Thirty-nine Articles

British  

plural noun

1. a set of formulas defining the doctrinal position of the Church of England, drawn up in the 16th century, to which the clergy are required to give general consent

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Thirty-nine Articles Cultural  

1. Thirty-nine fundamental beliefs of the Anglican Communion, in addition to the common Christian creeds. The Thirty-nine Articles, most of which are short paragraphs, set down differences in belief between Anglicans and other Christians.

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Example Sentences

He loved the theater � but when he met beautiful Actress Irene Vanbrugh he could think of nothing to talk about but the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England.

From Time Magazine Archive

But in 1779 the obligation of Protestant dissenters to subscribe the Thirty-nine Articles was abolished, and the acknowledgment of the Bible as God's revealed word substituted.

From Church History, Vol. 3 of 3 by Kurtz, J. H.

Obviously no one has a right to call on you to define the distinctive character of a formulary such as the Thirty-nine Articles, or of any but such as are employed in schools.

From The Life of William Ewart Gladstone (Vol 2 of 3) by Morley, John

How just, then, must the observation of Gibbon be, "that the great body of the English Clergy, sign the Thirty-nine Articles, with a sigh, or a smile."

From Two Addresses One to the Gentlemen of Whitby and the other, to the Protestant Clergy by Rigby, Nicholas

It is told of an English wit that when asked if he was willing to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles, he promptly replied, "Oh, yes, forty of them if you wish."

From Concerning Lafcadio Hearn With a Bibliography by Laura Stedman by Gould, George M. (George Milbrey)