While many of us are familiar with such famous words as, "Dearly
beloved, we are gathered together here..." or "Ashes to ashes, dust to
dust," we may not know that they originated with The Book of Common
Prayer, which first appeared in 1549.
Like the words of the King James Bible and Shakespeare, the language of
this prayer book has saturated English culture and letters. Here Alan
Jacobs tells its story. Jacobs shows how The Book of Common
Prayer--from its beginnings as a means of social and political control
in the England of Henry VIII to its worldwide presence today--became a
venerable work whose cadences express the heart of religious life for
many.
The book's chief maker, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury,
created it as the authoritative manual of Christian worship throughout
England. But as Jacobs recounts, the book has had a variable and
dramatic career in the complicated history of English church politics,
and has been the focus of celebrations, protests, and even jail terms.
As time passed, new forms of the book were made to suit the many
English-speaking nations: first in Scotland, then in the new United
States, and eventually wherever the British Empire extended its arm.
Over time, Cranmer's book was adapted for different preferences and
purposes. Jacobs vividly demonstrates how one book became many--and how
it has shaped the devotional lives of men and women across the globe.
