Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles (Browne, 1883)
Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles (Browne, 1883) is a commentary on the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, written by Edward Harold Browne (1811–1891), Bishop of Ely (1864–1873) and afterwards Bishop of Winchester (1873–1891).[ed 1] The work is transcribed here from the New York edition of 1883 (E. P. Dutton & Co.), edited, with additional notes, by the Rev. J. Williams, Bishop of Connecticut. The book was first published in London in 1850–53,[ed 2] and for many years stood as one of the standard English commentaries on the Articles.
About this work
Each Article of the Thirty-nine Articles is printed in full, in English with the Latin text beside it, followed by Browne's exposition, which is both historical — tracing the doctrine through Scripture, the Fathers, the Councils, and the controversies of the Reformation — and doctrinal, setting out the Church of England's teaching. The exposition of each Article is divided into numbered sections (commonly History, Scriptural Proof, and Doctrinal). Browne quotes the early Fathers and the schoolmen at length, in the original languages, and answers the objections of Roman Catholic and Puritan critics alike.
The Dutton edition was prepared for American students of theology: Bishop Williams's additions are placed in brackets and signed with his initials, distinguishing them from Browne's own text.
The author
Edward Harold Browne (1811–1891) was Bishop of Ely from 1864 to 1873 and Bishop of Winchester from 1873 until his death. His Exposition, first delivered in substance as lectures on the Articles, became the standard English commentary of its day.
This edition
The edition transcribed here bears the following title page:
AN EXPOSITION OF THE THIRTY-NINE ARTICLES. HISTORICAL AND DOCTRINAL. BY EDWARD HAROLD BROWNE, D.D., LORD BISHOP OF WINCHESTER. EDITED, WITH NOTES, BY THE REV. BISHOP WILLIAMS, OF CONNECTICUT. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY, TWENTY-THIRD ST., 1883.
The volume carries a dedicatory page to "The Right Reverend Father in God, Connop, Lord Bishop of St. David's," and a "Prefatory Note to the American Edition" by the editor, dated February 1864 from the Berkeley Divinity School. Williams writes that Browne — then Bishop of Ely — had "kindly given his assent to the proposal for a reprint of his admirable Lectures on the Articles," and explains that his own additions "are all placed in brackets, with the Editor's initials; not because they are deemed to possess any special value, but, simply, to relieve the Author from any responsibility for them."[ed 3]
Williams's additions in this edition are therefore readily distinguished: any passage in brackets signed with his initials is the editor's, not Browne's. They have been retained in this transcription, clearly marked as his.
Contents
- Article I: Of Faith in the Holy Trinity
- Article II: Of the Word or Son of God, which was made very Man
- Article III: Of the going down of Christ into Hell
- Article IV: Of the Resurrection of Christ
- Article V: Of the Holy Ghost
- Article VI: Of the Sufficiency of the Holy Scriptures for Salvation
- Article VII: Of the Old Testament
- Article VIII: Of the Three Creeds
- Article IX: Of Original or Birth-Sin
- Article X: Of Free-Will
- Article XI: Of the Justification of Man
- Article XII: Of Good Works
- Article XIII: Of Works before Justification
- Article XIV: Of Works of Supererogation
- Article XV: Of Christ alone without Sin
- Article XVI: Of Sin after Baptism
- Article XVII: Of Predestination and Election
- Article XVIII: Of obtaining eternal Salvation only by the Name of Christ
- Article XIX: Of the Church
- Article XX: Of the Authority of the Church
- Article XXI: Of the Authority of General Councils
- Article XXII: Of Purgatory
- Article XXIII: Of Ministering in the Congregation
- Article XXIV: Of Speaking in the Congregation in such a Tongue as the people understandeth
- Article XXV: Of the Sacraments
- Article XXVI: Of the Unworthiness of the Ministers, which hinders not the effect of the Sacraments
- Article XXVII: Of Baptism
- Article XXVIII: Of the Lord's Supper
- Article XXIX: Of the Wicked, which eat not the Body of Christ in the use of the Lord's Supper
- Article XXX: Of both kinds
- Article XXXI: Of the one Oblation of Christ finished upon the Cross
- Article XXXII: Of the Marriage of Priests
- Article XXXIII: Of excommunicate Persons, how they are to be avoided
- Article XXXIV: Of the Traditions of the Church
- Article XXXV: Of the Homilies
- Article XXXVI: Of Consecration of Bishops and Ministers
- Article XXXVII: Of the Power of the Civil Magistrates
- Article XXXVIII: Of Christian Men's Goods, which are not common
- Article XXXIX: Of a Christian Man's Oath
Editorial Notes
- ↑ The order of Browne's bishoprics is confirmed by the book itself: the Prefatory Note of February 1864 refers to him as "The Bishop of Ely," while the title page of this 1883 edition styles him "Lord Bishop of Winchester."
- ↑ The 1883 American front matter does not state the date of first publication; the London edition appeared in parts, 1850–53.
- ↑ From Bishop Williams's Prefatory Note to the American Edition, dated "Berkeley Divinity School, February, 1864." The copyright notice of the American edition reads: "Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1865, by H. B. Durand, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York." The 1883 Dutton printing is a later impression of that 1865 American edition.
Source: Edward Harold Browne, An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles, Historical and Doctrinal (New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., 1883), edited, with notes, by the Rev. J. Williams, Bishop of Connecticut. Text transcribed from the Internet Archive scan; spelling and punctuation as in the original.