His reputation is as illustrious as that of Luther, Calvin, Bucer, Beza, and Bullinger. It is true, but somewhat simplistic to aver, that Martin Luther launched the outbreak of Reformation thought in Europe; that John Calvin brought coherence and organization to Reformed thought; and Peter Martyr very ably consolidated the Reformation through his massive confirmation of the truth of the Reformation's key and major doctrinal positions in his writings, lectures and sermons.

These men are the giants of the foundational and distinctive resurgent Augustinian convictions that transformed the Church of God in the prevailing turmoil of the Christian theological controversy of the Reformation era. The above truncated evaluation of the development of the Reformation, however, is simply designed to illustrate the equal stature of Peter Martyr among his colleagues, in the refurbishment of the gospel in the life of western Christendom.

Carefully trained in his monastery, which he entered in 1516, and excelling in his studies for eight years at the University of Padua, graduating as DD in 1526, the academic ability of Peter Martyr, his mastery of philosophy, theology and his skillful administration within the Augustinian Order indicated swift elevation to high office, great responsibility, and significant influence within the Catholic Church, but Divine Providence had ordained an alternative route for for this man of massive ecclesiastical potential, prominence and achievement. His integrity, earnestness, piety and learning were adapted by the Lord for an alternative course in his highly productive life.

Assigned to the role of prior of Saint Piero ad Aram at Naples (1537-40) he eventually came under the influence of Juan de Valdes and was accepted into the circle of the "spirituali", influential members of Italian society greatly interested in the reform of the Church according to the Gospel as championed by Luther, Bucer and Zwingli. Members of the group guided by de Valdes, all of them proponents of justification by faith alone, included churchmen, artists and poets of the caliber of such figures as Gasparo Contarini, Vittoria Colonna, Michelangelo, and Reginald Pole (one vote short in the ballot for the selection of the new pope in 1549).

Studying Scripture earnestly and preaching the gospel with great fervor, Martyr was threatened with serious official investigation and warned by concerned friends to flee from Italy he quickly departed for safety in Zurich and then to Basle. As a result of the supportive efforts of Bucer he eventually became professor of theology at Strasbourg. It was at this point that the "miracle of Italy" was called upon to assist the Reformation in England.

Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, invited Martyr to England in order to draw upon his theological expertise and in 1548 the Florentine spiritual master was installed as regis professor at Oxford. A worthy portion of his great work in the exposition of the Scriptures was accomplished in England during the period 1547-1553; his commentary on Romans (including brilliant treatises on the topics of predestination and justification by faith: Justification, he considered to be the "head, fountain and summit of all piety." See Frank James III below), First Corinthians (which included his bold ideas concerning the Lord's Supper and the nature of Christ's real presence in the sacrament). It is widely recognized that Martyr was a major guiding light on the Anglican appreciation of the sacrament of Holy Communion (Defensio in opposition to Bishop Stephen Gardner). Edmund Grindal, installed as Bishop of London in 1559 (subsequently Archbishop of Canterbury, 1576 ) complimented Martyr, in a proposed debate on the Eucharist, "I am of the judgment that no man alive is more fit than Peter Martyr for such a conference . . . for he is better versed in old doctors, councils and ecclesiastical histories than any Romish doctor of Christendom" (PVM, Frank a, James III, The Reformation Theologians, Blackwell Publishers, 2002, Page 201).

The bond between Cranmer and Martyr was very personal, strong, and mutually beneficial. In the early stages of Martyr's residence in England the visiting Italian lived in the Archbishop's home for several months and their minds on vital issues became close knit. Both men were firmly predestinarian. Divine sovereignty undergirded Cranmer's fundamental understanding of grace and the nature of the Church as the selected and eternally safe people of God, of mercy alone and absolutely clear of any regard to human merit. Archbishop and Academic were at one on their orthodox Augustinianism. Dermot MacCulloch observes of Cranmer, "His theology was structured by predestination, a theological concept which Anglicanism has on the whole decided to treat with caution" (All Things Made New, Oxford, 2016, page276). And an editor of The Peter Martyr Reader remarks: "Because he was called on to defend the Reformed position repeatedly throughout his subsequent career, it could be argued that after Calvin, Peter Martyr did more than any other Protestant to establish this foundational doctrine" (PMR, Trueman State University Press 1999, edited by John Patrick Donnelly, SJ, frank A. James III and Joseph C. McLelland, page 173).

CRANMER'S MANDATES

Prayer Book Revision

The much treasured casket containing the beautiful and beneficial bounty of Anglican piety (private and corporate) and pastoral ministration is the Book of Common Prayer (1662). This compilation of daily offices (Morning and Evening Prayer), sacramental observances (baptism and Lord's Supper), and rites of passage through life and death (marriage and funereal) encapsulates access to the grace of God at every stage of human experience and need. Word, worship, prayer, fellowship, spiritual wellbeing are each facilitated in this incomparable manual of doctrine and devotion. Alongside Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr was an invaluable contributor to the liturgical development of reformed liturgy in England. At Cranmer's request Martyr made his mark firmly upon the worship of the Church of England.

