In this sprint through British church history, you’ll learn about King Henry VIII and his staggering Act of Supremacy when he pulled the Church of England out of Catholicism and appointed himself the head of the church.  After Henry’s death, England swayed back and forth as Henry’s successors adopted Protestantism then Catholicism then Protestantism again.  Still none of this tumult compares to the chaos of the English Civil War a century later when a Protestant Parliament executed a too Catholic King Charles I for treason and initiated stringent Puritanical laws throughout the land.  You’ll also learn about the persistent and tenacious John Knox who was instrumental in bringing the Reformation to Scotland.
This is lecture 9 of a history of Christianity class called Five Hundred: From Martin Luther to Joel Osteen.

All the notes are available here as a pdf.
—— Notes ——
Henry VIII (1491-1547)

Wives, Heirs

Catherine of Aragon (m. 1503), mother of Mary Tudor
The Great Issue: could not divorce her to marry mistress Ann Bolin
1534: Act of Supremacy (Henry declared “Supreme Head” of the church
Ann Bolin (m. 1533), mother of Elizabeth
Jane Seymour (m. 1536), mother of Edward
Anne of Cleves (m. 1540)
Catherine Howard (m. 1540)
Catherine Parr (m. 1543)


Religious Policies

Ostensibly Catholic, apart from his great issue (Cardinal Wolsey)
Dissolution of monasteries and shrines
200 hangings of people who resisted Henry’s royal assertions as head of the church
Six Articles (1539) affirmed traditional Catholic understandings of
Transubstantiation, no cup for laity during communion, chastity for clergy, private Masses, confession



 
William Tyndale (1495-1536)

Languages: Greek, Latin, French, German, Spanish, Italian, English
1521 – ordained a Catholic priest
1522 – he was called before John Bell—chancellor of the diocese of Worcester but was released

“We were better to be without God’s laws than the pope’s.” Master Tyndale, hearing this, full of godly zeal and not bearing that blasphemous saying, replied, “I defy the pope, and all his laws;” and added, “If God spared my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough to know more of the Scripture than thou doest.”

1523 – he went to Bishop Cuthbert Tunstall to ask permission to translate the Scriptures
1524 – he fled England to the continent possibly to study at Wittenberg (12 years a fugitive)
1525 – he finished the NT
1526 – the NT was printed in Worms and Antwerp
1526 – Tunstall had as many copies as he could find publicly burned
1529 – Cardinal Wolsey condemned Tyndale as a heretic
1530 – he finished the Torah (Gen-Deut)
1530 – he wrote The Practice of the Prelates, opposing Henry VIII’s divorce as unscriptural
1531 – he finished Jonah
1534 – a new edition of the NT published (thoroughly revised)
1535 – Henry Philips gained Tyndale’s trust and friendship and betrayed him to the authorities.

Letter from Tyndale to overseer of the castle in September: “I believe, most excellent Sir, that you are not unacquainted with the decision reached concerning me. On which account, I beseech your lordship, even by the Lord Jesus, that if I am to pass the winter here, to urge upon the lord commissary, if he will deign, to send me from

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