Book of Common Prayer: Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi

Image by Rich Renomeron

I recently asked an Episcopalian friend of mine what exactly Anglican theology is. This question is significantly different than asking, say, what Presbyterian or Catholic theology is, because Anglicans are not confessional [1]. My friend could not just hand me a book or pamphlet with a list of doctrines, like a Presbyterian, Catholic, or even some Baptist groups could have. Anglicans have no equivalent to the Westminster Confession of Faith or the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Instead, they are creedal; they adhere to the Apostle's Creed and the Nicene Creed. But how do they understand the creeds?

My friend's answer to my question was that if I wanted to know what Anglicans believe, read the Book of Common Prayer (BCP). This intrigues me for at least two reasons. One, the theology is far more implicit than explicit. It is somewhat difficult to nail down. Indeed, I posit that this may be what has led to some of the vast differences in the Anglican Communion. Two, all Anglican theology is directly intertwined into the prayers and worship of the Anglican Christians.  This is not necessarily so with Christian denominations (see below).

Thus, Anglican theology is a modern-day example of Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi, the law of prayer is the law of belief. This is exactly what my friend's answer to me means. The prayers that were picked to go into the BCP were picked because they reflect what the bishops and authors intended to teach. The prayers and rubrics are the theology. The same is typically true with all liturgies.

Image by D. G. Butcher

The same is not necessarily true with most extemporaneous prayers. Generally, people who pray - whether pastors, laymen, or worship leaders - do not explicitly think, "OK, I believe 'x', therefore I will pray such-and-such." Instead, extemporaneous prayers arise out of the current needs and situations, the feelings of the one praying, and the purpose of the prayer (confession, requests, praise, etc.). Indeed, it is not unheard of for someone praying in an extemporaneous way to make a minor theological "blunder." By "blunder," I mean a statement or request that is technically out of accord with the official beliefs of one's church or confession. Oftentimes, these are nit-picky, but they do happen. In fact, one of my former elders has pointed out some of my blunders in the past.

This is not to say that extemporaneous prayers do not follow Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi. Indeed, if you want to find out what a person really believes about God's sovereignty, the nature of sin, the abilities of man, and so forth, pay attention to his or her prayers over the course of time. One's prayers say a lot about one's theology and theological priorities. In fact, The Lord's Prayer tells us a lot about Jesus' theology and priorities, but that's a subject for another time.

My point here is that extemporaneous prayers rarely give us an accurate picture of what one's church or denomination believes, whereas the BCP and all other liturgies do just that [2]. By studying what is said, theorizing what could have been said instead, and examining the order in which these things are said, one can get a good idea about the Anglican Church "officially" believes, despite the incredible variety and multifaceted beliefs held within Canterbury's walls.

In light of all this, as I start blogging yet once again, I want to begin to examine the BCP and write a detailed commentary on the BCP [3]. I hope over the course of time to write a rather comprehensive and "systematic" treatise on Anglican theology. Lord willing, it will help me and others understand exactly what the Anglican Communion does and ought to believe by their own standards. I think this should be interesting; I hope you do too.

Notes

1.Technically, I suppose that Catholics aren't confessional either. However, their extensive CCC functions more-or-less as just a very large confession. If you want to know what the Catholic Church officially teaches, that is the place to go.

2.This does not imply that everyone who uses a liturgical prayer means what the BCP authors intended.  One can certainly mouth the words without understanding or intending the meaning of the prayer.

3. I will be using the 1979 edition published by The Church Hymnal Corporation in New York. You can get one here.