The sacrament’s proper focus was not the transformation of the elements, but of the human will. (Ashley Null)

Cranmer taught two positions simultaneously: that Christ is spiritually present in the Eucharist, and through faithful contemplation we are reunited with the whole Christ in heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit.

A codfish that was caught that morning was being gutted and prepared for sale, and found inside its belly was a half-digested, sail-wrapped manuscript.

The settlers in Jamestown understood this. Do we?

Whenever he speaks of someone’s faith, Cranmer charitably assumes they are believers. This is not just “English politeness,” but a humble acknowledgement that God is God and we are not.

In the 1530s Cranmer came to fully embrace the evangelical movement sweeping England and the European continent, including the Protestant understanding of justification by faith alone apart from works. “The question that would occupy Cranmer for the remainder of his life,” according to theologian Ashley Null, “was how exactly the sacraments of the church fit into this new narrative.”