Introduction of The Book of Common Prayer

penetration of The view as of familiar appealIntroductionThe Book of car park request (BCP) or to chip in it its full sur bod when published (in modern spelling) The Book of the cat valium Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and separate Rites of the perform service after the Use of the Church of England is considered by numerous to be champion of the priceless possessions of the slope people, ranking alongside the first printed freshlys in side of meat and the plays of the quint demand position playwright William Shakespe atomic number 18. It has been utter, with some justice, that the lyric of this Prayer Book acquire been recited by slope-speakers far more oft than the speeches and soliloquies of Shakespe atomic number 18.1First published in 1549, with authorship credited to the then Archbishop of Canterbury doubting Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556), the confine has been utilised by Christians throughout the world since, apart from 2 short periods of ti me in the midst of 1553 to 1558 and 1645 to 1660, having many of its phrases becoming part of our frequent language and still influencing the revere and devotions of millions of Christians to twenty-four hours.The BCP comes to us in a sum up of guises, and is usually referred to by the year of its founding. The first leger of 1549 was rapidly succeeded by versions in 1552 and then 1559. The final version on which the present view as is based is that of 1662. Each of the four versions feature a common layout and are re of lated to each a nonher(prenominal) however the content of each volume shows considerable revision and judgement in terms of pietism, political and smart context. In a sense the BCP can be looked on as a wonderful example of a book which contains a building block history within it.2In order to analyse the impact of the foundation of the BCP some k nowadaysledge of the history lying behind the book is essential in order to demonstrate the seismic tacks i t brought approximately.Pre-BCP Period.The first version of the BCP was introduced in 1549 during the reign of King Edward VI however its roots were most by all odds to be found growing during the reign of Henry VIII and the Protestant renewal movement that had spread from Europe to Henrys England and influenced his Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer. Henry was a Roman Catholic and would remain a Catholic until his death in 1547 despite his break from Rome over his divorce from Catherine of Aragon and the Act of conquest of 1534 which cut the ties of the English Church from that of Rome and do English monarchs the unconditional Head of the Church of England.Although there was an impetus inducen by the Re plaster castation movement and Cranmers plans for reform, worship in England remained largely catholic, no uniformity of run but with little tinkerings of the liturgy here and there. There had been suggestions that in the late 1530s Cranmer was engaged in c batching go but nothing was ever published. A definite tinkering though followed after the 1536 sermon by Bishop Hugh Latimer (1487-1555) when he called for the gains of matrimony and baptism to be conducted in English.3In 1535 the first English password produced by Coverdale was allowed to be ingestiond, followed in 1537 by Matthews Bible and then Coverdales rewrite Great Bible in 1539. On the orders of Thomas Cromwell (1485-1540), who was Henrys Vicegerent in Scripturals and Vicar-general, in 1543 an English Bible was to be placed in every church building and chapel in the land from which the clergy were to integrate readings in English into sunshine worship.Also in 1543 Tudor rationalisation reproducible that this realm shall have one Use4, the Rite of Sarum5 from the diocese of Salisbury, that had been am rested to remove all references to both(prenominal) the Pope and St Thomas Becket.6The Sarum Use, which had been in give since the 12/13th century, comprised a number of large se rvice books that the clergy had to use Breviary, Missal, Manual and Pontifical, along with books oft(prenominal) as the Diurnal and the Pie, all of which were necessary in order to give directions to the everyday serve. Most meaning(a) though was that the Use was written and give tongue to in Latin and thusly these were books largely of the clergy and not the laity.By the end of the first decade after the Act of Supremacy, of 1534, several key changes had been introduced into the English Church, most notably the purging of all Roman authority and portentous references, integration of the use of English in parts of some worship, a state control over liturgy and in particular a requirement for uniformity and the influence of Protestant elements. An important landmark in this budding tradition is reached in 1544 with the introduction of the first officially authorise state liturgy written totally in the common English. Cranmers Litany was revolutionary, fetching as it did a processional service designed to whip up both religious and patriotic fervour, in this case as a prelude to Henrys invasion of France, and not only having it all said in English but incorporating Lutheran reform and omitting the very Catholic invocations of the many saints.Henrys enforced policy of strict Catholic school of thought and employment made any kind of official advancement towards Reformed liturgical practice move quite slowly, however, the Reform movement continued to apply pressure leading Cranmer to pursue for some further degree of uniformity that would hush reform advocates for a time.7 This end was achieved by the issue in 1545 of The priming set forth by the Kings majesty and his Clergy simply known as The Kings Book, a means of providing one uniform land8 with all others to be indrawn from sale. Whilst the contents were traditional the primer was available in both Latin and English and was an opportunity from Cranmer to tinker slightly with some of the con tents to give them a more Reformed look.Other small but momentous reforms by Cranmer followed, a more conservative chance(a) Office was drafted and a number of ceremonies and customs were abolished