1. A single clause in a contract, account system of regulations, treaty, or other writing; a particular separate charge or item, in an account; a term, condition, or stipulation, in a contract. In short, a distinct part of a writing, instrument or discourse, consisting of two or more particulars; as, articles of agreement; an account consisting of many articles.
2. A point of faith; a doctrinal point or proposition in theology; as the thirty-nine articles.
1. A distinct portion of an instrument, discourse, literary work, or any other writing, consisting of two or more particulars, or treating of various topics; as, an article in the Constitution. Hence: A clause in a contract, system of regulations, treaty, or the like; a term, condition, or stipulation in a contract; a concise statement; as, articles of agreement.
2. A literary composition, forming an independent portion of a magazine, newspaper, or cyclopedia.
5. A particular one of various things; as, an article of merchandise; salt is a necessary article.
6. Precise point of time; moment.
7. One of the three words, a, an, the, used before nouns to limit or define their application. A (or an) is called the indefinite article, the the definite article.
ARTICLES, The Thirty-Nine, of the Church of England, contain the public standard of religious belief adopted by that body. They were drawn up by Archbishop Parker, sanctioned by Convocation in 1562, and published by royal authority in the following year. The general principles of this body of doctrine, and the form into which it was thrown, had been gradually developed during the previous attempts to establish a standard of faith in England. Soon after the authority of the Pope had been thrown off by the English Church, there began to appear wide differences of opinion with regard to the extent of reformation required. One party, the conservative, held by the old practices of the Church of Rome; another, the moderate reformers, desired to abolish these practices on account of the abuses to which they were liable; while the various sects of the Anabaptists were eager for radical reformation both of doctrine and of practice. Religious turbulence and strife prevailed to such an extent that, in 1536, a set of Ten Articles was published by royal authority, intended, as was expressly stated, to “stablyshe Christen quietnes and unitie among us, and to avoid contentious opinions.” A considerable share in the composition of this code was taken by Henry himself. The articles were evidently intended as a compromise; they contained much that was afterwards rejected by the church, and do not seem to have given general satisfaction. They were partially, though not authoritatively, superseded by the publication, in 1537, of the Institution of a Christian Man. For two or three years before this negotiations had been carried on with the Continental reformers, and proposals had been made for a general conference at which some universal articles of faith might be considered. The ...conference took place but did not attain the end desired, for Henry, at first favourably disposed, was swayed by the influence of the anti-reformation party; and Cranmer, while able to come to agreement with the German deputation so far as points of doctrine were concerned, saw clearly that it would be a hopeless task to try to abolish all the ancient ceremonies. The increasing influence of the conservative party led to the passing, by Convocation and Parliament, in 1539, of Henry’s Six Articles, the “bloody statute,” or “whip with six strings,” as they were then called, from the cruel persecutions to which they gave rise. These articles enforced belief in transubstantiation, declared that communion in both kinds was unnecessary, that the marriage of priests was unlawful, that vows of chastity or widowhood were absolutely binding, that private masses and auricular confession were expedient and necessary. The severity of these doctrines was mitigated by the third authorised formulary of Henry’s reign, The Necessary Doctrine and Erudition for any Christian Man, called the “King’s Book,” and published in 1543. The conference with the Germans, though not entirely successful, had not been without fruit. Among Cranmer’s papers has been found a set of Thirteen Articles bearing evident traces of the Continental ideas, and highly interesting on account of the influence it exercised on the later formularies. Many of these articles are drawn directly from the Augsburg Confession, and there seems no doubt that they thus formed an intermediate step between that Confession and the Forty-two Articles of Edward. These were drawn up by Cranmer in obedience to the command of the king and privy council, who, in 1551, ordered the archbishop to “frame a book of articles of religion, for the preserving and maintaining peace and unity of doctrine in this church, that, being finished, they might be set forth by public authority.” Great care was taken in their preparation; the first draft was sent round to the bishops, then revised by Cranmer, submitted to Cheke and Cecil, and to the six royal chaplains, and finally laid before the council. In 1553 the mandateenjoiningsubscription to them was granted by the king, but the articles had already been printed in English. In the same year they were published in Latin, and appended to a short catechism of Christian doctrine. It has been much disputed whether these articles were sanctioned by Convocation, or were only circulated by order of council; on the whole, the balance of probability seems to be in favour of the supposition that they had received ecclesiastical sanction (Hardwick, History of the Articles, 106-112).
