I know how difficult it is to persuade the world that God disapproves of all modes of worship not expressly sanctioned by His Word. The opposite persuasion which cleaves to them, being seated, as it were, in their very bones and marrow, . . . Continue reading →
Rule of Worship
Second Commandment + Sola Scriptura = Christian Worship
“You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the . . . Continue reading →
A Plan For Reforming Worship
Let’s say that a pastor decided that he wanted to reform the worship services of his congregation toward the earlier Reformed pattern of singing God’s Word without musical instruments. How would he go about it? Though we’re working with a concrete example, . . . Continue reading →
The Reformation Of Worship In Geneva
The reformers did not hold back in their assault on the physical and sensory elements of traditional worship: all sacred objects such as crucifixes, statues of saints, and holy relics were removed from the temples.1 Most were systematically destroyed; a few were . . . Continue reading →
Man Discovers Jesus’ Hymnal
What if I told you that it’s possible to sing the very songs that Jesus sang in worship? What if I told you that a man recently discovered those very songs? It’s true. Joe Holland, Pastor of Christ Covenant Presbyterian Church (PCA) . . . Continue reading →
Of Psalms, Hymns, And Spiritual Songs And The RPW
The Regulative Principle of worship is a principle based on the sufficiency of Scripture which teaches that everything we do in the worship of God must have positive warrant in His Word. Every part of worship must be expressly commanded by God . . . Continue reading →
What’s Wrong With This Picture?
Lent: Of Good Intentions, Spiritual Disciplines, and Christian Freedom
Carter Lindberg tells the story of how the Reformation began to break out in Zürich in 1522: During Lent of 1522, Zwingli was at the house of Christoph Froschauer, a printer, who was laboring over the preparation of the a new edition . . . Continue reading →
On The Absence Of Musical Instruments From The Synagogue
Ancient Jewish cultic music was valid only in connection with the cult, and the cult was valid only at the Temple in Jerusalem. When Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 CE, and the Temple destroyed, the cult ceased, and with it . . . Continue reading →
Calvin On Instruments In The New Covenant: Restoring Shadows
It is evident that the Psalmist here expresses the vehement and ardent affection which the faithful ought to have in praising God, when he enjoins musical instruments to be employed for this purpose. He would have nothing omitted by believers which tends . . . Continue reading →
Wisdom On Introducing Psalm Singing
1) Many people do not know you can sing the psalms (at least, other than Psalm 23, 62, and 100). “The psalter” is a foreign term, and even after people are introduced to singing psalms, they find it incredibly awkward to actually . . . Continue reading →
Available Now: Gillespie Against English Popish Ceremonies
“Gillespie’s famous book is a vitally important work in the history of the Scottish Reformation, but it is much more than simply that. It has abiding and profound value for all who are committed to knowing, applying, and following the Word of . . . Continue reading →
The Directory Of Publick Worship On Christmas
Festival days, vulgarly called holy-days, having no warrant in the Word of God, are not to be continued. Westminster Assembly, Directory for Publick Worship (1645) | (HT: Semper Reformanda) RESOURCES Subscribe To The Heidelblog! The Heidelblog Resource Page Heidelmedia Resources The Ecumenical . . . Continue reading →
Tell Me Again, Why Don’t We Sing The Psalms?
Only it appeared to me to be requisite to show in passing, that this book makes known to us this privilege, which is desirable above all others — that not only is there opened up to us familiar access to God, but . . . Continue reading →
The Synagogue As Pattern For Early Christian Worship
When comparing the worship of the early church with that of the synagogue, we labour under this disadvantage, that, if the primitive church had any liturgy, it has not been handed down to us; still, as far as we can ascertain anything . . . Continue reading →
Monuments Of Idolatry
There was also presented to the Assembly, a new Paraphrase of the Psalms in English meter, which was well liked of and commended by some of the members of the Assembly; But because we conceived that the Psalm Book in all the . . . Continue reading →
Standard Reformed Polemics Against The Use Of Musical Instruments In Worship
But all light into, all perceptions of, this glory, all experience of its power, were, amongst the most, lost in the world. I intend, in all these instances, the time of the Papal apostasy. Those who had the conduct of religion could . . . Continue reading →
Renewed And Improved: Gillespie Against The Normative Principle Of Worship
When I first came into contact with the Reformed faith about 33 years ago, there were two things that Reformed folk had to believe: divine sovereignty and the inerrancy of Scripture. It’s not that we actively disbelieved the other elements of the . . . Continue reading →
John Rainolds On The Jewishness Of Roman Masses And Instruments
I have showed, how. And if you see it not: the veil may be the cause, which is very likely to be laid on your heart in reading of the new testament, as it was on the heart of others, in reading . . . Continue reading →
Tyndale’s Application of the Regulative Principle
Mark well how many parsonages or vicarages are there in the realm, which at the least have a plow-land a-piece. Then note the lands of bishops, abbots, priors, nuns, knights of St John’s, cathedral churches, colleges, chauntries, and free-chapels. For though the . . . Continue reading →