The Book of Common Prayer marks a milestone

On June 9, 1549, parishioners in England’s churches walked or drove to their particular parishes for Sunday services. The liturgy they heard that day was not in Latin, which long had been the language of public worship. Instead, the entire service was conducted in English. That English liturgy came from the newly instituted Book of Common Prayer. The work primarily of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, this first Prayer Book and its descendants have exerted immense influence on the English-speaking world these past 476 years.

Its wording did much to form the English language as we know it. Phrases such as “at death’s door,” “land of the living,” and “the upper hand” all gained widespread usage through the Prayer Book. Have you ever been to a wedding that began, “Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the face of this Congregation, to join together this man and this woman in holy Matrimony”? That phrasing comes straight from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer. In fact, nearly every traditional, English-speaking wedding ceremony, Anglican or not, owes some level of rhetorical debt to the Prayer Book. The same almost could be said for funerals and phrases such as “ashes to ashes, dust to dust.”

More than a masterpiece of English prose, the Prayer Book also exhibited the theology of the Protestant Reformation. First, the Prayer Book showed the primacy of God’s Word for the Church. Its first and subsequent versions were saturated in Scripture. As much as 85% of its text either directly quoted Biblical passages or made allusions to them. Thus, the Prayer Book committed the English church to Paul’s declaration that, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Second, the flow of Prayer Book services followed Reformational theology. They tread the basic path of the “3 Gs”: guilt, grace, and gratitude. We first admit our sinfulness, our inability of our own effort to please God in following His law. Admitting our helplessness, we then hear the gracious Good News of God’s offer of salvation by grace alone through faith alone by the merits of Jesus Christ. Finally, having heard and renewed our trust in God, we respond with gratitude by offering a sacrifice of thanks and praise.

Third, the Prayer Book applied the principle of the priesthood of all believers. It brought the congregation back into active participation throughout worship through reciting prayers, creeds, psalms, and singing. It simplified worship to invite more knowing involvement by the people. Relatedly, the transition from Latin to English also asked parishioners to listen attentively and to consider the Scriptural truth of what they heard.

Beyond its meaning for the English language and the Protestant Reformation, the Prayer Book came out of political beliefs. The “common” in prayer came in part from a belief that God is the Lord of nations. Worshipping together not only built the Church but inculcated communal bonds and virtues necessary for a peaceful and a just society.

In addition, the Prayer Book’s implementation on June 9 was no thoughtless choice. June 9 that year was Whitsunday or Pentecost. The Pentecost recorded in Acts 2 undid the division and confusion of the Tower of Babel. With that prior division and confusion of language had come political, social, and eventual ecclesiastical conflict. When we cannot use words to understand and persuade, we resort to physical threats to coerce.

Pentecost pointed toward a future of renewed unity. This unity would come through the bringing of the gospel to every tribe, tongue, and nation in words they could understand. But it also foretold a time when God’s kingdom will unite all peoples under Christ’s lordship and in the worship of Him. All will make the political confession that Jesus reigns. All will make the theological confession that He, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is the one true God.

Whatever our theological tradition, let us celebrate the impact made by the Book of Common Prayer. Let us celebrate Cranmer’s gift of beautiful words. Let us adhere to the Reformational principles regarding Scripture, grace, faith, and thankfulness. And let us pursue with it the unity that we will have in the New Jerusalem—one of common language, common theology, common political community, and a common prayer—doxology.