Lesson Three - “The Reformation in England: Anglicans and the Puritans”

This week we will continue our review of church history following the Reformation. The Reformation began with Martin Luther (1517) and reached England under the rule of Henry VIII. Henry’s desire for a divorce to make way for a new wife to give him a male heir caused him to separate from Rome and to establish and assert his own authority over the English church. By 1534, Henry was declared the head of the Anglican Church. This new protestant church would undergo various reforms, but not enough for many, leading to the Puritan movement that would find root in Scotland and spread from there. Soon, the need for a new Bible translation would lead to the King James Version in 1611. The reformed movements would now need to refine their theology in response to Rome and each other.