Article XXVIII of the Thirty-Nine Articles
Article XXVIII of the Thirty-Nine Articles is the article on the Lord's Supper in the doctrinal formularies of the Church of England and in many churches of the Anglican Communion. It is commonly titled Of the Lord's Supper. The article sets out a Reformation-era Anglican account of the Eucharist, affirming the sacramental gift of Christ's body and blood while rejecting explanations judged contrary to Scripture, especially transubstantiation as a required doctrine. Within Anglicanism, Article XXVIII has often served as a reference point for debates about sacramental presence, eucharistic devotion, and the relation of liturgy to doctrine.
Text and Place among the Articles
Article XXVIII belongs to the sacramental section of the Thirty-Nine Articles, following Article XXV on the sacraments generally and Article XXVI on the unworthiness of ministers. Its subject is not the ceremonial shape of the communion service but the doctrine of what is given and received in the sacrament. The article states that the Supper of the Lord is not only a sign of Christian love but a sacrament of redemption by Christ's death. It teaches that those who rightly, worthily, and with faith receive the bread and wine partake of the body and blood of Christ.
The article also says that the body of Christ is given, taken, and eaten in the Supper only after a heavenly and spiritual manner, and that the means by which it is received is faith. This language is important for Anglican theology because it avoids reducing the sacrament to a bare memorial while also avoiding a definition of presence in terms of material change. The article therefore reflects a characteristically Anglican use of patristic, biblical, and Reformation categories rather than a single scholastic explanation.
Eucharistic Doctrine
Article XXVIII rejects transubstantiation, describing it as repugnant to the plain words of Scripture and as having given occasion to superstition. In its historical setting, this rejection was directed against the claim that the substance of bread and wine ceases to remain after consecration. The article does not deny that Christ is truly received in the sacrament; rather, it denies a particular account of how that presence is to be explained.
The article's teaching has been interpreted in different ways within Anglican tradition. Evangelical Anglicans have often emphasized its insistence that faith is the means of receiving Christ and that the sacrament must not be separated from the promises of the gospel. High church and catholic-minded Anglicans have emphasized that the article speaks positively of a real participation in Christ's body and blood and should not be read as a denial of sacramental reality. These interpretations differ in emphasis, but both appeal to the article's refusal to treat the Eucharist as either merely social fellowship or as a mechanical change independent of faithful reception.
Relation to the Book of Common Prayer
The doctrine of Article XXVIII is closely related to the communion rite in the Book of Common Prayer. The Prayer Book service joins proclamation, confession, absolution, consecration, reception, and thanksgiving. This liturgical setting helps explain why the article speaks of worthy reception and faith. The sacrament is not presented as an isolated object but as an action of the gathered Church in obedience to Christ's institution.
In the 1662 Prayer Book, the words of administration include both the language of Christ's body and blood and the call to feed on him in the heart by faith with thanksgiving. This combination parallels the article's teaching: the sacrament is truly a communion in Christ, and its proper reception is spiritual, faithful, and thankful. The Prayer of Humble Access also expresses this devotional theology by asking that communicants may eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood in a manner joined to cleansing, incorporation, and grace.
Anglican Significance
Article XXVIII remains significant because it marks the boundaries of classical Anglican eucharistic doctrine without exhausting its devotional or theological depth. It protects the sacrament from being understood as a mere sign of human fellowship, and it also resists accounts that detach sacramental grace from faith and the word of promise. For this reason, the article has continued to shape Anglican catechesis, ecumenical discussion, and interpretation of the Book of Common Prayer.
In Anglican church history, controversies over eucharistic doctrine have often returned to Article XXVIII. Its language has allowed Anglicans to affirm reverent eucharistic worship while maintaining a Reformation commitment to Scripture and to the sufficiency of Christ's once-for-all sacrifice. The article therefore stands as a concise statement of Anglican sacramental theology, balancing real communion with Christ, faithful reception, and caution about speculative definitions.