Anglican Studies, Reformed/Presbyterian

The Book of Common Prayer

Taught by Samuel Bray and Nathaniel Keane
Runs 4/10 – 6/17/23
$225.00 – $399.00
Syllabus

The Book of Common Prayer is central to Anglican worship and identity. This course will explore the Prayer Book, including its sources, theology, structure, language, and performance. The center of attention will be the Book of Common Prayer (1662), which is widely recognized as one of the formularies that has shaped the Anglican tradition and still defines its contours. The services considered in detail are Baptism, Confirmation, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Communion, Matrimony, Burial, and the Commination, as well as the calendar and collects. At various points the 1662 Book of Common Prayer will be compared with late modern versions of the Book of Common Prayer, such as the US 1928, US 1979, and ACNA 2019.

Deadline to register: Wednesday, March 29th

 

 

ENROLLMENT OPTIONS

Auditing ($225):

participate in readings and live class sessions, but no graded assignments and no course credit

Full course (Full-Time Discount) ($275):

for-credit courses (at least four per term) toward our Certificate or M.Litt in Classical Protestantism

Full course ($399):

individual classes on a for-credit basis; you can later apply them toward a Certificate or Degree

 

ENROLL NOW

Description

Samuel Bray

This Anglican Studies course will be taught by Samuel Bray and Nathaniel Keane, and will run from April 10th through June 17th. The syllabus can be found here.

The Book of Common Prayer is central to Anglican worship and identity. This course will explore the Prayer Book, including its sources, theology, structure, language, and performance. The center of attention will be the Book of Common Prayer (1662), which is widely recognized as one of the formularies that has shaped the Anglican tradition and still defines its contours. The services considered in detail are Baptism, Confirmation, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, Communion, Matrimony, Burial, and the Commination, as well as the calendar and collects. At various points the 1662 Book of Common Prayer will be compared with late modern versions of the Book of Common Prayer, such as the US 1928, US 1979, and ACNA 2019.

Samuel Bray is a professor of law at the University of Notre Dame, and is a McDonald Distinguished Fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University. He is the author of various articles on legal subjects such as remedies, equity, and constitutional law, and he is a coauthor of textbooks on remedies and constitutional law. He is also a coauthor of Genesis 1-11: A New Old Translation for Readers, Scholars, and Translators, and is the editor with Drew Nathaniel Keane of The 1662 Book of Common Prayer: International Edition. His essays on liturgical matters include: “Ashes in a Time of Plague,” Faith & Worship, vol. 88 (Lent 2021), 48-64; and “The Shape Fallacy: The Book of Common Prayer as Text,” Ad Fontes, Issue 4.3 (March 2020), 10-15; reprinted in Faith & Worship, vol. 87 (Trinity 2020), 6-18.

Dr. Drew Nathaniel Keane (PhD St And) teaches English at Georgia Southern University. His academic work has been published in Notes & Queries, Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, and Anglican Theological Review. With Samuel L. Bray (University of Notre Dame), he edited The 1662 Book of Common Prayer: International Edition (IVP Academic, March 2021). Also with Professor Bray, he is presently writing How to Use the Prayer Book (forthcoming from IVP), a guide for new users unfamiliar with the Anglican tradition. From 2012 to 2018 Dr. Keane served on the Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, during which time he contributed to several volumes including Lesser Feasts and Fasts (2018) and collaborated in the drafting of numerous resolutions presented at General Convention. He is presently a member of the Liturgical Commission and the Commission on Ministry for the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. 

Details

Online only, runs 10 weeks, meeting 2 hr./wk. via Zoom. Students will also have the option to participate in class discussion on the Davenant Common Room Discord server. Register to reserve your spot and schedule will be set after a poll of participating students; if the class time does not fit your schedule, you will be eligible for a full refund.

This is a graduate-level course. Although a BA is not a necessary pre-requisite for this course, students should come prepared to do graduate-level work.