Worship is a vital part of the Christian life, in fact, the most important facet of our life. It is how both the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms direct us on what our proper end is: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” If this is what makes us most human––worshiping the One who created us and has redeemed us––we ought to know how we are to practice this worship rightly.

How are we to worship? This has been a perennial question throughout the centuries in various Christian traditions. We at Reformed Dogmatika believe that one tradition has got it right. Not that it is about what we think, nor necessarily what one tradition thinks, but worship is about what God thinks. The Holy Trinity decides how worship is to be practiced. Part and parcel of worship in practice has to do with the issue of Images. What does God say about it? It is our conviction that the Reformed tradition is closest to the truth of what and how God has at once prescribed and proscribed in worship. Our investigation will take place in five parts.

In what follows, we will be doing some Historical Theology in order to understand the right worship of God. The first three parts will act as a Reformed Confessions and Catechisms Reader. We will first look at the Three Forms of Unity: the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism, and the Canons of Dort, and then in parts two and three, move to the Westminster Standards: the Westminster Confession of Faith, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and the Westminster Larger Catechism. These documents have a lot to say about worship and they are to inform and rule over the Reformed churches. We will take a look at the relevant chapters, articles, and questions and answers that deal with the worship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

This will be our starting point, but we must turn to the Bible. Thankfully, a lot of the work has already been done for us, because in the confessions and catechisms there are plenteous references to Scripture. In part four, we will turn to these references in the very Word of God to form a Biblical Theology of worship. Then, in a fifth part, we will look at the work of Dogmatics in our discussion of worship. Systematic Theology should have a say in this topic and we will also focus in on the practical implications of right and proper worship in our lives. Read more»

Charles Vaughn | “Reformed Worship: Thinking Rightly about Images (Part 1 of 5)” | June 16, 2025

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Post authored by:

• Charles Vaughn

  

  Charles lives in San Diego county with his wife and four covenant children. He has a B.A. in Biblical & Theological Studies from Regent University and an M.A. in both Biblical and Theological Studies from Westminster Seminary California. Charles works as a Junior High history teacher at a Christian school in Escondido, CA.

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