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STEVE SCHLISSEL Versus
REFORMATION WORSHIP
A SHORT NOTE ON THE MODERN ATTACK
ON REFORMATION FOUNDATIONS; OR, THE STRANGE FIRE OF OUR CONTEMPORARY
SUB-CALVINIST NADABS AND ABIHUS REBUKED
"If it be inquired, then, by
what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing existence among 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." (John Calvin, The Necessity of
Reforming the Church, 1544, free at: http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/NRC_ch00.htm).
"I will
punish them that serve me otherwise than I have commanded, not
sparing the chief that the people may fear and praise my judgements."
(Note from the Geneva Bible [http://www.swrb.com/bibles/bibles.htm] on Lev.
10:3, after "fire went out from the Lord" and killed Nadab and Abihu
for violating the regulative principle of worship).
With one of
the foundational principles of the Reformation under increasing attack (i.e.
the regulative principle of worship), even among those (like Steve Schlissel, Doug
Wilson [my debate with Wilson on this point is FREE at: http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/Saul.htm ] John Frame, The
Chalcedon Report,
James Jordan, et al.) that still profess to be Reformed, we would like to draw your
attention (below) to some important resources in defense of our biblical
Reformed heritage.
We would also
point out that the modern attack on the regulative
principle from sub-Calvinist quarters (which must bring delight to Papists and
Prelates everywhere) fails on two essential fronts. First, these attacks are essentially antinomian, in
spite of any protests to the contrary. Second, they deny the faithful testimony of our Reformation
forefathers and the faithful historic confessions and catechisms of the
Reformation. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak
not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
(Isa. 8:20).
On the first
point, it is interesting (if not sadly amusing), to note the
lack of time that Schlissel, Frame and others spend on the exposition of the
second commandment in their attacks upon the regulative principle.
It is as if they can't see the forest for the trees. The second commandment
is the foundation of the regulative principle, just pick up any older Reformed
commentary, catechism or confession and note the prominent attention given to
the second commandment in regard to questions related to worship.
For example,
here is what the Westminster Larger Catechism teaches,
Question 108: What are the duties required in the second
commandment?
Answer: The duties required in the second commandment are, the
receiving, observing, and keeping pure and entire, all such religious worship
and ordinances as God has instituted in his Word;
particularly prayer and thanksgiving in the name of Christ; the reading,
preaching, and hearing of the Word; the administration and receiving of the
sacraments; church government and discipline; the ministry and maintenance
thereof; religious fasting; swearing by the name of God, and vowing unto him: as also the disapproving, detesting, opposing, all false
worship; and, according to each one's place and calling, removing it, and all
monuments of idolatry.
Question 109: What are the sins forbidden in the second
commandment?
Answer: The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all
devising, counseling, commanding, using, and anywise approving, any religious
worship not instituted by God himself; tolerating a false religion; the making any
representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly
in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature
whatsoever; all worshiping of it, or God in it or by it; the making of any
representation of feigned deities, and all worship of them, or service belonging
to them; all superstitious devices, corrupting the worship of God, adding to
it, or taking from it, whether invented and taken
up of ourselves, or received by tradition from others, though under
the title of antiquity, custom, devotion, good intent, or any other pretense
whatsoever; simony; sacrilege; all neglect,
contempt, hindering, and opposing the worship and ordinances which God has
appointed.
The
Heidelberg Catechism (1563) makes the same point,
Question 96. What does God require in the second commandment?
Answer. That we in nowise make any image of God, nor worship him in any other way than he has commanded
in his word.
Our modern
sub-Calvinist detractors have either forgotten that the regulative principle of
worship is based on the second commandment or they are purposely ignoring it --
either way their antinomianism is obvious. Let them produce a 10-20 page
exposition of the second commandment (including a statement as to why they deny
the confessional Reformation position on this commandment) in their attempt to
overthrow the Reformation's regulative principle of worship; we will then be
happy to compare them with the many older Reformed commentaries, catechisms and
confessions on the second commandment -- to determine who is being faithful to
the word of God. Kevin Reed, in his Presbyterian Worship: Old and New, (free at: http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/FrameWor.htm), which critiques John Frame's teaching on worship by
comparing it to the classic Reformation position as found in various creedal
statements of the Reformation has already done much of the groundwork on this
point, for those who are interested. However, I
sincerely doubt that any of the modern anti-regulativists will take up this
challenge, for it will surely expose the biblical bankruptcy of their slide
into Popish principles concerning worship, while at the same time demonstrating
that they have left the narrow path of Reformation so carefully (and Scripturally)
laid out in many classic Reformation works (cf. Reformation Worship
Sale http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-worship.htm).
Second, our modern anti-regulativists deny God's testimony in
Scripture and history when they attempt to overthrow the Reformed view of the
second commandment (i.e. the regulative principle of worship).
Communists, Jesuits (Papists) and other anti-biblical revolutionaries have
always understood that to destroy a people you need to sever them from
their historical roots. Our modern anti-regulativists must do the same, if their
anti-Reformed rhetoric and sophistry is to gain any type of hearing in Reformed
circles.
Brian
Schwertley, in his critique of Schlissel (free at: http://reformedonline.com/view/reformedonline/schlissel.htm) aptly notes,
Schlissel
says that the regulative principle is "not biblical" (1:3; 2:4), that
it is "an invention of men and therefore an imposition upon the
consciences of those forced to accept it" (1:7). He says that it is an
addition "to our legal obligations under God" (1:7) which is based on
"a pattern of obfuscation" (2:1). He also teaches that "it cannot
survive when measured against Scripture" (3:1).
After realizing that he has insulted and impugned all the Calvinistic
reformers, all the Reformed Confessions, and all the Reformed churches
(Presbyterians, Dutch Reformed, German Reformed, French Huguenots, the
Puritans) Schlissel offers up some historical relativism.[2]
Even
though, according to Schlissel, the regulative principle is unbiblical,
legalistic, an invention of men, based on obfuscation and false exegesis,
dictatorial, totalitarian, contrary to our legal obligations to God and a human
imposition upon the consciences of men, what the Reformers did was not
unethical because of their unique historical situation. They were just coming
out of Romanism. If the regulative principle is an
unbiblical, dictatorial and human tradition that is a perversion of biblical
worship (as our brother asserts), then what the Reformers did was positively
sinful.
