Let’s now consider the * in Thanksgiving 2. In the draft form of anamnesis Thanksgiving 2, which did not make it into 1995, the read: APBA anamnesis living God, as we obey his command, we remember his life of ‘Therefore, obedience to you, his suffering and death, his resurrection and exaltation, and his promise to be with us for ever. We set before you these gifts of bread and … wine. Accept, we pray, our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.’ Evan Burge, a noted Australian Anglican theologian and liturgist, heavily involved in the development of these liturgies wrote these words. He argues that sense of the ancient verb for offer’ (Latin Greek offerimus, ‘the ‘we προσφ) may be expressed by draw near to you with this bread and cup’ or bring ‘we ‘we before you this bread and cup’’ thereby suggesting that the words set before ‘we you these gifts of bread and wine’ are really an offering or oblation. This argument is strengthened by the next line which suggests that the request for God to accept the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving refers back to the ‘setting before’ God of the bread and wine. This statement of oblation is more realist than any expression found in Thanksgiving 1, or indeed in any official eucharistic liturgy of the Anglican Church of Australia, and as such was unacceptable to certain viewpoints within the General Synod of 1995. It was significantly modified in the final form of Thanksgiving 2 in of 1995 * to APBA become: living God, as we obey his command, we remember his life ‘Therefore, of obedience to you, his suffering and death, his resurrection and exaltation, and
Let’s now consider the * anamnesis in Thanksgiving 2. In the draft form of Thanksgiving 2, which did not make it into APBA 1995, the anamnesis read: ‘Therefore, living God, as we obey his command, we remember his life of obedience to you, his suffering and death, his resurrection and exaltation, and his promise to be with us for ever. … We set before you these gifts of bread and wine. Accept, we pray, our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.’ Evan Burge, a noted Australian Anglican theologian and liturgist, heavily involved in the development of these liturgies wrote these words. He argues that ‘the sense of the ancient verb for ‘we offer’ (Latin offerimus, Greek προσφ) may be expressed by ‘we draw near to you with this bread and cup’ or ‘we bring before you this bread and cup’’ thereby suggesting that the words ‘we set before you these gifts of bread and wine’ are really an offering or oblation. This argument is strengthened by the next line which suggests that the request for God to accept the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving refers back to the ‘setting before’ God of the bread and wine. This statement of oblation is more realist than any expression found in Thanksgiving 1, or indeed in any official eucharistic liturgy of the Anglican Church of Australia, and as such was unacceptable to certain viewpoints within the General Synod of 1995. It was significantly modified in the final form of Thanksgiving 2 in APBA of 1995 * to become: ‘Therefore, living God, as we obey his command, we remember his life of obedience to you, his suffering and death, his resurrection and exaltation, and
The_Disputed_Notion_of_Sacramentality_in_Anglican_Eucharistic_Theology.docx