Father of Anglicanism: A Concise History of Thomas Cranmer

“Man that is born of woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay.”
(The Book of Common Prayer)

Thomas Cranmer (July 2, 1489 – March 21, 1556) was an English Reformer and also the Archbishop of Canterbury. He was born at Aslacton or Aslockton in Nottinghamshire, England to Thomas Cranmer and his wife, Anne Hatsfield. His parents were minor gentry, and Cranmer received his early education from “a marvellous severe and cruel schoolmaster.”[1]

When Cranmer was fourteen, Anne Hatsfield, already a widow for two years by this point, sent him off to Cambridge to begin his studies as a fellow at Jesus College. It took him eight years to complete his Bachelor of Arts degree. His Master of Arts degree was completed in three years, and he specialized in humanism, especially on the writings of Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples and Erasmus. Upon receiving his Master of Arts degree, Cranmer was elected to a fellowship at Jesus College in 1515.

Cranmer married Joan, a relative of the landlady of the Dolphin Inn, and, although not yet a priest, he had to vacate his fellowship at Jesus College. During his married life, he was a lecturer at Buckingham Hall, which is now Magdalene College. However, his wife died in her childbirth a few years later, and Cranmer devoted himself to theological study and was subsequently allowed to rejoin the fellowship at Jesus College. He was ordained in 1523 and received his doctorate of divinity in 1526.

In 1502, King Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon, who happened to be the wife of his deceased elder brother, Arthur. She beget six children, all being either stillborn or later died in infancy (only two were princes). Although Mary was born in 1516 and survived, Henry had no male heirs to succeed him on the throne and his wife was no longer healthy enough to have more kids. Henry sought Pope Clement VII’s permission to annul his current marriage to Catherine and marry another woman, Anne Boleyn. Because Pope Clement VII refused to do so (due to political pressure), the King approached Cranmer and sought to have him appeal to the pope on the legitimacy of his divorce. After Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, refused to allow Clement VII to bow to Henry’s demands, the King broke away from the Roman Catholic Church, instituted the Church of England so that he could marry Anne Boleyn, and appointed Thomas Cranmer as the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1533. However, King Henry later executed Anne Boleyn and married Jane Seymour, who beget Edward VI.

During his tenure as the Archbishop, he established the doctrinal and liturgical structures for the Church of England. Although faced with constant struggle with religious conservatives and reformers, he succeeded in publishing the first authorized vernacular service, the Exhortation and Liturgy.

During Edward VI's reign from 1547 to 1553, Cranmer pushed various reforms within the Church of England. He prepared and published the first two editions of The Book of Common Prayer, a complete liturgy for the Church of England. He also wrote several doctrinal treatises on various subjects such as the Eucharist, clergy celibacy, the role and place of images in worship, and the veneration of the saints. He was deeply aware of what was happening during the Reformation period and even began to affirm some of Luther’s and Zwingli’s theology.

When Edward VI died and Queen Mary claimed the throne, she wanted to reunify with the Roman Catholic Church. Cranmer was subsequently arrested, brought to trial for heresy, found guilty, and sentenced to death in November 1553. He was brought before a papal court in 1554, given an opportunity to explain his theological positions, and was condemned for treachery, disobedience, and heresy. He was soon stripped of his archbishopric title by Roman curia, and the papal authorities gave secular government the permission to execute him.

On the days leading up to his execution, Thomas Cranmer recanted up to five times on various Reformation doctrines, and he would have been absolved immediately if it was not for Queen Mary’s desire to make an example out of him to everyone. On the day of his execution, he was told he had to make a full and final recantation during a service at University Church in the public. He stood up at the pulpit on the day of his execution with a prepared statement approved by the Catholic Church, but he deviated from his statement and took back all of his recantations. He said, “And for the pope, I refuse him, as Christ’s enemy, and Antichrist with all his false doctrine.” Cranmer was pulled from the pulpit, brought to the stake, and he steadfastly stuck his hand in the flames before perishing in the midst of flames, saying, “Lord, receive my spirit.”[2]

His martyrdom was immortalized in Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (click here for the Kindle edition if you want to purchase it in an e-book format).

