Geoffrey Bromiley, Ph.D.: "Thomas Cranmer, Theologian:" Ch.4-Church & Mi...

For Dr. Cranmer, episcopos = presbyter. Was not expecting that from this CoE church historian, but he found the quote. 

4. Church and Ministry, 42-56. We are told that Cranmer never had a “detailed investigation” of the doctrine of the Church (42), excepting the issue of Papal authority [DPV—um, sorta like a big deal]. Bromiley seems to dismiss the “organizational matters” while, we would note, he crafted an ordinal. Odd. He see the “holy, elected people of God” (PS, 1.376) as the true church while Rome wrongly “accounted itself to be the holy, catholic church” (PS, 1.376). The Reformation gave a new sharpness to a long-lasting distinction between the invisible and visible church, inherent to Augustinian, scholastic and Biblical teachings—tares and wheat and the eschatological dragnet. To wit, then an entire organization could be indicted as disloyal to God and His Word. The Papes brought this on themselves, we would add. Yet, we would add comedically, that Dr. Bromiley indicates that Dr. Cranmer didn’t want to press this too far (42) given he was working with a national church (that just broke with Rome and whom he called Anti-Christ). Cranmer saw ambition, duplicity and ruthless hostility versus the “little flock” persecuted by the externalists. “This true faith God preserveth in his holy church still and will do unto the world’s end, maugre [DPV, sic] the wicked antichrist, and all the gates of hell” (PS, 1.376). “Truth it is indeed that the church doth never wholly err; for ever I the most darkness God shineth unto his elect, and in the midst of iniquity he governeth them with his holy word and Spirit, that the gates of hell prevail not against them” (PS, 1.377). Yet, the church from creation to crucifixion is a history is one of continual apostasy, so “the open church is now of late years fallen into many errors and corruption, and the holy church is secret and unknown” (PS, 1.377-378). There may be times when the large part of the visible church will be visibly right and yet, at other times, it may be small and hardly visible (e.g. Noah’s, Elijah’s, Jeremiah’s days). The only test is God’s Word as the Canonical rule. Dr. Bromiley tells us this emerges “incidentally” and not systematically (45). “His emphasis is all upon the hiddenness and littleness of the church” (47). Cranmer’s ordinal shows he believes in the three-fold offices of the church and, therefore, to be continued, including clerical marriage. And yet, Dr. Cranmer notes: “The bishops and priests were at one time, and were not two things, but both one office in the beginning of Christ’s religion” (PS, 2.117). We would add, the later stuff were political creations. Dr. Bomiley laments that we do not have Dr. Cranmer’s arguments against the Six Articles. Also, Dr. Cranmer argues around what is and is not a sacrament—7, 3 or 2. The Articles will teach two, but in the 1530s, the debate is on, including discussions with Lutherans in London holding to 3 sacraments.  Dr. Cranmer was, of course, a man who “lived and died” by his Erastianism, a creature and creation of his times.