Articles, Lambeth

Articles, Lambeth.

The Calvinistic doctrine concerning Predestination, Free-will, etc., which had been the cause of vehement disputes on the Continent, had been brought into England by the refugees, and gained great footing, about the year 1594, at Cambridge, by the influence of Cartwright, the Lady Margaret professor. Barret, a fellow of Caius College, preached ad clerum against Calvin's doctrines. Archbishop Whitgift at first took Barret's part; but at last, urged by the heads of colleges, sent for him to Lambeth, and directed him not to preach such doctrine again. Dr. Whittaker, the regius professor, supported the novel doctrines; and this party, having stated the controversy to their own liking, drew up nine articles into form, and laid them before Archbishop Whitgift, who called, November 10th, an assembly at Lambeth to consider the question, consisting of Fletcher, the elect of London; Vaughan, elect of Bangor; Trindall, dean of Ely; and Whittaker and the Cambridge divines. They drew up the following nine articles, known as the "Lambeth Articles:" "1. God hath from eternity predestinated certain persons to life, and hath reprobated certain persons unto death.

2. The moving or efficient cause of predestination unto life is not the foresight of faith, or of perseverance, of of good works, or of any thing that is in the persons predestinated, but the alone will of God's good pleasure.

3. The predestinati are a predetermined and certain number, which can neither be lessened nor increased.

4. Such as are not predestinated to salvation shall inevitably be condemned on account of their sins.

5. The true, lively, and justifying faith, and the Spirit of God justifying, is not extinguished, doth not utterly fail, doth not vanish away in the elect, either finally or totally.

6. A true believer-that is, one who is endued with justifying faith-is certified by the full assurance of faith that his sins are forgiven, and that he shall be everlastingly saved by Christ.

7. Saving grace is not allowed, is not imparted, is not granted to all men, by which they may be saved if they will.

8. No man is able to come to Christ unless it be given him, and unless the Father draw him; and all men are not drawn by the Father, that they may come to his Son.

9. It is not in the will or power of every man to be saved." The archbishop approved the articles Nov. 20, 1595, and sent them to Cambridge; but the queen ordered them to be recalled, and censured Whitgift severely. As the meeting at Lambeth was not a lawful synod, its resolutions cannot be regarded as the act of the church of that day; nor, indeed, in any other light than as declaring the opinion of some of the church authorities of that period upon the subject of predestination. The very effort to enact them seems to show that the Calvinistic bishops of the time were not satisfied that the Thirty-nine Articles were Calvinistic.-Collier, Eccl. Hist. 7:187; Hardwick, Hist. of 39 Articles, ch. 7:and Appendix, No. vi; Strype's Whitgift, p. 462; Browne On 39 Articles, p. 379.