26 March
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On
In History and Doctrine of Worship

From The Presbyterian Banner, December 2010 plus Appendix March 2011 and important Supplement August 2013 I confess very happily that I am an inclusive Presbyterian: I’ve very ready, despite my own prejudices, to live in the same church with office-bearers who have different viewpoints on many issues that are not decided by our Confession of Faith.  I’m also very happy to have close fellowship with churches like the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in the USA that do not have the same form of worship as ourselves, but do cling loyally to the Reformed Faith. Still, I’m very sorry to see that the Free Church of ScotlandRead More →

03 August
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On
In History and Doctrine of Worship

[This article appeared in Australian Presbyterian, June 2008] In 1550 John Knox was called by the authorities in Scotland to give a defence of his claim that the Roman mass was idolatry. Knox stated as his first proposition: “All worshipping, honouring, or service invented by the brain of man in the religion of God, without his own express commandment, is idolatry. The Mass is invented by the brain of man, without any commandment of God; therefore it is idolatry.” We might shrink back at the boldness of this statement. We might recall some half-forgotten history lessons about image-burning by Protestants in the 16th century, andRead More →

31 May
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On
In History and Doctrine of Worship

Notes of the sermon at the opening of the Synod of Eastern Australia 12 May 2008 by Dr Rowland S. Ward, Retiring Moderator. John 4:24 is a familiar text: “God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Yet although this text is described by one writer as “the most important teaching on worship in the entire New Testament” it is difficult to find an entirely satisfying explanation of it in the commentaries. Even books on worship seem to pass over it very lightly. This may be because it is assumed that the text is merely stating that worship must agreeRead More →

01 December
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On
In History and Doctrine of Worship

Extracted from The Psalms in Christian Worship, pp. 1-6 It should be noted that the author holds the singing of the Psalter in public worship is a godly practice and supported by a number of lines of argument. However, he does not hold that use of other song material in public worship is necessarily sinful. He recognises there have always been differences over the application of the regulating principle of Scripture in this area, and has no interest in advancing exaggerated underpinning for the practice. While this book is not intended as an exhaustive study of the principles underlying the practice of singing only theRead More →

01 December
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On
In History and Doctrine of Worship

Historical aspects of the practice of Reformed worship suggested by a booklet of the same name by Iain H. Murray published by the Banner of Truth Trust, 2001. Published in The Presbyterian Banner, December 2001 and The Monthly Record of the Free Church of Scotland, January 2002 The title says it all. Murray’s answer is in the negative as expected from one who severely criticised the modernisation of many old hymns in Rejoice! – the 1987 hymnbook of the denomination which holds his ministerial credentials, the Presbyterian Church of Australia. However, why is Banner publishing this material? Given that Murray has been notorious for excludingRead More →