Thanks Sidney. As a recent convert to Anglicanism, I confess that I have missed the beauty of the 1662 Prayer of Confession. While I understand the desire to contemporize our language, I feel we are depriving the generations the enduring quality of the original language. Even today, 60 years later, I can quote the original language from the Methodist Hymnal, which was very close to the 1669 BCP. The only difference is that the MH omits the phrase, "The burden of them is intolerable." Thanks and keep writing.
I agree it is often the desire to contemporize our language that can lead to us mistakenly infantilizing our vocabulary. I think it is less about eliminating “thee” and “thou” for “you.” That change is almost neutral to me (but I do not really consider it a barrier; everyone understands those pronouns). But it is more about how other words are neutered, as in this prayer. Thankfully, the 2019 BCP TLE largely preserves the original prayer book language, so ACNA parishes can access it if desired!
Thanks Sidney. As a recent convert to Anglicanism, I confess that I have missed the beauty of the 1662 Prayer of Confession. While I understand the desire to contemporize our language, I feel we are depriving the generations the enduring quality of the original language. Even today, 60 years later, I can quote the original language from the Methodist Hymnal, which was very close to the 1669 BCP. The only difference is that the MH omits the phrase, "The burden of them is intolerable." Thanks and keep writing.
Thanks for your comment and engagement!
I agree it is often the desire to contemporize our language that can lead to us mistakenly infantilizing our vocabulary. I think it is less about eliminating “thee” and “thou” for “you.” That change is almost neutral to me (but I do not really consider it a barrier; everyone understands those pronouns). But it is more about how other words are neutered, as in this prayer. Thankfully, the 2019 BCP TLE largely preserves the original prayer book language, so ACNA parishes can access it if desired!