“…not an iota, not a dot…”
Matthew 5:18

If you have read this blog for any length of time, you will know that I am no fan of the Episcopal church. Why? Because they twist/ignore scripture to suit their own agenda, often for hideously wicked causes such as abortion and homosexuality. It’s no wonder since the Episcopalians are an offshoot from their parent, the Anglican church – the Church of England.

I listened to a lecture yesterday on the roots of the Church of England. This certainly doesn’t make me an expert, but it did open my eyes to the sin that was the motivation behind the birth of the church. You see, had it not been for sin, there would be no Anglican church. That’s because the King Henry VIII had a problem. He needed an heir to ensure rule following the War of the Roses. His first wife wasn’t getting the job done, so he needed to come up with a new one. He had a problem, however, in that the Catholic church forbade divorce. Rather than trust in God, Henry took matters into his own hands.

King Henry VIII was a devout Catholic and extremely religious. He, himself, served Mass. Three times a day he attended Mass. He was hostile to Luther and the Protestant Reformation. He also knew his bible. You see, he used scripture as a basis to divorce his wife. This is the verse he used:

Leviticus 20:21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is impurity. He has uncovered his brother’s nakedness, they shall be childless.

Catherine of Aragon indeed was previously married to Henry’s brother who died of an unknown ailment at the age of sixteen. Catherine was three years old when she was first married to him. Henry was familiar with this verse because he needed a “waiver” from the pope to marry her in the first place! Then, when she didn’t produce a male offspring for him, he needed another one. This time, it was not so easy since there was a new pope AND Catherine was adamant that her marriage to Henry’s brother was never consummated, thereby null and void. Her claim was that Henry had no basis to divorce her because she was never before married. Well, Henry eventually broke off the Catholic church using English legend that Joseph of Arimathea (the one who buried Jesus) and likely JESUS HIMSELF had started the first church plant, not in Rome, but in England! Therefore, ENGLAND superseded Rome as the official church. Hmmm.

Thus was born the Church of England. It wasn’t Protestant. Henry considered Luther an enemy. Why? Because Luther opposed Henry’s marriage sin. No, Henry’s church was intended to be Catholic, with all the trimmings, just not ROMAN Catholic.

Is it any wonder that today we find atheist bishops in the Episcopal church? It seems to me it pays to know one’s history.

Oh, I almost forgot. There is good that came out of all this but quite unwittingly by Henry and against his desires. You see, once he started using scripture as his basis to secede from Rome, he found it very difficult to stop the people from actually reading it and applying it (correctly) to their lives. Henry made churches have bible available, which was totally against the Catholic way of doing things. This made God’s word available to the commoner, which fueled the wildfire of Protestantism. Those Protestants were just as much a problem for Henry as they were for the pope.

Funny how God will make good things happen out of the evil intentions of men.

Father, what a great story! I absolutely love how you make fools of the wise, today just as much as back then! Glory be your name! Amen.

Copyright © 2020 Scott Powers