Outlines of Ecclesiastical History

by B. H. Roberts

16. The Rupture with the Pope.—The pope, Clement VII, evaded a direct answer to Henry's appeal. Catherine was the aunt of Charles V, and perhaps Clement feared that he would offend that monarch—to whom he looked to suppress the Reformation in Germany—if he granted the divorce. Henry, impatient of these enforced delays, consulted the universities of Europe, and as most of them pronounced marriage with a deceased brother's wife unlawful, he divorced Catherine without the consent of the pope. A quarrel ensued between the king and the pontiff, which resulted in the former casting off the authority of the latter, and the pope excommunicated the king. In 1533 Henry was declared head of the British church and Defender of the Faith, by the English parliament. He thereupon ejected the monks from their possessions, disposed of their property at his own good pleasure, and abolished in toto the authority of the pope in England.

17. No other country in all Europe was so well prepared for the Sixteenth Century revolution as England. A century and a half before either Luther or Zwingle were heard of, John Wycliffe proclaimed against the corruption and abuses of the Catholic church, denounced the pope as anti-Christ,^[[45]] and preached against the doctrine of transubstantiation. He also translated the Scriptures and circulated them among the common people. Two years before his death, however, he was summoned before a church council by which, notwithstanding he defended himself with great ability, many of his doctrines were condemned, and he himself was restricted in his ministry to the parish of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire, where he died. [See note 7, end of section.] His teachings, however, had made a deep impression upon his countrymen, and he left many followers, who were called by their opponents Lollards. The Lollards were a proscribed sect in England, and as they avoided persecution, but little was heard of them. Still they cherished the doctrines of their leader, and transmitted them to their children, so that when Luther and the other continental reformers began their work, there were many in England who sympathized with them; and when Henry VIII considered it to his interests to revolt against the authority of the pope, he found large numbers of his people not only ready to support him in casting off that authority, but anxious to go much farther in that revolt than the king desired. [See note 6, end of section.] They had viewed the rupture between the king and the pope with deep satisfaction; but they were soon to learn that the defection of the monarch was not to bring religious liberty to England, or establish there the doctrines of Wycliffe or Luther. It was but a change of masters that had taken place, and the king was as despotic as the pope. [See note 9, end of section.] Although Henry had thrown off the authority of the pontiff, he would tolerate but few changes in the forms and ceremonies of religion. More changes were introduced in the reign of Edward VI, the son of Henry VIII by Jane Seymore; and still more in the reign of Elizabeth, his daughter by Anne Boleyn.

18. The Puritans.—But these changes came far short of satisfying the English Protestants, who were called Puritans. They demanded almost a complete abolition of the rites and ceremonies of the Roman Church, which they denounced as idolatrous. The most of them favored the Presbyterian form of church government, or a still simpler method which would recognize each congregation as a complete church within itself. Those who contended for this more simple form of church government were called Independents. The puritans were frequently rude and clamorous in their demands for further reformation; and on their part the adherents of the established religion were intolerant, and persecuted to imprisonment, exile or death the Puritans. [See note 10, end of section.]

19. The Reformation in Scotland.—All things considered, the Reformation in Scotland—that is the overthrow of the authority of the pope—was accomplished with as little trouble as it was in England; and accompanied by less injustice to Catholics. In Scotland, as in England, the doctrines of Wycliffe had many silent adherents, and such was the frame of the popular mind that only the leadership of bold men was needed to make a successful revolt against the authority of the pope. That leadership was found in John Knox.^[[46]] Knox was thirty-eight years of age when he openly declared himself a Protestant, and began his work of reform. About three years later Cardinal Beaton, a proud, arrogant man, and of course the head of the Catholic church in Scotland, was assassinated. His castle—St. Andrews—was taken possession of by the band of nobles and others who had murdered him, and it became for a time the stronghold of Protestantism. To this place Knox repaired, and there in the parish church of St. Andrews, first became famous as a preacher. In a short time, however, the fortress was surrendered, and Knox was sent to the French galleys a prisoner. After two years he was set at liberty, and allowed to depart for England, where he lived for years, on terms of intimacy with Cranmer and other English reformers. On the accession of Queen Mary,^[[47]] Knox retired to Germany and Switzerland, residing chiefly in the latter place, where he learned and became attached to both the doctrines and form of church government taught by Calvin.