Schlissel cannot have it both ways. He cannot repudiate modern
advocates of the regulative principle without also repudiating the Reformed
faith.[3]
What separates the Reformed Confessions from Luther and Calvinistic
Baptists[4] is not soteriology, but worship and government. Reformed worship is
squarely founded upon the regulative principle. Once that foundation (and the
worship and government that rest upon it) is removed, the word Reformed means
nothing.
In the full
footnotes to these quotations (not supplied here), Schwertley also correctly
states that,
Schlissel has created a historical fantasy to justify his own
departure from the Reformed faith... All the Calvinistic Reformers and
all Reformed Churches adhered to the regulative principle. In the early days of
the Reformation, if the Lutheran theologians and the Reformed theologians had
been able to agree over worship (in particular the Lord's supper), there
probably would have been one church rather than two. Calvin's view of the
regulative principle can be found in his Institutes I, XI, 4; XII, 1 and 3;
II, VIII, 5 and 17; IV, X, 1 and 8-17; cf. his commentary on Jer. 7:31; sermon
on 2 Sam. 6:6-12; his tract on The Necessity of Reforming the Church [ http://www.swrb.com/newslett/FREEBOOK/JCalvin.htm]," and the
confession drafted by Calvin for the Reformed churches of France (1652). John
Knox's view is clearly set forth in A Vindication of the Doctrine That the
Sacrifice of the Mass Is Idolatry (1550, free at: http://www.swrb.com/newslett/FREEBOOK/JKnox.htm). The Reformed creeds
also teach the regulative principle of worship: cf. the Belgic Confession (1561) Art. VII, XXIX,
XXXII; the Heidelberg Catechism Q. 96; the Westminster Standards: Confession 1:6, 7; 20:2; 21:1; Shorter
Catechism
Q. 51; Larger Catechism Q. 108, 109. A strict interpretation of the regulative
principle can be found in the writings of George Gillespie, William Ames,
Samuel Rutherford, Jeremiah Burroughs, David Dickson, Thomas Watson, Matthew
Henry, John Owen, James Begg, James Bannerman, William Cunningham, Thomas
Ridgeley, Thomas Boston, John Cotton, Thomas Manton, William Romaine, R. L.
Dabney, James H. Thornwell, John L. Girardeau, John Murray, and many others. Anyone who advocated Schlissel's views would have been
defrocked in any of the Reformed denominations of the past, whether English,
Dutch, Scottish, German, French or American.
There
is no question (except among those totally ignorant of Reformation history)
that the regulative principle of worship was one of the foundational pillars of
past Reformations
(for more on this point see: "An irenic letter written to a PCA elder [by
Bill Mencarow], regarding Steve Schlissel's recent attacks on historic Reformed
[biblical] worship," free at: http://www.cashflows.org/rpw.htm). To deny the regulative principle is to deny the Reformed
faith. Hundreds of examples could be provided to prove that Schlissel, Frame
and other modern sub-Calvinists are rejecting the Reformed faith concerning
worship.
When
one denies the regulative principle of worship, he has become essentially
Arminian in his view of worship (as the regulative principle is simply the
application of the sovereignty of God in worship). I develope this
argument more fully in "The Regulative Principle of Worship in
History," which is free at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/CRTPWors.htm . Simply stated, there is no way around this: either the
revealed will of God determines our worship practises, or the will of man will.
There is no neutrality possible here!
The
matter is not of so small importance, as some suppose. The question is, whether
God or man ought to be obeyed in matters of religion? In mouth, all do confess
that only God is worthy of sovereignty. But after many -- by the instigation of
the devil, and by the presumptuous arrogance of carnal wisdom and worldly
policy -- have defaced God's holy ordinance, men fear not to follow what laws
and common consent (mother of all mischief) have established and commanded. But thus continually I can do nothing but hold, and
affirm all things polluted, yea, execrable and accursed, which God by his Word
has not sanctified in his religion. God grant you his Holy Spirit
rightly to judge (Knox, Works [volume 5, p. 14] cited in John Knox, True
and False Worship (Presbyterian
Heritage Publications, rpnt. 1988), p. x, free at: http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/Vindicat.htm).
To first get
Reformed people to even consider becoming Arminians in worship you must destroy,
dismiss or dismantle (revise) the history of the Reformation (which was a
return to the faith of the Apostles). The Jesuits have been masters of this technique
(cf. "Arminianism the Road to Rome" free at: http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/RHNarmin.htm) and Dabney's review of Girardeau's
Instrumental Music in the Public
Worship of the Church (on sale below in our EMAIL SUPER SPECIALS
for the first time!), eloquently shows us where the denial of the regulative
principle will lead,
Dr.
Girardeau has defended the old usage of our church
with a moral courage, loyalty to truth, clearness of
reasoning and wealth of learning which should make every true
Presbyterian proud of him, whether he adopts his conclusions or not. The
framework of his argument is this: it begins with that vital truth which no
Presbyterian can discard without a square desertion of our principles. The man who contests this first premise had better set
out at once for Rome: God is to be worshipped only in the ways appointed in His
Word. Every act of public cultus
not positively enjoined by Him (by direct command, approved Scriptural example,
or which can be deduced by good and necessary consequence from Scripture -- RB)
is thereby forbidden. Christ and His apostles ordained the musical
worship of the New Dispensation without any sort of musical instrument,
enjoining only the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Hence such
instruments are excluded from Christian worship. Such
has been the creed of all churches, and in all ages, except for the Popish
communion after it had reached the nadir of its corruption at the end of the
thirteenth century, and of its prelatic imitators.
