Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 8.djvu/390

Rh 370 ENGLAND CHURCH. ENGLAND, THE CHURCH OF, is that portion of the universal church of Christ located in England, having for its ministers bishops, priests, and deacons (see Preface to Ordinal), and being legally and historically continuous with the church of the most ancient times. The Church of England claims to be a &quot; true and apostolical church, teach- in** and maintaining the doctrine of the apostles&quot; (canon iii). It acknowledges the supremacy of the crown, as that to which &quot; the chief government of all estates of the realm, whether ecclesiastical or civil, in all causes doth appertain&quot; (art. 37). It is established, or recognized by the law as the national church, and endowed that is, the gifts of land or tithes made to it in ancient times are secured to it by the law. The Church of England has always had a national character. In medieval Acts of Parliament it was called by the same name as at present, and was never identical with the Church of Rome, which was usually described as the court (curia) of Rome. In the 16th century, by a series of measures passed by the three estates of the realm, its vassalage to Rome was broken off, since which time the Roman court has maintained a hostile attitude towards it. The Church of England does not assume the right of con demning any national church (art. 34). It grounds itself on Holy Scripture and the three creeds (articles 6 and 8). It is Protestant, as sympathizing with the protest made in Germany against the errors of Rome, and Catholic, as claim- in or to be a portion of the universal church of Christ (25 Henry VII I., ch. 21, 13 ; 1 Eliz., ch. 1). I. Historical Sketch. British Period. Christianity was planted in Britain at an early period after its first promul gation. If we reject the traditions which assigned the first preaching of it there to the apostle Paul, or to Joseph of Arimathea, there is nevertheless a high probability that its origin in Britain was due to the intercourse of that country with the East, established in the first place by the Phoanicians, and continued by the colony planted by them at Marseilles. Glastonbury, according to William of Malmesbury, was the oldest church in Britain, and the tra ditions of Glastonbury are all of an Oriental character. Moreover, the eastern method of computing Easter, long retained by the British church, while it was strongly re pudiated by Rome, points conclusively to the Oriental origin of the former. The history of the conversion of King Lucius, adopted by Ussher, is now universally rejected as unauthentic; but that the church in Britain had, by the end of the 3d century, made a considerable number of converts, the records of the persecution under Diocletian afford evidence. Constantino, then governor of Britain, received the edict of persecution, and proceeded, though unwillingly, to exe cute it, and to &quot; pull down the churches&quot; of the Christians (Lactantius). It was in this persecution (303) that Alban, a Roman soldier, suffered death at Verulam for sheltering a Christian priest, and Aaron and Julius at Caerleon-on-TJsk. A still stronger evidence of the existence and vitality of the British church is supplied by the fact that three British bishops (Eborius of York, Restitutus of London, and Adelfiua) were present at the council of Aries (314), and subscribed the canons. It is also highly probable that British bishops were present at the general council of Nicasa. They appear to have been summoned to the synods of Sardica (347) and Rimini (360). Towards the end of the 4th century, Pclagins, who is known to have been a native of Britain, and Celestius, a monk of the Scotic or Irish race, brought the British church into notoriety by their heretical teaching, and their controversies with Augustine and Jerome. Both Pelagius and Celestius passed into the East, but their doctrines appear to have spread in Britain, and accordingly two French bishops (Germanus and Lupus) were sent by the synod of Troyes to counteract these errors. At asynod held at Verulam (429) the erroneous doctrines of Pelagius were repudiated. Gennadius (Catal. Script. Eccles.} mentions Fastidius, a British bishop, as having about this time composed several useful works ; and Ninian, a native of North Wales, is said to have gone on a mission to the heathen Picts in the south of Scotland, and to have founded several churches among them. Patrick, the apostle of Ireland, was also a native of Britain, but the whole of his career is so obscured by contradictory legends that it is hard to ascertain anything reliable about him. One effect of the influence of the French bishops Germanus and Lupus on the British church was the introduction into it of the Gallican liturgy, which differed in many points from the Roman. Some of these differences were afterwards adopted by the Roman Augustine i-n settling the use for England, so that the worship of the English Church has never been identical with that of Rome. As the Roman power was withdrawn from Britain, and the people, untaught to defend themselves, fell victims to the inroads of various heathen invaders, the remains of the Christian church in the land were driven either into the far west, or into the mountains of Wales, and during the 5th and 6th centuries Britain became again substantially, but not entirely, a heathen country. Saxon Period. The story which relates how Gregory the Roman bishop was moved to send the Benedictine monk Augustine and his 40 companions on a mission to the Anglo-Saxons is one of the most familiar in church history (597). Bertha, the French-born queen of Kent, being a Christian, was the great support of the monks, but the relics of the old Christianity of the land were also an important help to them. Two Christian churches (at least) were in existence close to the walls of Canterbury A large number probably of the Christianized Roman- Britons existed as a subject population. The traditions of Christianity survived. Hence the rapid success of Augus tine and his companions, in spite of the distant and some what hostile attitude assumed by the leaders of the British church towards them. Thus the southern and central parts of Britain were rapidly reconverted to the faith. There were bishops at Canterbury, London, and Rochester. The conversions of Northumbria and Mercia, the north and east, followed, chiefly through the labours of Paulinas, who had accompanied as chaplain the Kentish princess Ethel- burga to the kingdom of her husband Edwin of North umbria. Meanwhile, concurrently with the work of these Roman missionaries, the monks of lona the monastery established in one of the western isles of Scotland by Columba, a disciple of St Patrick had done much in the conversion of the south of Scotland and north of England. Among these Aidan was conspicuous for his zeal and devotion. The teaching of the Scotch missionaries was in accordance with the old British type of Christianity, from which their religion was derived, while the Roman clergy held different customs as to the time for celebrating Easter, the tonsure, the manner of baptism, and other matters. To effect if possible an agreement, a conference was held at W T hitby (664), in which Colman on the one side and Wilfrid on the other took a principal part. The Roman party gained the advantage, and the British peculiarities were gradually merged in the greater power and vigour of the Roman system. In 668 Theodore, a Greek f was conse crated archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Vitalian. Nearly the whole of the island was now Christian, and all parts of it recognized and submitted to Archbishop Theodore. His administration of the church was marked by great vigour and wisdom. He was especially solicitous to promote learning. . At a synod held at Hertford (673) the Easter dispute was settled, and various canons for the regulation of the church agreed upon. A large number of new sees were also founded by Theodore, and a very useful work