It occurred to me that newcomers to the Episcopal or Anglican faith would have a few questions regarding the little red book next to the Book of Hymns. Clearly, it is the chief instrument of each Service held at St. Stephen’s; however, the Book of Common Prayer, to many, is an unknown element to their way of worship. This document hopes to provide a short background on this bound tool so essential to the Episcopal Liturgy.
One of the most important aspects of the protestant movement was the need for the Liturgy to be conducted in the local language rather than in Latin. To better understand the development of the Book of Common Prayer, it might be best to look at the events leading up to and beyond the translation of the Bible into English as well as the key figures involved in shaping the church.
In England, as early as 1382 John Wycliffe had translated the Bible into English because he felt
“…the true source of all authority was in one place only the bible…. In his day, Bible reading, even among the clergy, was surprisingly rare. The ordinary Christian knew even less-often no more than some jingle picked up from a passing friar…. The tendency of Church ritual was to subordinate the written word to pictorial and ceremonial forms of worship.” (From Wide as the Waters by Benson Bobrick).
So the clergy rarely followed scripture, the masses didn’t understand the Liturgy as it was spoken in Latin, there were few, if not rare, Bibles translated into English, and there was wide variance in the way the Liturgy was conducted. Indeed, Wycliffe’s first version in 1382 and his second version in 1395 were both created prior to the Gutenberg Latin Bible printed in movable type in 1455 and so very few copies of either were available for distribution among the population. However, by 1525 Tyndale’s version of the New Testament (translated from the original Greek) was printed and several thousand copies were produced and sold to Christians in England.
Tyndale
also “staunchly defended vernacular translations of the Bible and noted that
Moses had given his people the law in Hebrew, that Christ and his apostles had
preached in the language of their hearers (mainly Aramaic and Syriac), and that
St. Jerome had translated the Bible into his own (Latin) tongue.
‘Why then’, he asked, ‘should we, who walk in the broad day, not
see as well as they that walked in the night… Came Christ to make the world
more blind?’” (From Wide as the Waters)
By the way, Tyndale was later burned at the stake for heresy. Clearly, the establishment of Roman Catholic clergy did not want their monopoly broken by allowing the masses direct access to the Word of God. Yet the movement for English prayer grew in size and veracity. Bibles kept showing up. Even at the risk to their lives, Christians wanted to understand the scriptures and wanted to know how to pray to God.
The clergy weren’t the only ones trying to keep a lid on the Bible. In his famous last speech to Parliament,
“Henry
VIII complained, with tears in his eyes, that the Bible was being ‘disputed,
rhymed, sung and jangled in every ale-house and tavern’.
Once again large quantities of the vernacular translations were pried
from their owners and burned; but this, too, proved in vain.” Also, Sir Thomas
More “had scoffed at the idea that because some might abuse the privilege of
reading Scripture (by debating matters they did not understand), it should be
withheld from all-as if ‘a surgeon should cut off the leg by the knee, to keep
the toe from the gout.’” However, “within 12 months of Tyndale’s death,
his translation, which had been denounced, proscribed, and repeatedly burned at
St.Paul’s Cross, had now (1537), under an assumed name, been formally approved
by Henry VIII, and published under the shelter of a royal license and
proclamation.” (From Wide as the Waters)
After Henry VIII’s divorce from Catherine of Aragon, England was still primarily Catholic. The Parliament Act of Six Articles essentially made the Church of England Catholic in doctrine, while rejecting obedience to Rome. Henry VIII was by no means a Protestant but he was known to have read some of Tyndale’s works at the urging of Anne Boleyn. Henry VIII had passed away in 1547 leaving his only male heir, Edward VI, the throne. He had been careful in his planning for the government while Edward was underage; however, “the new king’s uncle, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford (later Duke of Somerset), seized control of the Council of Regents and made himself lord protector and sole guardian of the king.” (From Wide as the Waters) Somerset was a confirmed reformer. He changed England into a Protestant state, experimented with the entire service in English, repealed the Act of Six Articles, and allowed priests to marry. “In 1547, Cranmer published the Book of Homilies designed to encourage preaching, and in 1549 (with help from Continental theologians such as Martin Bucer) composed the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments, which amounted to a reform of the Liturgy along Protestant lines. (From Wide as the Waters)
Why write a Book of Common Prayer? “A phrase attributed to the fifth-century theologian Prosper of Aquitaine is often quoted by Anglican liturgists: lex orandi, lex credendi, the law of prayer establishes the law of belief. The way we pray shapes what we believe.” (From Opening the Prayer Book by Jeffrey Lee) Somerset and other reform-minded leaders began moving England further away from Catholicism. (It is fascinating to observe the politics behind the events).
