Content Introduction Part I Part II Part III Part IV Bibliography Index

Thirty-Nine Articles

The Thirty-Nine Articles are the defining statements of Anglican doctrine. They were issued by the Convocation of clergy of the Church of England in 1571 and are printed in the Book of Common Prayer and other Anglican prayer books. The Test Act of 1673 made adherence to the Thirty-Nine Articles a requirement for holding civil office in England.

The Articles highlight some of the major differences between Anglican and Catholic doctrine, including:

• the sufficiency of Scripture for salvation (Article 6)
• the recommendation of the Apocryphal books 'for example of life and instruction in manners ... [but not] to establish any doctrine' (Article 6)
• justification by faith, not works (Articles 11, 12, 13, 14)
• the rejection of the doctrine of Purgatory (Article 22)
• the identification of only two sacraments, Baptism and the Eucharist (Article 25)
• permitting the marriage of clergy (32)

The Articles also argue against some Anabaptist positions such as the holding of goods in common, and the necessity of believer's baptism.

"Tract 90" was John Henry Newman's response to the Thirty-Nine Articles, written before his conversion to Roman Catholicism.

The Articles were not intended as a complete statement of the Christian faith, but as a statement of the position of the Church of England over against the Roman Catholic Church and some continental Reformers.

This text is a modified version of the Wikipedia article "Thirty-Nine Articles", and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.