as Vicegerent, begun with the adoption of the (partly Lutheran)
Ten Articles
The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
in 1536, was augmented in 1537 by a volume of disquisitions known as the ''
Bishops' Book'', or ''The Institution of a Christen Man''. This book was divided into four sections as follows:
* The exposition of the Apostles' Creed
The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith".
The creed most likely originated in 5th-century Ga ...
* The declaration of the Seven Sacraments
* The exposition of the Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ ...
* The exposition of the ''Pater noster
The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...
'' and the ''Ave
''Alta Velocidad Española'' (''AVE'') is a service of high-speed rail in Spain operated by Renfe, the Spanish national railway company, at speeds of up to . As of December 2021, the Spanish high-speed rail network, on part of which the AVE s ...
'', with the articles of Justification and Purgatory.
Dedicated by the bishops to King Henry, this was first ordered to be read from the pulpits, but then suppressed with a view to revision. In 1539 the
Six Articles were enacted in law, a reactionary formula with very severe penalties for violation.
The revised work called the ''
King's Book
The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
'', or ''The Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for Any Christen Man'', was deliberated upon at the Convocation of 1540 (at the time of Cromwell's fall) and published in 1543. The ''King's Book'' contained sections as follows, as in the ''Bishops' Book'' giving lengthy
paraphrase
A paraphrase () is a restatement of the meaning of a text or passage using other words. The term itself is derived via Latin ', . The act of paraphrasing is also called ''paraphrasis''.
History
Although paraphrases likely abounded in oral tra ...
s or expositions on each of the various articles within the sections, line by line:
* The declaration of Faith
* The articles of our belief, called the Creed
* The seven sacraments
* The ten commandments of almighty god
* Our lord's prayer called the Pater noster
* The salutation of the angel, called the Ave Maria
* An article of free will
* An article of justification
* An article of good works
* Of prayer for souls departed.
Edwardian Reform: the ''First Book of Homilies'' (1547)
It was under Thomas Cranmer, the reformist
Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
through the later reign of King Henry (
Defender of the Faith
Defender of the Faith ( la, Fidei Defensor or, specifically feminine, '; french: Défenseur de la Foi) is a phrase that has been used as part of the full style of many English, Scottish, and later British monarchs since the early 16th century. It ...
) and that of
Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
(ruled 1547–1553), that the doctrine presented in the first volume (1547) of the Homilies, ''Certayne Sermons, or Homelies appoynted by the kynges Maiestie'', was formulated. The Six Articles were repealed in the same year. An authorized, unified and clearly expressed statement of doctrine for public understanding was needed, to be placed in the hands of the priesthood at large to deliver it. The preface to the first edition, as under King Edward's authority advised by his Protector,
Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (150022 January 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), also known as Edward Semel, was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry V ...
, takes as its premise the need to cast off the "manifold enormities" and "ungodly doctrine" of the adherents of the "
Bishoppe of Rome", which (it says) has led so many away "from doing the commandments of God, unto voluntary works and fantasies invented of men". It was the king's command that the parsons, vicars and curates should read through the homilies Sunday by Sunday (except when a sermon was to be delivered) until the whole book was read, and then to begin again.
This volume therefore preceded the publication of the reformed liturgy in the Edwardian
Book of Common Prayer of 1549, its
revision of 1552, and the issuing of the
Forty-two Articles
The Thirty-nine Articles of Religion (commonly abbreviated as the Thirty-nine Articles or the XXXIX Articles) are the historically defining statements of doctrines and practices of the Church of England with respect to the controversies of the ...
in 1553. Volume I contains twelve sermons and was mainly written by Cranmer. They focus strongly upon the character of
God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
and
Justification by Faith
''Justificatio sola fide'' (or simply ''sola fide''), meaning justification by faith alone, is a soteriological doctrine in Christian theology commonly held to distinguish the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, among others, fr ...
and were printed by the
King's Printers,
Richard Grafton
Richard Grafton (c. 1506/7 or 1511 – 1573) was King's Printer under Henry VIII and Edward VI. He was a member of the Grocers' Company and MP for Coventry elected 1562-63.
Under Henry VIII
With Edward Whitchurch, a member of the Haberdashe ...
and
Edward Whitchurch
Edward Whitchurch (died 1561) was a London printer and publisher of Protestant works.
