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The Thirty-Nine Articles · Article 36 of 39

Article XXXVI. Of Consecration of Bishops and Ministers

The Book of Consecration of Archbishops and Bishops, and Ordering of Priests and Deacons, lately set forth in the time of Edward the Sixth, and confirmed at the same time by authority of Parliament, doth contain all things necessary to such Consecration and Ordering: neither hath it any thing, that of itself is superstitious and ungodly. And therefore whosoever are consecrated or ordered according to the Rites of that Book, since the second year of the forenamed King Edward unto this time, or hereafter shall be consecrated or ordered according to the same Rites; we decree all such to be rightly, orderly, and lawfully consecrated and ordered.

Latin text (1563)

Articulus XXXV.

Libellus de Consecratione Archiepiscoporum & Episcoporum, & de ordinatione Presbyterorum & Diaconorum æditus nuper temporibus Edwardi sexti, & autoritate Parlamenti illis ipsis temporibus confirmatus, omnia ad eiusmodi consecrationem & ordinationem necessaria continet, & nihil habet quod ex se sit aut superstitiosum aut impium.

Itaque quicunque iuxta ritus illius libri consecrati aut ordinati sunt ab Anno secundo prædicti Regis Edwardi, usque ad hoc tempus, aut in posterum iuxta eosdem ritus consecrabuntur aut ordinabuntur ritè, ordine, atque legitimè, statuimus esse & fore consecratos & ordinatos.

  • Numbered XXXV in 1563, because Article XXIX was not printed until 1571.
  • No Latin title in the 1563 printing.

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 XXXVI, 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.) · with Article XXIII
  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, XXXV

Historical context

Article XXXVI declares that the book of Consecration of Archbishops and Bishops and Ordering of Priests and Deacons, set forth in the time of Edward VI and confirmed by Parliament, contains all things necessary to such consecration and ordering, and has nothing superstitious or ungodly. It replaced a 1553 Article that commended the 1552 Prayer Book and Ordinal more generally. The Article defended the validity of the English Ordinal against Roman Catholic objections, which grew sharper after the consecration of Matthew Parker in 1559, and against Puritans who objected to parts of the rites. The Ordinal's legal standing was itself questioned in the 1560s, leading to an Act of 1566 confirming it.

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).