back-btn
Eventthomas cromwellengland

The 1552 The English Reformation

1552 AD

Thomas Cranmer releases the Second Prayer Book of Edward VI which was the second version of the Book of Common Prayer. While the first book of Common Prayer was easier to swallow for the average Catholic with regards to liturgical arrangement the second book was a little more radical. 

England had been influenced by many Swiss Reformers like Farel who found the first book of Common Prayer to be insipid. They felt it resembled Papal liturgy too strongly to be called Protestant. Men like Martin Bucer helped reframe the second book of Common Prayer to have clearer Protestant terminology. 

This second prayer book dealt with a core theme of the Reformation - the transformation of the heart. It posited that sin was more than a bad choice, it was the fruit of a radical rottenness of heart which meant to deal with sinful behaviour meant dealing with a complete regeneration of the heart through Christ.