for being superstitious.Henry VIII died in January 1547 and was succeeded to the English throne by his 9 year old son, Edward VI. Edward had been brought up in the household of Catherine Parr (1512-1548), the sixth and final wife of Henry VIII, and was very influenced by her Protestant sympathies of the New Learning. Due to his young age he was to a fault surrounded, influenced and advised by his privy council who were also Protestant leaning.With a Protestant King now on the English throne the look was now clear for Cranmer to press on with liturgical adaptations and reform that had been stifled downstairs Henry. At the heart of Cranmers reforms of the English discourseion of religion was uniformity thus hold up began on a number of texts to bring this more or less and at the same time appease English reformers. One of the first of these texts was the Book of Homilies issued in July 1547, six months after the accession of Edward. This book contained twelve homilies, containing theology most amenable to the Reformation, that by royal decree were to be preached on each sunlight. At the same time a set of Injunctions appeared for a general visitation of the whole country to ensure that directions regarding the use of the vernacular for Bible readings , the use of an official Homily and a whole raft of other Reformed instructions were carried out.9Early in 1548 a significant change was introduced in the form of the Order of the chewing which amongst other things need for provision of the discourse in both kinds10 to all, clergy and laity alike, which was a bounteous feature in Reformed theology.11Whilst the country was becoming accustomed to the appearing and use that these reforms and changes brought about in their worship, Cranmer, along with a committee of certain(prenominal) of the most learned and discreet bishops and other learned men,12 proceeded apace to work on a new form of consolidated prayer book for the whole kingdom. In 1549 this new book was published and given an into service date of Whit-Sunday 1549.13The 1549 Book of Common Prayer introducedThe 1549 BCP can be viewed as a logical first step towards a fully English Protestantism although perhaps not a full blown Reformed software product of new run. Although influenced by continental reformers this first book is very much more a revision of the old service book of the English church.14 According to Procter and Frere, simplicity was achieved by the omission of a number of the knightly offices and doctrinal changes against, for example, the theory of transubstantiation and other more popular misconceptions they catch up with this first book as being less of a authorship of new material but a reverent, conservative handling of the forward Uses of which large port ions were simply translated and retained.Chief among the changes introduced was the need to no longer use a multitude of books by the clergy to provide daily and Sunday worship services, everything needed was now contained in one volume except for a copy of the Bible in order to make lectionary based readings, Second, no longer were the congregation excluded from a full participation in the services as all the services, not just parts, were now to be said in English, so whilst the vast majority of the laity were functionally uninstructed they could at least hear and understand the worship gone were to be the days of Hocus Pocus.15As well as consolidating all daily and Sunday worship into one book, Cranmer also removed many of the Latin services that he and his Reformer compatriots disliked. Just two Daily Offices were kept quite an than the eight of the previous Latin Use16, Morning and Evening prayer, joined by the Litany and Holy Communion. The BCP also contained the other occ asional services necessary to minister of religion congregations from cradle to grave. These included the orders for purification of women, baptism, confirmation, prayers to be said and Holy Communion with the sick, marriage and funerals.To complete the book the BCP also sets out all the Epistle, gospel and Collect readings for each Sunday Holy Communion service ordered by the liturgical calendar, with the Old and New Testament and Psalm readings for daily prayer set out in a tabular form based on the civic calendar.Reception of the 1549 Book of Common PrayerThe introduction of the 1549 BCP received a mixed reception, and in what could be seen as a shrewd move on behalf of the powers that be in arithmetic mean of possible trouble and problems with its introduction, the Act of Uniformity 1549 that introduced the BCP gave it its legal standing as the sole Use.Cranmers aim for the book to be not just about a uniformity of common worship but a fomite fitting for its expression, which was al agencys dear to his heart,17 was to be clearly seen in his state which pointed out how the homogenization of worship on a field of study platform and scale gave rise to an exchangeability of worship, such that anyone attending services extraneous of their own parish would experience a familiarity with services being said crosswise the land something not found under the old Latin Uses.However, the BCP was not universally accepted. There was to be some violent opposition, on the Whit-Monday June 10th, the day after its official introduction date, an uprising began in the West landed estate demanding, among other things, a return to Mass in Latin, Communion in one kind and only at Easter and restoration of other observances from the time of Henry VIII We will not receive the new service, because it is like a Christmas game18 they claimed. This sense of opposition from simple peasants can be regarded as typical of many in the land who disliked change in customs, traditions and teachings.For some, for whom the difference between Church and State was minimal, they welcomed a book which did away with the varying diocesan Uses and developed a corporate national feeling. For others, including a number of Cranmers Reforming friends, the book did not go far liberal such that a leading opponent of reform, Bishop Stephen Gardiner found the books Eucharistic doctrine not distant from the Catholic faith and would have