Whitchurch jointly published the first complete version of the Bible in English in 1539. Other published works included the 1547 ', by William Baldwin, and the ...
.
![Thomas Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Thomas_Cranmer_by_Gerlach_Flicke.jpg)
The homilies are:
- A Fruitful exhortation to the reading of holy Scripture.
- Of the misery of all mankind.
- Of the salvation of all mankind.
- Of the true and lively faith.
- Of good works.
- Of Christian love and charity.
- Against swearing and perjury.
- Of the declining from GOD.
- An exhortation against the fear of death.
- An exhortation to obedience.
- Against whoredom and adultery.
- Against strife and contention.
At the end of the first volume appeared the following statement:
"Hereafter shall follow Homilies of Fasting, Prayer, Almose-deeds, of the Nativity, Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of our Saviour Christ: of the due Receiving of his Body and Blood, under the form of Bread and Wine: against Idleness, against Gluttony and Drunkenness, against Couetousness, against Envy, Ire and Malice: with many other matters, as well fruitful and necessary to the edifying of Christian people, and the increase of godly living. GOD SAVE THE KING."
In this way the completion of the work was projected in 1547.
Elizabethan Reform: the ''Second Book of Homilies'' (1563, completed 1571)
The First Book saw a new edition in 1562, the homilies divided into parts for better understanding: in its preface, the Queen's injunction for them to be read was given. This, and the editions of 1563, 1567 and of 1571, in which the Second Book of homilies and sermons was added, belong to the time of
Matthew Parker
Matthew Parker (6 August 1504 – 17 May 1575) was an English bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Church of England from 1559 until his death in 1575. He was also an influential theologian and arguably the co-founder (with a p ...
as archbishop, from the commencement of the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. Elizabeth was the last of the five House of Tudor monarchs and is sometimes referred to as the "Virgin Queen".
El ...
until his death in 1575. They followed that interruption to the Reforms occasioned by Queen
Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. She ...
(ruled 1553–1558) and the Roman Catholic Archbishop
Reginald Pole
Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English cardinal of the Catholic Church and the last Catholic archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1556 to 1558, during the Counter-Reformation.
Early life
Pole was bor ...
(1556-1558), and the execution of Thomas Cranmer (author of much of the first volume) as a heretic in 1556. The Forty-two Articles had not been enforced during Mary's reign, during which the English Church was reunited with that of Rome, but at once regained importance in
Elizabeth's religious settlement.
1563
The Second Book, mainly written by Matthew Parker himself with
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
John Jewel
John Jewel (''alias'' Jewell) (24 May 1522 – 23 September 1571) of Devon, England was Bishop of Salisbury from 1559 to 1571.
Life
He was the youngest son of John Jewel of Bowden in the parish of Berry Narbor in Devon, by his wife Alice Bell ...
and others, was printed perhaps in two or more editions by
Richarde Iugge and
John Cawood, "printers to the Queenes Maiestie". According to Parker himself, the Homilies had already been printed in 1562 and only awaited the Queen's approval at Midsummer 1563 for final publication. Entitled ''Certayne Sermons appoynted by the Queenes Maiestie'', it contained twenty sermons. Reprints appeared in succeeding years. The publication followed the Convocation's approval of Thirty-Nine Articles, from which the Queen removed a further article to pacify objections from her Catholic subjects. These complete the promised scope of the Homilies as projected in the final notice of the First Book.
1571
![Archbishop Matthew Parker](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Archbishop_Matthew_Parker.jpg)
The full second series of twenty-one homilies, entitled ''The Second Tome of Homilees'', was published in 1571. The reinstatement of the Thirty-ninth Article, and the publication of the Second Book of Homilies containing the final, twenty-first homily (''against Disobedience and wilful Rebellion''), followed the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth by the papal bull named ''
Regnans in Excelsis
''Regnans in Excelsis'' ("Reigning on High") is a papal bull that Pope Pius V issued on 25 February 1570. It excommunicated Queen Elizabeth I of England, referring to her as "the pretended Queen of England and the servant of crime", declared h ...
''. The Thirty-fifth Article (still so mandated today) states:
"The second Book of Homilies, the several Titles whereof we have joined under this Article, doth contain a godly and wholsom Doctrine, and necessary for these Times, as doth the former Book of Homilies, which were set forth in the time of ''Edward'' the Sixth; and therefore we judge them to be read in Churches by the Ministers, diligently and distinctly, that they may be understanded of the People."
