As we begin to draw to a close these weekly reflections from John Shepherd's A Critical and Practical Elucidation of the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Church of England (1796), we consider the General Thanksgiving. Shepherd begins by reminding us of a name associated with the General Thanksgiving, Robert Sanderson: In this admirable composition, attributed to Bishop Sanderson, we address God, as the father of all mercies, and give him thanks for his goodness to us, and to all men. Sanderson was rightly famous for his 1647 Oxford lectures On Conscience and Human Law . Appointed Bishop of Lincoln at the Restoration (after having taken the Engagement during the Interregnum), he wrote the Preface to the 1662 revision . He was consistently described as 'the judicious Sanderson', bearing witness to his eirenic, moderate, peaceable commitments. Something of this character is evident in the General Thanksgiving, a prayer which rejoices in the abundant goodness and generosity o...
Old High - Burkean - clerk in holy orders