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INTRODUCTION.
IV. PRAYER BOOK OF 1662.- Of the numerous alterations the most important were-( 1) the prefixing of the new Preface;"( 2) the insertion( in wilful opposition to the Puritans) of certain Apocryphal Lessons( Bel and the Dragon and the History of Susanna) in the Calendar;( 3) the addition of several Prayers, e.g., the Prayer for all Conditions of Men, and the General Thanksgiving;( 4) the of the Epistles and Gospels and most other Scriptural Lections from the Authorized Version;( 5) the addition to the Church Militant Prayer of the commemoration of the faithful departed, and the insertion of various Ritual Rubrics in the Communion Service;( 6) the restoration of the" Declaration on Kneeling," with the significant change of" real and essential Presence into" corporal Presence;"( 7) the addition of the Office for Baptism of Adults, of the Forms of Prayer to be Used at Sea, and of the Services for January 30th and May 29th;( 8) the explícit enforcement of Episcopal Ordination, and some changes corresponding to this in the phrases relating to the clergy;( 9) the addition to the Baptismal Service of the Declaration on the Salvation of Baptized Infants, and on the use of the Sign of the Cross.
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On the history and nature of this Revision see" the Preface."
It will be obvious that hardly any of these indicate concession to the Puritans, that some were simply dictated by a desire for greater completeness and order, and that others tended rather to oppose and alienate those who had asked for the Revision.
V. SUBSEQUENT ALTERATIONS.- The Prayer Book has never again been revised, although Revision was attempted in 1689, and has been often proposed.
The only changes which have since taken place are ,
( 1) The disuse( in 1859) of the State Services for November 5th, January 30th, and May 29th.
( 2) The introduction of the New Lectionary in 1871.
( 3) The introduction, by the Amendment of the Act of Uniformity in 1872, of the Shortened Service, of liberty of using other Services by sanction of the Ordinary, of license for separation of Services and use of Hymns.
Thus preserving throughout the main characteristics, both of substance and style, which marked it at its first Compilation in 1549, the Prayer Book has exercised a most powerful influence, not only as determining the tone and character of English devotion, not only as forming a standard of faith and of religious thought, but also as affecting the whole development of English literature, of which, after the English Bible, it was the first great monument. Nor has its effect been confined to the English Church itself, the sister communions in Ireland and Scotland, and the daughter Churches of America and the Colonies. There can be little doubt that it has told on Christian bodies separated from the Church, wherever the English language is spoken, and even beyond this limit, wherever its numerous translations have penetrated. For the two great trophies of the Reformation, the English Bible and the English Prayer Book, we may well thank God.