Articles XIX to XXXI: Corporate Religion
English: XIX, XX,
XXI, XXII, XXIII,
XXIV, XXV, XXVI,
XXVII, XXVIII,
XXIX, XXX, XXXI.
Latin: XIX, XX,
XXI, XXII, XXIII,
XXIV, XXV, XXVI,
XXVII, XXVIII,
XXIX, XXX, XXXI.
Of the Church
The visible Church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the
pure word of God is preached and the sacraments be duly ministered according to
Christ's ordinance in all those things that of necessity are requisite to the
same. As the Church of Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Antioch have erred: so also
the Church of Rome hath erred, not only in their living and manner of ceremonies,
but also in matters of faith.
Ecclesia Christi visibilis est coetus fidelium, in quo verbum Dei purum
praedicatur et sacramenta, quoad ea quae necessario exiguntur, iuxta Christi
institutum recte administrantur. Sicut erravit Ecclesia Hierosolymitana,
Alexandrina, et Antiochena: ita et erravit Ecclesia Romana, non solum quoad
agenda et caeremoniarum ritus, verum in his etiam quae credenda sunt.
Of the Authority of the Church
The Church hath power to decree rites or ceremonies and authority in controversies
of faith; and yet it is not lawful for the Church to ordain anything contrary to
God's word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it be
repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and a keeper of
Holy Writ: yet, as it ought not to decree anything against the same, so besides
the same ought it not to enforce anything to be believed for necessity of
salvation.
Habet Ecclesia ritus statuendi ius et in fidei controversiis auctoritatem;
quamvis Ecclesiae non licet quicquam instituere quod verbo Dei scripto
adversetur, neque unum Scripturae locum sic exponere potest, ut alteri
contradicat. Quare licet Ecclesia sit divinorum librorum testis et
conservatrix; attamen, ut adversus eos nihil decernere, ita praeter illos nihil
credendum de necessitate salutis debet obtrudere.
Of the authority of General Councils
General Councils may not be gathered together without the commandment and will
of princes. And when they be gathered together, forasmuch as they be an assembly
of men, whereof all be not governed with the Spirit and word of God, they may err
and sometime have erred, even in things pertaining to God. Wherefore things
ordained by them as necessary to salvation have neither strength nor authority,
unless it may be declared that they be taken out of Holy Scripture.
Generalia Concilia sine iussu et voluntate principum congregari non possunt.
Et ubi convenerint, quia ex hominibus constant, qui non omnes Spiritu et verbo
Dei reguntur, et errare possunt, et interdum errarunt, etiam in his quae ad
normam pietatis pertinent. Ideoque quae ab illis constituuntur, ut ad salutem
necessaria, neque robur habent neque auctoritatem nisi ostendi possint e sacris
literis esse desumpta.
Of Purgatory
The Romish doctrine concerning Pugatory, Pardons, worshipping and adoration as
well of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing
vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture; but rather
repugnant to the word of God.
Doctrina Romanensium de Purgatorio, de Indulgentiis, de veneratione tum
Imaginum tum Reliquiarum, nec non de Invocatione Sanctorum, res est futilis,
inaniter conflicta, et nullis Scripturarum testimoniis innititur; imo verbo
Dei contradicit.
Of Ministering in the Congregation
It is not lawful for any man to take upon him the office of public preaching
or ministering the sacraments in the congregation, before he be lawfully
called and sent to execute the same. And those we ought to judge lawfully called
and sent, which be chosen and called to this work by men who have public
authority given unto them in the congregation to call and send ministers
into the Lord's vineyard.
Non licet cuiquam sumere sibi munus publice praedicandi aut administrandi
sacramenta in ecclesia, nisi prius fuerit ad haec obeunda legitime vocatus
et missus. Atque illos legitime vocatos et missos existimare debemus, qui
per homines, quibus potestas vocandi ministros atque mittendi in vineam
Domini publice concessa est in ecclesia, co-optati fuerint et asciti in hoc
opus.
Of speaking in the Congregation in such a tongue as the people understandeth
It is a thing plainly repugnant to the word of God and the custom of the primitive
Church, to have public prayer in the Church, or to minister the sacraments in a
tongue not understanded of the people.
Lingua populo non intellecta publicas in Ecclesia preces peragere aut
sacramenta administrare, verbo Dei et primitivae Ecclesiae consuetudine plane
repugnat.
