Book of Common Prayer

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bookslover

Puritan Board Doctor
A question on a subject I know virtually nothing about:

Which edition or version of the Book of Common Prayer (I know it's been "re-done" several times) is generally accepted as being the best, or most valuable, or most faithful to Scripture, etc. by conservative Anglicans today?

Or: if one were wanting to buy one, which one should a conservative fellow get?
 
I have a copy of the 1662 BCP and though I have some reservations (i.e. observance of Saints' Days, Lent, Easter) it is generally good. Something like 75- 85% of it is material taken directly from the Bible. They have Prayers for morning and evening, as well as the complete Psalms and they have them divided up so that by reading some morning and evening you get through all 150 in one month. I use it as a devotional. There was a 1552 edition that ABP Cranmner did that is supposed to be even more Protestant than the 1662 but I don't know if that is available anywhere. Google 1662 Book of Common Prayer and you will find copies of it online and as well as copies for sale.
 
I would suggest the 1662 Prayer Book and I believe it is the best liturgy there has ever been or ever will be here on earth :). You can find all of the Prayer Books online here. A similar Prayer Book can be found here. The 1552 is also excellent.

Prayer of humble access
WE do not presume to come to this thy Table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under thy Table. But thou art the same Lord, whose property is always to have mercy: Grant us therefore, gracious Lord, so to eat the flesh of thy dear Son Jesus Christ, and to drink his blood, that our sinful bodies may be made clean by his body, and our souls washed through his most precious blood, and that we may evermore dwell in him, and he in us. Amen.

General Confession
ALMIGHTY and most merciful Father; We have erred, and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. 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. But thou, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders. Spare thou them, O God, who confess their faults. Restore thou them that are penitent; According to thy promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesu our Lord. And grant, O most merciful Father, for his sake; That we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and sober life, To the glory of thy holy Name. Amen.

Another general confession
ALMIGHTY God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Maker of all things, judge of all men; We acknowledge and bewail our manifold sins and wickedness, Which we, from time to time, most grievously have committed, By thought, word, and deed, Against thy Divine Majesty, Provoking most justly thy wrath and indignation against us. We do earnestly repent, And are heartily sorry for these our misdoings; The remembrance of them is grievous unto us; The burden of them is intolerable. Have mercy upon us, Have mercy upon us, most merciful Father; For thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ's sake, Forgive us all that is past; And grant that we may ever hereafter Serve and please thee In newness of life, To the honour and glory of thy Name; Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
 
And all was tossed out in the surge for relevancy in the USA.

A priest told me the confession no longer need be "repeated" before taking communion. (N o, I was not yet a Christian.)

I grew up reciting prayers from the 1928 edition – and after leaving the church, they came to mind. When I came back to the church (about 10 years from 1960 to 1971) I could not believe they were doing stuff I was trying to recover from!

But their search for relevancy prompted me to search truth – was what they proposed in the Bible. So God worked it all out, huh?
 
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