The Establishment of the Church of England: Its Constitutional and Legal Significance

1941 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 299-346
Author(s):  
F. W. Buckler
Keyword(s):  
Relative Position ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
The State ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
English History ◽  
Anglican Church ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

Among American churchmen and statesmen, there has been a tendency to regard the Establishment of the Anglican Church entirely in the light of a privilege conferred by the State on one church to the exclusion of others. Where the idea of the Establishment has been derived from the sight of the immunities and official endowment enjoyed by the church of the colonial governor, this point of view is natural. It determined the early statesmen of the young republic to dispense with a luxury which appeared to them to be pregnant with oppression and arrogance. Externally there is little to criticize in the view for it represents fairly accurately the relative position of the Anglican Church both in colonial and English history in the eyes of non-Anglican communions. Internally, however, the case is not as simple, as the Free Churchman, whether within or without the Anglican fold, has been ready to detect, and Cartwright here is in complete accord with Newman. The conflict was brought to an issue when the House of Commons rejected the proposals for the revision of the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 in two consecutive years, 1927 and 1928.

scholarly journals Prayer Book Catechism: Past its sell-by date?

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond Potgieter
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
Christian Faith ◽  
Anglican Church ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
The World ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) is the first introduction to Anglican belief and liturgy for many. More specifically, the Book of Common Prayer of 1662 contains the traditional catechism of the Church of England, enjoining catechumens to receive training and instruction in basic doctrines and Christian living. This takes place in the contexts of the liturgy and the more comprehensive doctrinal statements of the 39 Articles of Religion. Anglican religion traditionally allowed its members to verbalise their faith in both ritual and confession, thus serving the church and not so much life in the world. A revisit of the intentions of the catechism within its historical and prayer book contexts will show that it essentially expresses lasting truths of the Christian faith. In a world increasingly divorced from particular Christian expressions, the Anglican Church needs to rethink its particular use of the catechism for its continued relevance in meeting the questions and challenges Anglicans face daily.

Discipline and Comprehensiveness: The Church of England and Prayer Book Revision in the 1920s

2007 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
pp. 377-387
Author(s):  
John G. Maiden
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
House Of Commons ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
Significant Events ◽  
Ecclesiastical Authority ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

The Prayer Book revision controversy was among the most significant events in the Church of England during the twentieth century. The proposals to revise the 1662 Book of Common Prayer provoked considerable opposition from both Evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics, and culminated with the House of Commons rejecting a revised book in 1927 and a re-revised version in 1928. This paper will argue that two issues, ecclesiastical authority and Anglican identity, were central to the controversy. It will then suggest that the aims and policy of the bishops’ revision led to the failure of the book. In taking this angle, it will analyse the controversy from a new perspective, as previous studies have focused on liturgical developments, Church parties and disestablishment. The controversy is bound up with the broader and ongoing problem of maintaining discipline and diversity within the Anglican Communion. The Anglo-Catholic -Evangelical tensions of the 1920s were a precursor to Liberal – Evangelical conflicts on issues such as the ordination of women and sexuality. Therefore, by examining the revision controversy from the angle of discipline and comprehensiveness, a longer perspective is given to later Anglican difficulties.

Legacies

The Puritans ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 342-354
Author(s):  
David D. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
The State ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
Royal Supremacy ◽  
Charles Ii ◽  
Eighteenth And Nineteenth Centuries ◽  
William Iii ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

This epilogue recounts how Puritanism as a movement within the Church of England came to an end in 1662, when some 1,600 ministers who refused to conform were “ejected” and, thereafter, became known as Dissenters (or Dissent). Anyone who accepted the provisions of the Act of Uniformity of May 1662 had to prove that a bishop had ordained him or accept ordination anew. Conformity also required scrupulous adherence to the Book of Common Prayer. Understandably, some of the ejected ministers found their way back into the state church or, because of local circumstances, were able to carry on their ministry for a while. Meanwhile, the situation in Scotland is less easily summarized. There, episcopacy was restored and the royal supremacy reaffirmed, but no English-style prayer book was reimposed. The Scots who thought of themselves as Presbyterians continued to practice their tradition, although they were harshly criticized for compromising with government of Charles II by countrymen who clung to the covenants of 1638 and 1643. On all sides, the personal tragedies were many. Even after William III agreed to replace episcopal governance with Presbyterian, schisms continued to fracture the kirk in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

A Judicial Perspective on The Sacred in Society

2004 ◽  
Vol 7 (34) ◽  
pp. 317-327
Author(s):  
John Laws
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
The State ◽  
State Control ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
House Of Lords ◽  
The Law ◽  
Great Force ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church ◽  
Established Church

