Shepherd the Flock

I’ve heard it said that John Owen affirmed that to take away the Regulative Principle of Worship would be to take away the entire foundation of Puritanism. To this I would agree, but would add to it that a true denial of the RPW would be to undermine Christianity in its entirety, not simple one movement within its history.

The point of this post is simple: I am going to make a few simple statements about the Regulative Principle of Worship, not taking the time to provide a defense at this time, and leave you with some precious quotes from John Owen below.

First, the RPW, a issue discussed on this blog many times before, is simply that “the acceptable way of worshipping the true God, is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imagination and devices of men, nor the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representations, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scriptures.” (1689 LBC, chapter 22)

Secondly, it should be clear that every single true believer affirms some form of the Regulative Principle of Worship. That is, a true believer will not say we can worship God just any way we please, for to do so would be to affirm the essence of idolatry. Where men differ is in how this doctrine is defined.

Thirdly, it should be clear that people/ministries who do not follow at least some form of the RPW, are in fact not truly worshiping God. “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” Instead, I think we can affirm that they are in fact worshiping themselves, in that they value their imaginations and preferences above the revealed truth of scripture.

Fifthly, I find it interesting how the Christian circles that are most vocal about upholding the Ten Commandments (the religious right) are the ones who clearly do not place any real value on actually obeying them. The 2nd Commandment in the Decalogue is crystal-clear in that images of God/Christ are forbidden, and that He is to be worshiped according to the pattern He has given us in scripture. Who, among the mega-churches and religious right, observes this?

Fourthly, this truth is so basic to Christian theology that I have trouble understanding why people don’t see it more clearly. Maybe it’s just me, but I see God revealing Himself on every page of scripture, and each and every time man goes outside those bounds in his own attempt to ‘define’ God or ‘please God’, it is met with the harshest of penalties and rebukes. We are so sinful to the core that God must stoop down to us at every level in order to keep us from chasing other gods. What could be more clear?

Lastly, I am troubled that so many misunderstand the RPW. Yes, things like drama, comedy, and images violate this principle (violating scripture), but I have found that most people who disagree with this doctrine simply do not understand it. The initial reaction that I’ve seen is, “You believe what? Isn’t that kind of legalistic?“, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Therefore, I see the proper understanding of this doctrine to be one of the most important issues facing the church today (second to soteriology).

Thus, here are a few choice quotes by the greatest Puritan theologian, John Owen. (Quotes taken from P 434-435 of Biblical Theology, emphasis mine).

“Divine Revelation is the unique foundation, the sole norm, the only rule of all religious worship, if it is to be acceptable to God.”

“God has, in no way and at no time, from the foundation of the world, allowed human judgment to give His worship its limits or measures.“

“…it is clearly laid down that no teaching about God, or concerning His worship, can be considered true theology except those which He alone has revealed…”

“The command that nothing shall be added to these belongs to this fundamental legislation and still remains in force. It is firmly grounded in the second commandment of the Decalogue. Arrogant little humans are very prone to introduce into religious worship figments drawn from their own emotions, and to defend them by specious pretexts (particularly by the use of philosophy and superstition…).”