The English Reformer: Miles Coverdale

Miles Coverdale (1488-1569). Writings and Translations.

Coverdale's The Writings and Translations is a free and downloadable book in pdf.file format. It is available at:

http://books.google.com/books?id=QVgYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR12&dq=miles+coverdale+parker+society&lr=&as_brr=1.

His first document in this work is “The Evident Declaration of the Holy Faith.”

It is commended for college students—with no Bible backgrounds--as an introduction to the OT. It would also be useful for modern Anglican Bishops to measure themselves against in terms of knowledge—to the shame of the moderns. Solid Christological views of the OT are expressed as well as commitments to the infallibility of Scriptures. This work is clear and eminently readable abounding in Scriptural references and allusions.

However, does Miles Coverdale, Bishop of Exeter, reflect his Continental wanderings and any Lutheran perspective in his OT overview? Coverdale was and has been known to have Lutheran views? Was he a Lutheran? Does his view of the Table change after a stay in Switzerland? After his return from exile, he was not reinstated to his bishopric but served a congregation in London. There may have been issues over vestments. As to his book, Coverdale captures the issues of justifying faith, justification, trust, and Christ-centeredness in the OT, from Adam till Christ. There is an excellent handling of faith and works.

Coverdale also does mention the false Church of Rome--of merits-salvation, invocation of saints, Masses for the living and dead, pilgrimages, pardons for sale, unnecessary “pomp” in religion, and other Roman matters. It is clear where he stood. It is also clear where he would stand today in relation to the Anglo-Romewardizers.

However, while speaking of these things, Bp. Coverdale uses a gentle hand; yet he views the Pope and Muhammad as anti-Christs. He blames the Pope for six hundred years and Muhammed with nine hundred years of suppressing Christ’s Church and Gospel. Coverdale calls the Pope a “braggart” and an Anti-Christ. In this, he stands foresquarely where all Reformers stood.

The book would have value for Anglican Bishops, Reformed Episcopalians as well. We include Dr. James Packer in his Manglican, mangled, mismatched and ineffectual accommodations to Anglo-Papalism within historic Anglicanism.

Any Anglican rector would do well to rehearse and teach this book to Vestrymen, other church leaders, and adult classes. This also would be a good text for college level students.

As a parallel, it would be an interesting history to read the writings of all Exeter Bishops from Miles Coverdale to the present. Of note, this would include a comparison between the Reformer, Bp. Coverdale, and an Old High Churchman, Bp. Phillpott, of fame in the Gorham trials of 1850--where the evangelical view of infant baptism was upheld against Bp. Phillpott—and to the chagrin of the emerging Tractarians.

The Phillpott and Gorham case was the same as (REC) Bishop Cheyney’s case in Chicago (c. 1870-ish).

Further information about the Exeter Cathedral is available at:

http://www.exeter-cathedral.org.uk/home.ashx.

To be continued.