been prepared to use it had he not been incarcerated in the Tower of London.19An examination of the book leads one to the conclusion that the most contentious element, the Holy Communion, can be interpret in two completely opposite ways, in a way that most Reformers would agree with, and also, in a manner agreeable to those who are entirely opposed to the Reformation. Use of expressions comfortable to both sides of the divide to take out the same thing such as referring to the Service of Holy Communion as the Holy Communion and as the Mass, and references to The Holy Table as the Altar and also as deitys board should not make it move that different interpretations could be read into the book.On balance it is apparent that Cranmer was base on balls a very narrow tight-rope in trying to bring about a significant reform that would be lasting and, in prescience of the likely reception of the book from both ends of the religious spectrum, he showed admirable pastoral wisdom and sensitivity, advocating caution in the task of weaning the English away from what he saw as ancient error, which nevertheless had root itself deeply in the collective imagination, and towards the purer landscape of Protestant worship.20Perhaps it is not surprising, therefore, that the Book of Common Prayer of 1549 was not reprinted after the year it was issued and a successor was brought forward in 1552. Cranmer, working with Reformed theologians such as Martin Bucer21 and against sincere Roman Catholics like Bishop Gardiner produce a revised BCP whic h reveals a decidedly Reformed evolution, no longer a compromise between the old and the new.Cranmers 1549 The Book of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, and other Rites of the Church after the Use of the Church of England can theologically be considered to be a child of the English Reformation, designed as a way of uniting people in worship through liturgy where both clergy and laity throughout the land pray together in a common vernacular tongue and both receive the wonderful conundrum that is the physical structure and blood of the manufacturer Jesus Christ, as former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey states, The fundamental purpose of celebrating Common Prayer is this to help the church as a whole to pray together in a pondering and structured way,22 words one is certain that Cranmer would have said himself.BibliographyCarey, G., The Daily Office SSF by Society of St Francis (Mowbray, Continuum global PG, 2010).Cuming, G.J., A annals of Anglican Litu rgy (London, Macmillan Co Ltd, 1969).Cummings, B., Ed. The Book of Common Prayer the texts of 1549, 1559 and 1662 (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011).Dean, J., God actually worshipped Thomas Cranmer and his literary productions (Norwich, Canterbury Press, 2012).Hefling, C., Shattuck, C., Ed. The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006).MacCulloch, D., A History of Christianity (London, Penguin Group, 2010).Procter, F. Frere, W.H., A New History of The Book of Common Prayer, (London, Macmillan, 1961).Rosendale, T., Liturgy and Literature in the making of Protestant England (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press 2011).1 D. MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, (London, Penguin Group, 2010), p.6312 B. Cummings, Editor, The Book of Common Prayer the texts of 1549, 1559 and 1662, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011), p.xvi3 C. Hefling C. Shattuck, Editors, The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer, (Oxford, Oxford University Pres s, 2011), p.224 Use the liturgy or services5 C. Hefling C. Shattuck, Editors, The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer, (Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011), p.236 T. Rosendale, Liturgy and Literature in the making of Protestant England (Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011), p.28 St Thomas Beckets name was removed as he was seen to be a symbol of church resistance to monarchical control.7 G.J. Cuming, A History of Anglican Liturgy, (London, Macmillan Co Ltd, 1969), p.588 Primer = A manual of devotions including expositions of the Creed, Decalogue, Graces and prayers.9 G.J. Cuming, A History of Anglican Liturgy, (London, Macmillan Co Ltd, 1969), p.60 for a more detailed list of visitation requirements.10 Kinds A term to express either Bread and/or Wine11 John Calvin asserted, against Roman Catholic doctrine, Christ is not present literally in the elements, but he is spiritually present. Those who receive the elements with faith can receive the actual body and b lood of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit which whole shebang through the sacrament, a view sometimes known as Receptionism.12 except information of the members of the committee in G.J. Cuming, A History of Anglican Liturgy, (London, Macmillan Co Ltd, 1969) p.6613 The BCP was allowed to be used before this date with Whit-Sunday being the cut-off date for introduction14 F. Procter and W.H. Frere, A New History of The Book of Common Prayer, (London, Macmillan, 1961), p.5415 Hocus Pocus an expression thought to come from a perversion of the sacramental blessing from the Latin Mass, Hoc est star meum This is my body.16 Eight daily prayer events Lauds, Prime, Terce, Sext, None, Vespers and Compline, and the night office, sometimes referred to as Vigils.17 J. Dean, God truly worshipped Thomas Cranmer and his writings, (Norwich, Canterbury Press, 2012), p.8218 F. Procter and W.H. Frere, A New History of The Book of Common Prayer, (London, Macmillan, 1961), p.5619 G.J. Cumin g, A History of Anglican Liturgy, (London, Macmillan Co Ltd, 1969), p.9620 J. Dean, God truly worshipped Thomas Cranmer and his writings, (Norwich, Canterbury Press, 2012), p.8221 Martin Bucer (1491-1551) Continental Reformer influenced by writings of Luther. Head of Reforms in Strasburg in 1527 but forced to flee to England pursual Battle of Mlberg in 1547. Appointed Regius Professor of Divinity at Cambridge University in December 1549.22 G. Carey, The Daily Office SSF by Society of St Francis, (Continuum International PG, Mowbray, 2010), Foreword