08/24/04
SOME WORSHIP
QUESTIONS
I sometimes receive questions about
various topics addressed on the Puritans’ Network website, and I seek to answer
those queries, as best I can. Here were
my answers to some questions that were recently posed concerning worship. Perhaps they will be of some use to others
with similar questions. (The questions begin
with a “>”.)
>1. Here is my summary of the Regulative
Principle of Worship (RPW): In the worship of God, whatever element of worship
is not commanded by God in Scripture is forbidden; elements of worship are acts
of special worship commanded in Scripture explicitly, implicitly, or authorized
by approved example; circumstances are conditions for worship to be conducted
in accordance with general principles in Scripture (e.g., edification, decency
and order, beauty, and more). Is that
correct?
Yes, that is true.
>2. Can you address the public/formal vs.
private/informal worship distinction? Some people say that the RPW only applies
to formal public worship.
I recommend that you read Chapter 21 of the
Westminster Confession of Faith with prooftexts (see http://www.reformed.org/documents/index.html
) concerning religious worship. It notes:"...
Neither prayer, nor any other part of religious worship, is now, under the
gospel, either tied unto, or made more acceptable to, any place in which it is
performed, or towards which it is directed: but God is to be worshipped
everywhere in spirit and in truth; as in private families daily, and in secret
each one by himself, so more solemnly in the public assemblies, which are not
carelessly or willfully to be neglected or forsaken, when God, by his Word or
providence, calleth thereunto..."
(Please note that the Westminster divines composed a Westminster
Directory for Public Worship to outline the appropriate principles for worship
for the public assemblies, and they composed a Westminster Directory for Family
Worship to outline the appropriate principles for worship for the families.)
Worship occurs privately, in families, and in
the public assemblies. And worship
everywhere must be done "in truth", hence according to God's
prescription. Public assemblies are the
assemblies of a local church, as distinguished from family worship. They are governed by different rules, even
though RPW covers both. For example,
women may not speak in public assemblies, but they may speak in family worship
times (see I Corinthians 14). The
church is distinct from the family; they are different institutions.
> special vs. general worship. General
worship pertains to ethics in general; obedience to God in every area of life
(alla Frame and
I think you have the right idea.
Keep in mind though that others employ different
semantics than you, even though they have the same basic idea. What you term "special worship"
they call "worship", and what you term "general worship"
they call "our spiritual/reasonable service to God" (for example, for
the latter see Romans 12:1). So worship
would then be a sub-category of spiritual service. And spiritual service is regulated by God in the Ten
Commandments, which we can neither add to nor take away from. This same principle of regulation (i.e., no
addition nor subtraction) applies to the sub-category of worship (which is
especially addressed in the Second Commandment).
> What can you tell me about the Puritans'
teaching regarding holidays (e.g., Christmas, Lent, Easter, Ascension,
Pentecost)? Did they all reject every ecclesiastical holiday (e.g., Easter,
Christmas)? Did they allow for such celebrations in the home?
They rejected all of those that you list, at
home and at church. See the Westminster
Directory for Public Worship, for instance, for their position on this matter.