The
prayer book of 1549 was in many respects a conservative reform of liturgical
patterns. The structural shape of
the Eucharist, baptism, and the daily office was recognizable as that of the old
Latin rite, but greatly simplified. Although
there were significant innovations, the tone of the services largely remained
that of the late medieval church. What
was radically new was the fact that these rites were now considered common
prayer. (From Opening the Prayer
Book)
The Preface from The First Book of Common Prayer (1549) has some interesting statements that have a democratic ring to them:
“…that the people (by daily hearing of holy Scripture read in the Church) should continually profit more and more in the knowledge of God, and be the more inflamed with the love of his true religion….whereas St. Paul would have such language spoken to the people in the Church, as they might understand, and have profit by hearing the same, the Service in the Church of England (these many years) hath been read in Latin to the people, which they understand not; so that they have heard with their ears only; and their hearts, spirit, and mind, have not been edified thereby. By this order the curates shall need none other books for their public service, but this book and the Bible: by the means whereof, the people shall not be at so great charge for books, as in time past they have been…And where heretofore, there hath been great diversity in saying and singing in churches within this realm... all the whole realm shall have but one use. ... Though it be appointed in the afore written preface, that all things shall be read and sung in the church in the English tongue, to the end that the congregation may be thereby edified: yet it is not meant, but when men say Matins and Evensong privately, they may say the same in any language that they themselves understand.”
As is seemingly the case with all prayer books, no one was happy with the 1549 version. As reformers did not think it went far enough and conservatives thought it went too far. The second prayer book of Edward VI was published in 1552 and moved greatly in the direction of Calvinist practice. For example, any suggestion that the Eucharist was an offering was eliminated because the presence of Christ was to be found in the heart of the worshipper rather than in the Eucharistic bread and wine. This version was only used for 8 months because Edward died at the age of 14 from Tuberculosis.
His half sister, Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon became Queen. Mary was a staunch Catholic and immediately restored the Latin rite. (For a very interesting book on Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth, read The Children of Henry the VIIIth.) Mary was known as “Bloody Mary” for her persecution, along with her husband, Phillip of Spain, of Protestants. Many of the reformers tried to stop Mary’s ascension to the throne because they knew it would mean rejoining ties to Rome and the Catholic faith. So, they propped up Lady Jane Grey as their choice as successor to Edward. However, Mary bravely marched into London with the people cheering her and assumed the throne. She later had Jane Grey beheaded. She was related to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. He arranged for her marriage to his son Phillip so as to secure the throne for Catholicism.
Mary was wary of the reformers trying to overthrow her government. She was very suspicious of Elizabeth whose mother, Anne Boleyn, was the woman that Henry had left her mother for. Many of the reformers wanted Elizabeth to try to usurp Mary. Mary caught wind of the treason and had Elizabeth thrown in the Tower of London. Elizabeth was constantly under scrutiny for her beliefs and questioned as to why she would not attend Mass. Her experiences in the Tower, her fear of imminent death for treason (there was no real evidence that she had agreed to go against Mary), her persecution over her religious beliefs, and her observations of the killings of both Catholics and Protestants were the basis of her later actions in shaping the Anglican Church. In many ways, the Anglican Church is a blending of Protestant and Catholic views that reflects Elizabeth’s spiritual journey.
Phillip left Mary within 2 years of their marriage to join his father, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, in his fight with France. It is also believed that Phillip was not too fond of Mary. Within a year of Phillip’s departure and three years after assuming the throne, Mary died leaving the monarchy to her half-sister Elizabeth.
