King James Speaking to the Puritans

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from God's Secretaries
Adam Nicolson

These were moderate and distinguished men, suggesting moderate changes. But James--and Bancroft who seems to have been in an excitable state at the theatre unfolding around him--was treating them like extreme schismatics from the outer reaches of Anabaptist lunacy. . . .

Reynolds, who had never married, said he didn't like the phrase 'with my body I thee worship,' which formed part of the marriage service. James couldn't resist a vulgarity: 'Many a man speaks of Robin Hood', he said, 'who never shot his bow; if you had a good wife yourself, you would think that all the honor and worship you could do her were well bestowed.'

The picture one gets of King James in reading this book is utterly fascinating. One intimately involved in Church affairs, vain, vulgar, sometimes profance. The times themselves were interesting in their hopes and horrors. But most interesting of all is that providence would lead me to so pointed a passage on the anniversary of my own marriage.

God bestows His blessing when and as He will. We need only keep our eyes open to see them.

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2 Comments

The phrase 'with my body I thee worship,' which I discovered in a course on the theology of sexuality (can't believe I'd never heard it before then!), I thought was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever heard. In comparison, our modern vows sound trite and flat.

For our wedding three years ago, we successfully petitioned to say these words rather than the suggested, modern ones. I'm surprised the priest permitted it, though I must say he added a 'disclaimer' before the wedding rite, explaining that the vows we had picked were 'a bit traditional, more traditional, even, than the Catholic Church.' I bit my tongue at that.

Congratulations, Steven.

That does sound like an interesting book. A way to climb back in the ol' way-back machine.

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This page contains a single entry by Steven Riddle published on September 2, 2004 7:33 AM.

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