Posted on 04/15/2005 9:34:12 AM PDT by sionnsar
I know most of us are familiar with commentaries on Scripture, which can be a most valuable help to us in our use of Scripture. Not nearly so common are commentaries or handbooks to our use of the Book of Common Prayer--but these can indeed be helpful and can enrich our understanding of the Prayer Book. One that is available online is The Heart of the Prayer Book, by the Rev. William E. Cox, D.D. This was published in 1944 and the author did not place a copyright on it; Irene C. Teas has made it available to us on her website. I think this book would well be worth a look if you wish to know more about the Book of Common Prayer. It is really interesting in how it shows the Scriptural foundations of the BCP:
Open your Prayer Book and see for yourself the large amount of Scripture quoted word for word. Turn first to the Collects, Epistles and Gospels, beginning on page 90 (Pew Edition, 1928–1938 Revision). They end on page 269, a total of 179 pages. Allowing twenty-five pages for the Collects, which will fully cover them, we have here 154 pages of verbatim Scripture, with chapter and verse given.If you find this interesting, by all means look at this book at the link given above.
Turn now to the Psalter, pages 345–525 inclusive. Here we have 181 pages more of verbatim Scripture. The Epistles and Gospels together with the Psalter constitute 35 pages more than half of the entire book.
Now begin with Morning Prayer on page one, and, turning the pages one by one, note the direct quotations of Scripture that run all through the Prayer Book.
Morning Prayer begins with nearly three pages of Scripture. From the end of the Declaration of Absolution to the recitation of the Creed nothing is said or sung, except the Te Deum and the bare announcement of Psalter and Lessons, that is not in the words of Holy Scripture. The Lord’s Prayer is from St. Matthew 6:9–16; the Versicles which follow are from the 51st and the 40th Psalms; the Gloria is from Romans 16:27 and other parts of Scripture; the Venite is from the 95th and 96th Psalms; the Psalter is verbatim Scripture (taken from “The Great Bible” of 1540 for reasons that will appear later.) The Lessons, one from the old Testament and one from the New Testament, are of course Scripture, read directly from the Bible itself; the Benedictus and the Benedicite (page 11) are an addition to the third chapter of the Book of Daniel, found in the Greek Septuagint version of the Old Testament and in other versions, but not in the original Hebrew, and are printed in our Bibles among the Apocryphal books; the Benedictus (page 14) is from St. Luke 1:68 f., and the Jubilate (page 15) is Psalm 100. Note also “The Grace” at the close, with chapter and verse given.
Evening Prayer follows the same general order as Morning Prayer, and has a like large proportion of Scripture. Turn the pages and note the passages of Scripture item by item.
Follow the Prayer Book on to the end, page by page, and note the passages of Scripture in the Penitential Office, the Communion Office, the Service for Infant and Adult Baptism, the Catechism (Decalogue and Lord’s Prayer), also the Services for Confirmation, the Churching of Women (p. 305), Visitation of the Sick, Communion of the Sick, Burial of the Dead, the Thanksgiving Service (p. 264), the Ordination Services, the Consecration of Churches and the Institution of Ministers.
Putting it all together, more than two thirds of the entire book of Common Prayer is taken word for word from the Bible.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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