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Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
The Book of Common Prayer runs like a golden thread through the history of the Church of England and the worldwide Anglican Communion. The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer is the first comprehensive guide to the history and usage of the original Book of Common Prayer and its numerous descendants throughout the world. It shows how a seminal text for Christian worship and devotion has inspired a varied family of religious resources that have had an influence far beyond their use in the churches of a single tradition.
The Guide is unique. In it, experts from every part of the globe and every branch of Anglicanism, as well as from the Lutheran, Roman Catholic, Methodist, and Unitarian traditions, provide an unparalleled examination of The Book of Common Prayer and its lineage. Much more than simply a history, this volume describes how Anglican churches at all points of the compass have developed their own Prayer Books and adapted the time-honored Anglican liturgies to their diverse local cultures. In the dozens of editions now in use throughout the world, the same texts--Daily Prayers, the Eucharist, Marriage and Funerals, and many others--resemble each other, and yet differ from each other in interesting ways. A brief look at "electronic Prayer Books" offers a glimpse at how this story of development and adaptation may continue in the Information Age.
From 1549 to the twenty-first century, The Oxford Guide to the Book of Common Prayer offers a fascinating journey through the history and development of a classic of world literature.
"A wonderful and useful book. This book asks all the important questions and provides essential material for those who are looking for answers."
--(The Rev.) Christopher Webber, The Living Church
"It is well conceived physically, graced with both illustrations of historic prayer books and text boxes from the liturgies being discussed, which are a significant help to the reader. This authoritative guide to the Book of Common Prayer as it once was and has now become will well serve anyone interested in Anglicanism or the prayer book tradition."
--Christian Century
"The editors have assembled a roster of authors that is a veritable who's who among Anglican liturgical scholars. [They] have provided a service to the entire Communion by editing this worldwide survey of the Book of Common Prayer."
--Frank C. Senn, Anglican Theological Review
"Hefling and Shattuck have kept a tight hand; they have maintained narrative interest, eliminated overlaps, discreetly filled holes themselves. Excerpts from specimen prayers and documents are given in boxes on the page. In a big book, room has been found for thirty black-and-white illustrations, a chronology, a glossary, a bibliography, a good index, and a world map in the endpapers."
--John Whale, Times Literary Supplement
"Monumental and magnificent! This Guide makes clear why The Book of Common Prayer is both a religious and a literary masterpiece."
--Phyllis Tickle
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| Too much and too little |
| Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 |
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This is a very ambitious project and you get a bargain for your buck. The print is small and there is a lot of information packed into these fine print pages, but I was disappointed by the lack of detail concerning the Prayer Books of 1549, 1552, 1559, 1604 and 1662. I would have preferred some indepth discussions of the significant theological developments in these versions before launching into the variations of the BCP in the worldwide Anglican communion.
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| Want to know about Anglican prayer books -- all over the world? |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This hefty tome is a logical follow-up to the 120-page WELCOME TO THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER. Nobody will confuse it with a work of systematic theology, but it does what it does brilliantly: eludicate and critique (by this I mean explicate, not 'criticize') present-day versions of Cranmer's fifteenth-century original all over the world. Some surprises are in store: many Episcopalians in the USA casually call the BCP the "prayer book"; moreover, some English-language countries have named their version "Prayer Book" without any "common"ality of book title. Judge for yourself whether the Anglican BCP in general is getting more diverse within most of the many, many nations in which a nation-specific version serves; or whether it is globalizing. Perhaps there's a bit of truth in both.
THE OXFORD GUIDE TO THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER: A WORLD-WIDE SURVEY is an excellent source book to have as a desk or library reference, not only for clergy but for people who are just plain interested. Note that the hardcover version goes for only about ten dollars more than the paperback; I for one recommend the extra investment. If you're not yourself an Episcopalian (Anglican), but merely looking for a more entry-level (and much shorter!) book, try WELCOME TO THE BOOK OF COMMON PRAYER as mentoned above or WELCOME TO THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH, both widely available.
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| Splendid Scholarship at Rock-Bottom Prices |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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Nearly everything a scholar or common reader could possibly want to know, priced as a thought it were a paperback remainder.
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| Wonderful insight into the Book of Common Prayer |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This is a must read for anyone who enjoys using the Book of Common Prayer for worship. I gained incredible insight into the history and use of the Book of Common Prayer. I love the way it is organized, nice short essays that are topically arranged. This book will stay with me for years and I am sure I will refer to it many times.
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| An Excellent Historical and Functional Review of our many Books of Common Prayer |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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From one Book of Common Prayer to many over five centuries, this text provides an outstanding and excellent analysis of the historical and functional evolution of the current Books of Common Prayer currently in use. This Oxford Guide stands out as a primary reference for all.
Richard W. Wheeler
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