![John Jewel from NPG](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/35/John_Jewel_from_NPG.jpg)
This volume includes:
- Of the right use of the Church.
- Against peril of Idolatry.
- For repairing and keeping clean the Church.
- Of good works. And first of Fasting.
- Against gluttony and drunkenness.
- Against excess of apparel.
- An homily of Prayer.
- Of the place and time of Prayer.
- Of Common Prayer and Sacraments
- An information of them which take offence at certain places of holy Scripture.
- Of alms deeds.
- Of the Nativity.
- Of the Passion for good Friday.
- Of the Resurrection for Easter day.
- Of the worthy receiving of the Sacrament.
- An Homily concerning the coming down of the holy Ghost, for Whitsunday.
- An Homily for Rogation week.
- Of the state of Matrimony.
- Against Idleness.
- Of Repentance and true Reconciliation unto God.
- An Homily against disobedience and willful rebellion.
Character of the Homilies
Many of the sermons are straightforward exhortations to read scripture daily and lead a life of prayer and faith in
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
; the other works are lengthy scholarly treatises intended to inform church leaders in theology, church history, the
fall of the Byzantine Empire
The Fall of Constantinople, also known as the Conquest of Constantinople, was the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Empire. The city fell on 29 May 1453 as part of the culmination of a 53-day siege which had begun o ...
and those aspects of the
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and doctrine from which the Reformed Anglican faith had turned away. Each homily is heavily annotated with references to
holy scripture
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual prac ...
, the
Church Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...
and other primary sources.
The longest homily is the second of the second book, "Against Peril of Idolatry", which runs to about 136 printed pages (pp. 25–161 in the 1571 edition) and is divided into three parts. The first part elaborates the Mosaic law against the worship of images, and down to St Paul's condemnations: the second part follows the
patristic writings
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical pe ...
on the same point, and traces from the
Iconoclastic Controversy
The Byzantine Iconoclasm ( gr, Εικονομαχία, Eikonomachía, lit=image struggle', 'war on icons) were two periods in the history of the Byzantine Empire when the use of religious images or icons was opposed by religious and imperial au ...
(which underlay the schism between Western and
Eastern
Eastern may refer to:
Transportation
*China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai
*Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways
*Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991
*Eastern Air Li ...
churches, and aroused Rome's hostility towards the parts of Christendom not under papal authority). The third part presents, from the perspective of the Reformed Church, a history of such Roman Catholic religious teachings and practices as were deemed to have led to idolatrous observances, as, for instance:
"And where one saint hath images in divers places, the same saint hath divers names thereof, moste lyke to the Gentiles. When you heare of our Lady of Walsingham, our Lady of Ipswich, our Lady of Wilsdon, and suche other: what is it but an imitation of the Gentiles idolaters? ''Diana Agrotera, Diana Coriphea, Diana Ephesia'', etc., ''Venus Cipria, Venus Paphia, Venus Gnidia''. Whereby is evidently meant, that the saint for the image sake, shoulde in those places, yea in the images them selves, have a dwellyng, whiche is the grounde of theyr idolatrie. For where no images be, they have no such meanes" (at p. 99).
The homilies contain many historical spellings, based on the
Vulgate
The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible.
The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...
and
Septuagint
The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
, of Biblical names such as
Noe for Noah and
Esay for Isaiah. The colourful expression "
mummishe massyng" appears in the fifteenth sermon of the second book (''Of the worthy receaving of the Sacrament''), not to characterize the Mass itself, but (on the contrary) to describe those who come to the Lord's Supper "unreverentlye, not discerning the Lordes bodye" (like the Corinthians blamed by St Paul, ''I Corinthians'', xi, 27–29), with "rude and unreverent ignoraunce", as if it were a mime-show.
Editions
The following recensions were issued down to 1623, some under public authority:
*
Richard Jugge
Richard Jugge (died 1577) was an eminent English printer, who kept a shop at the sign of the Bible, at the North door of St Paul's Cathedral, though his residence was in Newgate market, next to Christ Church in London. He is generally credited a ...
