People of the Promise by Minich Joseph & Littlejohn Bradford

Author:Minich, Joseph & Littlejohn, Bradford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Davenant Press
Published: 2017-09-27T04:00:00+00:00

Thomas Cranmer and His Reformed

Ordinal

Archbishop Cranmer’s most conspicuous contribution to the evangelical reform of ordination was the English Ordinal of 1550.[87] A cursory reading of the document reveals forthright rejection of a sacerdotal priesthood. Not only does the candidate receive bread and cup, but notably, a Bible, which signifies the giving of “authority to preach the Word of God, and to minister the holy sacraments.”[88] What this clearly indicates is the candidate being ordained to the ministry of the Word and sacraments, meaning that they are joined together, though distinguishable. Absent from this is any mention of the offering of sacrifices. Readily apparent throughout the service is that the Bible now is the sole instrument of the ministry to which the sacraments are attached. It is not however, the intention of this rite to minimize the importance of the sacraments, but rather to stress their nature as visible words subsumed under the ministry of the Word. Towards the end of the service is a prayer which particularly accents the centrality of preaching and teaching the Word as the essence of ministry:

Most merciful Father we beseech thee to send upon these thy servants thy heavenly blessing; that they may be clothed with righteousness, and that thy Word spoken by their mouths may have such success, that it may never be spoken in vain. Grant also, that we may have grace to hear and receive what they shall deliver out of thy most holy Word, or agreeable to the same as the means of our salvation; that in all our words and deeds we may seek thy glory and the increase of thy kingdom through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.[89]

The distinctive characteristic of the ministry, as indicated by this prayer, is the purposeful proclamation of the Word as the divinely appointed instrument of securing salvation.

The Ordinal noticeably changes the relationship between the episcopal and priestly orders as evidenced by the service for the consecration of an archbishop or bishop. Binding the ties between bishop and priest is no longer sacramental grace, but the ministry of the Word. As when the candidate was ordained a priest, so now again on the occasion of his consecration he avers that he is “persuaded that the holy Scriptures contain sufficiently all Doctrine required of necessity for eternal salvation faith in Jesus,” and that he is “determined out of the same holy Scriptures to instruct the people committed to [his] charge; and to teach or maintain nothing as required of necessity to eternal salvation, but that which [he] shall be persuaded may be concluded and proved the same.”[90] The episcopal candidate further affirms that he “faithfully exercise [himself] in the same holy Scriptures, and call upon God by prayer, for the true understanding of the same, so that as [he] may be able by them to teach and exhort with wholesome doctrine, and to withstand and convince the gainsayers.”[91] He then promises “to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange doctrine contrary to God’s Word, and both privately and openly to call upon and encourage others to the same.

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