Dr James Packer pays tribute to the two eminent Continental Reformers who gave assistance to Cranmer in his liturgical endeavors. "All reformation piety and worship was pure Augustinianism, purged by being sifted through the meshes of justification by faith, and it was this that cautious Cranmer, egged on, as Dr Leuenberger correctly explains, by the sharp minds of Martyr and Bucer and the personal force and vision of [John} Hooper, embodied in his maturest liturgical work" (Foreword, Archbishop Cranmer's Immortal Bequest, Samuel Leuenberger, Eerdmans, 1990).

In addition to bringing his firm and sound Augustinian theology to his influence upon Cranmer Peter Martyr supplied insights from his command of the writings of the Fathers. Strength in this field lay more with the scholarly Anglicans rather than the majority of the defenders of Roman views. Leuenberger notes Martyr's expertise in the area of patristics. "That Vermigli, with his immense knowledge in the field of the patristic, encouraged Cranmer to remain true to the Church Fathers is not insignificant. Anderson calls attention to the fact that Cranmer's and Martyr's lists of the (for them) most important authorities among the Fathers revealed a remarkable coincidence." (Leuenberger 28).

It is a fact that in terms of German and Italian Protestant traditions, and others, Anglicanism is ecumenical and that, in its range of thought it is catholic in the best and credal sense. Leuenberger cites the BCP as a rich inheritance both for Anglicans and non-Anglicans. "That which in the BCP is not only a bequest of the important reformers, Cranmer, Bucer and Peter Martyr, but equally well a legacy of the puritans . . ." (P194).

Without doubt Thomas Cranmer was a remarkably gifted liturgist with a subtle touch for the right biblical and theological nuance to be gained for accurate mental perception and appropriate mood. It adds to his skill and success in creating the Prayer Book, and adapting material from previous sources, that he benefited from the exotic theological imprint of the mind of a man like Peter Martyr Vermigli. The "miracle of Italy" cast his influence over the manual of worship that sanctified much of the English population down through many generations and which also spread its hallowed savor over many nations of the world.

Formulation of the Anglican Articles

The keen eye of Martyr was cast over the doctrinal elements of the constitution of the reformed Church of England and his suggestions for and humble revision of the original Forty-Two Articles of Religion would have delighted Cranmer and his aids who drafted them. There is some credible opinion that Article 17 may actually have been composed by Martyr himself.

The doctrine espoused for the Anglican Confession clearly accords with that of the Italian Reformer whose conviction was shaped by his predecessor Gregory of Rimini (d1358), the man designated as the "first Augustinian of Augustine", due to the consistency of his teaching on election with that of the great Church Father. However, for pastoral reasons the language of sovereign grace in Article 17, as it is experienced by believers, is captured in sublimely poetic expression typical of a man associated with the "spirituali" of de Valdes' nurture.

"As the godly consideration of Predestination, and our election in Christ, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons, and such as feel within themselves the working of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh, and their earthly members, and drawing up their mind to high and heavenly things, as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal Salvation to be enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God:"

J.T. McNeile (1795-!879), the gallant spokesman for reformed teaching within the Church of England in the 19th century, muses upon the musical and sublime sentiments included within the approved statement of the denomination's description of the effects of election in the life of the faithful:

Article Seventeen (paragraph one) -- "The Holy Gospel and not Arminianism. For what says the English Reformation?" Then follows a description of the gracious process. "Would that we had time to enter into the tender loving-kindness, the gentleness, the winning persuasiveness, the Almighty power in perfect harmony with our moral freedom, of the Holy Spirit, in the calling, the adoption, the sanctification of the sons of God. Here are the green pastures wherein the sheep of Christ's flock feed and are satisfied. Here, the still waters by which they delight to rest. Here, also, the various fields of lawful labour, which is their high and holy privilege to adorn the doctrine of their Saviour."

Election is God's truth, the believer's joy, and as it reveals God's priceless mercy, it is the kind and urgent bidding to us to call for salvation while it is near.

Fostering Reformed Anglican Clergy

Cranmer bade Peter Martyr to come to England to inculcate the the reality of divine grace to the minds of the ordained men of the Church so that these may reassure the hearts of the flock in the benevolence of God. Martyr's addresses, lectures and sermons were devoted to this good cause. In the months that Cranmer and Martyr lived together in the archbishop's home this would have been their united concern wrapped in much prayer and deep conversation. The Italian miracle was not simply an imported celebrity professor invited to England for prestige and popular attraction. He had not arrived to flatter the arrogantly intellectual with eloquent discourse but to raise the understanding of divine revelation. As his Genevan colleague Calvin pointed out, "The theologian's task is not to divert the ears with chatter, but to strengthen consciences by teaching things true, sure and profitable" (1.14.4).

Vermigli came on a multi-faceted mission - to shore up the Reformation in Cranmerian territory where controversy and uncertainty prevailed. We know that he was particularly valued by the Evangelical bishops and especially commended and appreciated by the stalwart Augustinian Edmund Grindal, who also corresponded with Calvin. Grindal was Edmund Spenser's admired Allgrind alluded to in the Shepherd's Calendar.

