Prayer Books suited for the Daily Offices

One challenge I face is reading (praying) my Daily Offices.  I do not easily form new habits, and the less convenient this habit is, the less likely my success.  Reading the Anglican Office involves a copy of the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the King James Version of the Holy Bible, and the Apocrypha.  Until recently, the essentials (my copies) were in three volumes.

Reasoning that if the Offices were in a single book I would be more likely to perform my duty, I began searching for alternatives. Some help from some learned friends on a Yahoo group, some help from my Rector, and finally some technological help have left me with no excuses!

Details to follow....

The 1550 Book of Common Prayer Noted

This link is to a Google Books scan of the 1550 BCP, noted by Merbecke, and reprinted in 1840 by Marbeck. This is not Google's best scan, but it is worth a look. The Book of Common Prayer is remarkable in its richness; singing the prayers and psalms adds a lot to the experience. Not many churches hold sung services like Morning Prayer any longer. Not enough time in the day for most folks, I suppose. Still, I would like to see some effort made to revive the practice.

Fulton Sheen

I've known of Archbishop Sheen for many years. I recall seeing some of his broadcasts when I was young, and was re-introduced to him recently. My Rector gave me a copy of "The Priest is Not His Own" to aid me in understanding the shift in thinking that accompanies a call to Holy Orders. It is an excellent book, but somewhat unsettling for a fellow somewhat set in his ways, anticipating retirement, and, frankly, who had never before considered this type of life.

At any rate, a good book, and it led me to research a bit more. Here, then, is a fantastic library of talks by Sheen; some free, some available for purchase. Well worth a look.

The Interpreter's Bible

Following the advice of the clergy on the Commission on Ministry, I recently found an old (1955) set of The Interpreter's Bible. I have been using Father Raymond Brown's Introduction to the New Testament and The New Jerome Biblical Commentary for some foundational studies. They are very good, but are heavily focused on exegesis and criticism. I am finding the Interpreter's Bible to be a very detailed read, focused on history, exegesis, and criticism to an extent, but I think it will be much more suited to my immediate needs, namely, an in-depth introduction to scripture as a whole, and a valuable resource for preaching.

The Interpreter's Bible - A Commentary in Twelve Volumes (Complete Set)

Orson Bean explains...

why and how he became a Christian. This is a very amusing article, and after listening to him interviewed on a news show I believe his new book Mail for Mikey would be worth a try. He wondered out loud why he wrote the book. It is about God, so it won't sell in the mainstream stores, and it is rather crude in parts, so it won't sell in Christian book stores. I guess word-of-mouth is his only hope!

Too Busy

Been too busy with other stuff to post regularly. Shame, because much is happening in the world.

Listening to some lectures on the Gospel according to St. John from Reformed Theological Seminary. These are available on-line through i-Tunes, and are a good series of lectures. Being a Calvinist institution, I have perhaps a differing viewpoint regarding some small points, but as I have yet been able to attend seminary, this is as close as I can get to the seminary experience.

The presenter of these lectures, Dr. Knox Chamblin, refers his students to an author of some excellent commentaries. He asks his students not to be put off by the fact that Fr. Raymond Brown is a Catholic. It strikes me as funny in a way, that this is a negative in their eyes, but I went to Amazon straightaway to order. I will report on the book when it arrives.

I did finish The Great Heresies by Belloc - a very interesting book. Lacking in some detail, and showing a strong Rome-ish bias, but interesting nonetheless. He was prescient to a degree, as many of his warnings seem particularly suited for today, even if he did not entirely anticipate the degree or the exact direction in which the world has changed.

The Mohammedan Heresy

I am spending some time studying The Great Heresies by Hilaire Belloc. My main interest is in learning more about the heresies that have afflicted the Church since the beginning - I've read about the early ecumenical councils, studied their decrees and read some basic commentary. What I find interesting about Belloc's book is the emphasis he places on understanding the historical and sociological grounds in which each heresy developed.

Of particular interest is his exploration of Islam. The economic conditions which contributed to the rise of Islam are not unlike the conditions faced in many parts of the world today, and may be contributing to the recent rise of the Islamic threat. Indeed, many of the concerns he expressed concerning the dangers posed by Mohammedanism appear prescient, even though said ideas were dismissed when he wrote his book, and even today are dismissed by those unwilling to risk offending others (at least non-Christian others) with a critical examination of religious beliefs and the subsequent behaviors of religious adherents.

The Petrine Claims by Richard Frederick Littledale

Recommended through a post at The Continuum, this book is available through Google books as a PDF download. It has taken a top place on my reading list. When I am done with Staley's The Catholic Religion (also available through Google books) and Scupoli's Unseen Warfare I will dig in.

