daved@academy.westford.ccur.com (Dave Davis) (07/01/89)
[Please post.]
Someone on the net has recently mentioned a work called the Regulative
Principle in Worship, by Gerald Irvin Williamson. I have not yet
been able to obtain a copy (I may be able to get his "Wine in
the Bible and the Church"), but the principle, if I understand it, is that
"what is not commanded in the worship of God is forbidden."
My response to to what I have heard so far is that this concept is
unfruitful and unscriptural, but I would like to hear from others,
particularly those with better _sola scriptura_ credentials than
mine.
If we affirm that what God has not commanded, he has
forbidden, as regards worship at least, we are immediately in a
position of difficulty with the New Testament. It seems that we are verging
towards saying that God could perfectly well have made it clear that,
for instance, we are not to baptize babies (instead we have these
troublesome verses about whole households), he could have
had Paul write, "oh, by the way Timothy, if you ever hear of
anyone asking the dead saints to pray for them, you must stop them; I
give this to you on my authority as an apostle" ; instead we have this
problem with verses in Revelation about offering up bowls of prayer,
and in other difficulties with verses from I Peter and Hebrews as well.
We have the task, like it or not, of finding the truth in and making
sense out of a canon of Scripture that has the particular quality of
speaking to every age, not just ours and not just the first century.
It seems too much to ask of a suffering Church through the centuries
to hold fast to such a abstract, intellectual principle as 'what is
not commanded, is forbidden.' What does one say to electric lights?
I know that some denominations treasure the characterization 'a New
Testament church', but I see inconsistency and special pleading here.
Is it not more trusting of God to say, what is not expressly
forbidden as regards worship lies within the freedom of a Christian?
Is it not more trusting of the Scriptures?
Of course I could be wrong.
If I can obtain a copy of Williamson, I will take a look.
But I think I will continue to
affirm the Christian freedom that Paul speaks of in Galatians 5:1 and
Colossians 2:16-23, rather than something that sounds like a new law
to replace the old one.
Dave Davis -These are my views, and not those
of Concurrent Computer.
daved@westford.ccur.com
{harvard,uunet,petsd}!masscomp!daved
[Perhaps one could take an intermediate view. It seems clear that
this principle is true to some extent. If God hadn't asked us to pray
to him, we would have no reason to think that such a thing was
fruitful. Nor would we conduct baptism and communion unless they had
been specifically ordained. I think we should expect to find the
kinds of things we do in worship described in Scripture. That doesn't
mean that we expect to find the floor plans of our sanctuaries there,
though, nor the words to all the hymns. Certainly Luther and Calvin
both believed in Christian freedom, and thought that details of
worship were covered under it. --clh]davem@watmath.waterloo.edu (Dave Mielke) (07/04/89)
In article <Jul.1.03.45.59.1989.18105@athos.rutgers.edu> daved@academy.westford.ccur.com (Dave Davis) writes: >It seems too much to ask of a suffering Church through the centuries >to hold fast to such a abstract, intellectual principle as 'what is >not commanded, is forbidden.' What does one say to electric lights? In Mark 4:11-12 Jesus tells us "And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all {these} things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and {their} sins should be forgiven them.". This, and other Scriptures like it, tell us why the Bible is so difficult to understand. Even though God offers salvation to everyone and even commands everyone to seek it, He Himself has chosen those whom He will save and no one else will be able to find it, Although the Bible, when understood correctly (something which none of us can attain to), is very accurate about everything it tells us, He has written it in a style that lends itself to being understood only when combined with His assistence. This is why it is so very important to make sure that we test each and every idea we have with each and every verse in the entire Bible. Failing to do so could easily lead us to become convinced of completely incorrect things. There is another very good reason why God has set things up so that no one denomination or person can claim completely accurate understanding of the Scriptures. John 14:6 tells us "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.". If any denomination or person had it all right then it or he would become the way. God has, in His infinite wisdom, protected us from falling victim to what He knows would become a very great temptation to us, i.e. the worshipping of a fellow human being whom we can see and physically contact. The wonderful thing is, however, that since Jesus paid for all, i.e. each and every, sin of those who are to become saved, we have, if we are saved, even been forgiven for those times when we don't do something exactly right because of a misunderstanding of precisely what the Scriptures say. Dave Mielke, 613-726-0014 856 Grenon Avenue Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K2B 6G3
jygabler@ucdavis.edu (Jason Gabler) (07/04/89)
In article <Jul.1.03.45.59.1989.18105@athos.rutgers.edu> daved@academy.westford.ccur.com (Dave Davis) writes: >but the principle, if I understand it, is that >"what is not commanded in the worship of God is forbidden." >My response to to what I have heard so far is that this concept is >unfruitful and unscriptural >forbidden, as regards worship at least, we are immediately in a >position of difficulty with the New Testament. It seems that we are verging >towards saying that God could perfectly well have made it clear that, Good point. I have often wondered in other realms of law and instruction if the unsaid is forbidden. But I've always felt that worship, especially private worship is so personal and so unique to the particular person, in what ways could it be limited (besides the obvious of course) Jasob Gabler ccjason@castor.ucdavis.edu jygabler@ucdavis