Editing Thirty-nine Articles (section)

===''King's Book'' (1543)===
When Parliament re-convened in April 1540, a committee was formed to revise the ''Bishops' Book'', which Henry VIII had never liked. The committee's membership included both traditionalists and reformers, but the former held the majority.{{Sfn| Marshall | 2017 | p = 279}} Convocation began discussing the revised text in April 1543. The ''King's Book'', or ''The Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for Any Christian Man'' to use its formal title,<ref>''The Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for Any Christen Man'' (Thomas Barthelet, King's Printer, London 1543), full page views at [https://archive.org/details/necessarydoctrin00chur/page/n5/mode/2up?view=theater Internet Archive].</ref> was more traditional than the 1537 version and incorporated many of the King's own revisions. It was approved by a [[Magnum Concilium|special meeting of the nobility]] on 6 May and differed from the ''Bishop's Book'' in having been issued under the King's authority. It was also statutorily enforced by the [[Act for the Advancement of True Religion]].{{Sfn| Haigh | 1993 | pp = 160–161}} Because of its royal authorisation, the ''King's Book'' officially replaced the Ten Articles as the official doctrinal statement of the Church of England.{{Sfn|Davie|2013|p=18}}

Significantly, the doctrine of justification by faith ''alone'' was totally rejected. Cranmer tried to save the doctrine by arguing that while true faith was accompanied by good works (in other words, faith was not ''alone'') it was only faith that justified. However, Henry would not be persuaded, and the text was amended to read that faith justified "neither only nor alone".{{Sfn| Haigh | 1993 | p = 160}} It also stated that each person had free will to be "a worker ... in the attaining of his own justification".{{Sfn| Marshall | 2017 | p = 288}} The ''King's Book'' also endorsed traditional views of the mass, transubstantiation, confession, and Church ceremonies.{{Sfn| Haigh | 1993 | p = 160}} The traditional seven sacraments were all included without any distinction in importance made between them. It was taught that the second commandment did not forbid images but only "godly honour" being given to them. Looking at images of Christ and the saints "provoked, kindled and stirred to yield thanks to Our Lord".{{Sfn| Marshall | 2017 | pp = 288–289}}

The one area in which the ''King's Book'' moved away from traditional teaching was on prayer for the dead and purgatory. It taught that no one could know whether prayers or masses for the dead benefited an individual soul, and it was better to offer prayers for "the universal congregation of Christian people, quick and dead". People were encouraged to "abstain from the name of purgatory, and no more dispute or reason thereof".{{Sfn| Marshall | 2017 | p = 289}} Presumably, the hostility towards purgatory derived from its connection to papal authority. The King's own behavior sent mixed signals. In 1540, he allowed offerings for the souls of deceased [[Knights of the Garter]] to be spent on works of charity instead of masses. At the same time, however, he required the new cathedral foundations to pray for the soul of [[Jane Seymour|Queen Jane]]. Perhaps because of the uncertainty surrounding this doctrine, bequests in wills for [[Chantry|chantries]], [[Obiit|obits]] and masses fell by half what they had been in the 1520s.{{Sfn| Marshall | 2017 | p = 289}}