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Biblical Theology of Worship Consultation
Calvin College
Grand Rapids, Michigan
September 20-22, 2007

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Chapters and Articles Submitted by Attendees

(read) Borror, Gordon L. "Cracks in the Foundation: Why is the Church struggling with effectiveness?"

(read) Dalbey, Mark L. "Gospel-Centered Worship and the Regulative Principle", from All for Jesus: Essays Celebrating Redeeming Grace for the 50th Anniversary of Covenant Theological Seminary

(read) Deppe, Dean. "The Double Audience and Two-Fold Function of Hymns in the New Testament"

(read) Farley, Michael A. "The Development of Liturgical Catholicity," from Reforming Reformed Worship

(read) Glick, Robert. "Songs, Sacraments, and Symbols," from With All Thy Mind

(read) Gore, Jr., R.J. "In Light of the Covenant," from Covenantal Worship

(read) Huebscher, Stephen. "Aspects of Heavenly Worship"

(read) Man, Ron. "The Significance of Hebrews 2:12," from Proclamation and Praise: Hebrews 2:12 and the Christology of Worship

(read) Ruth, Lester. "The Promise of God's Presence"

(read) Vanderwell, Howard. "Biblical Values to Shape the Congregation" from The Church of All Ages: Generations Worshiping Together

(read) Whaley, Vernon M. "Educating the 21st Century Worship Leader for Ministry"

(read) Witvliet, John D. "Isaiah in Christian Liturgy"

Abstracts and More Information
All materials are reprinted by permission of the authors.

Borror, Gordon L. "Cracks in the Foundation: Why is the Church struggling with effectiveness?" February 24, 2007. [previously unpublished] (full text)

Excerpt

The evidence that there are flaws in the foundational underpinnings [of the Church] ... are the sticking doors, cracked walls and uneven floors within the community of the Church. Consider this evidence. Theological grasp among those who have been 'in Church‘ for years is alarming low; don‘t assume people know much about God just because they have been in church for decades! Beyond basic "belief in Jesus to be saved and then don‘t fear death and hell" very little doctrine is believed and obeyed. ...

Dalbey, Mark L. "Gospel-Centered Worship and the Regulative Principle," (full text) from All for Jesus: Essays Celebrating Redeeming Grace for the 50th Anniversary of Covenant Theological Seminary (Christian Focus Publications of Scotland, 2006).

Excerpt

How do these African Presbyterian expressions of worship fit into a proper understanding of the Regulative Principle of Worship? To what level of detail should we expect the RPW to shape a worship service? Is the RPW tied to a particular historical expression, or is it applicable across time and geography? How should the RPW be applied as the Gospel goes out geographically to the nations and across time to future generations? Is the goal in worship to be faithful to the RPW, or is the RPW a God-given tool for achieving the greater gospel purposes of corporate public worship?

Deppe, Dean. "The Double Audience and Two-Fold Function of Hymns in the New Testament." [previously unpublished] (full text) (related resource)

Introduction

For the last decades worship wars have become a common phenomenon in Christian
churches. In some congregations praise songs have completely eliminated the use of traditional hymns in worship. A second scenario envisions a reaction against the introduction of praise songs as trite, repetitive, and simplistic. Traditional hymns with their breadth and depth hold off any attack from the forces of praise and worship music. On the other hand, blended worship advocates have attempted to combine hymns and praise songs, but frequently neither side is satisfied with these results. We need a theology of worship based upon the Scriptural givens that will offer some wisdom to these contemporary situations.

Farley, Michael A. Reforming Reformed Worship: Theological Method and Liturgical Catholicity in American Presbyterianism (Ph.D. diss.; Saint Louis University, 2007) Abstract and Chapter 5: "The Development of Liturgical Catholicity: Part 2." (full text)

Abstract

Since 1850, American Presbyterians have shown an increasing interest in moving
beyond the boundaries of the austere and minimalist worship practices of the Anglo-
American Presbyterian tradition to recover more ancient and catholic patterns of worship
from the early church. I call this movement toward greater continuity with pre-
Reformation patterns and forms of corporate worship a shift toward greater liturgical
catholicity.

This dissertation compares and contrasts representative works on liturgy by
traditional Anglo-American Presbyterians (Thomas Cartwright, George Gillespie, Samuel
Miller, and Thomas Peck) with more recent works by representative catholic American
Presbyterians (Charles W. Shields, John W. Nevin, Scott F. Brenner, Horace T. Allen, Jr.,
Harold M. Daniels, Jeffrey J. Meyers, and Peter J. Leithart) in order to examine the shifts
in biblical interpretation and in the use of post-biblical liturgical traditions that have
accompanied a movement toward greater catholicity in liturgical practice.

Glick, Robert. With All Thy Mind: Worship that Honors the Way God Made Us (The Alban Institute, 2006). Chapter 5: "Songs, Sacraments, and Symbols" (full text) (find in a library) (more information)

Introduction

Songs, sacraments, and symbols are united by more than the fact that they all begin with
the same letter. They are the three most common forms of non-verbal communication in
most services of Christian worship. We will explore each in turn, showing how they are all central to worship and largely right brained in orientation.