20. In 155, political necessity compelled the government in Scotland to become more lenient towards the nobles favoring the Reformation, and Knox returned to Scotland, where his impassioned denunciations of the idolatry of the mass and of image-worship aroused the pent-up enthusiasm of the people. Indeed the people went far beyond what Knox intended; riots ensued, churches and monasteries were destroyed, and the whole country, already suffering the evils of civil war, was plunged into greater disorder. At last, through the assistance of Queen Elizabeth, of England, a truce was proclaimed, and a parliament chosen to settle the troubles. The parliament met in 1560, and its deliberations resulted in the overthrow of the old religion, and the establishment of the "Reformed church," based on the doctrines and church polity of Calvin. In the midst of the harshness which attended the overthrow of the old religion there was a singular instance of moderation which will be looked for in vain in other countries where the reformation succeeded. According to Hallam, it was agreed in the settlement made by the parliament of 1560, "that the Roman Catholic prelates, including the regulars, should enjoy two-thirds of their revenues as well as their rank and seats in parliament; the remaining third being given to the crown, out of which stipends should be allotted to the protestant clergy."^[[48]] "Whatever violence may be imputed to the authors of the Scots reformation," continues Mr. Hallam, "this arrangement seems to display a moderation which we would vainly seek in our own"^[[49]]—the English reformation.

21. Unfortunately, as in England, after the authority and religion of the pope were overthrown in Scotland, the religious difficulties were far from settled. A controversy arose between the church and the crown on the subject of authority. It will be remembered that Calvin insisted that the church should be independent of the state,^[[50]] and nowhere was it so strenuously insisted upon as in Scotland; not only did it demand of the secular authority freedom from interference, but assumed the right to reprove the king and his court, and that, too, in no guarded language. In 1854, Andrew Melville was summoned before the king's council, to give an account of some seditious language employed by him in the pulpit against the court. He declined the jurisdiction of the council on the ground that he was responsible only to the church for such language; and the king could not judge of the matter without violating the immunities of the church.^[[51]]

22. The king and council, however, did not hesitate to declare the supremacy of the secular power, and thus was begun a controversy which, united with the attempts on the part of the sovereigns and parliament to restore the Episcopal form of church government, led to violent persecutions on the part of the secular authority, and to heroic resistance on the part of the people of Scotland. In that protracted struggle, persecuted by both parties with varying fortunes, the people were at last successful; though their victory was not secured for them until the Stuart line of monarchs were driven out of Scotland and England by the revolution of 1688, which dethroned James II of England and VII of Scotland, and placed William, Prince of Orange, and Mary, his wife, on the British throne.

23. The Discovery of America—Its Influence on Liberty.—It is significant that about the time of the "Revival of Learning" in Europe, America was discovered by Columbus, led hither by the inspiration of God. [Note 11, end of section.] Between this struggle for liberty in the Old World and the discovery of the New there was doubtless a providential connection. God knew there could be but a stunted growth of the tree of liberty in the Old World, hence he opened the way for it to be planted in a land more congenial to its growth. The whole continent of America is a land consecrated by the decrees of Almighty God to liberty, and the people who inhabit it are assured by that same decree of their freedom.^[[52]] Hence when a fullness of liberty was denied the Puritans in England, they fled to America, and here found room for the planting of colonies where they could enjoy the liberty denied them in the Old World, and the founding of the New England colonies (now the New England States) was the result.

24. Catholics Seek Liberty in America.—Nor were the Puritans the only ones who sought liberty in the New World. Even the Catholics came; for they, no less than the Puritans, were persecuted in England. Sir George Calvert, whose title was Lord Baltimore, a Roman Catholic, desiring to establish a colony in America that would be a place of refuge for persecuted Catholics, obtained a charter for that territory comprised within the boundary lines of the state of Maryland. Before the charter was signed, Sir George died; but it was made out to his son Cecil, who carried out his father's designs. The charter granted to Lord Baltimore was unlike any which had hitherto passed the royal seal, in that it secured to all who should settle in the colony, religious liberty. That is, Christianity was the recognized religion, made so by the law of the land, but no preference was given to any sect or party.

25. Puritan Intolerance.—Unfortunately all the colonies were not founded in the same liberal spirit as Maryland. The Puritans themselves seemed not to have learned toleration by the persecutions they had suffered; but, on the contrary, when they found themselves possessed of power, they forgot right and persecuted all those not of their own way of thinking. This led to the founding of other colonies where greater religious liberty was granted; such as Pennsylvania, settled by the Quakers; Rhode Island, by Roger Williams, a Baptist, driven by Puritan intolerance from Massachusetts.