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The Thirty-Nine Articles · Article 35 of 39

Article XXXV. Of the Homilies

The second Book of Homilies, the several titles whereof we have joined under this Article, doth contain a godly and wholesome Doctrine, and necessary for these times, as doth the former Book of Homilies, which were set forth in the time of Edward the Sixth; and therefore we judge them to be read in Churches by the Ministers, diligently and distinctly, that they may be understanded of the people.

Of the Names of the Homilies

1.Of the right Use of the Church. 2.Against peril of Idolatry. 3.Of repairing and keeping clean of Churches. 4.Of good Works: first of Fasting. 5.Against Gluttony and Drunkenness. 6.Against Excess of Apparel. 7.Of Prayer. 8.Of the Place and Time of Prayer. 9.That Common Prayers and Sacraments ought to be ministered in a known tongue. 10.Of the reverend estimation of God's Word. 11.Of Alms-doing. 12.Of the Nativity of Christ. 13.Of the Passion of Christ. 14.Of the Resurrection of Christ. 15.Of the worthy receiving of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ. 16.Of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost. 17.For the Rogation-days. 18.Of the State of Matrimony. 19.Of Repentance. 20.Against Idleness. 21.Against Rebellion.

Latin text (1563)

Articulus XXXIV. Catalogus Homiliarum.

Tomus secundus Homiliarum, quarum singulos titulos huic Articulo subiunximus, continet piam et salutarem doctrinam, et hijs temporibus necessariam, non minus quàm prior Tomus Homiliarum quæ æditæ sunt tempore Edwardi sexti. Itaque eas in ecclesijs per ministros diligenter et clarè, ut à populo intelligi possint, recitandas, esse iudicamus.

De recto ecclesiæ usu. Aduersus Idololatriæ pericula. De reparandis ac purgandis ecclesijs. De bonis operibus. De ieiunio. In gulæ atque ebrietatis uitia. In nimis sumptuosos uestium apparatus. De oratione siue precatione. De loco et tempore orationi destinatis. De publicis precibus ac Sacramentis, idiomate uulgari omnibusque noto, habendis. De sacrosancta uerbi divini autoritate. De eleemosina. De Christi natiuitate. De dominica passione. De resurrectione Domini. De digna corporis et sanguinis dominici in cœna Domini participatione. De donis spiritus sancti. In diebus, qui uulgo Rogationum dicti sunt, concio. De matrimonij statu. De otio seu socordia. De pœnitentia.

  • Numbered XXXIV in 1563, because Article XXIX was not printed until 1571.
  • The Latin prints the list of homilies under the heading Catalogus Homiliarum.

Source: the first printed Latin edition (London: Reginald Wolfe, 1563), as given in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom, vol. 3 (1877), via CCEL. Original spelling kept.

Commentaries

Article-by-Article commentaries on Article XXXV, oldest first.

  1. Thomas Rogers, The Faith, Doctrine, and Religion, Professed, & Protected in the Realme of England (first published 1585 as The English Creede; 1607 ed.)
  2. John Ellis, A Defense of the Thirty Nine Articles of the Church of England (first published in Latin 1660; 1700 English ed.)
  3. Gilbert Burnet, An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England (first published 1699; 1700 2nd ed.)
  4. William Beveridge, Ecclesia Anglicana Ecclesia Catholica; or, The Doctrine of the Church of England Consonant to Scripture, Reason, and Fathers (written before 1708; 1846–47 ed.)
  5. Edward Welchman, The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, Illustrated with Notes (first published in Latin 1713; 1790 English ed.)
  6. Anonymous, A Practical Exposition upon the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England (1716)
  7. John Veneer, An Exposition on the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England (first published 1725; 1734 2nd ed.)
  8. Martin Madan, A Scriptural Comment upon the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England (1772)
  9. John Hey, Lectures in Divinity, Book IV (1796–98)
  10. George Pretyman Tomline, Elements of Christian Theology, vol. 2 (first published 1799; 1818 ed.)
  11. William Wilson, The Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England, Illustrated by Copious Extracts from the Liturgy, Homilies, Nowell’s Catechism, and Jewell’s Apology (1821)
  12. Thomas R. Jones, An Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles by the Reformers (1849)
  13. William Trollope, Questions and Answers on the XXXIX Articles of the Church of England (1850)
  14. Edward Harold Browne, An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles, Historical and Doctrinal (first published 1850–53; 1895 printing)
  15. Alexander Penrose Forbes, An Explanation of the Thirty-Nine Articles (first published 1867–68; 1871 2nd ed.)
  16. Thomas Pownall Boultbee, A Commentary on the Thirty-Nine Articles (first published 1871; 1877 ed.)
  17. George Frederick Maclear and Watkin Wynn Williams, An Introduction to the Articles of the Church of England (1895)
  18. E. Tyrrell Green, The Thirty-Nine Articles and the Age of the Reformation (1896)
  19. Edgar Charles Sumner Gibson, The Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, Explained with an Introduction (1896–97)
  20. Bernard C. Jackson, The Thirty-Nine Articles: A Short Exposition (1900)
  21. Edward John Bicknell, A Theological Introduction to the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church of England (1919) · with Articles XXIII, XXXVI

Historical context

Article XXXV commends the Books of Homilies as containing godly and wholesome doctrine and appoints them to be read in churches. The 1553 Article commended the First Book of Homilies, issued in 1547 under Edward VI, much of it associated with Cranmer. In 1563 the Article was revised to refer to the Second Book, then being prepared, and to list the titles of its homilies; the Homily against Disobedience and Wilful Rebellion was added to the list in 1571 after the Northern Rising of 1569. The Homilies were intended to supply sound teaching where many clergy were not licensed to preach, and they illustrate the doctrine that the Articles state in brief.

Sources: C. Hardwick, A History of the Articles of Religion (1851); E. H. Browne, An Exposition of the Thirty-Nine Articles (1865); E. C. S. Gibson, The Thirty-Nine Articles (1896).