In any event, Elizabeth ascends to the throne in 1559 and immediately a revised prayer book is issued as an attempt to keep the peace. The 1559 BCP restores some of the 1549 provisions but eliminates some of the inflammatory remarks about the Bishop of Rome. This book carefully walks a fine line between the two factions in her country. I think understanding the experiences that Elizabeth endured before her monarchy should help the reader to understand how the Anglican Church came to be a blending of old and new. Elizabeth herself had been persecuted for her faith and she wanted the Church of England to be
“a sign and agent of unity in England, rather than a cause for sedition and bloodshed. The divisive and even violent results of Reformation doctrinal controversies were all too obvious, both in England and in Europe. Worship according to a single prayer book was to be the distinguishing feature of church life in England. Rather than the inquisitions into the privately held theological convictions of her people, she would insist only on the public practice of worship according to The Book of Common Prayer. The prayer book was rooted deep in the liturgical tradition of the pre-Reformation church, but was obviously responsive to the new political realities of post-Reformation England.” (From Opening the Prayer Book)
The BCP has since been revised various times to reflect the needs of the times and people using it. After Elizabeth’s 1559 version, it was revised again in 1604 when James I succeeds her (this is the same King James who is famous for his version of the Bible). The BCP is again revised in 1662 after the restoration of the monarchy when Charles II assumes the throne of England. This 1662 BCP is still the official version used in England today, though supplemented by “alternative services” in contemporary language.
In America, the revolution and independence from England required a few more changes since the parishioners could no longer be expected to pray for the Monarch nor could the oath of loyalty to the crown be required at ordination of priests. Again, there were a lot of politics and power struggles surrounding the writing of the American BCP. It was first tried in 1786 but Samuel Seabury would not attend this convention because the proposals for organizing the newly independent church did not provide strongly enough for the place of bishops in church governance. Nevertheless, a BCP was published in 1786 that was very similar to the BCP of 1662. This version was adopted and used mainly in the southern states.
In 1789, the first General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church met in Philadelphia. This convention was possible because the southern states’ representatives were willing to give up phrases from the 1786 version that Seabury and his followers found objectionable. Remarkably, it took only 10 days to produce a BCP for America. This version was used for 100 years.
The next revision of the American BCP came in 1892 during a period following the Civil War and the increase of immigrants to this country:
“The
images many people have about what worship in an Episcopal church looks
like-vested choirs and processions, candles flickering at altars set in long
divided chancels, organ music, pseudo-Gothic architecture, and the Holy
Eucharist as the principal service-can be traced to reforms in the nineteenth
century that took the prayer book tradition and reshaped it…Ritualism, a child
of the Catholic Revival, was leading to a deeper appreciation of the sacraments
and a renewed interest in medieval liturgy and the study of liturgy in general.
Ritualism was eventually to transform thoroughly the physical fabric,
ceremonial, and music of the Episcopal Church.
It is startling to realize what an innovation it was in the middle of the
nineteenth century to place a cross on the Holy Table of an Episcopal Church.”
(From Opening the Prayer Book).
So, the General Convention of 1892 did approve some modest changes to the BCP. It became evident that changes would be needed to keep up with the ever-changing landscape and composition of America.
The 1928 revisions were significantly more aggressive. It reflected other issues of the day such as overall concern for social justice, the marriage service drops the word “obey” from the wife’s vows, and the derogatory reference to ‘the Jews’ is dropped from the third collect for Good Friday.
The 1979 version came after great social upheaval in the United States as well as increased liturgical scholarship. It is what is still in use today. As with recent revisions in other Anglican churches, this revision was the most extensive since 1552. The form of the services and the theology expressed in the prayers reflect early Christian norms more than previous versions of the BCP, which were more influenced by the Protestant Reformation. Though adopted by a large majority in the General Convention, a determined minority opposed it and a few congregations refuse to use the 1979 Book to this day.
Contemporary practice in the Episcopal Church is far removed from Elizabeth’s ideal of uniformity in liturgical practice. Encouraged by the use of computers and photocopiers, congregations and clergy make use of a wide variety of liturgical resources in planning their worship. Calls for a new version to replace the 1979 BCP have met with skepticism by others who doubt that any single printed liturgy, however flexible, can meet the spiritual needs of our rapidly changing society. The values of our Anglican ancestors continue to inform and guide our worship, however, that the worship of God may be accessible to all, prayer that is offered truly in common by all the people of God.
This page last updated: 04/05/2002