Customer Reviews

Thomas Cranmer's Doctrine of Repentance: Renewing the Power to Love

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

 

 

If the cost weren't so high, this could be called a "Tract
for the Times"! Because of the price, I have given it only
4 stars, despite the 5 star content.

Here is what attracted me in this study. In this day of
much liturgical revision, nobody seems to ask *what message
our liturgy conveys?*

Indeed, modern revisions seem to produce liturgies hardly
worthy of the name. Dumbed Down or theologically neutered,
today's modern revisions often leave something to be desired.

Worse, those who claim to "have to liturgy" and "follow
the bible alone" often end up going to a meeting called a
"worship service" in name, only to experience a
Contemporary Christian Music concert without the Mosh Pit.
Then, at best, the Word of God, the Thanksgiving of the
People through the Lord's Supper, and the Gospel of
Christ become incidental to the "performance".

Such muddy thinking and spirituality was not always the case.

Cranmer's Doctrine of Repentance is unfolded in Cranmer's Liturgy of 1552.

Yet Cranmer's doctrine and liturgy were not really *his* at
all. Instead he simply sought to be faithful to the
Holy Scriptures and what he considered to be the
faithful teaching of the Holy Catholic Church before the
corruptions that had so plagued his day.

Specifically, Cranmer's Liturgy attacked the heretical view
of Christ's atonement which stated that our Lord's passion
was sufficient to wash away the stain of original sin, but
little more. Our works, the indulgence peddlers stated to
their profit, are required expiate post baptismal sins.

To this Cranmer, having studied the scriptures
and the fathers of the Church answered a resounding
"NO"! His liturgy is the unfolding of the biblical
doctrine repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Read it and you'll agree that we need to re-establish
godly worship along these lines whether one uses
Cranmer's ancient liturgy or a modern - but faithful
- rendition of it. The point is not to return,
necessarily, to the Thee's, Thou's, and Vouchsafe's
of Cranmer's day. Rather, the point is for us to
RETURN TO CRANMER'S GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
in regular worship that humbles us and exalts
the salvation that Jesus Christ gives to the world!

Read this book, and I believe you'll agree with Cranmer.

May God move someone at Oxford Press to put
this out in a reasonably priced paperback!

Fr. Chuck Huckaby -

While at first blush you may not be particularly interested in the difference between the late medieval and early Protestant understandings of repentance this book is much more than that. It deals with Cranmer's understanding of salvation itself and thoroughly outlines his theological development that took place over a few decades. Cranmer stands squarely within the early Protestant tradition with regards to his doctrine of salvation and was as influenced by the Lutheran Philip Melanchthon as he was by such Reformed theologians as Martin Bucer, Peter Martyr and early editions of Calvin's Institutes. Null demonstrates the commonalities between Cranmer and Melanchthon but concludes that he veered more towards Reformed soteriology. Null demonstrates time and time again how Cranmer returned to patristic sources, Augustine in particular, to justify his Protestant understanding of repentance and justifying faith. Cranmer's personl notes, the "Great Common Places" are filled with quotations and annotations of Augustine's works. Often Cranmer, like Calvin, will prefer Augustine to Luther, but not always. Other times he will read Augustine in light of Luther and Melanchthon. Null describes Cranmer's theology as Protestant Augustinianism.
Another hot issue is what Cranmer thought about the baptismal regeneration of infants. After all, the Prayer Book and Catechism indicate that the child is born again in baptism, but Null's extensive research into Cranmer's heretofore untranslated and barely read "Great Common Places" demonstrates that Cranmer's theology of the sacraments was guided by predestination. Thus Cranmer assumed that infants predestined to be saved were made regenerate in baptism, but not the non-elect. Cranmer tends to give everyone the benefit of the doubt in his liturgy and in his Homilies, but his private notes indicate that he was quite the predestinarian. Thus sacraments were only efficacious for the elect, but Cranmer never made his private beliefs public. Thus the tremendous confusion that ensued within Anglicanism due to what Cranmer proclaimed from the pulpit such as "Repent all of you" while not saying "I know that only the elect amongst you will repent." Nor should one think Cranmer an Arminian, for he believed that the justified and the elect were synonymous. Contra Augustine there was no possibility of a justification that led to a later fall from grace. In this sense Cranmer followed other Reformed theologians and rejected Augustine and the Lutheran position.

Ashley Null has provided an invaluable service by making Cranmer's heretofore obscure personal writings become clear and see the light of day. This book is an excellent complement to Diarmaid MacCulloch's biography of Cranmer.

Ashley Null has performed a tremendous service to Anglican studies here. His conclusions are based on years of research and not just hunches.