Gore, Jr., R.J. Covenantal Worship: Reconsidering the Puritan Regulative Principle (P&R Publishing, 2002). Chapter 8: "In Light of the Covenant" (full text) (find in a library)

Introduction

All that has preceded has been helpful in determining that the regulative principle of worship, as formulated by the Puritans and as adopted by the divines at the Westminster Assembly, is unworkable. More importantly, it is simply not the teaching of Scripture. Does this mean, then, that worship is a matter of complete freedom, subject to individual tastes or corporate denominational dictates? Or is it possible to integrate an expanded view of adiaphora (circumstances) into the overall context of Reformed worship? The important fact is that although the Puritan regulative principle of worship has been found wanting, this does not mean that the Scriptures fail to give guidance in regards to worship. In fact, the Puritan emphasis that worship should be regulated by the Word of God was on the right track. The Bible does provide parameters for acceptable worship. It does give guidelines for regulating the public, corporate worship of the church, and it does provide parameters for using properly those matters deemed indifferent.

Huebscher, Stephen. "Aspects of Heavenly Worship." [previously unpublished] (full text)

Introduction

“Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness.” It seems simple enough, yet evangelical churches in North America reflect disparate and sometimes conflicting beliefs and practices. And no wonder! One person believes that the Psalms are the basis for worship, while a second person thinks that the OT can't be used that way because the Mosaic system of worship has been replaced, while a third thinks that “as long as it is done 'decently and in order,' it's OK.” Yikes!

When trying to determine a theological center for an evangelical theology of worship that is
faithful to the rule of Scripture, I believe that it may be helpful to realize that ancient peoples often believed that heaven provided a pattern, or perhaps more accurately the pattern, for earthly worship. They believed that the way people are to worship was revealed from g/God in heaven, and that earthly worship should somehow correspond to and be synchronized with the worship going on in g/God's presence. In biblical terms, we could say “as in heaven, so on earth.” Put in academic terms, we could say that God's presence as seen in heaven provided the center for their theology of worship. This idea has intrigued me for some time, and I'm beginning to think it might have some merit if one focuses not on heaven per se, but on God's presence.

As one of the younger, “junior scholars” present at this gathering, I hope that the five aspects of heavenly liturgy I have chosen to study will be helpful as we consider our response to our God in worship.

Man, Ron. Proclamation and Praise: Hebrews 2:12 and the Christology of Worship (Wipf & Stock, 2007). Chapter 3: "The Significance of Hebrews 2:12" (full text)

Introduction

Hebrews 2:12 encapsulates two continuing and complementary post-ascension activities of Christ, with many implications for a richer and more biblical view of preaching and corporate worship.

Ruth, Lester. [untitled book, forthcoming]. Introduction (full text) and Chapter 1: "The Promise of God's Presence" (full text)

Excerpt

[T]angible contact with God’s presence—meeting God in the body of Christ—is still possible. That will be this book’s suggestion, namely, that the worship of an assembled church of Christians is where we can still experience the presence of God through Jesus Christ in the sensible realm. The theological premise is that God’s assumption and elevation of our human nature, including all of its tactibility, in Christ’s Nativity and Resurrection should impact how we think about and engage in Christian worship. The Incarnation and the Resurrection launched a certain trajectory for Christian worship. In Christ all the fullness of God lives in bodily form (Colossians 2:9). It should be no surprise that we experience the presence of God through Christ when the church, which is the Body of Christ, worships in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Vanderwell, Howard. The Church of All Ages: Generations Worshiping Together (Alban Institute, forthcoming). Chapter 2: "Biblical Values to Shape the Congregation" (full text) (more information)

Introduction

It will become clear throughout this book that effective intergenerational worship will require
careful and committed effort on the part of those who lead and plan worship. This chapter
explores the Biblical reasons for taking on such a complex task. The Bible speaks of values that ought to shape us as congregations. This chapter identifies those values for us to consider.

Whaley, Vernon M. "Educating the 21st Century Worship Leader for Ministry." [previously unpublished] (full text)

Excerpt

As we focus on training worship leaders for the future, we need to understand that the role of the worship leader in the evangelical tradition will continually change. Therefore, educators MUST constantly demonstrate a commitment to teaching biblical principles for worship, not stylistic preferences. The moment any program is driven by stylistic preference for worship will be the moment our “innovative” curricula becomes outdated and potentially useless, we repeat the mistakes of the past, and we face the same issues ministry training again – in ten years – in fifteen.

Witvliet, John D. "Isaiah in Christian Liturgy: Recovering Textual Contrasts and Correcting Theological Astigmatism." Calvin Theological Journal 39 (2004): 135-156. (full text)

Excerpt

What follows, then, is a liturgist’s approach to the book of Isaiah. Because the task is impossibly large, what follows is an illustrative article that (1) isolates a main rhetorical device of the book (rhetorical contrast) and a main theological theme (idolatry), (2) develops the significance of these dimensions in conversation with some leading students of Isaiah, and then (3) proposes very practical strategies for leading worship in ways that are faithful to these aspects of the text. The goal is to connect scholarly work on the book of Isaiah with the week-in, week-out practice of worship, to demonstrate both that patient scholarly work can bear rich fruit in the practice of liturgy and that liturgy can be pastorally enriched by patient reflection.

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