Rejecting
the regulative principle of worship (and thus the second commandment) is a
serious offence against God -- one which the Westminster Larger Catechism calls
"spiritual whoredom," further stating that God accounts "the
breakers of this commandment such as hate him" (Q. & A. 110). Calvin
forcefully drives home the same point, proclaiming that God hates all the
idolatrous will worship which is invented by the mind of man outside of His
command in the public worship (while at the same time defending the regulative
principle) in his comments on Amos 5:26,
To
make these things (images and idols--RB) is at all times vicious in sacred
things; for we ought not to bring any thing of our
own when we worship God, but we ought to depend always on the word of his
mouth, and to obey what he has commanded. All our actions then in
the worship of God ought to be, so to speak, passive; for they ought to be
referred to his command, lest we attempt any thing but what he approves. Hence, when men dare to do this or that without God's
command, it is nothing else but abomination before him (Calvin's Commentaries, vol. 14, p. 298, emphases
added).
Publicly
denouncing this principle (as Schlissel and others have done) is a mark of
apostasy.
Furthermore, the rejection of the regulative
principle of worship is not only a high-handed sinful rejection of the second
commandment (and thus grounds for excommunication), but also a bold-faced
denial of the Reformed Faith. Anyone
claiming to be a minister of Christ who publicly rejects the regulative
principle should be marked and avoided (at least until public repentance is manifested)
in accord with the Scriptural command: "Now I beseech you,
brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine
which ye have learned; and avoid them" (Rom. 16:17). This is the most
loving action that we can take against those wayward souls that would corrupt
the worship of God. Coupled with prayer, maybe God will yet grant some of these
deluded individuals (who now unwittingly do the work of the Romam Antichrist)
repentance (2 Tim. 2:25-26).
Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching
for doctrines the commandments of men (Mark 7:7).
For the Third
Reformation,
Reg Barrow
President,
Still Waters Revival Books
P.S. For
individuals who can not find a church that worships God according to His
commandments (upholding the regulative principle of worship in all its
fullness), separation is not an option, it is
God's commanded response to idolatry (see
Douglas' Strictures on Occasinal Hearing at http://www.swrb.com/catalog/d.htm and
Eire's War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to
Calvin below or at http://www.swrb.com/catalog/e.htm). Calvin writes,
Some
one will therefore ask me what counsel I would
like to give to a believer who thus dwells in some Egypt or Babylon where he
may not worship God purely, but is forced by the common practice to
accommodate himself to bad things. The first advice would be to leave [i.e.
relocate -- GB] if he could. . . . If someone has no way to depart, I would
counsel him to consider whether it would be possible for him to abstain from all idolatry in order
to preserve himself pure and spotless toward God in both body and soul. Then let him worship God in private, praying
him to restore his poor church to its right estate. (Cited in: Appendix G in The
Covenanted Reformation Defended (see below) by Greg Barrow (http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/append_g.htm), "A brief
examination of Mr. Bacon's principles regarding the visible church and the use
of private judgment. Also, some observations regarding his ignoble attack upon
Kevin Reed in his book entitled The Visible Church in the Outer Darkness;" originally from:
John Calvin, Come Out From Among Them, The
Anti-Nicodemite Writings of John Calvin,
a forthcoming book to be published by Protestant Heritage Press, "A Short
Treatise", pp. 93, 94, emphases added. Calvin's Come Out From Among Them is NOW AVAILABLE on the new
PHP CD: "LIBRARY OF PRESBYTERIAN HERITAGE PUBLICATIONS and PROTESTANT
HERITAGE PRESS," for $US98.98, though the printed version may
be some time yet before it is released. A full description of the contents of
the CD can be found at http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/presbyterian-heritage.htm).
Now we command you, brethren, in the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that
walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us (2
Thes. 3:6).
P.P.S. Here is a question, excerpted from Gilliespies
A Dispute Against English Popish Ceremonies (p. 133 in volume one of
his Works
[http://www.swrb.com/catalog/g.htm]) that the anti-regulatives will never be able to answer
without admitting that the Reformers were biblically justified in maintaining
the so-called "strict" view of the regulative principle of worship.
Gillespie writes,
Since our opposites will speak in this dialect, let them resolve
us (i.e. provide an answer to the question about -- RB) whether the washings of
Pharisees, condemned by Christ, were corrupting or perfecting additions. They
cannot say they were corruption, for there was no commandment of God to which
those washings did corrupt or destroy, except that commandment which forbiddeth
men's additions. But for this respect our opposites dare not call them
corrupting additions, for so they should condemn all additions whatsoever. Except, therefore, they
can show us that those washings were not added by the Pharisees for perfecting,
but for corrupting the law of God, let them consider how they rank their own
ceremonial additions with those of the Pharisees. We
read of no other reason wherefore Christ condemned them but because they were
doctrines which had no other warrant than the commandments of men, Matt. 15:9;
for as the law ordained divers washings, for teaching and signifying that true
holiness and cleanness which ought to be among God's people, so the Pharisees
would have perfected the law by adding other washings (and more than God had
commanded) for the same end and purpose.
Moreover, the
very next section of A Dispute Against English Popish Ceremonies (wherein Gillespie
continues his defense of the regulative principle of worship) ties in perfectly
with what we have stated above regarding the second commandment,
Sect.
11. To the second distinction, we say that the Christian church hath no more
liberty to add to the commandments of God than the Jewish church had; for the
second commandment is moral and perpetual and forbiddeth to us as well as to
them the additions and inventions of men in the worship of God. Nay, as Calvin noteth (Inst., lib. 4, cap. 10, sect. 17)
much more are we forbidden to add unto God's word than they were.
You
are welcome to provide a link to the article above (without asking our
permission). It is on our web page at: http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/steve-schlissel.htm
FREE!
REED,
KEVIN
Biblical
Worship
"The Protestant
Reformation was a conflict over many critical issues. And of all the issues
contested between Romanists and the reformers, no issue was more crucial than the
question of true worship" (Reed, John Knox the Forgotten
Reformer,
p. 37). This book explains the two preeminent characteristics of all faithful
corporate worship, as seen both in the OT and in the NT. It also contains an
excellent section on disputed aspects of worship. This section, in
particular, is very valuable, in that it shows how many non-Romanist
communions today have actually rejected the Reformation and adopted Rome's
presuppositions regarding worship. 80 pages.
