Is the Church of England really a church? I ask this question because,

Acts of parliament between 1529 and 1536 marked the beginnings of The Church of England, or The Anglican Church, and this Church was independent of papal jurisdiction. In 1534 an act was passed appointing King Henry VIII and his successors as supreme head of the Church of England, thus establishing an independent national Anglican Church. At this point of time the Church was not under Protestant control, and it wasn’t until the reign of King Edward VI that Protestant doctrine and practices were introduced. (Protestant doctrine and practices were abhorred by Henry VIII.)

King Henry VIII 1491-1547, reigned as King of England 1509-1547 decided that he and not the Pope would run religion in England. This came about in order so that he could divorce his first wife Catherine of Aragon and remarry. Henry VIII had continuous affairs with women of his court. Anne Boleyn the woman he planned to marry after his divorce from Catherine was already pregnant with Henry VIII's child.

Henry VIII separated from the Catholic Church and he established himself as supreme head of the Church of England, married five more times and two of these wives he had beheaded. Catholic writers depicted Henry VIII, as of the devil. English Protestants credited him as the founder of their religion.

King Henry VIII induced parliament to enact a series of statutes denying the Pope any power or jurisdiction over the Church of England. He therefore reaffirmed the ancient right of monarchs to exercise supremacy over the affairs of the Church.

Ancient doctrines say that Kings are representatives of God and derive their right to rule directly from God. The ruler therefore is only responsible to God.

It wasn’t until 1549 that a complete vernacular Book of Common Prayer was issued to provide uniformity of service in the Anglican Church. Mary I. (1542-1587. She was executed) attempted to restore Roman Catholicism as the State religion and during her reign many Protestants were burnt at the stake. Protestantism was finally restored under the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. in 1563.

The way I see it is this. If King Henry VIII brought about the formation of the Church of England (Anglican Church) so that he could divorce his wife and remarry which is contrary to New Testament scripture, then the Anglican Church has some explaining to do. Was the Church of England (Anglican Church) birthed in adultery and fornication? My answer to this is a big Yes.

What does the New Testament say about divorce and remarriage? Shall we have a look?

The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthian 5:9, "not to keep company with sexually immoral people," verse 10 implies that he is not talking about people outside of the church and still in the world, but people who are believers within the church. Verse 11 goes on the say "do not keep company with anyone named a brother who is sexually immoral etc." Paul continues, ""do not even eat with such a person, put them away from you". Chapter 6 of 1 Corinthian verses 9, and 10. "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God". May I ask who are the unrighteous? Read on. Paul says, "Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexual, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the kingdom of God". It seems very plain to me from these verses that salvation is conditional, you cannot repent from adultery while you still live in it.

Hebrew 10:26,"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sin"

How many Anglicans (27.5 million Worldwide) can be assured of their salvation according to scripture as outlined above?

Jim.Lee.

28/11/00