Calvin on Worship
My good friend Bryce Waller, of apologetic fame, recently lent me a paper by W. Robert Godfrey. Dr. Godfrey is President and Professor of Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary in California. In this paper Dr. Godfrey summarizes Calvin view of worship. What I have done is summarize Godfrey’s summary. I’ve left out the great quotes from Calvin and other details that I found interesting but which I didn’t want to reproduce. The summary is below. It is concise but should give you the overall idea of Godfrey’s paper. The one or two quotations in my summary are from Dr. Godfrey himself not Calvin.
Introduction
Although Calvin, due to his biblical teaching, is a hero to many Reformed people few Reformed people follow Calvin’s view of worship.
Importance of Worship
Worship figures prominently in Calvin’s theology. For Calvin, worship is the meeting place for God and His people. Calvin’s approach to worship is now known as the regulative principle. The regulative principle says that worship is regulated by Scripture thus only what is commanded in the Bible may be an element of worship. Human tendencies toward idolatry and pleasing ourselves in worship require that we be careful to regulate our worship by Scripture. Worship is an end in itself.
The Practice of Worship
Calvin’s interest in worship was both theological and pastoral in nature. The Bible was the standard against which Calvin measured his views on worship. He also sought the wisdom of the early church fathers on the issue of worship. The order of Calvin’s Sunday morning liturgy was as follows:
Liturgy of the Word
Call to worship
Confession of sins
Prayer for pardon
Singing of a Psalm
Prayer for illumination
Scripture reading
Sermon
Liturgy of the Upper Room
Collection of offerings
Prayers of intercession and a long paraphrase of the Lord’s Prayer
Singing of Apostle’s Creed (while elements of Lord’s Supper are prepared)
Words of institution
Instruction and exhortation
Communion (while a Psalm is sung or Scripture read)
Prayer of thanksgiving
Benediction
Basic Principles of Worship
1.Centrality of the Word of God—The Word both directs worship and is the content of worship. That is, the Word is read, preached, sung and seen (in the Lord’s Supper).
2.Simplicity—God’s people under the new covenant are not dependent on the props of the old covenant. “In the simplicity of the Spirit’s power, Christ is present among his people in the preaching and sacrament.”
3.Worship is spiritual ascent—Christians ascend into heaven during worship. “A visually elaborate context would interfere with our spiritual ascent binding our minds too much to earth”.
4.Reverence—Reverence is fitting in worship because in worship we meet with God.
Music for Worship
Calvin advocated congregational singing. He saw singing as a type of prayer. Calvin believed the Psalms were the best songs for the Church to sing because they were given by God. Calvin believed that musical instruments were not appropriate for worship under the new covenant. In Calvin’s view even the tunes to be used in singing the Psalms should be reverent while also singable.
Conclusion
Calvin believed that true worship was a combination of sincerity of heart and outward adherence to the Word of God.
Wow, very concise. Good job. I feel like I just read the whole paper in 5 minutes.
What is meant by “Confession of Sins”? Just like a generic prayer saying “We know we failed this week, etc.” or did they confess actual sins?
I’m not sure what the practice was. I would guess that it was a generic confession of sins. There was probably a confession that was read by the congregation and then the minister would declare that they had been pardoned based on the work of Christ.
I would also guess that if we visited Dr. Godfrey’s church their liturgy would be quite similar to the one developed by Calvin.