Intro to Christian Worship 3: Covenental Worship
From Day 3 of Intro to Christian Worship:
A good theology of worship, according to Dr. Witvliet, is covenental, Trinitarian, and inculturated. We’ll be unpacking those three themes throughout the coming week. Today, we discussed covenental worship.
Witvliet identified three purposes of worship in the world’s religions. First, some people worship using meditative contemplation. This kind of worship involves a cognitive process that brings us into God’s presence.
Others worship by accessing an emotional state. This is highly subjective and person-centered.
However, Christian worship, grounded in the Bible, is covenantal. “The God of the Bible, the God of Israel, the God of Jesus, does not just long for us to contemplate, but to be in a relationship, to interact. It’s the main metaphor that runs throughout scripture – that God speaks to us and we respond.”
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