EBOOK
Worship by Faith Alone
Thomas Cranmer, the Book of Common Prayer, and the Reformation of Liturgy
Zac HicksSeries: Dynamics of Christian Worship(0)
About
In every age, the church must consider what it means to gather together to worship God.
If the church is primarily the people who follow the risen Christ, then its worship should be "gospel-centered." But where might the church find an example of such worship for today?
In this “Dynamics of Christian Worship” volume, scholar, worship leader, and songwriter Zac Hicks contends that such a focus can be found in the theology of worship presented by Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury during the English Reformation. Hicks argues that Cranmer's reformation of the church's worship and liturgy was shaped primarily by the Protestant principle of justification by faith alone as reflected in his 1552 edition of “The Book of Common Prayer”, which was later codified under Elizabeth I and has guided Anglican worship for centuries.
Here, we find a model of "gospel-centered" worship through which the church of today might be reformed yet again.
“The Dynamics of Christian Worship” series draws from a wide range of worshiping contexts and denominational backgrounds to unpack the many dynamics of Christian worship-including prayer, reading the Bible, preaching, baptism, the Lord's Supper, music, visual art, architecture, and more-to deepen both the theology and practice of Christian worship for the life of the church.
If the church is primarily the people who follow the risen Christ, then its worship should be "gospel-centered." But where might the church find an example of such worship for today?
In this “Dynamics of Christian Worship” volume, scholar, worship leader, and songwriter Zac Hicks contends that such a focus can be found in the theology of worship presented by Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury during the English Reformation. Hicks argues that Cranmer's reformation of the church's worship and liturgy was shaped primarily by the Protestant principle of justification by faith alone as reflected in his 1552 edition of “The Book of Common Prayer”, which was later codified under Elizabeth I and has guided Anglican worship for centuries.
Here, we find a model of "gospel-centered" worship through which the church of today might be reformed yet again.
“The Dynamics of Christian Worship” series draws from a wide range of worshiping contexts and denominational backgrounds to unpack the many dynamics of Christian worship-including prayer, reading the Bible, preaching, baptism, the Lord's Supper, music, visual art, architecture, and more-to deepen both the theology and practice of Christian worship for the life of the church.
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Reviews
"In an era obsessed with questions of worship style or the worshiper's positive experience, Zac Hicks's study of Thomas Cranmer reminds us that the more critical issue is how worship proclaims and participates in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have long been concerned that much of the worship in this contemporary era has been ashamed of this gospel, not by overt rejection but by a more subtle-and equally disastrous-omission. Worship by Faith Alone through Cranmer's historical example shows how to avoid this drastic error."
Lester Ruth, research professor of Christian worship at Duke Divinity School