Biblical Worship is out of print, but FREE as etext on the web at: http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/BibW_ch0.htm and also available on the Presbyterian Heritage Press Library on CD
under "REED, KEVIN" at: http://www.swrb.com/catalog/R.htm.
FREE Psalm Book for
Singing (see the end of the first item) at:
[Music-Psalters-CDs]
Also see: Reformation Worship Sale
http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-worship.htm
EIGHT SELECT WORSHIP
RESOURCES ON SALE (to September 13, 2010)
Hundreds more can be seen on our web
page at:
http://www.swrb.com/pcopy/photoc.htm
If your order reaches us on or before midnight September 13, 2010, you may apply
the discounted prices on any of the resources listed below.
You must mention this SPECIAL DISCOUNT
OFFER or THESE SPECIAL PRICES for the extra discounts
to apply to your order.
Resource #3 below is listed for
the first time as an EMAIL SUPER SPECIAL!
NEW 30 CD set: Reformation Bookshelf CD Series Super
Sale
http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-bookshelf-CDs.htm
Resource 0.
REFORMATION BOOKSHELF CD (Volume Nineteen)
The Reformation Against
Arminianism (in Worship and Salvation)
Against Arminian Views of
Worship (Calvinistic Worship and the Regulative Principle of Worship), for the
Psalms and Exclusive Psalmody, Against Instrumental Music in Public Worship (A
Popish Innovation!), Against Arminian Views of the Lord's Supper (Calvinistic
Close Communion Versus Arminian Open Communion), Against Arminian Views of
Salvation (Calvinistic Soteriology),
Augustine, John Calvin, John
Knox, Jonathan Edwards, John Owen, C.H. Spurgeon, Robert Traill, the Covenanted
General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, David Hay Fleming, Jerom Zanchius,
William Ames, David Steele, R.L. Dabney, James M. Willson, Robert Baillie, Ralph
Erskine, Christopher Ness, Elisha Coles, Augustus Toplady, John Gill, John
Brown (of Haddington), John Anderson, William Binnie, Robert Nevin, James
Chrystie, the Reformed Presbytery (RPNA), J.A. Wylie, James Douglas, Michael
Wagner, the Puritan Reformed Church of Edmonton (Session), Greg
Price, Lyndon Dohms and Family, Greg Barrow, Reg Barrow, the Westminster
Divines, the famous Synod of Dort (1618-1619), Thomas
Manton, George Gillespie, Samuel Rutherford, Matthew Henry, John Brown (of Wamphray),
Francis Turretin, James Durham, John Howie, William Hetherington, Samuel
Miller, John Girardeau, Edward Fisher, Robert Shaw, A.W. Pink, Loraine
Boettner, Augustus Toplady, Andrew Symington, Patrick Fairbairn, William
Roberts, Richard Baxter, William Cunningham, John Anderson, Andrew Clarkson,
David Scott, John Cunningham, George Smeaton, Larry
Birger, Francis Rouse, Dr. F. Nigel Lee, Bill Mencarow, et al.
This
CD contains:
AGAINST
ARMINIAN VIEWS OF WORSHIP
(Calvinistic
Worship and Regulative Principle of Worship)
AMES,
WILLIAM
A
Fresh Suit Against Human Ceremonies in God's Worship (1633)
A rare facsimile from this
Calvinist divine who was one of the most acute controversialists of his age. This
highly influential Puritan theologian was assistant to the president of the
Synod of Dort and
Professor of Divinity at Franecker. He died in 1633. In this massive work,
Ames aims at vindicating the Lord's sovereign Kingship in matters of worship. The summary and general thrust of the
detailed and precise argumentation found in this book is beautifully
encapsulated by the words inscribed on its title page, "I hate vayn
inventions: but thy law doe I love" (Ps. 119:113). Almost 700 pages.
BARROW,
REG
Reformation
Worship and Separation from Idolatry
These two articles,
"Worship, The Regulative Principle of Worship in History," and Psalm
Singing in Scripture and History," are also available in the "Free
Books" file in all the Reformation Bookshelf CDs.
BARROW,
REG
A
Warning Against the False and Dangerous Views of James Jordan Concerning
Worship: A Book Review of Kevin Reed's Canterbury Tales
This article is in the
"free book" files on every Reformation Bookshelf CD.
BARROW,
REG & DOUG WILSON
Saul
in the Cave of Adullam: A Testimony Against the Fashionable Sub-Calvinism of
Doug Wilson (Editor of Credenda/Agenda Magazine); and, for
Classical Protestantism and the Attainments of the Second Reformation
Demonstrates in an email
debate (of 170, 8.5 inch by 11 inch, pages) between Doug Wilson (editor of Credenda/Agenda magazine) and Reg Barrow (president
of Still Waters Revival Books) how violations of the regulative principle of
worship (i.e. the second commandment) are grounds for excommunication. Also gives specific examples of how
modern "Reformed" Christians (e.g. John Frame) and denominations are
in violation of the second commandment and are tolerating false and idolatrous
worship contrary to their own Confessional standards and vows. Contains many quotations from
major Reformation works and confessions in defense of the regulative principle
of worship representing the classical Reformation position on worship. This book is in the FREE BOOKS file on
this CD.
