The articles of faith of the Church of England, the Thirty-Nine Articles (TNA) was a doctrinal document worked out amidst the confusing circumstances of the reformation in England during the 16th Cent., that sought to define the doctrinal postion of the Church of England after she broke from Rome and vis-a-vis those of other reformed churches in Europe. It can be found in the Book of Common Prayer, though in the "lived life" of the Anglican Church today the document seems irrelevant, with many of the Church's clergy and officials—whose subscription to the document had been made a requirement since 1865—often denying the validity of its affirmations.
The roots of the TNA can be traced back to the Ten Articles first put out by Thomas Cranmer in 1536 as he sought to begin to the reformation of the English Church as best he could under the trying circumstances of King Henry VIII's reign. As Cranmer's influence waned in the later years of the king's reign, these were replaced by the Six Articles of 1539, which reversed somewhat the Reformation accomplishments. Things improved, however, under the reign of Edward VI with the publication in 1553 of the Forty-Two Articles. These articles were nullified when Queen Mary (r. 1553-58) when she restored the English Church back to the see of Rome. Under the reign of Elizabeth I when the forty were revised, reformulated into 39 articles, and approved by the 1563 Convocation. It has, except for slight revision to update the language, remained much as was.
Geofrey Bromiley sees a five-fold function for the TNA:
a. it preserves the dogmatic stance of Anglican Church and Community,
b. it exercises a purifying influence on the liturgical actions in the Church,
c. it tests the soundness of new teachings that comes the way of the Church,
d. it provides a framework for continuing debate about life and theology in the Church,
e. it maintains the challenge of a biblical and apostolic norm within the Church.
Further Reading & Resources:
RESOURCES:
Text of the Thirty-Nine Articles.
J. C. Ryle, "The Thirty-Nine Articles," from Knots Untied, London: Chas. J. Thynne, 1900. Pdf 
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