, Queen's Printer (died 1577): Volumes I and II (1574); Volumes I and II (1576-1577), in quarto
*
Christopher Barker, Queen's Printer and Henry Middleton: Volumes I and II (1582), in quarto
*
John Charlewood
John Charlewood (died 1593) was an English printer.
Life
He went into business early in Mary I of England, Mary's reign in partnership with John Tisdale, in Holborn. He was important as one of the first printers to print Italian works in England ...
and
Thomas East
Thomas East, (also spelled Easte, Est, or Este) (''c.''1540 – January 1609), was an English printer who specialised in music. He has been described as a publisher, but that claim is debatable (the specialties of printer and bookseller/publish ...
: Volumes I and II (1587), in quarto
*
Edward Allde
Edward Allde (''Alde'', ''Alldee'', or ''Alday''; born c. 1560, died 1627) was an English printer in London during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. He was responsible for a number of significant texts in English Renaissance drama, includin ...
: Volumes I and II (1595), in quarto
* John Bill, King's Printer: Both parts (with numerous revisions) united (1623), in folio
Some later recensions include:
* John Norton, for Joyce Norton and Richard Whitaker (London, 1633/1635)
* Ralph Hodkinson and John Norton for Richard Whitaker (London 1640
650
* Thomas Roycroft, for
Andrew Crooke,
Samuel Mearne
Samuel Mearne (20 April 1624 – May 1683) was an English Restoration bookbinder and publisher whose work is considered a high point of pre-industrial bookbinding. He and his sons, Charles and Samuel Jr., were one of the group referred to by hi ...
and Robert Powlet (London 1673)
* Thomas Roycroft, for Samuel Mearne and Robert Powlet (London 1676)
* Ann Mearn and Blanch Pawlet (London 1683)
* For
Moses Pitt
Moses Pitt (c. 1639–1697) was a bookseller and printer known for the production of his ''Atlas'' of the world, a project supported by the Royal Society, and in particular by Christopher Wren. He is also known as the author of ''The Cry of t ...
, Peter Parkins and
Thomas Guy
Thomas Guy (1644 – 27 December 1724) was a British bookseller, investor in the South Sea Company, member of Parliament, and the founder of Guy's Hospital, London.
Early life
Thomas Guy was born in Horselydown in Southwark, in south London, th ...
(The Theatre, Oxford 1683)
* George Wells, Abel Swall and George Pawlett (London 1687), "for use of private families"
The edition of the Homilies most widely available today is that edited in 1859 by John Griffiths and originally published by Oxford University Press. An earlier edition published by Oxford in 1822 has been criticised for its heavy editing.
A critical edition of the Homilies appeared in 2015, edited by
Gerald Bray
Gerald Lewis Bray (born 16 November 1948) is a British theologian, ecclesiastical historian and priest in the Church of England.
Teaching
Born in Montreal, Quebec, on 16 November 1948, Bray holds a BA from McGill University and a MLitt and DLitt ...
. An edition of the First Book of Homilies in modern English was published in 2021 for the
Church Society
Church Society is a conservative, evangelical Anglican organisation and registered charity formed in 1950 by the merger of the Anglican Church Association (founded 1865) and National Church League (founded 1906 by amalgamation of two earlier bodi ...
, edited by Lee Gatiss.
Reception in the United States
The
Episcopal Church's version of the Articles endorses the ''content'' of the Homilies, but states that it suspends the order for reading them until they can be updated.
See also
*
Anglican doctrine
Anglican doctrine (also called Episcopal doctrine in some countries) is the body of Christian teachings used to guide the religious and moral practices of Anglicans.
Approach to doctrine
Anglicanism does not possess an agreed-upon confessi ...
*
Tract 90
''Remarks on Certain Passages in the Thirty-Nine Articles'', better known as Tract 90, was a theological pamphlet written by the English theologian and churchman John Henry Newman and published in 1841. It is the most famous and the most controvers ...
*
Postil
A postil or postill ( la, postilla; german: Postille) was originally a term for Bible commentaries. It is derived from the Latin ''post illa verba textus'' ("after these words from Scripture"), referring to biblical readings. The word first occurs ...
References
External links
''The Homilies''''The Two Books of Homilies Appointed to be Read in Churches''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Books of Homilies
1547 books
1562 books
1571 books
16th-century Christian texts
Anglican theology and doctrine
Books about Christianity
Calvinist texts
English Reformation
Anglican liturgical books