TO THE MOST HOLY AND DEAREST

MOTHER,

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND,

Mother, I send out into the public this work, born under your protection original: "Auspiciis," referring to favorable guidance or patronage., crafted specifically for the use of your sons, and therefore justly and deservedly dedicated to your Name. Certainly, all those who are not led by an unfair partisan zeal honor and revere you as the teacher of true piety, the champion of Universal Catholic; here meaning the "whole" or "universal" church of the first centuries, rather than the Roman Catholic denomination doctrine, and the most beautiful model of early Antiquity. Your faith is the same as that which was once delivered to the Saints; the teachings original: "dogmata" of the Church Fathers and the decrees of the Councils stand with you. From you come all the Creeds original: "Symbola" of the Ancient Church, neither painted with artificial colors nor expanded or altered with any new Articles of Faith. Within your archives, the divine Oracles A common scholarly term for the Holy Scriptures. are preserved, not hidden in secret original: "en tois apokryphois," a play on the word "Apocrypha," suggesting hidden or non-canonical spaces., nor kept behind bars and screens, nor known only to the learned and those who speak many languages original: "polyglōttois", but set forth in the common tongue, read in churches, homes, and workplaces, known to everyone and accessible everywhere. For all Scripture is inspired by God and useful, and was written by the Holy Spirit for this one reason (as St. Basil notes in his Preface to the Psalms, p. 125): so that, as if in a common hospital for souls original: "koinō tōn psychōn iatreiō", all people might each select the remedy for their own particular suffering original: "to iama tou oikeiou pathous"; so that from the Scriptures, just as from a public workshop for the healing of souls, everyone might be able to choose a healthy and appropriate cure for their own illness. With you, the Lord's Sacraments retain their proper dignity, reverence, and unblemished integrity; I speak of the venerable mysteries of the Christian religion—not swollen to the number of seven A reference to the Anglican rejection of the five "Roman" sacraments in favor of the two "Gospel" sacraments: Baptism and the Eucharist., not heavy with monstrous dogmas, nor burdened with frivolous and senseless rites, but pure, sincere, and simple, just as they were once established by the Lord and handed down by the Apostles. Your churches are pure, dignified, and beautiful; neither stained by filth,