The Independent Orange tries to bring you the best news possible and prides itself in promoting the truth but this Twelfth we are proud to be promoting even better news, in fact the best news ever heard. It is of course the gospel, the good news of how Gods sent his Son to save this world.
To mark the Platinum Jubilee we are glad to have handed out to our members and the public hundreds of specially commissioned New Testament and Psalms provided by Good News for Everyone formerly The Gideons. Their beautifully finished Testaments have a soft feel Royal Purple cover and the official Platinum Jubilee logo.
It is fitting when we think of the central place the Bible plays in our Coronation Ceremony. At the heart of the ceremony is the Bible, and it is symbolic of the Glorious Revolution which placed Scripture at the core of our Constitution and Country.
The ‘Glorious Revolution’ of 1688 brought about major constitutional changes in the relationship of monarch, state and church. It created a balanced constitution where the Monarch’s power was limited by Parliament and the foundations of moderns democratic states were created. It also ensure that the dangerous despotic alliance of Roman Catholicism and Absolutism was removed and Protestant democratic principles were promoted. These were found in the Bible which was given a new place in the ancient ritual.
The necessary alterations to the Coronation Service, notably to the Coronation Oath, and the Presentation of the Holy Bible was introduced into the service. Adaptation was also needed since William III and Mary II were being crowned as joint Sovereigns, not as Sovereign and Consort. This form of service was presented to them, and they both approved and signed it.
The Oath and Ceremony our own Queen took have changed since then but the essence remains the same. The Ceremony is as follows
IV. The Oath
The Queen having returned to her Chair (her Majesty having already on Tuesday, the fourth day of November, 1952, in the presence of the two Houses of Parliament, made and signed the Declaration prescribed by Act of Parliament), the Archbishop standing before her shall administer the Coronation Oath, first asking the Queen,
Madam, is your Majesty willing to take the Oath?
And the Queen answering,
I am willing.The Archbishop shall minister these questions; and the Queen, having a book in her hands, shall answer each question severally as follows:
Archbishop: Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the Peoples of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, Pakistan and Ceylon, and of your Possessions and other Territories to any of them belonging or pertaining, according to their respective laws and customs?
Queen: I solemnly promise so to do.
Archbishop: Will you to your power cause Law and Justice, in Mercy, to be executed in all your judgements?
Queen: I will.
Archbishop: Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the Laws of God and the true profession of the Gospel?
Will you to the utmost of your power maintain in the United Kingdom the Protestant Reformed Religion established by law?
Will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the Church of England, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established in England?
And will you preserve unto the Bishops and Clergy of England, and to the Churches there committed to their charge, all such rights and privileges, as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?
Queen: All this I promise to do.
Then the Queen arising out of her Chair, supported as before, the Sword of State being carried before her, shall go to the Altar, and make her solemn Oath in the sight of [The Bible to be brought.]all the People to observe the premisses: laying her right hand upon the Holy Gospel in the great Bible (which was before carried in the procession and is now brought from the Altar by the Archbishop, and tendered to her as she kneels upon the steps), and saying these words:
The things which I have here before promised, I will perform, and keep. So help me God.
[And a Silver Standish.]Then the Queen shall kiss the Book and sign the Oath.
The Queen having thus taken her Oath, shall return again to her Chair, and the Bible shall be delivered to the Dean of Westminster.
V. The Presenting of the Holy Bible
When the Queen is again seated, the Archbishop shall go to her Chair; and the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, receiving the Bible from the Dean of Westminster, shall bring it to the Queen and present it to her, the Archbishop saying these words:
Our gracious Queen:
to keep your Majesty ever mindful of the law and the Gospel of God
as the Rule for the whole life and government of Christian Princes,
we present you with this Book,
the most valuable thing that this world affords.And the Moderator shall continue:
Here is Wisdom;
This is the royal Law;
These are the lively Oracles of God.Then shall the Queen deliver back the Bible to the Moderator, who shall bring it to the Dean of Westminster, to be reverently placed again upon the Altar.
As Orangemen we know that our ceremonies and rituals are similar in that the Bible is at the centre and our attention is turned always to its place as the source of our fairly and practice.
The Bible
The Bible is a collection of 66 different books and letters, written over a period of some 1,500 years up to about 100 years after Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection. It has provided hope and inspiration for generations and continues to be a worldwide best seller and the most published book ever.
The Bible is a book all about God’s relationship with us.
It offers us an opportunity to meet with God and get the direction we need to live life to the full.
It is divided into the Old Testament (the first 39 books) and the New Testament (the last 27 books). The word ‘testament’ means covenant or agreement, so the Bible shows how God’s old agreement, based on the ‘covenant of law,’ is superseded by a new ‘covenant of grace’ – as shown in The New Testament.