His enduring impact in the modern world

Thomas Cranmer’s impact on English Reformation movement was so comprehensive that it can still be felt and seen today. He published The Book of Common Prayer, and several revisions were made to it since the sixteenth century. In addition, with Edward VI’s blessings, Cranmer published “42 Articles,” which provided the backbone for the future “Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion” commissioned during Queen Elizabeth’s reign in 1563. It is a Statement of Faith for the Anglican Church in the world.

Eventually, this denomination led to what is now known as the Episcopal Church (a liberal denomination) and also several conservative Anglican denominations such as PEARUSA and the Anglican Church of North America, in addition to many more diocese throughout the world.

Resources on all things Anglicanism:

• A detailed biography on Cranmer’s life, plus a few of his writings!
• Basic overview of Anglican doctrines
• The Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion (the Statement of Faith for Anglicanism)
  • General Information
  • Actual text
• Some denomination-specific websites:
  • The Episcopal Church (of America)
  • PEARUSA (Rwanda)
  • The Anglican Church in North America
  • The Church of England
  • The Anglican Communion
• Several Episcopal/Anglican churches to check out in America:
  • A List of Episcopal Deaf churches and churches providing interpreting services, provided by the Episcopal Conference of the Deaf of the Episcopal Church in the USA.
  • Cathedral Church of the Advent, an Episcopal church based in Birmingham, AL. Several of my seminary colleagues and professors attend this church on a regular basis.
  • Christ the King Anglican Church, an church plant at Beeson Divinity School! Its services are held in the Hodges Chapel at Samford University, and its rector is The Reverend Dr. Lyle Dorsett and assistant rector The Reverend Dr. Graham Cole, two of Beeson Divinity School’s professors.
  • St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, a church I visited in Houston, Texas. It is the largest parish in North America, and its rector, Dr. Russell Levenson Jr., is a recent graduate of Beeson Divinity School’s D.Min. program. He also serves on its Advisory Board. I have been blessed by this church in incredible ways since it joined the Beeson League of Churches last Spring and started supporting me through seminary.
• Recommended books on Anglicanism:
• Thomas Cranmer: A Life (a biography on Thomas Cranmer’s life)
• The Book of Common Prayer 1979 (the most recent edition) 
  • Hardcover Edition
  • Kindle Edition
  • If you like Old English language, get The Book of Common Prayer 1662 edition!
• Love's Redeeming Work: The Anglican Quest for Holiness (A theological work on Anglicanism)
• Kindle Edition
• The Faith We Confess: An Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles (A theological commentary on the Thirty-Nine Articles)
• A Church to Believe In by Peter Moore
• It is a nice and simple work that introduces the life of the church. Recommended by my fellow colleague and blogger, Daniel Logan. Thank you!
• Anglicanism by Stephen Neill
  
• Stephen Neill is an historian, theologian, and an Anglican Bishop. He wrote an excellent introduction and overview of Anglicanism. Again, recommended by Daniel Logan. Thank you!
• Exploring Protestant Traditions: An Invitation to Theological Hospitality
• Personal note: this is an excellent book that provides an overview of eight different major Protestant traditions and how they can work together: Reformed, Lutheran, Wesleyan, Baptist, Anglican, Anabaptist, Pentecostal, and Dispensational. I was assigned this book for my Worship and Ecclesiology Class in Spring 2013, and I will be referring to this book many times in the future.

Nota bene: when you click on the book links above, you will be taken directly to Amazon. If you purchase these books, a portion of your proceeds will also support me during seminary!

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References:
[1] http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/cranmerbio.htm

[2] Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cranmer; http://www.luminarium.org/renlit/cranmerbio.htm; http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/cranmer_thomas.shtml