Asher Sisneros

Asher K. Sisneros

Western Civilization From 1493

Dr. Thomas E. Woods Jr. 

August 19, 2024

Not long after Luther pinned the 95 Theses, Protestant doctrine spread across Europe like a plague. Only a few dissidents in England believed in Protestant theology, but by King Henry VIII’s rule, it became politically advantageous to oppose Catholicism—and more importantly, the papacy—on political grounds, allowing the Protestants to gain influence. As the historian Walter Kirchner put it:

The political effect of Luther’s work was no less significant than the social consequences…. In England… the King himself took advantage of religious controversies to strengthen personal rule. ¹

Protestant doctrine spread more rapidly in England under his successors—King Edward VI and Queen Elizabeth—but King Henry VIII laid the groundwork for the English Reformation. 

The English Reformation was distinctly different from the German Reformation because it was rooted in politics more than theology. Doctrinally speaking, King Henry VIII was a Catholic. Just a few years earlier, the Pope gave him the title “Defender of the Faith” for writing Defense of the Seven Sacraments. However, when the Pope refused to give him an annulment to his wife, Catherine of Aragon, so he could marry his mistress, Anne Boleyn, he refuted papal authority and established his own church: the Church of England,² otherwise known as the Anglican Church.

Ultimately, Henry achieved this schism by passing various acts through Parliament. First, he passed the Act in Restraint of Appeals, making it illegal for Englishmen to send ecclesiastical appeals to Roman popes. That allowed Archbishop Cranmer to give him an annulment without Catherine appealing to Rome. Soon after, however, he passed the First Acts of Supremacy, which gave English monarchs sovereignty over the English Church. Finally, Parliament passed the Treason Act, making it treason to deny Henry’s ecclesiastical sovereignty.³ 

Despite separation from the Catholic Church, there was not much reformation in England under Henry VIII.⁴ His motives were morally dubious, but his rebellion against the Pope gave the Protestants a cultural foothold in England. Even though many of Henry’s advisors like Archbishop Cranmer shared beliefs with the German Reformers, the two Reform movements were different because the English Reformation could not have happened without Henry VIII, and Henry’s dissent with Rome was distinctly political, not theological.

1. Walter Kirchner, Western Civilization Since 1500, (New York, New York: Barnes and Noble Publishing, 1965), pg. 43 ↩︎
2. Kirchner, Ibid, pg. 45 ↩︎
3.  “Separation from Rome,” The English Reformation, (Wikipedia), web. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Reformation#External_links ↩︎
4.  Kirchner, Ibid, pg. 46 ↩︎