Thirty-Nine Articles were a statement of doctrine issued in England in 1563 and approved by Parliament in 1571. The Articles were created to settle religious disputes caused by the Protestant Reformation. The Articles set forth religious positions that all English people were expected to accept. They remain the doctrine of the churches of the Anglican Communion.
The Articles set the Church of England on a middle ground between the Roman Catholic Church and radical Protestant groups. They condemned several Roman Catholic beliefs and practices, including purgatory, transubstantiation, reverence for saints and relics, indulgences, and the power of the pope. The Articles affirmed the doctrine of predestination–that people are saved solely by God’s grace and cannot earn salvation by good deeds. The doctrine of free will was rejected. Contrary to the beliefs of the radicals, the Articles declared that Christians must obey secular (nonreligious) governments and could bear arms for the state. They also affirmed infant baptism, rather than the adult baptism practiced by the Anabaptists (see Anabaptists ).
Some Christians in England who later were called Puritans did not think that the Thirty-Nine Articles went far enough in opposing Roman Catholic doctrine. However, most of the English people accepted the Articles, and the clergy of the Church of England still endorse them.
