Jane Seymour gave King Henry VIII his only living legitimate son, the future King Edward VI.

The extent of the change would have been obvious to anyone walking into a fully reformed English church building in 1553.

I saw Jane’s tragic destiny and wished to possess her courage.

The last few months I have searched various Anglican and Episcopal Church websites to find out what is being taught in adult SS classes and new member classes. It is actually shocking how shallow (and factually wrong!) are many of the things that are being taught! Early in my ministry I received a very generous postcard with the famous portrait of Thomas Cranmer from Bishop Fitz Allison thanking me for something I wrote. He concluded his card with: “Please don’t stop teaching the Articles of Religion to your folks!” Fitz was right, and for 40 years I have tried to teach Reformation Anglicanism. Here are my notes for an introductory class on Reformation Anglicanism. Please feel free to use them, change them, or dump them as you find helpful.

Gillis Harp, Professor of History at Grove City College, unmasks the three ways the Articles have been interpreted over time in his invitation to consider what Edwardian and Elizabethan reformers considered primary. The historic Anglican formularies do not constitute a wax nose to be shaped in any manner that suits us. Words matter!

Some 16th century Christians in England were willing to die for their belief in justification by faith alone, knowing that on this central teaching of Scripture were all the other convictions of the 16th century Reformation: worship/liturgy that is participatory and the means in which grace is communicated in word and sacrament, the doctrine of the Priesthood of All Believers (universal priesthood), and an understanding of real presence in which the grace of Holy Communion is offered to everyone who will receive God’s very spiritual presence into their heart by faith with thanksgiving.

Diarmaid MacCulloch delivered the 1998 Birkbeck Lectures at Cambridge University which he expanded into this book. In The Boy King, MacCulloch addresses the six-year reign of King Edward VI (1547- 1553): what led up to his enthronement, the issues, challenges and accomplishments of his reign, and the lasting effects on church and society of a young king determined to land the newly formed Church of England in, what came to be called, Protestantism.