CALVIN,
JOHN
An
Exhortation to Suffer Persecution and to Flee Outward Idolatry (1553)
COVENANTED
GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND
Directions
of the General Assembly Concerning Secret and Private Worship, and Mutual
Edification, For Cherishing Piety, For Maintaining Unity, and Avoiding Schism
and Division: With An Act for observing these Directions, and for censuring
such as use to neglect Family Worship. And An Act against such as withdraw
themselves from the Public Worship in their own Congregations (1647)
ERSKINE,
RALPH
Faith
No Fancy: Or, A Treatise of Mental Images (1745)
The title continues:
"Discovering the vain Philosophy and vile Divinity of a late Pamphlet,
entitled, Mr. Robe's fourth Letter to Mr. Fisher, and Showing, that an
imaginary Idea of Christ as Man, (when supposed to belong to saving Faith,
whether in its Act or Object), imports nothing but Ignorance, Atheism,
Idolatry, great Falsehood, and gross Delusion." David Lachman calls this
"Erskine's most extensive publication," noting that it "was a
contribution to the controversy with the Church of Scotland ministers involved
in the Cambuslang revival"
(Cameron, ed., Dictionary of Scottish Church History and Theology, p. 302). We have added Erskine's sermon
"The True Christ, No New Christ" (1742) and Fisher's "Review of
What Has Been Called an Extraordinary Work at Cambuslang, Kelsyth, etc."
from the 1805 Philadelphia edition of this work. A very pertinent book given
all the idolatry connected with the senses, pictures of Christ, etc. in our
day. 523 pages.
HAY
FLEMING, DAVID
The
Hymnology of the Scottish Reformation (1884)
A courteous and detailed
historical defence of the exclusive Psalmody of the Scottish Reformers, Calvin
and others. These articles (excerpted from the Original Secession Magazine)
were written to counter the false claims of Horatius Bonar, that uninspired
hymns were used in the public worship of the church during the Scottish
Reformation. 42 pages.
KNOX,
JOHN
Against
Apostasy and Indifference
Formerly titled "An Epistle
to the Inhabitants of New Castle and Berwick, 1558," one subheading reads;
"John Knox to the Inhabitants of Newcastle and Berwick, and Unto All
Others, Who Sometime in the Realm of England Professed Christ Jesus, and Now Be
Returned to the Bondage of Idolatry, Wishes True and Earnest Repentance By the
Power and Operation of That Same Spirit Who Called From Death Jesus, the Only
Pastor of Our Souls." Written to stem the tide of backsliding and
compromise during the dark days of Mary's reign in England, Knox sends a
pastoral exhortation of repentance to those who had reverted to idolatrous
worship.
OWEN,
JOHN
A
Discourse Concerning Liturgies and their Imposition
Bannerman (in his two volume set
The Church of Christ),
summarizes this book by Owen as "giving the Scriptural argument against
the imposition of liturgies as well as of other humanely devised elements in
Divine worship,
with great clearness and force"
(p. 435).
Furthermore, the Westminster
Theological Journal (55,
1993, p. 322, 3n) notes, "Owen discusses the true nature of NT worship,
especially focusing on the challenge made to it by the Church of England. His
discourse regarding the imposition of liturgies is one of the most thorough and
forceful arguments for the regulative principle of worship as the only
principle which safely guards the Christian conscience from the abuse of church
power."
RYLE,
J.C.
Idolatry
"To study the
Reformation debate over idolatry is to peer into the eye of the storm.
'Idolatry' is a fighting word. It presupposes a definition of what is true and
what is false in religion, for an idol cannot be universally recognized as
such; idolatry is not simply the worship of a physical object, but rather any
form of devotion that is judged to be incorrect''(Eire in War Against the Idols, p. 5 [$US39.95]). In this book Ryle
gives the definition, cause, and form of idolatry. He concludes by showing what
will end it.
WILLSON,
JAMES M.
Dr.
(Isaac) Watts, an Anti-Trinitarian: Demonstrated in A Review of Dr. Samuel
Miller's Letter to the editor of the Unitarian Miscellany (1821)
This book is a review of a
letter written by Prof. Samuel Miller. Prof. Miller had preached a sermon in which he had noted
that Unitarians are not Christians,
and in response a Unitarian periodical had published a heated attack on Miller.
Miller thus wrote a reply to the attack, but the Unitarian periodical would not
print it. Miller's reply was then published separately.
Willson reviews Miller's letter
and points out that he clearly refutes the Unitarian's published attack. There
was only one problem with Miller's argument; he claims that Isaac Watts was a
Trinitarian. Watts was not, in fact, a Trinitarian, and Willson considered
this point important enough to demonstrate from Watts' own work that he does
not hold to the orthodox view of the Trinity. After citing portions of Watts' writing, Willson states,
"In
these quotations Watts cannot be misunderstood. He most distinctly denies the
existence of three persons in the Trinity, and makes the Son and Holy Ghost to
be mere faculties, physical faculties, or attributes. The Son and Holy Ghost,
in his view, are no more persons, than the human understanding and will are
persons."
Thus, Isaac Watts, a favorite
hymn writer of evangelicals, actually held to what Willson, Miller, and
Turrettin all agree (in this book) is a "damnable heresy." For as Willson points out, Turrettin
maintains, that no anti-trinitarian can be saved, while continuing in the belief of
anti-trinitarianism. Contains 18 (8.5"X11") newly typeset pages.
YOUNG,
WILLIAM
The
Puritan Principle of Worship
(Psalms
and Exclusive Psalmody)
THE
PSALMS OF DAVID IN METRE (i.e. the Scottish Metrical Psalter of 1650): Allowed By the
Authority of the Kirk of Scotland, and of Several Branches of the Presbyterian
Church in the United States. With Notes, Exhibiting the Connection, Explaining
the Sense, and for Directing and Animating the Devotion (1844 edition published
by Robert Carter [New York]) John Brown of Haddington (annotations).
Psalter as
translated by Francis Rouse, the Westminster Divines, and the Scottish General
Assembly (from 1646-1650)
This is the Psalter (less
Brown's notes, which were added later) mandated, approved and used (for public
and private worship) by the Westminster Assembly and all those who covenanted
to uphold the Biblical Reformation that these Divines proclaimed. The text of the Scottish Metrical
Psalms was authorized by
the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1650. The notes added by
Brown are suitable for explaining the Psalm before singing and are a great aid
to understanding and worship (whether public, family or private). This is a
primary source document of Reformation; not to be missed by those serious about
the Reformed faith -- and worshipping God in spirit and in truth. There are
few things in life as pleasing and enjoyable as communing with Christ through
the singing of His Psalms!
