The rule of faith (regula fidei), indeed, is altogether one, alone immoveable and irreformable; the rule, to wit, of believing in one only God omnipotent, the Creator of the universe, and His Son Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under . . . Continue reading →
rpw
The 1946 OPC Minority Report On The Regulative Principle And Songs In Worship
Minority Report of the Committee on Song in the Public Worship of God Submitted to the Fourteenth General Assembly of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church.The above-mentioned committee presented to the Thirteenth General Assembly a report bearing upon the question of the regulative principle . . . Continue reading →
An Appreciation Of Messrs Murray And Young On The Rule Of Worship
When we think about John Murray we might think first of his defense of the biblical doctrine of The Imputation of Adam’s Sin or we might think of his judicious application of Scripture in Principles of Conduct. Others might think of Mr . . . Continue reading →
Of Levites, Sacrificial Blood, Burnt Offerings, And Musical Instruments In Worship
Then Hezekiah the king rose early and gathered the officials of the city and went up to the house of Yahweh. And they brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs, and seven male goats for a sin offering for the kingdom and . . . Continue reading →
Calvin’s First Reformation Priority: Worship Sola Scriptura
Let us now see what is meant by the due worship of God. Its chief foundation is to acknowledge Him to be, as He is, the only source of all virtue, justice, holiness, wisdom, truth, power, goodness, mercy, life, and salvation; in . . . Continue reading →
If We May Pray Uninspired Words, Why May We Not Sing Them?
What the Fathers called the “rule of faith” (which included both doctrine and practice) and what Calvin called the “rule of worship” Christians in the Presbyterian and Reformed tradition have called the “regulative principle of worship” since the mid-20th century. That rule, . . . Continue reading →
Machen: The Regulative Principle Governs The Church
Machen’s reasoning here was an extension of the Regulative Principle. In the Presbyterian and Reformed tradition this principle has typically been applied to public worship. It teaches that we may only worship God as he has commanded us to worship him in . . . Continue reading →
With Presbycast On The Regulative Principle of Worship
It is always a joy to talk about what Scripture says and what the Reformed and Presbyterian Churches confess about worship and never more so than when it is with the redoubtable Chortles Weakly and Presbycast. His partner in crime, Wresbyterian, was . . . Continue reading →
Resources On Instruments In Worship
Below are gathered the quotations, posts, and essays from the Heidelblog on the history, theology, and practice of instruments in public worship. Continue reading →
Synod Of Dort (1578): Psalms Only To Be Sung In Worship
76. The Psalms of David translated by Pieter Datheen shall be sung in the Christian gatherings of the Netherlands churches as has been done until now, excluding the hymns which are not found in the Bible. National Synod of the Netherlands, German, . . . Continue reading →
1578 Synod Of Dort: Organs To Be Removed ASAP
77. We do not consider the use of organs in the churches to be good especially for the preaching (services). Therefore, we judged that ministers should labor, even though organs are tolerated for a time, that they be removed at the earliest . . . Continue reading →
With Presbycast On Christmas, Pictures, And Ricky Bobby
When it comes to Christmas it gets, as they say, complicated for confessional Presbyterian and Reformed Christians. On the one hand, we heartily affirm the Scriptures and the ecumenical creeds on the incarnation of our Lord. We confess that Mary was the . . . Continue reading →
Christian, Why Do You Sing A Swedenborgian, Social-Gospel, Hymn Written By A Unitarian Minister?
“It Came Upon The Midnight Clear” (now typically titled, “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear”) was first published in 1834. It was written by Edmund Hamilton Sears (1810–76), an Unitarian minister with Swedenborgian convictions. C. Michael Hawn, who teaches sacred music, describes . . . Continue reading →
Help Les Make A Film About Worship
Les Lanphere is the filmmaker who gave us CALVINIST. Les and Tanner host the Reformed Pubcast. He is working on a new film on a most important topic: worship. Continue reading →
Olevianus On The Second Commandment And Worshiping The True God
Second it is useful and necessary that in our invocation of God we know what God we are invoking—that true God with whom we have entered into a covenant of faith, who has testified to us in an eternal covenant that He . . . Continue reading →
Reformed Worship Is For Pilgrims
One of the several challenges faced by those who are moving from outside the Reformed churches to inside the Reformed churches is the transition from, e.g., worship in the broader evangelical world to worship as the Reformed churches understand it. Underneath the . . . Continue reading →
Calvin: Musical Instruments Were Intended Only For God’s Ancient People
The musical instruments he mentions were peculiar to this infancy of the Church, nor should we foolishly imitate a practice which was intended only for God’s ancient people. But the Psalmist confirms what has been already mentioned, that their religious assemblies which . . . Continue reading →
Making Melody With Instruments Versus Making Melody In The Heart
The Ancient Christian church did not use musical instruments in public worship. They did not enter public worship in the West until the middle of the 8th century, i.e., well into the early medieval period. Further, that was one isolated instance, in . . . Continue reading →
Spirit And Truth Preview
A Brief Note On “Elements” And “Circumstances”
While we, some of us anyway, are still on Covid-19 lockdown and unable to gather for public worship it is perhaps a time to think about the nature of public worship. Our patterns of life have been disrupted. I suppose that some . . . Continue reading →