Why and How did the church change in England?

Question

It was during the Renaissance.

Answer 1

The usual answer focuses solely on the political maneuvers of Henry VIII, esp. his decision to defy the Pope and declare himself head of the English ("Anglican") church, not because he disagreed with the teaching of the Catholic Church, but because he was trying to get a divorce as part of his effort to sire a MALE heir to succeed him.

Some might add to this the general struggle between the religious authorities (headed by the Pope) and the rulers of the young nation-states of Europe in their bid for political power.

All true. . . but HARDLY adequate to account for the 16th century changes in the English Church. In particular, it doesn't account very well for the DOCTRINAL changes in the Anglican Church.


The other critical piece(s) is bound up with the spread of REFORMATION teaching. Actually, in the case of England it goes back two centuries, to the efforts of John Wycliffe (dubbed "the Morning Start of the Reformation) to reform the church (with some political implications) AND, alongside that, to produce an ENGLISH-language version of the Bible (translating from the Latin Vulgate).

Though Wycliffe's followers, the "Lollards", were later opposed as heretics, his followers kept his translation and teachings alive... and even spread them to a Bohemian reformer of the following century (John Hus, who was burned as a heretic), and thence to the (in)famous monk, Martin Luther, and other German and Swiss Reformers of the early 16th century.

Thus Wycliffe's work in England had never died out, and when the Reformation began on the Continent in the 1520s, the concerns were quickly picked up on in England. That is, there was a Reform movement with deep roots in England in the 1520s -- focusing esp on the efforts of Tyndale and his successors to translate the Bible from the original languages into English.

(By the way, this is where the Renaissance comes in. The work of Luther, Tyndale and others in translating the Bible, and teaching it to the people, was rooted in part in a revived interest of Renaissance humanism in restoring and studying ORIGINAL texts -- in this case the Hebrew and Greek originals of the Bible.)

Tyndale's work was at first opposed by Henry VIII-- hence he was captured and executed as a heretic. But after the great split, and with growing hunger for an English translation for this English church, he authorized a Bible based on Tyndale's.

At the same time, Reformation (sometimes loosely called "Lutheran") teachings were spreading rapidly, esp. in areas where the Lollard base was strong. . . and its leaders were strong enough to gain a say in how the Church of England was organized, and its official teachings. (These men were heavily influenced by the leaders of the SWISS Reformation, including John Calvin. Hence, when they wrote a prayer book for the church, and later the "39 Articles" , they reflected teachings very friendly toward Calvinism.)

Henry ended up having his son Edward trained by these leaders, hence when Edward took the throne he pushed the theology and practice in a much more "Reformed" (vs. "Catholic") direction.

I won't try to rehearse the ups and downs of the following century and beyond --esp the back-and-forth between Reformed and Catholic forces -- except to note that the particular WAY the Reformation gained sway in England led to a longterm "mixture" in the Anglican church... including a "high church" group fairly close to Catholic teaching, and a "low church" group whose teachings were reflected in the Book of Common Prayer and 39 Articles. (To this day, there is a group of Anglicans that works very closely with Reformed and Presbyterian churches.)

Answer 2

Because both are the official state church in Scotland and England respectively. Andrew H is not quite right - the Church of Scotland is more independent of the state than the Church of England, but it still has a Lord High Commissioner appointed by the Queen to its General Assembly. Otherwise it makes no sense whatsoever... in England the Queen has to believe that the church needs bishops, but as soon as she crosses the border she has to believe that it doesn't! Of course they're both Christian churches and pretty similar in what they believe, though organisationally they are very different. The Church of England has bishops, priests (not vicars, this is the job title for the chief priest of a parish) and deacons, and runs in the traditional hierarchical way with the Archbishop of Canterbury at the top and the Queen as Supreme Governor, while the Church of Scotland only has ministers, no official position for the Queen, and a new Moderator of the General Assembly every year. If the Queen were to be consistent she would, in Scotland, attend the Episcopal Church of Scotland, but she doesn't.

Answer 3

Would that be a Queen Elizabeth's church? It certainly wouldn't be the Pope's, and the court seemed to hold church well in hand in those old days; I guess an Elizabethan church. Pomp and circumstance... lice and intrigue. Weird what comes to mind right now. A long Church Service, at any rate. But I wonder who assigned the Renaissance to what class all at once?

Answer 4

I think that you'll find the biggest change came to the church in the mid 1530's when Henry VIII reformed the Catholic Church in England and installed himself as protector of the faith. Essentially this was the start of a protestant country at this time. Read up also on Martin Luther and Calvanism. Hers a nice easy link to the tudors and basic changes...google for more...http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/REFORM/ENGLAND.HTM

Answer 5

Henry VIII wanted a son. His wife was too old to have more children. He asked for a divorce. The Pope said no because Henry's wife was a Spanish princess and he was afraid of Spain. So Henry said I refuse to listen to the Pope and he started his own Church where HE, HENRY VIII was the head of the Church of England.

Answer 6

Hey Dude or Dudett ! Try this ~ http://vtvt.essortment.com/historycatholic_rfxp.htm

I don't know if its going to help but it has info on Church of England during renaissance.

Answer 7

It changed many times throughout the Tudor into the Elizabethan and on. Henry VIII declared himself to be the head of the church and disowned his daughter by his first wife. When Henry died, his son kept the faith of his father until his untimely death. Henry's disowned daughter (Mary) brought back her mother's faith and it changed back to Catholic. Mary died and Elizabeth felt that no man should look into another's soul and changed it back to Protestant. Elizabeth (after cutting her cousin's head off - Mary of Scots) had no choice but to give her cousin's son James the rights to the throne after her (Elizabeth's death) and from here we have the King James version of the bible.

Answer 8

I'm pretty sure it was when Queen Elizabeth came to the throne as a protestant queen.