The First English Prayer Book

By: Church of England

In 1549 Thomas Cranmer published the first prayer book in English using language derived from medieval forms of worship. Later prayer books produced by the Anglican Communion are derived from it and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0853054797
• ISBN13: 9780853054795
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: James Arthur
• Length: 146 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Constancy and Change...

A bishop in the Episcopal church once said to me, 'We don't have a theology that we have to believe -- what we have is the prayerbook.' Please forgive the absence of context for this phrase -- while he would say that this statement in isolation is an exaggeration, and I would agree, nonetheless his statement serves to highlight both the importance of and the strength of the Book of Common Prayer. To be an Anglican (or Episcopalian), one does not have to subscribe to any particular systematic theological framework. One does not have to practice a particular brand of liturgical style. One does not have to have an approved politico-theological viewpoint. One can be a conservative, liberal or moderate; one can be high church, low church, or broad; one can be charismatic, evangelical, or mainline traditional -- one can be any number of things in a rich diversity of choices, and the Book of Common Prayer can still be the book upon which spirituality and worship is centred. Gerry Janzen, an Anglican professor at my seminary, said to me recently as we were lunching and having a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation (in a unique way that only Gerry Janzen is capable of doing) that he strives for that kind of memory and understanding that is so complete that one forgets what one has learned. He recounted to me his experience of working with his book on Job -- he had done a lot of research, development of ideas, writing, and organisation, and then set it aside for a time. When he picked up the topic later, he decided to begin by writing, and then go back to the research, other notes and writings he had done earlier. He was surprised to see, in comparing the work, that he had in fact duplicated much of the material -- he had internalised the information, incorporated it so well into his thinking and being, that it came forward without effort. It is this kind of relationship I feel I have developed with the Book of Common Prayer. The First English Prayer Book There are many versions and varieties of the BCP. It has been revised many times in the past several centuries (with varying degrees of support and controversy); it has been revised for local application by different national churches. A list of some of these, in addition to some commentaries, is provided at the conclusion of this article. The tradition for all of these began with the first English Prayer Book, published by Thomas Cranmer in 1549. `Based on medieval forms of worship, its language is both sublime and majestic. Later Prayer Books produced by the Anglican Communion are derived from it -- and in the eyes of many are inferior. All Christian denominations in England and America owe an incalculable debt to Cranmer's pioneering work.' Robert Van de Weyer edited this version of The First English Prayer Book, a compact edition of the 1549 version, laid out in an easily readable and usable format -- the BCP is always meant to be used, and, as the word common indicates, as something done in comm