During the reign of Mary these articles were suppressed, but, on the accession of Elizabeth and the elevation of Parker to the see of Canterbury, attention was again directed to the framing of some standard body of truth. A series of Eleven Articles was drawn up in 1559, and was in use for some time; it had not, however, full authority, though it was enforced in Ireland until 1615. In 1562 the houses of Convocation were summoned, and Parker laid before them a revised copy of the Forty-Two Articles. In the work of revision he had been assisted by Bishops Grindal, Horn, and Fox. The changes introduced by them were, for the most part, Lutheran in tendency, and were probably influenced by the Würtemberg Confession of 1551. Articles v., xii., xxix., and xxx. of the present set were newly introduced; x., xvi., xix. (part being transferred to the present vii.), and xli. of the old series were omitted. Seventeen other articles were modified by partial omission, alteration, or substitution. Convocation further struck out Articles xxxix., xl., and xlii.; made considerable alterations in iii. and xxviii., and some slight changes in viii., xv., xxii., xxix., and xxxiii. A Latin manuscript of Parker’s, containing a list of signatures, might be supposed to give the final state of the document, but it differs from the extract taken in 1637 by Laud’s order from the registers, both in regard to the signatures, and in the omission of the first clause of Article xx. The articles, now thirty-nine in number, were submitted to the queen, who is said to have read and examined them. After nearly a year’s delay they were published in Latin. In this edition the disputed clause of Article xx. is found, and Article xxix. is wholly omitted. In the English version, printed in the same year, the clause of Article xx. is wanting. In all editions after 1571, Article xxix. is inserted, and, with one exception, the same is true of the clause in Article xx. A law (13 Eliz. c. 12) was passed in 1571, ordaining that the clergy “should subscribe to all the articles which only concern the confession of a true Christian faith, and the doctrine of the sacraments.” Convocation of the same year inserted Article xxix., made a few slight changes, added a list of the Apocryphal books, and thus gave the articles their present form. The only serious attempt at alteration was made in 1595, when the Primate, Whitgift, accepted a series of articles proposed by Dr Whitaker of Cambridge. These, generally known as the Lambeth Articles, were strongly Calvinistic in tone. They did not receive sanction, and were immediately suppressed. At a later date (1604) it was again sought to introduce them, but the attempt was unsuccessful. The canons of 1604 enforced subscription, while the general relation of the articles to the church was defined by the royal declaration of 1628 (now prefixed to them), which enjoins the settlement of disputed points by Convocation, the acceptation of the articles in their plain and full bearing, and the interpretation of them in their literal and grammatical sense.
The articles are not intended to be a complete system of theology, but only enumerate certain truths of such primary importance that any one denying them is thereby excluded from the church. They do not, however, furnish merely a negative test; they were framed not only for the avoidance of diversity of opinion, but for the establishment of consent regarding true religion. Accordingly, they treat in order of the main points of theological doctrine, and may be classified thus:-—(1.) Articles i,-v., the doctrine of the Trinity; (2.) Articles vi.—viii., the rule of faith or sources of our knowledge of religious matters; (3.) Articles ix.-xviii., the doctrines which concern the Christian as an individual, i.e., sin, redemption, and their cognate notions; (4.) Articles xix.-xxxix., the necessary relations of Christians as members of a religious community, including the general theory of the church, and the doctrine of the sacraments. The Church of Ireland continued to use the Eleven Articles until 1615, when a more elaborate code was drawn up by Ussher. This, in 1635, was superseded by the Thirty-Nine Articles, which were then adopted by the Irish Church. The Episcopal Church in Scotland accepted the articles in 1804, and in America the church subscribed to them in 1801, excluding, however, the Athanasian Creed.
See Abp. Laurence, Bampton Lectures, 1804, new ed. 1853; Lamb, Historical Account of the Thirty-Nine Articles, 1835; Hardwick, History of the Articles of Religion, 1859.
9th ed. Encyclopædia Britannica, vol. 2, p. 653 [1,503 words — estimated reading time: 9 minutes]
Adv. partly, in part, partially, piecemeal, part by part, by installments, by snatches, by inches, by driblets, bit by bit, inch by inch, foot by foot, drop by drop, in detail, in lots
V. record, put on record, place on record, chronicle, calendar, hand down to posterity, keep up the memory, commemorate, report, write, commit to writing, reduce to writing, put in writing, set down in writing, writing in black and white, put down, jot down, take down, write down, note down, set down, note, minute, put on paper, take note, make a note, take minute, take memorandum, make a return, mark, sign, enter, book, post, post up, insert, make an entry of, mark off, tick off, register, enroll, inscroll, file, burn into memory, carve in stone
Adv. on record
Phr. exegi monumentum aere perennium, "read their history in a nation's eyes", "records that defy the tooth of time"
Phr. "among the giant fossils of my past", craignez tout d'un auteur en courroux, "for authors nobler palms remain", "i lived to write and wrote to live", "look in thy heart and write", "there is no past so long as books shall live", "the public mind is the creation of the master-writers", "volumes that i prize above my dukedom"
V. expound upon a subject, dissert upon a subject, descant upon a subject, write upon a subject, touch upon a subject, treat a subject, treat a subject thoroughly, treat of a subject, take up a subject, ventilate a subject, discuss a subject, deal with a subject, go into a subject, go into a subject at length, canvass a subject, handle a subject, do justice to a subject, hold forth, discourse, delve into
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
Then he brought out jewels of silver and gold, and articles of clothing, and he gave them to Rebekah. He also gave precious gifts to her brother and her mother.
