The English Reformation

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Sometimes called the "Middle Way" of the Reformation, the path taken in England (and Scotland) was wholly unique to the mind and temperament of the nation -- its rulers and its people. From Henry VIII's initial break with the pope and the Roman Catholic Church (for personal/political reasons), a fierce Protestant-Catholic struggle ensued, the national shifts being represented by each successive ruler: Edward VI (Reformed Protestant), Mary (Roman Catholic), Elizabeth (moderate Reformed, Episcopal). The Elizabethan settlement -- characterized by the 39 Articles and the Book of Common Prayer, and despite some Puritan dissent -- became the foundation of the Anglican Communion. Nearby Scotland, on the other hand, after serious conflict, became thoroughly Reformed, epitomized by the heroic figure of John Knox.

The names (Cranmer, Tyndale, Knox, Latimer, Hooker) may be familiar, if not their writings. Here Biblesoft offers 10 full volumes of works of the English Reformation. Individual volumes are devoted to the key figures of Thomas Cranmer, William Tyndale, Miles Coverdale, John Knox, John Hooper, John Jewell and John Fox, with a varied selection of treatises, sermons, commentaries, letters, and other writings. Many of the English Reformers (Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, Bradford, etc.) were martyred during the reign of Queen Mary, to be immortalized in Fox's Acts and Monuments (from whence the abridged "Book of Martyrs" comes). We provide here the complete Acts and Monuments, with illustrations. An added volume of the works of Richard Hooker, presents his magisterial and greatly influential Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity. In addition, we offer Tyndale's English Bible version, and H. M. Luckock's Studies in the History of the Book of Common Prayer.

What's Included

Works of the English Reformation: [Volume 1]

• More than 30 brief historical documents or excerpts, from several different sources, chronicling events related to the Reformation in England, including:The Ten Articles (1536), The Thirteen Articles (1538), The Six Articles (1539), the Last Letter of Sir Thomas More, entries from Edward VI's journal, the coronation and execution of Jane Grey, speeches and poetry of Elizabeth I, etc.

• The Thirty-Nine Articles

THOMAS CRANMER:

• Life of Thomas Cranmer
• Preface to the Bible (1539)
• Annotations On the Erudition of a Christian Man (1541)
• Catechismus: A Short Instruction into Christian Religion (1548)
• A Defense of the True and Catholic Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ (1550) [major extracts]
• Nine miscellaneous Letters and papers, including letters to Calvin, Bucer, and Queen Mary

APPENDIX: SIR THOMAS MORE:

• Utopia
• Dialogue of Comfort against Tribulation

Works of the English Reformation: [Volume 2]
HUGH LATIMER & NICHOLAS RIDLEY:

• Sermons of Hugh Latimer [Nine occasional sermons, including sermons preached before king Edward VI]
• 34 Letters of Nicholas Ridley
• Ridley, Treatise on the Worship of Images
• Ridley, Lamentation on the Miserable Estate of the Church in England
• Ridley: Determination Concerning the Sacrament [Cambridge Disputations, 1549]
• Ridley: Disputation at Oxford (1555)
• Ridley, A Brief Declaration of the Lord's Supper (1555)
• Conferences between Latimer and Ridley [in prison, 1555]
• Examination of Ridley, with an account of his (and Latimer's) death (1555)

JOHN BRADFORD:

• Life of John Bradford
• 83 Letters of John Bradford
• Meditations on the Lord's Prayer, the Articles of Faith, etc.
• Sermon on Repentance
• Sermon on the Supper of the Lord
• A Treatise "Consolation against the Fear of Death"
• An Exhortation to the Patient Suffering of Trouble and Affliction for Christ's Cause
• Defense of the Doctrine of Election and Predestination
• Daily Prayers and Meditations
• A Brief Admonition written in the New Testament of a Friend

Works of the English Reformation, Volume 3: William Tyndale and Other Early Reformers [RfEnglV3]
(a large portion of the British Reformers volume, with several portions from the Parker Soc. Volumes on Tyndale)
WILLIAM TYNDALE

• A Life of William Tyndale
• The Parable of the Wicked Mammon (1527)
• The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528) [extracts]
•  A Pathway into the Holy Scripture
• A Lively Description of Our Justification
• Prologues to Tyndale's English Version [Pentateuch, Jonah, Gospels, Romans]
• Exposition Upon the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)
• Exposition of the First Epistle of John
• Notes, or Glosses on the Gospel of Matthew
• Two Letters of Tyndale, to John Frith

