Customer Reviews

The 1928 Book of Common Prayer

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This beautifully crafted Book of Common Prayer testifies to its durability as a source of classical Anglican/Episcopal theology and worship and is yet another fine example of Oxford University Press'craftsmanship. This edition sustains OUP's tradition of excellence both in binding and quality printing..in short, this is a book one just likes to hold. The elegance of the Elizabethan prayers and other contents make this prayerbook a classic for all Christians seeking the beauty of Elizabethan English and its poetic cadences and for those who seek also a deeper appreciation of the richness of Anglican spirituality.

This is the kind of volume you and yours can appreciate generation to generation...it is a lasting heirloom, literally and metaphorically... a treasure.

I'm absolutely thrilled to discover this book in print once again! This is the cherished Book of Common Prayer I was raised with as an Episcopalian, and when the Episcopal Church abandoned this version for its contemporary revision, it cast aside one of the most beautiful works of literature ever printed. I am able once again, as an Anglican in America, to enjoy the 1928 BCP in my worship, which is made even more special with this wonderfully crafted leather version. I can only describe this book as remarkable. The gilded pages are crisp and thin as an onion skin, yet lay open willingly upon the soft leather cover, which nestles on the hand. The book marks are very convenient. Though this book is of paramount significance to all Anglicans and traditional Episcopalians, I cannot imagine any Christian not being comforted and inspired by this magnificent work, which is companion to the King James version of the Bible. Among the highlights of the 1928 BCP the reader will appreciate, in addition to Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer and Holy Communion, are the Collects, Epistles and Gospels used throughout the Christian calendar year, Holy Baptism, Matrimony, Confirmation, Catechism, The Psalter or Psalms of David, and forms of prayer for families for all occasions. This is a complete work that every Christian should explore.

If you're not an Episcopalian of 40-ish or older, you won't at first appreciate the glory which this unassuming little book contains. The ring of the phrases ("Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all who truly turn to him," p 76), the gravity of the wording ("But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou those, O God, who confess their faults. Restore thou those who are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind In Christ Jesus our Lord." p 6)! The language is archaic enough for the constant sexism not to offend, I think (but I'm not a woman - I wouldn't know). And the piety of the Church, from Hilda to Bede, from Cranmer to Pusey, from Samuel Seabury to Frank Griswold, sings out to the ear and tongue and soul: "O Come, let us sing unto the Lord;* let us heartily rejoice in the strength of our salvation." (p 9)!

The content of this book is fine. However, the binding is not of very good quality and I could find nothing on the book that said 'bonded leather." I personally do not believe it is bonded leather but instead is some kind of pressed paper. The print size is nice and the gilting on the pages very attractive.

occassion of his Baptism at age 81. It is the Book of Common prayer I grew up with in the Episcopal church, and the book of choice in the Anglican Catholic church I now attend. I was so thankful to find a copy for this wonderful occassion and know it was received with the same heartfelt thanks. "All things come of thee oh Lord; and of Thine own, have we given Thee" Nothing has been changed, altered, shortened; passages have not been made less difficult to understand. The beauty that is, and always shall be, is still contained in the "1928 Prayerbook.

For many of us, this will always be THE Book of Common Prayer. Its timeless language flows heavenward, unlike the all-too-temporal clunk of the 1979 BCP. Every practicing Christian should own a copy of the '28 for private devotions (although, of course, you don't need black leather covers for that).

As an evangelical who has recently come home to the historical liturgical church this book has truly been a gift from God. It has opened up my personal devotions and Bible study in deeper and more meaningful ways then I ever imagined. We use this for worship at the church I attend and it is awe-inspiring to realize my worship and prayers are risen to God using the same words and liturgy as those believers decades and centuries before. I would recommend any evangelical who struggles with the shifting modern trends of the American church and having the center of prayer and worship being their personal feelings to explore The Church of History, One Holy Catholic and Apostolic. Explore the Catholic, Orthodox or Traditional Anglican churches and discover that the history of Christianity did not begin at your conversion, the founding of America, or even the Reformation. This jewel of the Anglican Communion is, with the King James Bible, the English speaking peoples greatest gift to the Church and is a great place to start a journey away from church as defined by contemperary culture to one defined by History, the Church Fathers, the Apostles, and Christ Himself.

This edition is made to use. I use it daily for Morning and Evening prayer. It has the needed ribbons, easy reading type, a high quality leather binding.

The 1928 Book of Common Prayer is the last USA version in Common Prayer tradition. (The 1979 USA Book of Common Prayer is more a collection of choices for having a service of a given type in the Anglican tradition of the 'modern' liturgical movement. There is a difference. It was not simply updated English used in worship, it is changing much more. read Peter Toon's books of the subject.)

Buy a copy, use it with your Bible at prayer each day. I find it one the best choices I have made. I will not be going back to any of the 1970s and later prayer books. Maybe one day, we will have a modern language Book of Common Prayer, until then this edition is one of the best being printed.

For many Episcopalians (the American version of official Anglicans), the 1928 version of the Book of Common Prayer is still the most prized worship and liturgical form around. When the 'new' Book of Common Prayer was adopted in 1979 (merely the latest in a lengthening line of Prayer Book revision done by the church in America in the past three hundred years), whole parishes balked (and walked) because of the changes; faithful within the church looked for various means of preserving their beloved version of the BCP - my own church had a '1928 Service' every Wednesday afternoon.

The book is not arranged in as user-friendly a manner as the more recent revision (which itself leaves something to be desired in various ways), but it isn't the ordering that causes such devotion to this text. Despite the fact that much of the 'Shakespearean' language of this liturgy is retained in the Rite I form in the newer BCP, there are key differences that make this book the standard bearer to many conservative and traditional Episcopalians.

Like any BCP version, it has the principle services of the church - Communion, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Marriage rite, Funeral rite, the Psalter, the Calendar. It also has rites not included in updates - the churching of women, for example; neither will one find inclusive language in the orders of ordination here, for women were not admitted to the three-fold ordained ranks of bishop, priest and deacon while this book was primary. It also contains the collects, epistles and gospel readings for Sundays and major feast days, omitted as well from the later BCP.

The catechism is vastly changed from this to the 1979 revision - it is worth comparing the two to see how changes have taken place. Similarly, the Articles of Religion which conclude the 1928 BCP are placed under the ambiguous heading of 'Historical Documents' in the later BCP.

Not having been raised on either the 1928 or 1979 Book of Common Prayer, I feel somewhat objective about seeing the merits and shortcomings of each version; however, some who see value or shortcomings in either one are reflecting a more general feeling about the church in general - rare is the person who opposes women's ordination who supports the 1979 BCP over the 1928. I have both, side by side on my shelf, together with the Australian Prayer Book, the New Zealand Prayer book, the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, and the 1559 Book of Common Prayer, which shows a grand tradition of diversity and continuity in the Anglican liturgy. The 1928 Book of Common Prayer has a significant place as a strong link between past and present, and is a must-have for students of, and those who generally love, the liturgy.

A wonderful example of what a Book of Common Prayer should be. Thankfully the ECUSA has re-authorized the 1928 BCP for "special occasions," sadly though, many parishes have been so long without this gem as to make it unfamiliar.