ANDERSON,
JOHN
Vindiciae
Cantus Dominici: Or, A Vindication of the Doctrine Taught in a Discourse on the
Divine Ordinance of Singing Psalms (1793)
Because the author contends that
"the welfare of the church and her members is deeply concerned in the
preservation of the purity of God's worship," he here defends the old
paths of Protestant worship in opposition to the will-worship of Popery,
Socinianism and Arminianism. Herein he shows how the singing of songs other
than the Psalms (in public worship) violates the second commandment, dishonors
God and brings His wrath upon individuals, churches and nations. Anderson also
answers a number of objections against exclusive Psalmody which are still
common today; for example the objection, "with respect to the nature of
singing, as if there were no difference between it and prayer, except in the
manner of performance." This is a valuable contribution to the defense of
exclusive Psalmody. 184 pages.
ASSOCIATE
PRESBYTERIAN MAGAZINE
The
Ancient and Modern Mode of Singing the Psalms (Sept., 1863)
Historically demonstrates how
the Old Testament saints, the early New Testament Christians and almost all
Presbyterians (after adopting the Westminster Standards) sang the Psalms by
"lining them out" (e.g. see the Westminster Directory for Public
Worship). Musical instruments, a Papal innovation, were also unheard of among
faithful Reformers and "denominated the ensigns of Baal."
BINNIE,
WILLIAM
The
Imprecations: God's Forgotten Prayers of Power
BINNIE,
WILLIAM
The
Psalms: Their History, Teaching, & Use
A one-of-a-kind general
introduction to studying the psalms
[1886]. "A highly valuable work... great skill and intense devotion...
unlike any other...," said Spurgeon. Part one: "History and Poetical Structure of the
Psalms." Part two: "The Theology of the Psalms." Part three:
"Notices Regarding the Use of the Psalms in the Church." Indexed, 424
pages.
BLAIKE,
ALEXANDER
A
Catechism on Praise (1854)
"In brief space, and a
clear, calm, scriptural way, this little manual covers, we conceive, the entire
ground of the Psalmody question, and will meet a cordial reception from all the
friends of the inspired songs and a simple worship" (Christian Instructor
magazine).
DICK,
JAMES
Hymns
and Hymn Books (1883)
Greg Price calls this one of
the best short defences of exclusive Psalmody. It is excerpted from The Original
Covenanter magazine
(Dec, 1883, vol. 3, No. 12). Here is a taste of Dick's writing,
Hymns
of human composition are used so commonly now in public worship by Presbyterian
churches that it is difficult to believe that the practice is not a hundred
years old, and that in some of the churches it is of very recent date. On the
supposition that it is good and dutiful and wise to sing such hymns in worship,
it is equally difficult to account for the neglect of the churches at the time
of the Reformation, and for generations afterwards. What could have so
blinded the reformers as to make them reject hymns and sing the Psalms alone?
How could the Westminster Divines, in framing their Confession of Faith and
Directory for Worship, have been so unanimous in the blunder that the service
of praise is to consist of the 'singing of Psalms?' And apart from the aspect
of duty, how could the Presbyterian churches, for about a hundred and fifty or
two hundred years after the Westminster Assembly, have been so insensible to
the power of hymns as an attractive addition to their public services? We cannot by any means understand how
it was that, if it was dutiful to use hymns in worship, the reformers did not
discover the Scriptural warrant for the duty, especially as hymns had been used
for centuries by the Church of Rome. Nor can we understand how they rejected
the hymns and used the Psalms alone, unless on the supposition that they
believed the use of hymns to be part of the will-worship of Rome. If they were wrong on this point,
then Rome and our modern Presbyterian churches are right. In that case, the
Puritans and Covenanters were fanatics, and Romanists were truly enlightened!
And most of our Presbyterian churches of the present day were fanatical too,
and did not become truly enlightened and liberal till they got back to the
Romish practice!
GIBSON,
JAMES
The
Public Worship of God: Its Authority and Modes, Hymns and Hymn Books (1868)
Gibson was Professor of
Systematic Theology and Church History at Free Church College in Glasgow.
Written to promote the glory of God and the purity of His worship. The chapters
deal with Praise, Public Worship, Alleged Authority for Human Hymns, Historical
Argument for Human Hymns, How Hymn Books Were Introduced into Public Worship,
Instrumental Music, and a Review of Hymnbooks. An important book given the fact
that, "[t]he public worship of a church is a decisive measure of its true
spiritual condition" (Kevin Reed, John
Knox the Forgotten Reformer [ on the PHP CD, $98.98 at http://www.swrb.com/catalog/R.htm ], Presbyterian Heritage Publications,
p. 79).
MAGILL,
GEORGE (Chairman)
Psalm-Singers
Conference (1905)
While hardly any department of
the Psalmody question is entirely overlooked, several of its most important
aspects are more fully and satisfactorily dealt with than in any previous work
on the subject. 328 pages.
MANY
AUTHORS
The
True Psalmody; or, The Bible Psalms the Church's Only Manual of Praise (1878)
This book was originally "issued
at Philadelphia in 1859 by a committee of ministers from the Reformed
Presbyterian and United Presbyterian church of that city. A judicious
compilation of the finest argumentation from a number of 19th century writers,
the volume went through at least six American editions, the last in 1870. It
was also printed in Belfast, Ireland in 1867, and in 1878 at Edinbugh,
Scotland" (Isbell, Presbyterian Reformed magazine, vol. IX, No. 3, p. 111). In
our opinion, this is the best older American defense of the Reformed
practice of exclusive Psalmody,
as it covers some aspects of this debate not covered in any other publication.
212 pages.