JOHN FRITH

• An Account of John Frith (with a letter to his friends, including the Articles for which he died)
• A Mirror, or Glass to Know Thyself (1532)
• A Letter to the Faithful, written from prison (1532)
• Extracts from Frith's Treatise on the Sacraments

ROBERT BARNES

• Treatise on Justification

APPENDIX 1: Patrick Hamilton

• Treatise of the Law and the Gospel

APPENDIX 2: The Examinations of Anne Askew

Works of the English Reformation, Volume 4: Miles Coverdale and Other Reformers in the Reigns of Edward and Mary [RfEnglV4]
(a significant portions of two of the British Reformers volumes, with some supplementary material)

•  An Account of Edward VI

MILES COVERDALE

• Dedications and Prologues to Translations of the Bible
• Confutation of a Treatise by John Standish (1540) [Extracts]
• Preface to Letters of the Martyrs
• An Exhortation to the Carrying of Christ's Cross
• Exposition Upon Psalm 22 (23) [Translation from Luther]
• Defence of a Certain Poor Christian Man
• A Spiritual and Most Precious Pearl
• Fruitful Lessons Upon the Passion, Burial, Resurrection, Ascension, and of the Sending of the Holy Ghost [Excerpt: Chapter 3 -The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
• Treatise on the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ [Translation from Calvin]

JOHN ROGERS

• Life and Martyrdom of John Rogers
• Preface to a Work entitled "A Weighing and Considering of the Interim" [translation of Melanchthon]

LAWRENCE SAUNDERS

• Life and Martyrdom
• 17 Letters

ROWLAND TAYLOR

• Life and Martyrdom

JOHN CARELESS

• An  Account of John Careless
• Examination of John Careless
• 27 Letters
• Confession of Faith

THOMAS BECON

•  Life of Thomas Becon
•  The News Out of Heaven
• The Castle of Comfort
• Select Sermons (4, from Holy Week and Pentecost)

JOHN BALE

• Image of Both Churches (Commentary on Revelation) [extracts]

APPENDIX: LADY JANE GREY  

•  Life of Jane Grey
• 7 Letters, to Bullinger, Queen Mary, etc.; with some miscellaneous letters and related material

Works of the English Reformation, Volume 5: John Hooper [RfEnglV5]
(the complete British Reformers volume, with some supplementary material from the Parker Soc. volumes)

• An Account of John Hooper
• A Declaration of Christ and His Office (1547)
• A Deliberation Upon the Prophet Jonah (Commentary) (1550)
• A Godly Confession and Protestation of the Christian Faith (1550)
• Articles and Monitory Letter to His Clergy (1551)
• A Homily to Be Read in Time of Pestilence (1553)
• Certain Comfortable Expositions Upon the Psalms [23,
• 62, 73, 77]
• A Brief and Clear Confession of the Christian Faith [Extracts]
• 22 Letters

ADDITIONAL WRITINGS

• A Lesson of the Incarnation of Christ
• Annotations on Romans 13

Works of the English Reformation, Volume 6: John Knox [RfEnglV6]
(the complete  British Reformers volume, with some supplementary material from the 6-vol. Works of Knox [ed. Andrew Lang])

• A Life of John Knox [with additional Chronological Notes on Events in the Life of Knox]
• A Godly Letter Sent Unto the Faithful in London, Newcastle, etc. (1554)
• A Fort for the Afflicted: An Exposition Upon the Sixth Psalm (1554)
• A Treatise on Prayer (1554)
• A Faithful Admonition Unto the Professors of God's Truth in England (1554)
• A Sermon or Confession Wherein it Is Proved That the Mass Is Idolatry (1550)
• Exposition on the Fourth Chapter of Matthew, Concerning the Temptations of Christ
• A Wholesome Counsel on How to Behave in This Wicked Generation, etc. (1556)
• Exhortation to the Brethren the Commonality of Scotland (1558) (which includes the Martyrdom of early Scottish Reformer Walter Mill)
• The Protestant Confession of Faith in Scotland (1560)
• Answer to a Letter of a Jesuit Named Tyrie (1568, published 1572)
• Answer to Blasphemous Cavillations Against God's Eternal Predestination (c. 1560)
• A Sermon preached in Edinburgh (August 19, 1565)
• A Letter to the People of Edinburgh
• Extracts from the Disputation between Knox and the Abbot of Crossragual, concerning the Mass (1562)
• Thanksgiving for Deliverance, with Prayers (1560)
• Extract from the Testament of John Knox
• 15 Select Letters

