Signs of God's Promise: Thomas Cranmer's Sacramental Theology and the Book of Common Prayer

With his focus on "Cranmer the liturgist" Jeanes appropriately bases his analysis of Cranmer's sacramental theology on the first two Books of Common Prayer and on Cranmer's writings about the rites and sacraments included in those books, specifically Cranmer's commonplace books and his essay, De sacramentis. In so doing, Jeanes builds an analytical foundation for his summary of Cranmer's understanding of the sacraments as "signs of God's promise," asserting that Cranmer understood the sacraments as signs, rather than seals and that this understanding is perhaps revealed most clearly in the baptismal liturgy where "the promise is centred exclusively on Christ" (182).