Talkingbird Thomas Cranmer's Technology of the Heart - Simeon Zahl
Feb 7, 2024
Professor Simeon Zahl discusses Thomas Cranmer's Theology of the Heart. The podcast explores affective technologies and their impact on emotions. It delves into Cranmer's Book of Common Prayer as a technology of the heart. The chapter explores sin and human desires. It also discusses Cranmer's approach to prayer and the connection between saving faith and emotional experiences. Lastly, it explores the power of words and symbols.
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Worship As Affective Technology
- Church services can be deliberately designed to evoke specific emotions in worshippers.
- Simeon Zahl calls such crafted practices 'affective technologies' or 'technologies of the heart.'
The Prayer Book's Emotional Design
- The 16th-century Book of Common Prayer is a highly refined technology of the heart.
- Zahl argues its structure, language, and rhythm intentionally shape congregational affections and theology.
A Law→Gospel Affective Sequence
- Cranmer's liturgies aim to move worshippers through repentance, consolation, and then praise.
- These emotional stages are central to his understanding of how faith and saving experience form.