ADDITIONAL WRITINGS

• An Epistle to the Congregation of the Castle of St. Andrews (1548)
• Summary of the Work by Balnaves on Justification
• History of the Reformation in Scotland [brief introductory excerpt]
• Questions Concerning Obedience to Magistrates, with Answers by Bullinger (1554)
• A Letter to the Queen Dowager, Regent of Scotland (1556)
• Letters to the Brethren and Lords Professing the Truth in Scotland (1557)
• A Brief Exhortation to England, for the Speedy Embracing of the Gospel (1558)
• The First Blast of the Trumpet, Against the Monstrous Regiment of Women (1558) (with an Apologetical Defence of his First Blast, etc. to Queen Elizabeth)

Works of the English Reformation, Volume 7: John Jewel [RfEnglV7]

• The Apology of the Church of England (1562, Engl. transl. 1564)

Note: This does not include Jewel's lengthy and highly technical Defense of the Apology

• A Sermon Given at Paul's Cross (1560)
• Letters Between John Jewel and Dr. Cole (1560)
• A Reply Unto M. Harding (1565) [excerpts]

A lengthy and highly technical treatment of issues related to the Mass -- two of the more interesting and relevant articles are included: #5: Of the Real Presence; # 20: Of Opus Operatum)

• Exposition Upon the Epistles to the Thessalonians (c. 1569)
• A Treatise of the Holy Scriptures (1570) [excerpt]

Works of the English Reformation, Volume 8: Theologians and Reformers in the Reign of Elizabeth [RfEnglV8]
JOHN FOX

• An Account of John Fox
• Sermon of Christ Crucified, Preached Good Friday, 1570 [First Part of the Sermon]
• Of Free Justification by Christ (1582) [extracts, from the second and third books]
• The True and Gladsome Olive Tree

[about half of a very lengthy Sermon, given on the occasion of the baptism of a Jew]
EDMUND GRINDAL

• A Sermon at the Funeral Solemnity of Emperor Ferdinand (October, 1564)
• A Homily Concerning the Justice of God
• Articles to Be Inquired of Within the Province of Canterbury, etc.
• The Cambridge Disputation, 1549
• 100+ Letters

JOHN WHITGIFT

• An Account of John Whitgift
• A Sermon Preached at Greenwich
• Sermon Preached at St. Paul's, London (Nov. 17, 1583)
• 11 Letters

WILLIAM WHITAKER

• A Disputation on Holy Scripture [Excerpts]

[Written from a Puritan perspective, against prominent Jesuit theologians Bellarmine and Stapleton; four of the Questions treated are here included:
Question 1: Of the Number of the Canonical Books of Scripture [excerpts]
Question 3: Concerning the Authority of Scripture
Question 4: Concerning the Perspicuity of Scripture
Question 5: Concerning the Interpretation of Scripture
RICHARD HOOKER

• A Learned Discourse of Justification, Works, and how the Foundation of Faith is Overthrown
• Brief exceprts from The Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity (1593 ff)

Note: A full volume on Hooker is in preparation [English Ref. vol. 10], which would include a large portion of his famous Laws of Eccl. Polity, with some additional Sermons, and an Account of his Life.
APPENDIX 1: Nowell's Catechism, along with a Sermon given at the Parliament, before the Queen (Jan. 11, 1563)
APPENDIX 2: The Lambeth Articles

Works of the English Reformation, Volume 9: Fox's Acts and Monuments [RfEnglV9]
This is an 1850 version of the 1563 edition of Fox's famous work, only slightly abridged, and with (19th cent.) modernized English.
A good number of illustrations are also included [these are presumably from the 1850 print ed., but I don't have copy at hand to check]

Works of the English Reformation: [Volume 10]
(From the 3-vol. Oxford/Keble 1888 edition)

• Life of Richard Hooker
• On the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity, in Eight Books
• A Learned Discourse on Justification, with a second sermon on the subject
• Five additional Sermons
• An Answer to the Supplication Made to the Council by William Travers

Tydnale's English Bible version

Studies in the History of the Book of Common Prayer, by H. M. Luckoc

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