M'MASTER,
GILBERT
An
Apology for the Book of Psalms in Five Letters (1852)
This book argues for exclusive
Psalmody. It includes a
detailed history (ancient [the Fathers, Augustine, Apostolic Constitutions,
etc.] and modern [Wickliffe, Luther, Calvin, etc., to the author's day]) of
Psalmody, gives reasons for retaining the book of Psalms and considers numerous
objections. It takes on both Watts (and his anti-Trinitarianism) and Wesley. 223 pages.
MCNAUGHER,
JOHN, ed.
The
Psalms in Worship
Dr. David Freeman (who was John
Murray's pastor in Philadelphia) said that the Psalms in Worship was the most comprehensive treatment
of this subject to be found anywhere.
This volume (of almost 600 pages) consists of material presented at two
conventions in 1905, promoting the claims of the Psalms in worship.
PRESSLY,
JOHN
Review
of Ralston's Inquiry into the Propriety of Using an Evangelical Psalmody in the
Worship of God (1848)
ROMAINE,
WILLIAM
Essay
on Psalmody (1880)
STEELE,
DAVID
Continuous
Singing
The title continues: "In
the Ordinary Public Worship of God, Considered in the Light of Scripture and
the Subordinate Standards of the Reformed Presbyterian Church; In Answer to
Some Letters of Inquiry Addressed to the Writer." Here Steele defends the
Apostolic practice of "lining out" the Psalms in public worship --
noting love for the brethren (i.e. young children, others that can not read,
etc.; but can join in the worship when the Psalms are lined) as the primary
motivation for this practice; in accord with God's command (1 Pet. 3:8).
(Instrumental
Music in Public Worship: A Popish Innovation!)
DABNEY,
R.L.
Dabney's
Review of Girardeau's Instrumental Music in Public Worship (1889)
GIRARDEAU,
JOHN
Instrumental
Music in the Public Worship of the Church (1888)
"To sing the praises of
God upon the harp and psaltery,"
says John Calvin, "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."
Written in 1888, this book was
highly praised by R.L. Dabney
(in a review which we have bound together with this printing). Dabney notes,
Dr.
Girardeau has defended the old usage of our church with a moral courage, loyalty to
truth, clearness of reasoning and wealth of learning which should make every true
Presbyterian proud of him, whether he adopts his conclusions or not. The
framework of his argument is this: it begins with that vital truth which no
Presbyterian can discard without a square desertion of our principles. The
man who contests this first premise had better set out at once for Rome: God is
to be worshipped only in the ways appointed in His Word. Every act of public cultus not
positively enjoined by Him is thereby forbidden. Christ and His apostles
ordained the musical worship of the New Dispensation without any sort of
musical instrument, enjoining only the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual
songs. Hence such instruments are excluded from Christian worship. Such has
been the creed of all churches, and in all ages, except for the Popish
communion after it had reached the nadir of its corruption at the end of the
thirteenth century, and of its prelatic imitators.
Arguments from Scripture,
history and creedal standards are all considered, while objections are noted
and countered. Defending the Apostolic (and later Puritan and Reformed)
position, against Popish innovations, Girardeau clearly lays down what God
requires in the area of public worship. Given the
present rejection of the regulative principle of worship (which is nothing less
than the biblical application of the second commandment) in most Protestant
quarters, this book is even more valuable today than when it was first written.
It contains the best discussion of biblical and godly guidelines regarding
worship in general, and the instrumental music question in particular, that has
come to us out of the 19th century. 208
pages.
GLASGOW,
JAMES
Heart
and Voice: Instruments in Christian Worship Not Authorized (1873)
"The Early church did not
use instrumental music in its worship.... They considered the practice as pagan
or Jewish rather than Christian. Dr. Hughes Oliphant Old, in his work The
Patristic Roots of Reformed Worship says: "As is well known, the ancient
church did not admit the use of instrumental music in worship. It was looked
upon as a form of worship which like the sacrifices of the Jerusalem temple
prefigured the worship in spirit and truth....'" (Needham, The
Presbyterian, #32, p. 35). This book contains advanced exegetical study of the
second commandment (from the Hebrew) and upholds the regulative principle of
worship. It's a vindication of the Westminster Confession against all
ritualistic practices that give the Church the power to decree rites and
ceremonies -- a power that denies the sovereignty of God. Glasgow proclaims
that he has "sought to vindicate the words of the Westminster
Confession," and has made his "appeal "to the law and to the
testimony." He also demonstrates why it was that many of the Reformers
regarded the use of instrumental music in public worship as the "badge of
Popery."
NEVIN,
ROBERT
Instrumental
Music in Christian Worship (1873)
Nice, moderately short (87 pages
of smaller type) refutation of this Popish innovation!
NEVIN,
ROBERT
Instrumental
Music in the Worship of God
An excellent short introduction
to this subject. Defends the regulative principle of worship, proves that the
use of instruments in the Old Testament was ceremonial, answers some major
objections from instrumentalists, and explains why this is not a trivial
matter.
AGAINST
ARMINIAN VIEWS OF THE LORD'S SUPPER (Calvinistic Close Communion
Versus Arminian Open Communion)
ANDERSON,
JOHN
Alexander
and Rufus; or a Series of Dialogues on Church Communion, in Two Parts. Part 1:
Vindication of Scriptural Church Communion in Opposition to Latitudinarian
Schemes. Part 2: Defence of the Communion Maintained in the Secession Church (1862)
Alexander and Rufus gives us an excellent defense of
biblically regulated close communion, which Anderson shows to be God's ordained
method of promoting truth, unity and Reformation.
BARROW,
REG
Calvin,
Covenanting and Close Communion (1996)
Demonstrates how social
covenanting and close communion were practiced by Calvin in Geneva. This book
is available in the "Free Books" file in every Reformation Bookshelf
CD.
BARROW,
REG
Publisher's
Preface to The Covenanted Reformation Defended Against Contemporary Schismatics
(1998).
In the free book section of this CD.