Special on iPods at Calumet

Yes, a blatant plug. Full disclosure - I (through my company, Camera Collectors, Inc.) am an affiliate of Calumet Photographic. A new relationship, I hope they can supply items my customers may want, but that I cannot supply. With luck, I may make a buck or two as well. Enough to pay for seminary? Well....

That said, they are offering free shipping on iPods. My older daughter loves hers, and I was sufficiently impressed I may replace my MP3 player with an iPod (I have some Scot blood in me, so I won't do it until the MP3 player breathes it's last breath).

How does this apply to the deaconate? Please, if you haven't already, check out iTunes University. My MP3 player does not have any music. I have iTunes U college lectures on the Epistles, I have lessons on Biblical Greek (these lectures are downloaded free of charge), and a few audio books from Audible.com. I load Jack Benny's radio programs to listen to while traveling - driving at night, kids and wife asleep, and I'm laughing out loud.

Anyway - here is the link. If it looks like a good deal, try them out. I buy hard-to-find photographic gear from Calumet, and have always been pleased by their prices and service.

Free Shipping on ALL iPods at Calumet Photographic! while supplies last. no code necessary

The Simple (or Simplistic) View

When I first received the call to Holy Orders (my understanding is that this call is to the Deaconate only) my instruction was "Begin your education". Well, I had no idea the form this education would take. Over the last 15 months I have seen about every form of strife possible within a parish - although I shouldn't say that. I am sure that there is more fun to come. I guess I assumed book learnin' was the education alluded to, and I was unprepared for all I have seen and learned.

One thing I have learned is that I tend to have a simple (or simplistic) view of the Church. A number of the problems we face at Saint Mary's would not have become problems if we were acting like a church - in other words, fulfilling the Great Commission, caring for the poor, widows and orphans, visiting the prisons and hospitals. Yes, we break bread as Our Lord commanded, but little else he asked of us is being done. Too simplistic a view, perhaps. But I do think we have lost our way.

Meanwhile, the book learning proceeds apace. I am currently in Fulton Sheen's book, The Priest is Not His Own. This one was given to me by the Rector, and the idea of Priest and victim is interesting. It helps me understand the role the priest plays, and it helps me accept some of the garbage being thrown my way. I just finished the section on preaching and prayer, and enjoyed how Cardinal Sheen interweaves two subjects that I may have thought to be dependent, but not interdependent.

Also, still slogging through Unseen Warfare by Scupoli. It is not the antiquarian language (English translated from Russian translated from Italian) that causes difficulty, but the call to an aesthetic lifestyle I find difficult. The basic ideas are important and worthwhile; fitting a monk's idea of discipline into the lifestyle I lead (husband, father, teacher, businessman, warden, acolyte, aspirant) is nearly impossible. The challenge, then, is to find those bits of truth that can lead me to a higher spirituality without thinking I need to lead a hermit's life.

I am just about to finish The Catholic Religion by Vernon Staley. Another superb book encompassing the basics of Anglo-Catholicism, but difficult to find. I was able to download a copy in PDF format from Google books.

Pardon the Amazon links. This blog is not purely commercial, but I am hoping that if any readers find an interest in these books, and use this link to buy them, maybe I can make a few dollars to put toward seminary.

The Seven Ecumenical Councils

I just finished reading The Councils of the Church by Norman P. Tanner. An interesting and succinct text, it is my first foray into the details of the Councils. I may have to buy Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils 2 Volume Set so I can get a more complete understanding of the machinations surrounding these gatherings.

My initial reaction is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. It is unfortunate that these errors continue, and even grow in strength through the centuries. It is easy to see, though, how quickly the errors can multiply when, in a modern age, we are faced with preachers who seemingly have little understanding of the traditional interpretation of scripture, and who can broadcast their error to a huge television audience.

I witnessed one such preacher today, a fellow by the name of Creflo Dollar (quite the appellation, considering his work in the so-called prosperity gospel). The contortions he performed in the fourth chapter of the Gospel according to Saint Luke would have filled a Chinese gymnast with envy. The desired result of the remarkable transformation of this gospel passage was to lead his congregation to believe that when Our Lord read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah, the reference to preaching the gospel to the poor meant that Our Lord had come to make them rich. It took some work in selective repetition to convince even his gullible congregation of that meaning.

Now, I suspect that this preacher, dressed in his two thousand dollar suit, is a showman first and foremost. Certainly he has done well financially by preaching that which his flock seemingly wants to hear. I just keep hearing the little voice, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"