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The Book That Sparked Personal Devotion
Martin Luther may have constructed the reformation vehicle with his revolutionary 95 Theses nailed to the door of a church in Wittenberg, but it was Thomas Cranmer, along with a few others, who paved the road for fleshing out its implications. Cranmer is the author of The Book of Common Prayer, one of the first devotional resources for the common man.
During his formative years, Cranmer possessed an insatiable desire for learning. He was afforded the opportunity for education in Cambridge, where he later joined other scholars to discuss Luther’s theology and practices. In August of 1529, a chance conversation with King Henry VIII as he was visiting a neighboring community gave Cranmer the opportunity to use his writing and reasoning skills under the employ of the Crown. King Henry sought Biblical grounds for divorcing his first wife Catherine of Aragon in order to marry his newfound love Anne Boleyn. Cranmer was summoned to write a letter to the Papacy in favor of granting an annulment of King Henry’s marriage. Although Rome denied the request, this solitary act earned Cranmer King Henry’s respect and the right to be an Ambassador of Europe.
After the death of the archbishop of Canterbury, just three years later, Henry appointed Cranmer to assume the position shortly thereafter. The first order of business on the docket for the Archbishop was to annul the marriage of King Henry VII to Catherine of Aragon and to validate his marriage to Anne Boleyn, even though the ceremony took place three months prior to his installation. Read More
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