CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



Churches, the large and increasing bodies of 

 Presbyterians in America and Australasia, the 

 great proportion of the Baptist body, the Inde- 

 pendents, and a considerable section of the Church 

 of England, &c. are Calvinistic ; while another 

 section of the Church of England, a portion of 

 the Baptist denomination, and, to some extent, 

 the Wesleyan body, are Arminian. 



THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 



In the middle of the I4th century, Wiclifie 

 assailed the papal indulgences and transubstantia- 

 tion, and generally began to disseminate in Eng- 

 land those doctrines which, after his death, con- 

 tinued to leaven the country, and which, on the 

 rupture of Henry VIII. with the pope, triumphed 

 in the Anglican Reformation. In 1535, the English 

 parliament passed an Act wholly abolishing the 

 papal authority within the realm. The power of 

 the king became supreme. Under the guidance 

 and influence of Cromwell and Cranmer, Bibles 

 were placed in the churches, the youth of the 

 nation were taught the Creed, the Ten Command- 

 ments, and the Lord's Prayer ; images were re- 

 moved from the altar ; and there were put forth, 

 the Book of Homilies in 1540, the New Commu- 

 nion Service and Catechism in 1548, the first Book 

 of Common Prayer in 1549, and in 1553 the Forty- 

 two Articles, which were subsequently revised by 

 Archbishop Parker, reduced to Thirty-nine, and 

 agreed upon by the archbishops and bishops of 

 both provinces and the whole clergy in the Con- 

 vocation held at London in the 4th year of Eliza- 

 beth, 1562. These Articles, along with the Book 

 of Common Prayer, still constitute the authorised 

 standards of the Church of England, which, as 

 distinguished from Rome, rejects tradition as a 

 rule of faith ; bases all her teachings on the Old 

 and New Testaments ; recognises but two sacra- 

 ments Baptism and the Lord's Supper ; denies 

 the doctrine of transubstantiation and the pro- 

 pitiatory sacrifice of the Mass ; forbids the adora- 

 tion of the Virgin, saints, and angels, and the 

 reverence of relics and images ; and repudiates 

 the Roman doctrines of purgatory and the 

 spiritual supremacy of the pope. Since her in- 

 stitution as a church separate from Rome, the 

 Anglican establishment has passed through several 

 grave crises. Menaced by Popery on the one 

 hand, and Puritanism on the other, each of which 

 succeeded for a brief period in even suspending 

 her corporate existence, the former under Queen 

 Mary, the latter under Cromwell, she has also 

 witnessed two important secessions from her 

 pale that of the Nonconformists in 1662, when 

 2000 clergymen abandoned her connection rather 

 than submit to the conditions of the Act of Uni- 

 formity, newly passed, which required unfeigned 

 assent to all and everything contained in the 

 Book of Common Prayer ; and, subsequently, 

 owing to the prevalent religious torpor and inac- 

 tivity, that of the numerous and influential body 

 into which the Wesleyan Methodists have grown. 



In 1 80 1, the Act of Union came into effect, 

 which united the Churches of England and Ireland 

 in all matters of doctrine, worship, and discipline. 

 The connection again ceased on the 1st of January 

 1871, when the Episcopal Church of Ireland 

 became disestablished by an act of the imperial 

 legislature. 



404 



Several serious controversies have taken plac 

 in the Church of England within the last fort 

 years. The Tractarian movement, the Gorham cor 

 troversy, the development of Broad Churchisr 

 together with some recent decisions in the eccle 

 siastical courts, have agitated the Church, and 

 somewhat affected her position. The Tractarian 

 controversy was occasioned by some tracts which 

 began to be published at Oxford in 1833, the 

 object of which was to revive something of the 

 spirit of Catholic antiquity, and reform the Church 

 system in accordance with that design. The 

 Gorham controversy originated in the refusal of 

 the Bishop of Exeter to institute the Rev. Cor- 

 nelius Gorham to the vicarage of Brampford- 

 Speke, on the ground of his holding unsound 

 views as to the efficacy of the sacrament of 

 Baptism. The Court of Arches (1849) decided 

 that baptismal regeneration is the doctrine of the 

 Church of England. Mr Gorham appealed to the 

 judicial committee of the Privy-council, which, 

 while disclaiming jurisdiction in matters of faith, 

 and giving no decision on the doctrinal questions 

 involved, reversed the judgment of the Court of 

 Arches, on the ground, that differences of opinion 

 on various points left open are quite consistent 

 both with the views of the framers of the Articles 

 and with the prevalent custom in the Church of 

 England. 



That Church is at present divided into three 

 sections tolerably well defined what are known 

 as the High Church party, the Broad Church 

 party, and the Evangelical or Low Church party. 

 The High Church party insist on the authority of 

 the Church and priesthood, the efficacy of sacra- 

 ments when rightly received, the necessity of apos- 

 tolical succession in the matter of orders, and in 

 their general teaching they take the Prayer-book 

 as the exponent of Scripture. They are scrupulous 

 in observing the rubrics, and have done much to 

 revive the practice of daily prayer in the churches 

 and the observance of festivals. Order, unity, 

 antiquity, and catholicity are what they profess 

 to have in view. There have been numerous 

 secessions from their ranks to Romanism, and 

 a disposition has been manifested by some of 

 their number to introduce into the Anglican 

 Church the confessional, monasticism, and the 

 objective presence in the sacrament of the 

 Supper. 



The judgment given in favour of Bennet in the 

 Supreme Court of Appeal (June 8, 1872), caused 

 considerable agitation, under the impression that 

 something very like transubstantiation is tolerated 

 in the Church of England. The Broad Church 

 party, including the Arnold School and the fol- 

 lowers of Maurice, are distinguished by a more 

 than customary liberalism in the interpretation of 

 the Scriptures and the Church standards ; depre- 

 ciate doctrinal teaching as well as, to some extent, 

 the differences between Christianity and other 

 systems of faith, culture, and morals ; and ear- 

 nestly advocate the idea of a comprehensive 

 national Church, embracing nearly every variety 

 of belief and form of worship. The Evangelical 

 or Low Church party occupy a position midway 

 between the other two, and strongly maintain the 

 distinguishing doctrines of the Reformation, and 

 those views concerning the atonement, the Spirit's- 

 work, justification, &c. which are ordinarily termed 

 evangelical ; personal religion and direct personal 