The primary virtue of establishment is the Church's duty under law to minister to anyone at all who may turn to it, including the ungodliest. Establishment does not imply a religious State, that is a State whose law requires subservience by the citizens to the State religion; if it did, it would be barbarous (but contrast the Black Rubric in the Book of Common Prayer). Establishment does not entail State control of the Church. The legal characteristics of establishment are as follows. (1) The law of the Church of England is part of the law of the land. (2) Bishops and some other office-holders are appointed by the Queen on ministerial advice. (3) 26 diocesan bishops sit as legislators in the House of Lords. (4) The Queen as Supreme Governor acts as monarch for the Church as she acts as monarch for the State. The Church of England is not a “congregational” church: its forms of worship are prescribed by law, and are not at the liberty of the community worshipping in any particular church. The bishops' resolution which authorised the use of the 1928 revision of the Book of Common Prayer in face of the will of Parliament (which was the lawful authority in the matter) was a lamentable disobedience to the law which it was their duty to uphold. Such a legal transgression might possibly nowadays be subject to correction by the High Court on judicial review, though that would require departure from earlier high authority. However that may be, it has to be recognised that there is no room, in the practice of an established Church, for the notion that conscience might justify disobedience to the law. The conscience of the believer is worth no more than the conscience of an unbeliever. The established Church possesses two immeasurable virtues: first, that religion is no tyrant: belief is not compulsory; second, that the Church's ministration is available to everyone. Their unified effect is a great force for good.

The Book of Common Prayer: A Guide

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Hefling
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Church Of England ◽  
The United States ◽  
History Of The Book ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
Corporate Worship ◽  
History Of ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

This book surveys the contents and the history of the Book of Common Prayer, a sacred text which has been a foundational document of the Church of England and the other churches in the worldwide community of Anglican Christianity. The Prayer Book is primarily a liturgical text—a set of scripts for enacting events of corporate worship. As such it is at once a standard of theological doctrine and an expression of spirituality. The first part of this survey begins with an examination of one Prayer Book liturgy, known as Divine Service, in some detail. Also discussed are the rites for weddings, ordinations, and funerals and for the sacraments of Baptism and Communion. The second part considers the original version of the Book of Common Prayer in the context of the sixteenth-century Reformation, then as revised and built into the Elizabethan settlement of religion in England. Later chapters discuss the reception, revision, rejection, and restoration of the Prayer Book during its first hundred years. The establishment of the text in its classical form in 1662 was followed by a “golden age” in the eighteenth century, which included the emergence of a modified version in the United States. The narrative concludes with a chapter on the displacement of the Book of Common Prayer as a norm of Anglican identity. Two specialized chapters concentrate on the Prayer Book as a visible artifact and as a text set to music.

The Historical Background of the English Lectionary of 1955

1958 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-86
Author(s):  
Geoffrey G. Willis
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
Historical Background ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
The People ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

The preface to the Book of Common Prayer, entitled Concerning the Service of the Church since 1662, but before that simply The Preface, was derived substantially from the preface to the revised Breviary of Quiñones, which was one of the sources for the revised daily offices of the Church of England. It appeals from what it considers the corruptions of the medieval office to the ‘godly and decent order of the ancient Fathers’. This order, it says, was devised for the systematic reading of holy scripture in the offices of the Church, and it was the intention of the compilers of the English Prayer Book to restore such a regular order of reading for the instruction of the people. It represented a revolt against three features of the lessons in the medieval breviary: first, against the frequent interruptions of the reading of scripture in course by the occurrence of feasts with proper lessons; secondly, the lack of completeness and continuity in the lessons themselves; and thirdly, the use of non-biblical material in the lessons. Even if the daily office of the breviary, which is based on the ecclesiastical year, were not interrupted by any immoveable feasts having proper lessons, it would still not provide for the reading of the whole of scripture, as its lessons are too short, and also the variable lessons are confined to the night office.

The Printing and the Printers of The Book of Common Prayer, 1549–1561

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W. M. Blayney
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
History Of ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

Bibliographers have been notoriously 'hesitant to deal with liturgies', and this volume bridges an important gap with its authoritative examination of how the Book of Common Prayer came into being. The first edition of 1549, the first Grafton edition of 1552 and the first quarto edition of 1559 are now correctly identified, while Peter W. M. Blayney shows that the first two editions of 1559 were probably finished on the same day. Through relentless scrutiny of the evidence, he reveals that the contents of the 1549 version continued to evolve both during and after the printing of the first edition, and that changes were still being made to the Elizabethan revision weeks after the Act of Uniformity was passed. His bold reconstruction is transformative for the early Anglican liturgy, and thus for the wider history of the Church of England. This major, revisionist work is a remarkable book about a remarkable book.

