Edward inherited a church that was decidedly Roman Catholic in doctrine and in its rites. During Edwards reign, significant moves were made towards establishing a fully protestant church. For example, church services were rid of superstitious and devilish practices. By 1553, it was clear that England was officially Protestant through policies established throughout the young king’s reign. However, to some extent, England was not protestant by 1553, as some people may not have all agreed with the changes. Many people just inertly accepted the changes in order to keep a peaceful life. Things would not have gone well for them if they had questioned the decisions of the King.
By 1553, most Catholic practises were removed. The 1552 Book of Common Prayer suggests that the official doctrine were finding ways to eliminate Catholicism. The book contained elements of consubstantiation and was based strictly on scriptures; very protestant in their thinking. It also abolished the Act of Six Articles in 1547 which removed all features of Catholic doctrine. Edward believed in the Lutheran belief of justification by faith alone. He made this an important part of church sermons. This idea was opposite to Catholic practises and their ideas about going to heaven. Edward…show more content… Normal people would have found that this affected them more than doctrinal change as it was something that they could see happening and not something that they would have just been told about without having understanding of it. Altars were replaced with wooden communion tables, and traditional Catholic statues and idols were destroyed. This was known as iconoclasm; which was the destruction of religious items and images which were catholic and thought to promote superstition and false worship. The format of the Church services were being altered too. Communion services were now in English rather than the Catholic way of Latin