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SermonIndex.net : Christian Books : § 83. The Catechisms of the Church of England. A.D. 1549 and 1662.

Creeds Of Christendom With A History And Critical Notes by Various

§ 83. The Catechisms of the Church of England. A.D. 1549 and 1662.

Literature.

The Church Catechism is contained in all the English and American editions of the Book of Common Prayer, between the baptismal and the confirmation services, and is printed in this work with the American emendations, Vol. III. pp.517 sqq. The authentic text of the final revision of 1662 is in the corrected copy of the Black-Letter Prayer-Book, which was attached to the Act of Uniformity, and has been republished in fac-simile, Lond.1871. (It was supposed to be lost, when in 1867 it was discovered in the Library of the House of Lords.)

Archibald John Stephens: The Book of Common Prayer, with notes legal and historical. Lond.1854 Vol. III. pp.1449-1477.

Francis Procter: A History of the Book of Common Prayer, 11th ed. Lond.1874, ch. V. sect. i (pp.397 sqq.).

See other works on the Anglican Liturgy, noticed by Procter, p. viii.

EARLIER CATECHISMS.

The English Church followed the example of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches on the Continent in providing for regular catechetical instruction. English versions and expositions of the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments, with some prayers, were known before the Reformation, and constituted the 'Prymer,' which is commonly mentioned in the fifteenth century as a well-known book of private devotion. In 1545 Henry VIII. set forth a Primer which was 'to be taught, learned, and read, and none other to be used throughout all his dominions. During his reign the curates were frequently enjoined to teach the people the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments, sentence by sentence, on Sundays and Holydays, and to make all persons recite them when they came to confession.

CRANMER'S CATECHISM.

'Cranmer's Catechism,' which appeared with his sanction in 1548, was for the most part a translation of the Latin Catechism of Justus Jonas, and retains the Catholic and Lutheran consolidation of the first and second commandments, and the sacrament of penance or absolution; but it was soon superseded. Cranmer changed about that time his view of the real presence.

THE CATECHISM OF THE PRAYER-BOOK.

When the Reformation was positively introduced under Edward VI., and the Book of Public Worship was prepared, a Catechism was embodied in it, to insure general instruction in the elements of the Christian religion. In the Prayer-Books of Edward VI. (1549, 1552) and Elizabeth (1559) this Catechism bears the title 'Confirmation, wherein is contained a Catechism for Children.'

This work has undergone, with other parts of the Prayer-Book, sundry alterations. The commandments were given, first very briefly (as in King Henry's Primer), then in full with a Preface in the edition of 1552. The explanation of the sacraments was added in 1604 by royal authority, in compliance with the wish of the Puritans expressed at the Hampton Court Conference, and is attributed to Bishop Overall, then Dean of St. Paul's. In the last revision of the Prayer-Book, in 1661, the title was changed into 'A Catechism,' and two emendations were introduced in the answer on Baptism, as follows:

Earlier Editions. Edition of 1661 (1662)
What is the outward visible sign or form in Baptism? What is the outward visible sign or form in Baptism?
Water; wherein the person baptized is dipped or sprinkled with it, in the name, etc. Water; wherein the person is baptized, in the name, etc. Why then are infants baptized when by reason of their tender age they can not perform them [repentance and faith]? Why then are infants baptized, when by reason of their tender age they can not perform them? Yes; they do perform them by their Sureties, who promise and vow them both in their names: which when they come to age themselves are bound to perform. Because they promise them both by their Sureties; which promise, when they come to age, themselves are bound to perform.

In the explanation of the Commandments the words 'the King and his Ministers' were so changed as to read 'the King and all that are put in authority under him.'

This Catechism is a considerable improvement on the mediæval primers, but very meagre if we compare it with the Catechisms of Luther, Calvin, and other Continental Reformers.

The Nonconformist ministers at the Savoy Conference (April, 1661), in reviewing the whole Liturgy, objected to the first three questions of the Catechism, and desired a full exposition of the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Commandments, and additional questions on the nature of faith, repentance, the two covenants, justification, adoption, regeneration, and sanctification. These censures were not heeded.

The American Episcopal Church adopted, with the body of the Book of Common Prayer, the Catechism also, substituting 'the civil authority' for 'the King,' and omitting several directions in the appended rubrics.

Outside of the Anglican communion the Catechism is used only by the Irvingites who more nearly approach that Church, especially in their liturgy, than any other.

LARGER CATECHISMS.

The need of a fuller Catechism for a more advanced age was felt in the Church of England. Such a one was prepared by Poynet, Bishop of Winchester, and published, together with the Forty-two Articles, in Latin and English, in 1553, apparently with the approval of Cranmer and the Convocation. On the basis of this, Dean Nowell, of St. Paul's, prepared another in 1562, which was amended, but not formally approved by Convocation (Nov.11, 1562), and published (1570) in several forms -- larger, middle, and smaller. The smaller differs but slightly from that in the Prayer-Book.

Besides these English productions, the Catechisms of OEcolampadius, Leo Judæ, and especially those of Calvin and Bullinger were extensively used, even in the Universities, during the reign of Elizabeth.

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