Of the Sacraments
Sacraments ordained of Christ be not only badges or tokens of Christian men's
profession, but rather they be certain sure witnesses and effectual signs of grace
and God's good will towards us, by the which He doth work invisibly in us, and doth
not only quicken, but also strengthen and confirm, our faith in Him.
There are two Sacraments ordained of Christ our Lord in the Gospel, that is to say,
Baptism and the Supper of the Lord.
Those five, commonly called Sacraments, that is to say, Confirmation, Penance,
Orders, Matrimony, and Extreme Unction, are not to be counted for Sacraments of
the Gospel, being such as have grown partly of the corrupt following of the
Apostles, partly are states of life allowed in the Scriptures; but yet have not
the like nature of Sacraments with Baptism and the Lord's Supper, for that they have
not any visible sign or ceremony ordained of God.
The Sacraments were not ordained of Christ to be gazed upon or to be carried about,
but that we should duly use them. And in such only as worthily receive the same,
have they a wholesome effect or operation: but they that receive them unworthily,
purchase to themselves damnation, as S. Paul saith.
Sacramenta a Christo instituta non tantum sunt notae professionis Christianorum,
sed certa quaedam potius testimonia et efficacia signa gratiae atque bonae in nos
voluntatis Dei, per quae invisibiliter ipse in nobis operatur, nostramque fidem in
se, non solum excitat verum etiam confirmat.
Duo a Christo Domino nostro in Evangelio instituta sunt Sacramenta, scilicet,
Baptismus et Coena Domini.
Quinque illa vulgo nominata Sacramenta, scilicet, Confirmatio, Poenitentia,
Ordo, Matrimonium, et Extrema Unctio, pro Sacramentis Evangelicis habenda non sunt,
ut quae partim a prava Apostolorum imitatione profluxerunt, partim vitae status sunt
in Scripturis quidem probati, sed Sacramentorum eandem cum Baptismo et Coena Domini
rationem non habentes, ut quae signum aliquod visibile seu ceremoniam a Deo
institutam non habeant.
Sacramenta non in hoc instituta sunt a Christo ut spectarentur aut circumferrentur
sed ut rite illis uteremur. Et in his duntaxat qui digne percipiunt, salutarem habent
effectum: qui vero indigne perci piunt, damnationem, ut inquit Paulus, sibi ipsis
acquirunt.
Of the unworthiness of the Ministers, which hinders not the effect of the Sacraments
Although in the visible Church the evil be ever mingled with the good, and sometime
the evil have chief authority in the ministration of the word and sacraments; yet
forasmuch as they do not the same in their own name, but in Christ's, and do minister
by His commission and authority, we may use their ministry both in hearing the word
of God and in the receiving of the sacraments. Neither is the effect of Christ's
ordinance taken away by their wickedness, nor the grace of God's gifts diminished
from such as by faith and rightly do receive the sacraments ministered unto them,
which be effectual because of Christ's institution and promise, although they be
ministered by evil men.
Nevertheless it appertaineth to the discipline of the Church that inquiry be made of
evil ministers, and that they be accused by those that have knowledge of their
offences; and finally, being found guilty by just judgement, be deposed.
Quamvis in Ecclesia visibili bonis mali semper sunt admixti, atque interdum
ministerio verbi et sacramentorum administrationi praesint ; tamen cum
non suo sed Christi nomine agant, eiusque mandato et auctoritate ministrent,
illorum ministerio uti licet cum in verbo Dei audiendo tum in sacramentis
percipiendis. Neque per illorum malitiam effectus institutorum Christi tollitur
aut gratia donorum Dei minuitur quoad eos qui fide et rite sibi oblata percipiunt,
quae propter institutionem Christi et promissionem efficacia sunt, licet per malos
administrentur.
Ad Ecclesiae tamen disciplinam pertinet, ut in malos ministros inquiratur,
accusenturque ab his qui eorum flagitia noverint; atque tandem, iusto convicti
iudicio, deponantur.
Of Baptism
Baptism is not only a sign of profession and mark of difference whereby Christian
men are discerned from other that be not christened, but is also a sign of
regeneration or new birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive baptism
rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of the forgiveness of sin, and
of our adoption to be the sons of God, by the Holy Ghost are visibly signed and
sealed; faith is confirmed, and grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God. The
baptism of young children is in any wise to be retained in the Church as most
agreeable with the institution of Christ.
