Customer Reviews

The 1928 Book of Common Prayer

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The 1928 version of the Book of Common Prayer is a must for the Traditional Anglican (or Anglo Catholic).

As a devotional, and next to your Bible, this book can not be beat. The 1928 "BCP" contains the proper way to administer the Sacraments and other rites/ceremonies of the Church, Morning and Evening Prayers with daily Bible readings for meditation, Outlines of the Christian Year, Family Prayers and so much more!

Most of the contents are taken directly from the King James Version of the Holy Scriptures, and is almost identical to the first 16th century version.

A must read for the Anglican, an eye opening read for the Roman Catholic and the Orthodox, and a wealth of understanding for the Protestant!

As Peter Toon so aptly said in his book, "Knowing God through the Liturgy" of the 1928 BCP, "Liturgy, as written documents, reflects the beliefs of the writers even when they utilize ancient sources. Cranmer and his colleagues were vitally committed to the dogma of the early councils of the Church concerning God, the Holy Trinity, and Jesus CHrist as God Incarnate, One person with two natures, which they believed correctly summarized the basic testimony of the Holy Scripture: thus these dogmas are clearly set forth in and through what they produced". p.106 Despite the negative review of some individuals (e.g. Orear), the fact remains, for the majesty of its style and the biblical character of its subtance, the 1928 BCP remains an excellent source of liturgy as relevant to worshippers today as it was in 1928. This is a gem. . .buy it, pray it, encourage others to do so with you and you cannot help but grow closer to God.

Episcopalians at or above a certain age(mine - 45) should probably not buy this. Compared to the book with which Episcopalians currently worship, this is so magisterial it's depressing. Buy it if you want to know how high a Christian devotional can soar.

The 1928 BCP served the Episcopal Church well for many years. The style and language found between its covers spoke to the people for whom it was written. That time, however, is past. It is unfortunate that a small (and shrinking) splinter group seeks to stagnate Anglican worship in a long-past tradition...as if man's approach to God has always been and should always be the same. Theology evolves, changes, mutates and grows - it cannot and should not be stopped. Yet at every stage of the journey there have been those who clamor for the old...the Episcopal Church seems especially prone to it. (There's a joke that goes, "How many Episcopalians does it take to screw in a light bulb? Three - one to screw it in, one to say that it was about time for a change and one to complain that the old bulb was better.")

The truly sad part of this fringe group's quixotic mission is how inevitably doomed it is. With the 1979 BCP firmly in place the number of people who even KNOW the previous version is dwindling rapidly. I attended a service at a church that uses the 1928 BCP...all nine members of the congregation really seemed to enjoy the service.

If, however, you are interested in the evolution of liturgy and the history of the Anglican faith in America then this book is an invaluable resource.