To estimate the effects of the pastoral assignment would be beyond possibility, yet the enterprise must have been significant. But there was one immensely worthy Anglican leader in particular who came under the tutelage and enjoyed the intimate friendship of Martyr, and that was the splendid reformer and eventual bishop, John Jewel.

W.M. Southgate writes of this relationship: "Humphrey, who was a student at Magdalen at the time, describes Martyr as Jewel's spiritual father and Jewel as Martyr's disciple. The combination of reformer and learned classical scholar in Martyr admirably supplemented Jewel's own interests. Temperamentally Martyr was not unlike Jewel. Despite the air of controversy which pervades his years at Oxford, Martyr, like Bucer and Archbishop Cranmer himself had little of the arrogance and self-righteousness that was characterized by so many of the contemporary religious leaders on both sides (The Life of Jewel, Harvard University Press, 1962, page 9).

Jewel remained throughout his life in theological agreement with Peter Martyr. Fleeing England during the Marian persecution he spent much time with Martyr on the continent and travelled with him as a fellow envoy of the Word of God. Returning eventually to England he maintained connection with the Italian titan of reform through correspondence. In 1560 Jewel was appointed by the queen as Bishop of Salisbury and in 1562 Jewel published his defense of The Church of England (Apologia pro ecclesia Anglicana). He was assuredly a most important servant of the Reformation movement and the proclamation of the gospel. As he had been especially taken under the wing by Martyr, so Jewel promoted the ministry of Richard Hooker and it is hard to suppose that the theological DNA of these two predecessors was lacking in the third person of this distinguished lineage. Hooker proved to be as mild and reasonable as Martyr and Jewel and remained essentially reformed.

Comparison Between Jewel and Hooker

JEWEL

"God hath chosen you from the beginning; his election is sure for ever and ever. The Lord knoweth who are his. You shall not be deceived with the power and subtlety of antichrist, you shall not fall from grace, you shall not perish. This is the comfort which abideth with the faithful when they behold the fall of the wicked. . . Although all the world should be drowned with the waves of ungodliness, yet will I hold by the boat of his mercy, which shall safely preserve me. If all the world be set on fire with the flame of wickedness, yet will I creep into the bosom of the protection of my Lord; so shall no flame hurt me. He hath loved me, he hath chosen me, he will keep me. John Jewel, Theology of the English Reformers, Philip Edgcumbe Hughes, Horseradish1997, page 97).

HOOKER

In the laws Hooker confirmed that 'Belief [in the truths of Christianity] is the gift of God," and noted the predestinarian corollary that God's free choice was solely responsible for separating the saved from the damned.

"That God has predestined certain men, not all men. That the cause moving him hereunto was not the foresight of any virtue in us at all. That to him the number of his elect is definitely known." Daniel Empley, The Reformation Theologians, Blackwell, 2002, pages 254-255).

The legacy of Martyr lives on in various ways in orthodox Anglicanism. More than a matter of history and heritage the voice of Peter Martyr Vermigli ought to be currently heard and heeded among us. Anglicanism in any of its versions is effete and feeble without the muscular doctrines and principles of the Reformation. There is much power and comfort in the legacy of yesteryear. But we are not inert as a tradition. The years behind us empower us for going forward in the present and the future ahead. Our source for action is the Holy Scripture and the saintly thought and piety of our forebears. What they bequeathed to us needs to be maintained but also developed and delivered in pertinent ways in our times. We are not antiquarians but adventurers into the revealed mind of God.

The fount of Scripture will always refresh us and the faith of our fathers can be expanded by new insights into the truth that they courageously upheld and also by valid angles on the deposit of truth, unchanging, that come to light under the illumination of the Holy Spirit. Complementary statements on our Confessional stance may be possible and pastoral counsel may also emerge to gain better tone and solve the complexities of our mysterious human nature that presents so many hindrances to the understanding of the Word on a personal level. Prayer is the essential approach to every issue doctrinal and the doctoring of the soul. The skill bestowed by the Spirit is far more effective than the acumen of man however brilliant. Our posture is always humility.

The foundation will remain absolutely firm but flexibility may be attained through wisdom available from the Searcher of spiritual hindrances to conscious peace with the Lord. Given the assets of Reformational Anglicanism its direction is always pastoral. Our preaching and teaching must always point to Christ, the only Savior and Healer of depraved and doomed sinners. Sometimes Calvinism acquires an alien harshness of presentation.

If it is to recover and endure, Anglicanism must once again assimilate a powerful Augustinianism into its system, and a strong doctrine of predestination (electing love) will need to underlie and buttress its "full-orbed unveiling of the Word of God.

Roger Salter was born and raised in Australia. He trained for the Anglican ministry at Trinity Theological College in Bristol, England from 1974 to 1979. Following ordination, he served in several parishes in the Church of England and transferred to Birmingham, Alabama in 1994. His life is enriched, and ministry supported by his Irish wife, Maureen, his son, Alexander, and two daughters, Helen and Melanie.