How to Use the Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer has origins that date back to the 1500’s. It was once a manual used by the Church of England. Since then, many other churches and societies, in general, have taken bits and pieces of this book and incorporated it into their respective lexicons. Here’s how the use the Book of Common Prayer.
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Instructions
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Use it as a reference tool to understand current publications. The Church of England currently uses Common Worship as a guideline to conduct various services. It is based, in large part, on the treatment given to various religious events in the Book of Common Prayer.
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Read the original prayers if seeking a more orthodox approach to worship services. Many followers of the Anglican and Episcopal churches want to maintain as much of the original intent of their faith as possible. A literal interpretation of the Book of Common Prayer may help in that search.
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Track its religious influence throughout the world. The Book of Common Prayer has been published in 50 countries and in 150 languages. This book has permeated religious ceremonies in many different faiths. A comparison of the Book of Common Prayer with other current religious publications will reveal its influence.
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Understand how the Book of Common Prayer has influenced society as a whole. Phrases such as, “Speak now or forever hold you peace,” or “Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” have all come from the Book of Common Prayer. This knowledge will help the reader to understand the overall influence of the book.
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Comments
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dcdunham138
Dec 03, 2009
This is an interesting article on the influence of the Book of Common Prayer, but I'm not sure it fits the title. I was looking for an article on how to use the BOCP to do Morning and Evening Prayer and follow the church calendar. I guess I'll try elsewhere. I did learn a few things from this article, however.