Baptismus non est tantum professionis signum ac discriminis nota qua Christiani
a non Christianis discernantur, sed etiam est signum regenerationis, per quod,
tanquam per instrumentum, recte baptismum suscipientes Ecclesiae inseruntur;
promissiones de remissione peccatorum atque adoptione nostra in filios Dei per
Spiritum Sanctum visibiliter obsignantur; fides confirmatur, et vi divinae
invocationis gratia augetur. Baptismus parvulorum omnino in Ecclesia retinendus
est, ut qui cum Christi institutione optime congruat.
Of the Lord's Supper
The Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of the love that Christians ought to
have among themselves, one to another, but rather it is a sacrament of our
redemption by Christ's death: insomuch that to such as rightly, worthily, and
with faith receive the same, the bread which we break is a partaking of the body
of Christ, and likewise the cup of blessing is a partaking of the blood of Christ.
Transubstantiation (or the change of the substance of bread and wine) in the Supper
of the Lord, cannot be proved by Holy Writ, but is repugnant to the plain words
of Scripture, overthroweth the nature of a Sacrament, and hath given occasion to
many superstitions.
The body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper, only after an heavenly
and spiritual manner. And the mean whereby the body of Christ is received and
eaten in the Supper is faith
The Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was not by Christ's ordinance reserved,
carried about, lifted up, or worshipped.
Coena Domini non est tantum signum mutae benevolentiae Christianorum inter sese,
verum potius est sacramentum nostrae per mortem Christi redemptionis. Atque ideo
rite digne et cum fide sumentibus, panis quem frangimus est communicatio corporis
Christi: similiter poculum benedictionis est communicatio sanguinis Christi.
Panis et vini transubstantiatio in Eucharistia ex sacris literis probari non potest,
sed apertis Scripturae verbis adversatur, sacramenti naturam evertit, et multarum
superstitionum dedit occasionem.
Corpus Christi datur, acciptur, et manducatur in Coena, tantum coelestis et
spirituali ratione. Medium autem quo corpus Christi accipitur et manducatur in Coena,
fides est.
Sacramentum Eucharistiae ex institutione Christi non servabatur, circumferebatur,
elevabatur, nec adorabatur.
Of the wicked which do not eat the body of Christ, in the use of the Lord's Supper
The wicked and such as be void of a lively faith, although they do carnally and
visibly press with their teeth (as S. Augustine saith) the sacrament of the body and
blood of Christ, yet in no wise are they partakers of Christ, but rather to their
condemnation do eat and drink the sign or sacrament of so great a thing.
Impii et viva fide destituti, licer carnaliter et visibilitur (ut Augustinus
loquitur) corporis et sanguinis Christi sacramentum dentibus premant, nullo tamen
modo Christi participes efficiuntur; sed potius tantae rei sacramentum seu symbolum
ad iudicium sibi manducant et bibunt.
Of Both Kinds
The Cup of the Lord is not to be denied to the lay people; for both parts of the
Lord's sacrament, by Christ's ordinance and commandment, ought to be ministered to
all Christian men alike.
Calix Domini laicis non est denegandus, utraque enim pars Dominici sacramenti,
ex Christi institutione et praecepto, omnibus Christianis ex aequo administrari debet.
Of the one oblation of Christ finished upon the Cross
The offering of Christ once made is the perfect redemption, propitiation,
and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole world, both original and actual,
and there is none other satisfaction for sin but that alone. Wherefore the sacrifices
of Masses, in the which it was commonly said that the priests did offer Christ for
the quick and the dead to have remission of pain or guilt, were blasphemous fables
and dangerous deceits.
Oblatio Christi, semel facta, perfecta est redemptio, propitiatio, et satisfactio
pro omnibus peccatis totius mundi, tam originalibus quam actualibus; neque praeter
illam unicam est ulla alia prop peccatis expiatio. Unde missarum sacrificia, quibus
vulgo dicebatur sacerdotem offerre Christum in remissionem poenae aut culpae pro
vivis defunctis, blasphema figmenta sunt et pernitiosae imposturae.
Please mail your comments and corrections to Gavin Koh at <gavvie@bigfoot.com>