Preambles: “But One Use”

2020 ◽  
pp. 76-86
Author(s):  
Charles Hefling
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
Primary Sources ◽  
The Political ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
Self Presentation ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

This chapter examines the Prayer Book’s self-presentation in its preliminary, nonliturgical prose: the two Acts of Uniformity (1559 and 1662) that define the constitution of the text and regulate its use in the Church of England; and the three prefatory essays, two of which were written by Thomas Cranmer for the original, 1549 Book of Common Prayer, and have been retained ever since. These texts are themselves primary sources that provide a preliminary context in which to understand the origins and purpose of the liturgies they precede. They outline the successive revisions of the Prayer Book, and indicate both the political and the theological dimensions of its contents.

The Prayer-Book Roots of Griffith Jones's Evangelism*

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
John Harding
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
National Library ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
Prayer Book ◽  
Predominant Component ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

This article discusses Griffith Jones (1683–1761) an influential Church of England rector in West Wales from 1711, who is usually described as a precursor of Welsh Methodism and Evangelicalism. It refers to an undated, damaged notebook, in the National Library of Wales, containing sermon notes in Jones's own hand. The article seeks to trace the source of his evangelistic outlook, noting his conformist loyalty to the Church of England's doctrine, order and worship. Contrary to the opinion which attributes his pursuit of evangelism, with its seeking of conversions, to supposed Puritan influences, the article shows that the Book of Common Prayer was its inspiration. Preaching is discussed as the predominant component of worship. Jones's thought as a popular evangelist is examined, with reference to the brief sermon outlines in Welsh. The article discusses Jones's view of the defiance of Christian standards and ignorance of the faith, in Wales. Jones's practice was to summon people to faith. He preached this to those within the 'visible' national Church, which included infants, adding a strong demand for moral conformity. His concept of 'membership' was not postEnlightenment voluntarism, but of a statutory and biblical duty. For Griffith Jones the liturgy was not a disincentive to piety, contrary to some Dissenters' misgivings. His wish was for spiritual and moral renewal, not further reformation of Anglican doctrine or practice. He saw catechizing as a means against schismatical vagaries. His famous Circulating Schools reinforced this policy.

Unity, Uniformity and Diversity: the Anglican Liturgy in England and the United States, 1900-1940

1996 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 465-475
Author(s):  
Martin Dudley
Keyword(s):  
Church Of England ◽  
The United States ◽  
Book Of Common Prayer ◽  
Queen Victoria ◽  
The People ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Charles Ii ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Common Prayer ◽  
The Church

‘Uniformity’, declared Sir John Nicholl, one of the greatest of Anglican ecclesiastical lawyers, ‘is one of the leading and distinguishing principles of the Church of England - nothing is left to the discretion and fancy of the individual.’ At the Reformation the English Church was distinguished not by the decisions of councils, confessional statements, or the writings of particular leaders, but by one uniform liturgy. This liturgy, ‘containing nothing contrary to the Word of God, or to sound Doctrine’ and consonant with the practice of the early Church, was intended to ‘preserve Peace and Unity in the Church’ and to edify the people. It was also opposed to the ‘great diversity in saying and singing in Churches within this Realm’ and, abolishing the liturgical uses of Salisbury, Hereford, Bangor, York, and Lincoln, it established that ‘now from henceforth all the whole Realm shall have but one Use’. This principle of liturgical uniformity was enshrined in the several Acts of Uniformity from that of the second year of King Edward VI to that of the fourteenth year of Charles II, amended, but not abolished, in the reign of Queen Victoria. It was a principle conveyed to the churches in the colonies so that, even if they revised or abandoned the Book of Common Prayer in use in England, as the Americans did in 1789, what was substituted was called ‘The Book of Common Prayer and declared to be ‘the Liturgy of this Church’ to be ‘received as such by all members of the same’. The principle of uniformity was modified during the Anglican Communion’s missionary expansion. The Lambeth Conference of 1920 considered that liturgical uniformity throughout the Churches of the Anglican Communion was not a necessity, but the 1930 Conference held that the Book of Common Prayer, as authorized in the several Churches of the Communion, was the place where faith and order were set forth, and so implied a degree of uniformity maintained by the use of a single book.

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