Speak now in the ears of the people, and let every man borrow of his neighbour, and every woman of her neighbour, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.
Now announce to the people that men and women alike should ask their neighbors for articles of silver and gold.”
And every man, with whom was found blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair, and red skins of rams, and badgers’ skins, brought them.
Everyone who had blue, purple, or scarlet yarn, or fine linen, goat hair, ram skins dyed red, or articles of fine leather, brought them.
And upon whatsoeverany of them, when they are dead, doth fall, it shall be unclean; whether it be any vessel of wood, or raiment, or skin, or sack, whatsoever vessel it be, wherein anywork is done, it must be put into water, and it shall be unclean until the even; so it shall be cleansed.
When one of them dies and falls on something, that article becomes unclean; any article of wood, clothing, leather, sackcloth, or anyimplement used for work must be rinsed with water and will remain unclean until evening; then it will be clean.
And if the plague be greenish or reddish in the garment, or in the skin, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin; it is a plague of leprosy, and shall be shewed unto the priest:
and if the mark in the fabric, leather, weave, knit, or leather article is green or red, then it is contaminated with mildew and must be shown to the priest.
And he shall look on the plague on the seventh day: if the plague be spread in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in a skin, or in anywork that is made of skin; the plague is a frettingleprosy; it is unclean.
On the seventh day the priest shall reexamine it, and if the mildew has spread in the fabric, weave, knit, or leather, then regardless of how it is used, it is a harmfulmildew; the article is unclean.
He shall therefore burn that garment, whether warp or woof, in woollen or in linen, or anything of skin, wherein the plague is: for it is a frettingleprosy; it shall be burnt in the fire.
And the priest shall look on the plague, after that it is washed: and, behold, if the plague have not changed his colour, and the plague be not spread; it is unclean; thou shalt burn it in the fire; it is fret inward, whether it be bare within or without.
After it has been washed, the priest is to reexamine it, and if the mildewed article has not changed in appearance, it is unclean. Even though the mildew has not spread, you must burn it, whether the rot is on the front or back.
And if it appear still in the garment, either in the warp, or in the woof, or in anything of skin; it is a spreading plague: thou shalt burn that wherein the plague is with fire.
But if it reappears in the fabric, weave, or knit, or on any leather article, it is spreading. You must burn the contaminated article.
And the garment, either warp, or woof, or whatsoeverthing of skin it be, which thou shalt wash, if the plague be departed from them, then it shall be washed the second time, and shall be clean.
If the mildew disappears from the fabric, weave, or knit, or any leather article after washing, then it is to be washed again, and it will be clean.
This is the law of the plague of leprosy in a garment of woollen or linen, either in the warp, or woof, or anything of skins, to pronounce it clean, or to pronounce it unclean.
But thou shalt appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of testimony, and over all the vessels thereof, and over all things that belong to it: they shall bear the tabernacle, and all the vessels thereof; and they shall minister unto it, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.
Instead, you are to appoint the Levites over the tabernacle of the Testimony, all its furnishings, and everything in it. They shall carry the tabernacle and all its articles, care for it, and camp around it.
And their charge shall be the ark, and the table, and the candlestick, and the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary wherewith they minister, and the hanging, and all the service thereof.
Their duties were the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars, the articles of the sanctuary used with them, and the curtain—all the service for these items.
Each charger of silver weighing an hundred and thirty shekels, each bowl seventy: all the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary:
Each silver platterweighed a hundred and thirty shekels, and each silver bowl seventy shekels. The total weight of the silver articles was two thousand four hundred shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel.
We have therefore brought an oblation for the LORD, what every man hath gotten, of jewels of gold, chains, and bracelets, rings, earrings, and tablets, to make an atonement for our souls before the LORD.
So we have brought to the LORD an offering of the gold articles each man acquired—armlets, bracelets, rings, earrings, and necklaces—to make atonement for ourselves before the LORD.”
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