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Rating: 
Summary: The Heart Of The Gospel Unfolded In The Liturgy of 1552
Review: If the cost weren't so high, this could be called a "Tract
for the Times"! Because of the price, I have given it only
4 stars, despite the 5 star content.Here is what attracted me in this study. In this day of
much liturgical revision, nobody seems to ask *what message
our liturgy conveys?* Indeed, modern revisions seem to produce liturgies hardly
worthy of the name. Dumbed Down or theologically neutered,
today's modern revisions often leave something to be desired. Worse, those who claim to "have to liturgy" and "follow
the bible alone" often end up going to a meeting called a
"worship service" in name, only to experience a
Contemporary Christian Music concert without the Mosh Pit.
Then, at best, the Word of God, the Thanksgiving of the
People through the Lord's Supper, and the Gospel of
Christ become incidental to the "performance". Such muddy thinking and spirituality was not always the case. Cranmer's Doctrine of Repentance is unfolded in Cranmer's Liturgy of 1552. Yet Cranmer's doctrine and liturgy were not really *his* at
all. Instead he simply sought to be faithful to the
Holy Scriptures and what he considered to be the
faithful teaching of the Holy Catholic Church before the
corruptions that had so plagued his day. Specifically, Cranmer's Liturgy attacked the heretical view
of Christ's atonement which stated that our Lord's passion
was sufficient to wash away the stain of original sin, but
little more. Our works, the indulgence peddlers stated to
their profit, are required expiate post baptismal sins. To this Cranmer, having studied the scriptures
and the fathers of the Church answered a resounding
"NO"! His liturgy is the unfolding of the biblical
doctrine repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Read it and you'll agree that we need to re-establish
godly worship along these lines whether one uses
Cranmer's ancient liturgy or a modern - but faithful
- rendition of it. The point is not to return,
necessarily, to the Thee's, Thou's, and Vouchsafe's
of Cranmer's day. Rather, the point is for us to
RETURN TO CRANMER'S GOD THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
in regular worship that humbles us and exalts
the salvation that Jesus Christ gives to the world! Read this book, and I believe you'll agree with Cranmer. May God move someone at Oxford Press to put
this out in a reasonably priced paperback! Fr. Chuck Huckaby -
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