John Henry Todd, MA: "Life of Archbishop Cranmer," Vol. 2, 97ff.
This continues to show Dr. Cranmer's response to the 1549 rebellion in Cornwall and Devonshire against the new English Prayer Book.
97-109 Cranmer continues to work his way serially--ad seriatim--through the Articles of the rebels, Articles crafted by shifty clerics but followed by those governed by dark and old thoughts.
Article 4 requires the sacrament be hung over the altar and there worshipped. Jesus body and blood are up there above the altar. BREAD-WORSHIPPERS. Sounds very Tractarian. Cranmer retails history including Innocent 111 and Honorious—not even they required this. The rebels rise to calling opponents of this “heretics.” We would add this was an outgrowth of bread-worshipping from 1215 Lateran dicta.
Article V requires that Easter be administered only on Easter and in one kind. Cranmer develops, without saying it, Plato’s cave theory of seeing the light at the opening but being unable to exit due to accustomization to the darkness. Plato's allegory warrants reconsideration and application for our times as we leave in the age of darkeness--notably, on the decline of the doctrine of God in Western Civilization.
Article VI require baptisms throughout the week. Article VII: “We will have holy bread and holy water every Sunday, palms and ashes at the time accustomed; images to be set up again in every church; and all other ancient, old ceremonies, used heretofore by our mother holy Church.” With ease, Dr. Cranmer reviews the Bible and Church History as he euthanizes their dying articles.
In memoriam, we pray:
Eternal God, human history is one second to You. To us, we are bounded by our finite limitations, including forgetfulness, amnesia, distraction and often bad leadership. Bless our memories and, we beseech Thee, help our memories and thoughts that we may be drawn to good things, but us and the future generations, through the might and merits of our Sovereign Redeemer, Jesus Christ, Amen.
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