Posted on 12/17/2005 2:19:17 PM PST by sionnsar
One interesting article I have found on the website of the Church of England (Continuing) is The Gospel in the Prayer Book, also by the Rev. David Samuel, whose work we linked to earlier this week. There is a lot to think about in this essay; I suppose this part really struck me:
As I have already mentioned, a proper understanding of the nature of repentance is a necessary part of our salvation. We must recognise and acknowledge the sinfulness and wickedness of our hearts. We dare not minimise our sins before God, nor cover them over lightly. If we are superficial in the way that we deal with ourselves, and if we do not understand the gravity of sin, and its seriousness in the sight of God then, of course, there is no hope of our being saved by the grace of God. And so the liturgy, if it is to be a Gospel liturgy and faithful to the Bible's teaching, must set out our sins in their true colours, so that we see clearly what sort of people we are in the sight of a holy God. That, indeed, the Prayer Book does most faithfully, especially, of course, in the Confession that we have in Morning and Evening Prayer: "We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep..., We have offended against thy holy laws, We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, And we have done those things which we ought not to have done, And there is no health in us". That means there is no soundness, no wholeness in us at all. That is what we must confess when we come before God, for that is our true condition, morally and spiritually. It is clearly described for us in the Scriptures, which tell us that "all we like sheep have gone astray", (Isaiah 53:6) and, "There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10), and all that is clearly and faithfully reflected in the Prayer Book.Perhaps that is one way to say that the classical Prayer Book is not "seeker friendly" but is instead focused on worshipping God "in spirit and truth."
The modern services which have been introduced in recent years are far too superficial and inadequate in this respect. The confessions are brief and perfunctory. The reasons for this are many, but pervading them is undoubtedly a misunderstanding of the nature of worship which is common today. Modern people are taught to think of worship as a species of therapy, they seek emotional satisfaction, and consequently they concentrate on themselves rather than God. The Prayer Book does the very opposite; it concentrates our minds upon God; and that is because it follows the Scriptures which are God-centred rather than man-centred.
Traditional Anglican ping, continued in memory of its founder Arlin Adams.
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