"1662 Book of Common Prayer: International Edition" ed. by Bray and Keane. A Review
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer: International Edition
Samuel L. Bray and Drew N. Keane (editors)
IVP
ivpress.com
ISBN: 978-0-8308-4192-9; March 2021; $28.00
You either love them, or you hate
them. It’s just about that simple. Some feel prayerbooks are constricting, like
a bad asthma reaction constricts the airway. Others feel freed up and that they
can breathe easier by having the routine and regularity of such a breviary. One
either loves them or hates them. Recently Samuel L. Bray, professor of law at
the University of Notre Dame, as well as a McDonald Distinguished Fellow at the
Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University, and Drew N. Keane,
lecturer in the Department of Writing and Linguistics at Georgia Southern
University, teamed up to put forth a new rendition of the 1662 Book of Common
Prayer (1662-BCP). Actually, this 832-page handy hardback is a lightly touched
edition set up for an international audience. It keeps the King’s English and
the Queen’s sensibilities, while broadening the prayers out to include other
conditions and situations found in global contexts. It’s the right size, the
right type of paper, and the right size print for most anyone to use
corporately or individually.
If you’re already familiar with the
1662-BCP, then you’ll find very little that’s changed in “The 1662 Book of
Common Prayer: International Edition”. The petitions for the royal family in
Morning and Evening Prayer have been moved to other parts of the book, and
their place is filled with petitions that will fit more governmental circumstances.
There is also some cleaning up of spelling to ways that are most familiar to 21st
Century world citizens.
The significant Additions and changes
come in the Addenda toward the back of the volume (647-767). There’s a letter
to the reader which gives rationale to the bits of modifications, oodles of
extra prayers from other parts of the international Anglican communion, and
alternative table of readings, and a glossary. The most exciting addition in
this backmatter is the “Homily of Justification” or more fully, “A Sermon of
the Salvation of Mankind by Only Christ our Saviour from Sin & Everlasting
Death (1547)”. This is the homily referenced in Article 11 of the 39 Articles
of Religion. As one riffles through those pages, it will become quickly
understood what makes the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican network
truly Protestant. It’s a delightful read. Even the warning about those who “brawl
about words”, those contenders forging “matters of contention, even when they
have no occasion thereto”, those who use “captious cavillations to obscure and
darken” justification is beautiful in its own right (664).
“The 1662 Book of Common Prayer: International
Edition” is a nicely edited work ideal for those who love prayerbooks. My only
disappointment was that one marking ribbon is not sufficient for the volume, it
needs about five. This missal is ideal for Anglicans of any flavor, along with
others who desire some format for their times of prayer. Also, for my fellow
ministers, this work contains material to aid you in public prayers and worship
that you’ll find richly beneficial. I highly recommend the book.
My glad thanks to IVP for responding
to my request when I asked for a review copy. They happily sent it, and I used
it for this evaluation. There were no hostages taken in the process and no animals
were hurt in the use of the prayerbook or the writing of this analysis. These
sentiments are freely made and freely given.
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