Articles

The Thirty-Nine, the articles of faith of the Church of England. The Articles constitute the body of divinity, the theological tenets of the Anglican Church. The Articles are the result of various drafts. These are founded on forty-two articles drawn up by Archbishop Cranmer in 1551. They were finally adopted, thirty-nine in number, in 1628. The subscriber professes a belief in the doctrine of the Trinity, in apostolic succession, in the Nicene creed, in the sacraments of the Lord's Supper and baptism, in predestination, and in the supremacy of the king. Certain articles reject the doctrine of purgatory and condemn the celebration of mass. The thirty-second article permits the clergy to marry. All the clergymen of the Episcopal church, both within the British Empire and in America, must accept the Thirty-nine Articles. Students desiring to enter Oxford or Cambridge Universities were required formerly to subscribe to the Articles. This rule was abolished during the reign of Queen Victoria. See Catechism