Thirty-Nine Articles: Speaking in the Congregation in such a tongue as the people understandeth

Michael Jensen

Thirty-Nine

Thursday, 26 November 2009

Article XXIV: Of speaking in the Congregation in such a tongue as the people understandeth

It is a thing plainly repugnant to the Word of God, and the custom of the Primitive Church, to have publick Prayer in the Church, or to minister the Sacraments in a tongue not understanded of the people.One of the great principles of Reformation was the use of vernacular languages. Though faith, as the Reformers described it, was not merely giving assent to propositions, but trust, it was trust in the Word of God. And for that the Word of God was something that needed to be heard and understood by the people. It is no surprise that so much energy was given to Bible translation – the great William Tyndale’s vision was that the ploughboy could read it and understand it for himself. This was a cause for which he was to give his life. Likewise, liturgies were to be in the language ‘understanded of the people’. And understanding is the essential principle here. It is not merely that the language is to be the language of the people present – it is also to be spoken in an intelligible way. The Prayer Book itself reminds the ministers to speak ‘in a loud voice’ and to ‘turn to the people’ so that their words may be clearly heard. Inaudible muttering is not acceptable for the corporate worship of God’s people.Paul the apostle had pressed this point on the Corinthians, in 1 Cor 12 and 14. Christian meetings should above all be edifying to those who participate in them. How could this be so if the greater number present could not understand a word being said? Paul condemns the use of speaking in other tongues if they are not translated for the benefit of others present. Hence the Article speaks so strongly about the use of foreign tongues in the service – it is ‘plainly repugnant to the Word of God’. Not only this: the practice of ‘Primitive Church’ likewise told against the continued use of an incomprehensible language in the worship of the Christian church. In the first version of the Article, in 1553, the Reformers had framed this point in the positive. However, in 1562, the Council of Trent declared an anathema against those who pleaded for the Mass to be said in the vernacular. The Article as we now have it came into its final form in 1571 and most likely reflects a more deliberate response to the decision of Trent. Of course it is worth pointing out that, since the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, the Roman Catholic Church itself has now adopted the practice of having its Bible translated and its services in the vernacular.