Signs of God's Promise: Thomas Cranmer's Sacramental Theology and the Book of Common Prayer [Paperback]

Gordon P. Jeanes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 12, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0567031896 | ISBN-13: 978-0567031891

The development of Thomas Cranmer's theology of the Eucharist has often been studied and debated. This book places that development in the context of his sacramental theology and overall policy towards the reform of the liturgy. The first part of the book describes the traditional practice and perceptions of the Eucharist and Baptism (a somewhat different picture from that presented e.g. by Duffy's Stripping of the Altars). It then follows the evidence for liturgical reform and the development in Cranmer's thought through the reign of Henry VIII and the beginning of Edward VI's reign leading up to the two Prayer Books.

Detailed examination of the 1549 Prayer Book confirms scholarly consensus that its theological standpoint is identical to that of 1552, the fullest and clearest liturgical expression of Cranmer's standpoint; however there are sections in it which (along with the Order of Communion of 1548) suggest the influence of a less radical sacramental and eucharistic theology. It is suggested that the 1549 Prayer Book was originally drafted as a liturgy to accompany the King's Book of 1543 but was hurriedly changed as Cranmer's thought developed through 1548.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Gordon Jeanes is a scholar of exemplary originality and this project breaks new ground. This has the potential to be an extremely valuable study, parallel and complementary to the excellent work which Ashley Null has published on Cranmer's soteriology,

(Prof Diarmaid MacCulloch )

Mention --Book News, November 2008

"Gordon Jeanes addresses the question in a work of detailed scholarship, referenced with a breadth of reading worthy of Cranmer himself."

"Jeanes has made a persuasive case , which must be taken into account by futures writers on the subject"

17 October 2008

(Raymond Chapman, Revd dr, Emeritus Professor of English in the University of London Church Times )

"Signs of God's Promise is... a resource that can be consulted with benefit by those interested in which texts are important for an understanding of Cranmer's sacramentology. Jeanes has provided readers with an authoritative outline of the key documents. After directing our attention to those key sources, he constructs the documentary development of Cranmer's thought and liturgies." James R. A. Merrick, Ecclesia Reformanda, November 2009.

"A feast of insights, from which not only past controversies, but contemporary issues may be better understood." - Charles Sherlock Secretary of the Liturgy Commission of the Anglican Church of Australia in Journal of Anglican Studies Vol 7.2 Nov 2009

"This is a delightful book and important book, beautifully written and carefully argued. There is no doubt that it will serve Cranmer studies and English liturgical studies for a long time to come. We are indebted to Gordon James for that providential decision to write in depth on Cranmer."

Anaphora, December 2009

"Gordon Jeanes has provided us with a significant addition to the existing scholarship on Thomas Cranmer and the history of liturgical development in the early days of the Church of England. ... This book offers a substantial and helpful contribution to historical and liturgical scholarship." Verbum et Ecclesia, 2009.

"This thoroughly researched work is a welcome addition to the history of theology and of the English Reformation....This work makes a very important contribution to our understanding of Cranmer's theology, of its place in Reformation theology, and of its historical influence on English and Anglican theology. It will be an important resource for scholars and students of theology and Christian history." - Anglican and Episcopal History

Gordon Jeanes is a scholar of exemplary originality and this project breaks new ground. This has the potential to be an extremely valuable study, parallel and complementary to the excellent work which Ashley Null has published on Cranmer's soteriology,

(, )

Mention –Book News, November 2008

"Gordon Jeanes addresses the question in a work of detailed scholarship, referenced with a breadth of reading worthy of Cranmer himself."

"Jeanes has made a persuasive case , which must be taken into account by futures writers on the subject"

17 October 2008

(, Church Times )

About the Author

Revd Gordon Jeanes is an Anglican priest and has written on many aspects of worship. He was formerly Geoffrey Cuming Fellow in Liturgy in the Universtity of Durham and Lecturer in Church History in the University of Wales, Cardiff. His former publications include The Origins of the Roman Rite (1991) and Cranmer and Common Prayer in the Oxford Guide to the BCP (2006).

Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: T&T Clark Int'l (August 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0567031896
• ISBN-13: 978-0567031891
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,496,054 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Effectual Signs, July 18, 2010

By 

benjamin (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Signs of God's Promise: Thomas Cranmer's Sacramental Theology and the Book of Common Prayer (Paperback)

As a graduate student, I don't have a lot of time for additional reading beyond what is assigned to me. Nonetheless, when I received Gordon Jeanes' book, I read through it in a mere three days. Simply stated, I found the book as fascinating and as detailed as I found it exciting. Regrettably, the search function here on amazon.com does not let the reader see the praise that Diarmaid MacCulloch and Bryan D. Spinks have given Jeanes's volume, which appears on the back cover of the book.

MacCulloch writes:

"Thanks to Gordon Jeanes, we have at last a reliable and comprehensive guide to Cranmer's theological motives in reshaping the practice of baptism and eucharist, the basis of all later Anglican sacramental liturgies. This work will be of lasting value."

Spinks agrees:

"It has become increasingly clear that the time has arrived for a fresh study of Cranmer's sacramental theology and its relation to the liturgical rites which were mainly his work. This is precisely what Gordon Jeanes has accomplished. A concise introduction brings the reader up to speed with current Cranmer studies, and sets the scene for the examination of his sacramental theology and liturgical work. Jeanes discusses the understanding of the medieval Western rites on the eve of the Reformation and sheds light on mid-sixteenth century English liturgical understanding. Cranmer's developing theology during the reign of Henry VIII, reform under Edward, and Cranmer's mature theology are expounded in depth. This study is a welcomed addition to both Cranmer studies and sixteenth-century English liturgical and sacramental theology."

Little that I myself have to say will likely carry greater weight than the opinions of these two scholars. Nonetheless, I would like to say that Jeanes has probably written the book on Cranmer's liturgical thought, and that this volume will likely become the foundation of all future studies of Cranmer's liturgical theology. On the one hand, Jeanes has here a tremendous level of detail - far more than any previous study of Cranmer, rooting the Archbishop in the various other liturgical and theological developments of early modern England. Thus, we have a detailed exposition of not only early English Protestant documents such as the King's Book, but medieval liturgical commentaries on the Mass, and Lutheran and Anglican Catechisms. What I appreciate the most, however, is that Jeanes refuses to leave Cranmer as a figure who can be co-opted by either high- or low-church ecclesiastical factions.

In the closing words of the volume, Jeanes writes with an acute and sensitive level of insight, that "[Cranmer's] concentration on the sacrament as sign rather than as seal of grace may seem weak in the context of his time, but it carried certain particular strengths which must not be ignored. People often talk of someone having a 'high' or 'low' sacramental theology, and it seems that those terms are given according to the prominence of the notion of the efficacy or instrumentality of the sacrament in the grace given to the recipient. Cranmer's sacramental theology would be, on that scale, 'low'. But that is not an adequate achievement of what he has achieved. Rather his theology is coherent, prominent in what in the twentieth century we would call spirituality, and able to speak of the grace of God with a clarity and immediacy lacking in many other theologies of the time. His theology has its weaknesses, but any definition of what a 'high' sacramental theology means has to be able to include Cranmer among its exponents" (290).

I can think of no finer introduction to Thomas Cranmer, the Book of Common Prayer, or classical Anglicanism than what we have been presented with in this fine volume by Gordon Jeanes.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Detailed but Dull, November 10, 2009

By 

Quentin D. Stewart - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Signs of God's Promise: Thomas Cranmer's Sacramental Theology and the Book of Common Prayer (Paperback)

This book is somewhat expensive at $40 for what you get. The author relies quite a bit on Diarmaid MacCulloch's outstanding bio of Cranmer and the extended details of Cranmer's gradual development of his sacramental theology may be interesting to some but comes off as a bit tedious and uninteresting in the way it is here presented. I found it difficult to get through this work, though I am extremely interested in what Cranmer actually thought about the sacraments. Unless you need an extremely dry and detailed elaboration of Cranmer's views on this subject I would not recommend this work. Nor is it particularly insightful. Better to read MacCulloch's outstanding bio, Ashley Null's work on Cranmer that reveals what Cranmer actually thought by way of his annotated works, and a commentary on the historical origin and development of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion.