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Calvin and the Worship of God
Previously Published in The Worship of God, Christian
Focus Publications, 2005.
W. Robert Godfrey, Ph.D. John
Calvin is a hero for Reformed people. He is a hero because he
was such a profound teacher of biblical Christianity. His
systematic theology and his biblical commentaries remain models
of brilliant scholarship and sensitive faith. While not
necessarily agreeing with Calvin at every point and certainly
not regarding him as an absolute authority, Reformed people
continue to follow basically the theological map charted by
Calvin. Ironically, however, many Reformed people today do not
follow Calvin's view of worship. Many are not even acquainted
with his views. If Calvin is as biblical and theologically
profound as many Reformed people believe him to be, perhaps his
approach to worship needs to be reconsidered.
Importance of Worship
The first surprise for students of Calvin is likely to be the
great importance that he attached to worship. In 1543 he wrote a
treatise entitled “On the Necessity of Reforming the Church.”
The work was written as an explanation and defense of the
Reformation to be presented to the Emperor Charles V. Near the
beginning Calvin wrote: If it be inquired, then, by what
things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing existence
amongst us, and maintains its truth, it will be found that the
following two not only occupy the principal place, but
comprehend under them all the other parts, and consequently the
whole substance of Christianity, viz., a knowledge, first, of
the mode in which God is duly worshipped; and, secondly, of the
source from which salvation is to be obtained.
(1) Remarkably Calvin put worship ahead of salvation in his list
of the two most important elements of biblical Christianity.
This prominence given to worship by Calvin is repeated often.
In the Institutes Calvin noted that the first four commandments
of the Ten Commandments relate to worship. He concluded: "Surely
the first foundation of righteousness is the worship of God."
(2) In
his celebrated defense of the Reformation, “Reply to Sadoleto,”
Calvin noted that “...there is nothing more perilous to our
salvation than a preposterous and perverse worship of God.”
(3)
Why is worship so important? For Calvin worship was the key
meeting place of God and his people: “...let us know and be
fully persuaded, that wherever the faithful, who worship him
purely and in due form, according to the appointment of his
word, are assembled together to engage in the solemn acts of
religious worship, he is graciously present, and presides in the
midst of them.” (4) The restoration of the fellowship between God
and his people is expressed most fully in worship. As that
fellowship was broken by sin and rebellion, so its restoration
must be expressed in obedience to God. “Only when we follow what
God has commanded us do we truly worship Him, and render
obedience to His Word.” (5) Calvin's approach to worship later came to be called the
regulative principle. This principle holds that the Scriptures
must so regulate public worship that only what is explicitly
commanded in the Bible may be an element of worship.
(6) Calvin was
eloquent on the theme: I know how
difficult it is to persuade the world that God disapproves of
all modes of worship not expressly sanctioned by His Word. The
opposite persuasion which cleaves to them, being seated, as it
were, in their very bones and marrow, is, that whatever they do
has in itself a sufficient sanction, provided it exhibits some
kind of zeal for the honour of God. But since God not only
regards as fruitless, but also plainly abominates, whatever we
undertake from zeal to His worship, if at variance with His
command, what do we gain by a contrary course? The words of God
are clear and distinct, ‘Obedience is better than sacrifice.’
‘In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men,’ (1 Sam. xv. 22; Matth. xv. 9.) Every
addition to His word, especially in this matter, is a lie. Mere
'will worship' [Col. ii. 23]...is vanity. This is the decision,
and when once the judge has decided, it is no longer time to
debate. (7) Calvin knew the human tendency to think that sincerity and
fervor can substitute for truth and faithfulness, but he
rejected any such notion absolutely. Calvin based his great
caution about worship in the Fall. One of the most profound
effects of the Fall for Calvin was that men have become
idolaters. (8) The seed of religion left in them does not lead them
to the true God, but leads them to fashion gods of their own
design. (9) “Experience teaches us how fertile is the field of
falsehood in the human mind, and that the smallest of grains,
when sown there, will grow to yield an immense harvest.”
(10) Even
among Christians the temptation to idolatry remains strong. “The
mind of man, I say, is like a work place of idolatrie”
(11) and
“...every one of us is, even from his mother's womb, a master
craftsman of idols." (12) The temptation to idolatry requires that Christians be very
careful and vigilant in regulating their worship by the
Scriptures. Calvin reminded Christians that “...too much
diligence and care cannot be taken to cleanse ourselves wholly
from all sorts of pollutions; for as long as any relics of
superstition continue among us, they will ever entangle us...”
(13) Calvin's great caution and concern on matters of worship
reflected his belief that Christians too often want to please
themselves in worship rather than please God. “Nor can it be
doubted but that, under the pretense of holy zeal, superstitious
men give way to the indulgences of the flesh; and Satan baits
his fictitious modes of worship with such attractions, that they
are willingly and eagerly caught hold of and obstinately
retained.” (14) Calvin sharply warned of the great difference between
the attitudes of God and man toward worship: “This single
consideration, when the inquiry relates to the worship of God,
ought to be sufficient for restraining the insolence of our
mind, that God is so far from being like us, that those things
which please us most are for him loathsome and nauseating.”
(15) He
related this warning particularly to the human tendency to want
worship which is pleasing to the senses when he wrote: “And
undoubtedly this is the origin of all superstitions, that men
are delighted with their own inventions, and choose to be wise
in their own eyes rather than restrain their senses in obedience
to God.” (16) His conclusion on various activities and ceremonies in
worship is striking: “the more it delights human nature, the
more it is to be suspected by believers.” (17) These matters are so
serious for Calvin because “nothing is more abominable in the
sight of God than pretended worship, which proceeds from human
contrivance.” (18) For Calvin worship was not a means to an end. Worship was not
a means to evangelize or entertain. Worship was an end in
itself. Worship was not to be arranged by pragmatic
considerations, but was rather to be determined by theological
principles derived from the Scriptures. The most basic realities
of the Christian life were involved. In worship God meets with
his people to bless them. What could be more important? What
should require more care and faithfulness?
The Practice of Worship
The importance Calvin placed on worship is reflected in his
active involvement in reforming worship. He not only had a
theology of worship, but also a keen pastoral involvement in
worship. He frequently led worship as pastor and preacher. He
prepared service books or liturgies that his churches in
Strassburg and Geneva followed. He eagerly promoted the
preparation of the Genevan Psalter that ultimately included all
of the Psalms in metrical form to be sung by the congregation.
Calvin was concerned about the environment of worship. He
“purified” the cathedral church of Geneva, St. Pierre's, where
he preached. All religious symbols including crosses were
removed from the interior of the church. The exterior cross on
the top of St. Pierre's was not removed, but when it was
destroyed by lightning, it was not replaced. As he worked on
the reform of worship, several important influences played a
role in the formation of his thought. The Bible was of course
the most important. Calvin always sought to test his ideas
against the standard of the Bible. But Calvin was no rugged
individualist. He sought the wisdom and insight of other
Christians into the Bible's teaching on worship. He carefully
studied the ancient fathers of the church for their insights as
is clear in this statement to the Roman Catholic bishop Jacopo
Sadoleto: I will not press you so
closely as to call you back to that form which the Apostles
instituted (though in it we have the only model of a true
church, and whosoever deviates from it in the smallest degree is
in error), but to indulge you so far, place, I pray, before your
eyes, that ancient form of the Church, such as their writings
prove it to have been in the age of Chrysostom and Basil, among
the Greeks, and of Cyprian, Ambrose, and Augustine, among the
Latins; after so doing, contemplate the ruins of that Church, as
now surviving among yourselves. (19) Calvin's genuine concern to follow the wisdom of the fathers
can be further seen in his title for the Genevan service book,
“The Form of Prayers and Manner of Ministering the Sacraments
according to the Use of the Ancient Church.” Also in his
“Preface” to the Genevan Psalter (1545) Calvin acknowledged
especially the influence of Augustine and Chrysostom. Of
Calvin's contemporaries clearly the most influential on worship
was Martin Bucer of Strassburg. Calvin spent his years of exile
from Geneva (1538–1541) in Strassburg, and Calvin closely
followed Bucer's approach to the liturgy. Calvin's Sunday
morning liturgy in Geneva was very similar to Bucer's. The basic
order was as follows: Liturgy of the Word
(20)
Call to worship: Psalm 124:8
Confession of sins
Prayer for pardon
Singing of a Psalm
Prayer for illumination
Scripture reading
Sermon
Liturgy of the Word
Collection of offerings
Prayers of intercession and
a long paraphrase of the Lord's Prayer
Singing of Apostles' Creed
(while elements of the Lord's Supper are prepared)
Words of Institution
Instruction and Exhortation
Communion (while a Psalm is sung or Scripture read)
Prayer of thanksgiving
Benediction (Numbers 6:24 26)This pattern is the one
regularly used by Calvin on Sunday mornings except that
communion was not administered weekly. Calvin desired a weekly
communion, but could never get permission from the city
government to do so. On the matter of the frequency of communion
Calvin wrote as late as 1561: “I have taken care to record
publicly that our custom is defective, so that those who come
after me may be able to correct it more freely and easily.”
(21) While Calvin was quite content to use form prayers and
liturgies in the Sunday morning service, he also recognized a
legitimate role for freedom from specific forms in worship.
Before presenting the ordinary Sunday service Calvin’s “Form of
Prayers” stated: “On ordinary Meetings the Minister leads the
devotions of the people in whatever words seem to him suitable,
adapting his address to the time and the subject of the
Discourse which he is to deliver, but the following Form is
generally used on the Morning of the Lord's Day.”
(22) Basic Principles of Worship
Calvin nowhere neatly listed his basic principles of worship.
But a study of Calvin's writings and work points to several
principles that flow from and reflect his theology. The first
principle is, of course, the centrality of the Word of God. The
Word not only directs worship, but is also very largely the
content of worship. The Word is read and preached, and the Word
is also sung and seen (in communion). The worshiper meets God
through the Word. Criticism of Calvin's approach to worship
often focuses on his stress upon the Bible. One such criticism
is that Calvin is biblicistic in his approach to worship. Such a
criticism declares that there is no Book of Leviticus in the New
Testament and so the church has great freedom to worship as it
sees best. Calvin's response would be that the absence of a
Levitical book in the New Testament reflects more the simplicity
of the church's worship in Christ than creative freedom. For
Calvin the teaching of the New Testament is full and complete as
a guide and warrant for the simple worship of the children of
God in the Spirit. No more freedom is given in the New Testament
to invent forms of worship than was given in the Old. Calvin
certainly recognized that incidental matters of worship are not
specified in the Bible. In such areas the church has freedom
under the general guidelines of the Word to reach specific
decisions that will be edifying for the church.
(23) For example the
Bible does not specify when on Sunday the church should gather
for worship. But some time must be chosen and that choice should
be based on what will best facilitate gathering for worship.
Such decisions can be changed when necessary and can never be
viewed as binding the conscience as if they were necessary for
salvation. (24) Another criticism of Calvin's stress on the Word is that
Calvin's worship becomes too intellectual or didactic because of
an excessive concentration on the Bible. Calvin's defenders
would respond that the Bible itself points to the importance of
preaching and teaching, which is especially vital when knowledge
of sound doctrine is at a low ebb. But defenders would also
insist that his worship service is not solely or overwhelmingly
intellectual. Congregational praise and prayer are key element"
and in Calvin's ideal service communion weekly draws the
worshiper back to the heart of the gospel. The Lord’s Supper for
Calvin was a rich experience. Calvin could write: “Now, if
anyone should ask me how this [Christ lifting believers up in
the Supper to heaven to commune with him] takes place, I shall
not be ashamed to confess that it is a secret too lofty for
either my mind to comprehend or my words to declare. And, to
speak more plainly, I rather experience than understand it.”
(25) A second basic principle for Calvin was simplicity. The
maturity of the children of God in the new covenant meant that
Christians were not dependent on the childish props of the old
covenant. In Christ the Christian is already seated with Christ
in the heavenlies and the need of visible supports for faith is
greatly diminished: What shall I say
of ceremonies which, with Christ half buried, cause us to return
to Jewish symbols? ‘Our Lord Christ,’ says Augustine, ‘has bound
the fellowship of the new people together with sacraments, very
few in number, very excellent in meaning, very easy to observe.’
How far from this simplicity is the multitude and variety of
rites, with which we see the church entangled today, cannot be
fully told.
(26) Simplicity did not mean the absence of liturgical structure.
Calvin's service with its movement from confession to praise to
preaching to intercessions to communion shows that. Simplicity
meant the removal of physical symbolism and ceremonies that were
not instituted in the Bible. Simplicity is closely linked to
spirituality. In the simplicity of the Spirit's power, Christ is
present among his people in the preaching and sacrament. Nothing
may be added to that divine arrangement.
Simplicity rather than the "showy" serves the pure worship of
the church: “For Paul is urging the Corinthians to value or
strive after, above all, those gifts which are the most
effective for upbuilding. For the fault of caring more for
ostentation rather than beneficial things was rife among them.”
(27) The eye of faith rather than the eye of the flesh is to be
active in worship. Closely related to simplicity is a third
basic principle: worship is spiritual ascent. For Calvin
Christians ascend into heaven while worshipping. Worship draws
the Christian into heaven in communion with the ascended Christ.
This ascent in worship is mysterious even for Calvin but a
foundational current in his thought.
(28) The idea of ascent is part of the pattern of Christian
experience flowing from Christ's saving work. Christ descended
in his incarnation to lift us to heaven. Now, that the Mosaic
ceremonies are abolished we worship at the footstool of God,
when we yield a reverential submission to his word, and rise
from the sacraments to a true spiritual service of him. Knowing
that God has not descended from heaven directly or in his
absolute character, but that his feet are withdrawn from us,
being placed on a footstool, we should be careful to rise to him
by the intermediate steps. Christ is he not only on whom the
feet of God rest, but in whom the whole fullness of God's
essence and glory resides, and in him therefore, we should seek
the Father. With this view he descended, that we might rise
heavenward.
(29) Christ continues to help us heavenward as his Spirit descends
to empower the Word and sacraments of the church. "It is thus
that the Holy Spirit condescends for our profit, and in
accommodation to our infirmity, raising our thought to heavenly
and divine things by these worldly elements."
(30) The worshipper
needs these means or "ladders" that God provides to help with
that ascent: He does not enjoin us to ascend forthwith into
heaven, but, consulting our weakness, he descends to us
...This...may well suffice to put to shame the arrogance of
those who without concern can bear to be deprived of those
means, or rather, who proudly despise them, as if it were in
their power to ascend to heaven in a moment's flight...We must
not, however, imagine that the prophet suffered himself to rest
in earthly elements, but only that he made use of them as a
ladder, by which he might ascend to God, finding that he had not
wings with which to fly thither.
(31) A visually elaborate context would interfere with our
spiritual ascent binding our minds too much to earth. "Such is
the weakness of our minds that we rise with difficulty to the
contemplation of his glory in the heavens.”
(32) False worship
especially idolatrous worship panders to human weakness and
tries to force God to descend to earth when his will is for the
Christian to ascend to heaven: The reason why God holds images
so much in abhorrence appears very plainly from this, that he
cannot endure that the worship due to himself should be taken
from him and given to them. ...when men attempt to attach God to
their inventions, and to make him, as it were, descend from
heaven, then a pure fiction is substituted in his
place....Averse to seek God in a spiritual manner, they
therefore pull him down from his throne, and place him under
inanimate things.
(33) Christians are called to worship the heavenly God in heaven,
God's true temple. A fourth basic principle for Calvin was
reverence. Reverence is indeed a basic element of Christianity
for him: Here indeed is pure and real religion: faith so
joined with an earnest fear of God that this fear also embraces
willing reverence, and carries with it such legitimate worship
as is prescribed in the law. And we ought to note this fact even
more diligently: all men have a vague general veneration of God,
but very few really reverence him; and wherever there is great
ostentation in ceremonies, sincerity of heart is rare indeed.
(34) The worship of God must express a decorum and dignity
appropriate to the meeting of God with his children: “...we have
been adopted for this reason: to reverence him as our Father.”
(35) In the contemporary church Calvin's concern for reverence has
undergone sharp criticism. Critics insist that Calvin's worship
had too little emotion and particularly too little joy. Calvin
was not opposed to emotion and believed that a full range of
emotion not just joy! should be expressed in Christian life and
worship: For the principle which the Stoics assume, that all
the passions are perturbations and like diseases, is false, and
has its origin in ignorance; for either to grieve, or to fear,
or to rejoice, or to hope, is by no means repugnant to reason,
nor does it interfere with tranquillity and moderation of mind;
it is only excess or intemperance which corrupts what would else
be pure. And surely grief, anger, desire, hope, fear, are
affections of our unfallen (integrae) nature, implanted in us by
God, and such as we may not find fault with, without insulting
God himself. (36) But Calvin did insist that emotion must be moderate.
Self-control is a key fruit of the Holy Spirit. Moderation is
proper even in expressing joy. The Psalmist declares, “Worship
the Lord with reverence, and rejoice with trembling” (Psalm
2:11). Calvin wrote: To prevent them from supposing that the
service to which he calls them is grievous, he teaches them by
the word rejoice how pleasant and desirable it is, since it
furnishes matter of true gladness. But lest they should,
according to their usual way, wax wanton, and, intoxicated with
vain pleasures, imagine themselves happy while they are enemies
to God, he exhorts them farther by the words with fear to an
humble and dutiful submission. There is a great difference
between the pleasant and cheerful state of a peaceful
conscience, which the faithful enjoy in having the favour of
God, whom they fear, and the unbridled insolence to which the
wicked are carried, by contempt and forgetfulness of God. The
language of the prophet, therefore, implies, that so long as the
proud profligately rejoice in the gratification of the lusts of
the flesh, they sport with their own destruction, while, on the
contrary, the only true and salutary joy is that which arises
from resting in the fear and reverence of God.
(37) He made a similar comment on the biblical text, “...let us be
thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe”
(Hebrews 12:29): “...although readiness and joy are demanded in
our service, at the same time no worship is pleasing to Him that
is not allied to humility and due reverence.”
(38) Part of the reverence of Reformed worship is found in the
role of the minister. He speaks for God to the people and for
the people to God. Some criticize this practice as limiting the
participation of the people in worship. Calvin’s response would
be twofold. First, such a criticism misses the importance of the
ministry in Christ's church: “For neither the light and heat of
the sun, nor food and drink, are so necessary to nourish and
sustain the present life as the apostolic and pastoral office is
necessary to preserve the church on earth.”
(39) The ministers as
they preach faithfully speak for God: “...he [God] proves our
obedience by a very good test when we hear his ministers
speaking just as if he himself spoke.” (40) Second, Calvin would
argue that the congregation does participate actively in
worship. They must listen actively in faith to the preaching of
the Word. They must join in the sung praise of God. They must
pray with the minister lifting their hearts and minds to God.
Such activities are the reverent participation to which God
calls his people.
Music for Worship
Calvin's position on music is one application of his theology of
worship. Calvin's view of music focuses most sharply the
differences between Calvin and many contemporary evangelicals,
even those who would call themselves Reformed. Music was
important to Calvin. He wrote of music: “...we find by
experience that it has a sacred and almost incredible power to
move hearts in one way or another. Therefore we ought to be even
more diligent in regulating it in such a way that it shall be
useful to us and in no way pernicious.”
(41) Calvin greatly simplified the use of music in worship in
comparison with the musical developments of the late medieval
period. Calvin eliminated choirs and musical instruments from
public worship. The only music in worship was congregational
singing unaccompanied by musical instruments. The simplicity of
singing and the unity of the congregation was best preserved,
Calvin believed, by singing in unison. Singing was a basic
element of worship for Calvin because he saw singing as a
particularly heartfelt way to pray: “As for public prayers,
there are two kinds. The ones with the word alone: the others
with singing.”
(42) Calvin believed that the Psalms were the best songs for the
Christian community to sing: Moreover, that which St.
Augustine has said is true, that no one is able to sing things
worthy of God except that which he has received from him.
Therefore, when we have looked thoroughly, and searched here and
there, we shall not find better songs nor more fitting for the
purpose, than the Psalms of David, which the Holy Spirit spoke
and made through him. And moreover, when we sing them, we are
certain that God puts in our mouths these, as if he himself were
singing in us to exalt his glory.
(43) Calvin elaborated on his strong feelings about the value of
the Psalms to the Christian community in the preface to his
Psalms commentary: I have been accustomed to call this book, I
think not inappropriately, 'An Anatomy of all the Parts of the
Soul; for there is not an emotion of which any one can be
conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror...in
short, there is no other book in which we are more perfectly
taught the right manner of praising God, or in which we are more
powerfully stirred up to the performance of this religious
exercise.
(44) Calvin's approach to music may well seem strange and
idiosyncratic today. Calvin believed, however, that he was
simply restoring the use of music sanctioned by the Bible and
followed by the ancient church. From reading the fathers
(especially Athanasius, Chrysostom and Augustine) Calvin learned
that the ancient church sang exclusively (or almost exclusively)
Psalms in unison without instrumental accompaniment.
(45) He believed
that he was purifying the church from recent musical innovations
in the western church.
On the issue of musical instruments Calvin was convinced that
the fathers rightly saw that the new covenant required
abandoning instruments for public worship: To sing the praises
of God upon the harp and psaltery unquestionably formed a part
of the training of the law, and of the service of God under that
dispensation of shadows and figures; but they are not now to be
used in public thanksgiving. We are not, indeed, forbidden to
use, in private, musical instruments, but they are banished out
of the churches by the plain command of the Holy Spirit, when
Paul, in 1 Cor. xiv. 13, lays it down as an invariable rule,
that we must praise God, and pray to him only in a known tongue.
(46) Calvin linked the movement of New Testament worship away from
instruments to the greater simplicity of the new covenant:
“...musical instruments were among the legal ceremonies which
Christ at His coming abolished; and therefore we, under the
Gospel, must maintain a greater simplicity.”
(47) Calvin's statements
show that his criticism of instruments was primarily directed
against any role for musical instruments independent of
accompanying congregational singing, but in practice he did
eliminate instruments completely from worship.
Calvin argued that the instruments were instituted for the
Jews to wean them gradually from the dissolute ways of the
world: “…that he might lead men away from those vain and corrupt
pleasures to which they are excessively addicted, to a holy and
profitable joy.” (48) But the maturity of the church after the
appearance of Jesus made such "puerile instruction' unnecessary
and detrimental to spirituality. But when they [believers]
frequent their sacred assemblies, musical instruments in
celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than
the burning of incense, the lighting up of lamps, and the
restoration of the other shadows of the law. The Papists,
therefore, have foolishly borrowed this, as well as many other
things, from the Jews....but we should always take care that no
corruption creep in which might both defile the pure worship of
God and involve men in superstition.
(49) Calvin's concern for proper worship extended also to the
tunes to be used for the Psalms. He carefully supervised the
preparation of the Genevan Psalter over the years to insure the
composition of appropriate music and in the providence of God
was blessed with composers of extraordinary talent like Louis
Bourgeois. Calvin expressed his basic position on tunes in these
words: “Touching the melody, it has seemed best that it be
moderated in the manner we have adopted to carry the weight and
majesty appropriate to the subject, and even to be proper for
singing in the Church....” (50) The music for the songs of the church
must be reverent in relation to God and singable for the
congregation. Calvin's critics suggest that his approach to
music is dominated by the very cautious attitudes of Plato
toward music. Certainly Plato, both directly and mediated
through the fathers, was a great influence on Calvin. Calvin did
refer to Plato's attitude toward music quite favorably both in
the “Preface” to the Genevan Psalter and elsewhere: “...we all
know from experience how great a power music has for moving
men’s feelings, so that Plato teaches, quite rightly, that in
one way or another music is of the greatest value in shaping the
moral tone of the state.” (51) The real issue is not the influence of
Plato, but whether Calvin’s use of Plato enables him to see the
implications of biblical teaching more clearly or not. Calvin
clearly felt it did. The power inherent in music meant that it
had to be handled carefully: And in truth we know by
experience that singing has great force and vigour to move and
inflame the hearts of men to invoke and praise God with a more
vehement and ardent zeal. Care must always be taken that the
song be neither light nor frivolous; but that it have weight and
majesty (as St. Augustine says), and also, there is a great
difference between music which one makes to entertain men at
table and in their houses, and the Psalms which are sung in the
Church in the presence of God and his angels.
(52)
Indeed the tunes of the Genevan Psalter show a remarkable
range of emotion carefully reflecting the emotions of the Psalms
for which they were composed. (53) Conclusion
For Calvin true worship must wed inward sincerity to outward
faithfulness to God's Word. Worship must be outwardly obedient
to God's inspired direction and also flow from the heart: “...it
is not sufficient to utter the praises of God with our tongues,
if they do not proceed from the heart...” (54) In true worship the
believer exercises faith and repentance as he meets with God and
grows in grace. (55) As Hughes Oliphant Old stated, “The outward form
of worship and the inward adoration of the heart must remain
firmly joined together." (56)
Calvin's labor to relate the inward and outward dimensions of
worship properly flowed out of his theology as a whole. Reformed
Christianity for him was an integrated whole. His doctrine of
sin made him deeply suspicious of human instincts and human
desires in the matter of worship. His doctrine of grace led him
to expect God to be sovereign in directing worship. He would
have insisted that those who think that they can preserve
Reformed systematic theology while abandoning a Reformed
theology of worship are wrong. (57) Rather he would suggest that
where theology stresses the sovereign power and work of God,
where the priority of his action and the regulative authority of
his Word are recognized, there a form of worship very like
Calvin's own will emerge. The church today needs to listen anew
to Calvin on worship so that its worship will not be
man-centered, but God-centered and God-directed.
Ó2007
Westminster Seminary California All rights reserved
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