CHRYSTIE,
JAMES
Terms
of Church Union and Communion
After having witnessed
"Calvinists and avowed Arminians at the table of the Lord, under the influence
of a disposition to esteem their differences of no importance," the author
began to question his own loose views regarding terms of admission to the
Lord's supper. This eventually led to this book. Promotes the necessity of
agreement to faithful creeds and confessions, as prerequisites to unity and for
partaking at the Lord's table. Deals with: the difference between essentials
and non-essentials; which creeds are faithful; Calvin's and Augustine's views;
and the arguments from Holy Scripture.
GEORGE,
R.J.
Close
Communion
Covers the five major theories
of Church communion: 1. The Latitudinarian Theory; 2. The Visible Discipleship
Theory; 3. The Restricted Communion Theory; 4. The Occasional Communion Theory;
and 5. the Close Communion Theory. Shows how the theory of close communion
presents the true Scriptural doctrine of Church fellowship and answers
objections to the doctrine of close communion. An excellent short, easy reading
introduction.
LEE,
F.N.
Calvin's
Convincing Antipaedocommunionism
This fascinating book contains
much useful information concerning some of the first steps toward understanding
close communion in Calvin's writing and thought (for more see Reg Barrow's Calvin, Close Communion, and the Coming Reformation),
while primarily demonstrating how Calvin refuted the very dangerous error of
paedocommunion -- which is a form of open communion. This book is in the
"free books" file in all the Reformation Bookshelf CDs.
REFORMED
PRESBYTERY
An
Explanation and Defence of the Terms of Communion, Adopted by the Community of
Dissenters, etc.
Defends the inescapable
necessity of creeds and confessions, while promoting a fully creedal church
membership. Shows how
the law of God obliges all Christians "to think the same things, and to
speak the same things; holding fast the form of sound words, and keeping the
ordinances as they have been delivered to us" (Col. 3:13). After laying
some basic groundwork, this book proceeds to defend the six points of the
"Terms of Ministerial and Christian Communion Agreed Upon by the Reformed
Presbytery." These six points are the most conservative and
comprehensive short statements of consistent Presbyterianism you will likely
ever see. Besides the
obvious acknowledgement of the alone infallible Scriptures, the Westminster
Standards, and the divine right of Presbyterianism, these points also maintain
the perpetual obligation of our Covenants, National and Solemn League, the
Renovation of these covenants at Auchensaugh in 1712, and the Judicial Act,
Declaration and Testimony
emitted by the Reformed Presbytery. In short, this book sets forth
adherence to the whole of the covenanted reformation, in both church and state,
as it has been attained by our covenanting forefathers.
UNKNOWN
Ecclesiastical
Fellowship Versus Free Communion
Works out the implications of
open communion by exhibiting its destructiveness to the discipline of the
visible church. The author says that open (or free) communion "is the
secret enemy of all constitutional government -- of all distinctive truth -- of
all purity of worship -- and of all ecclesiastical discipline."
AGAINST
ARMINIAN VIEWS OF SALVATION
(Calvinistic
Soteriology)
AUGUSTINE
A
Treatise on the Predestination of the Saints (c. 428)
Augustine was the great
forerunner to the Reformation and it was on books like this that Luther,
Calvin, and the other magisterial Reformers cut their teeth. The corrupted
demon seed of Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism (later being refined into
Arminianism), being just newly planted by the wicked one in Augustine's day,
has grown into a massive tree in our day. Its poison fruit now feeds most of
the branches of ecclesiastical antichrist: from Rome, to the liberal Protestant
churches and the cults, and now even reaching all the way into the very heart
of so-called "evangelical" Protestant churches (of all varieties). This
soul destroying heresy has reached pandemic proportions among professing
"Christians" in our day.
Ironically, this work of Augustine is probably more needed in our day than it
was in his -- over a millennium and a half later.
BAILLIE,
ROBERT
The
Canterburians Self-Conviction: or an evident demonstration of the avowed
Arminianisme, Poperie, and tyrannie of that faction, by their owne
confessions.... (1641)
Baillie was one of the Scottish
commissioners to the Westminster Assembly. The two predominant heresies addressed by Baillie in
this book still cover much of the professing Christian world today; these
being: (1.) false, man-centered views of salvation (Arminianism and
Pelagianism) and (2.) false man-centered views of worship (Liturgical
innovationism: either high church or Charismatic). "Baillie fought hard against
Arminianism" noted Johnston (The Treasury of the Scottish Covenant, p. 310); making this book especially
valuable for today! This is the third edition of 128 pages, plus a 28 page
postscript.
BROWN,
HENRY
Arminian
Inconsistencies and Errors; In Which It Is Shown That All the Distinctive
Doctrines of the Presbyterian Confession of Faith are Taught by Standard
Writers of the Methodist Episcopal Church (1856)
This title focuses on the
doctrine of salvation, especially the five points of Calvinism. It contrasts
Calvinism with Arminianism throughout. Wesley's distinctive positions
(aberrations) also receive much special attention -- including his views of
sanctification and original sin.
COLES,
ELISHA
God's
Sovereignty, A Practical Discourse
A Puritan work recommended by
Charles Spurgeon, John Owen, Thomas Goodwin and William Romaine. Owen, in
particular, marvels at Coles' singular reliance on Scripture alone to vindicate
God's sovereignty, as it relates to election, redemption, effectual calling,
and the perseverance of the saints.
Originally published in 1673, this is the 1831 edition. 298 pages.
EDWARDS,
JONATHAN
Total
Depravity, Obtaining Salvation and Miscellaneous Discourses
GILL,
JOHN
The
Cause of God and Truth
An exegetical work on the five
points of Calvinism and reprobation. The Preface states that "this work
was published at a time when the nation was greatly alarmed with the growth of
Popery," and that rather than just "lopping off the branches of
Popery, the axe should be laid to the root of the tree, Arminianism and
Pelagianism, the very life and soul of Popery."
LANDIS,
ROBERT W.
The
Doctrine of Original Sin, as Received and Taught by the Churches of the
Reformation Stated and Defended, and the Error of Dr. Hodge in Claiming that
this Doctrine Recognizes the Gratuitous Imputation of Sin, Pointed Out and
Refuted (1844)
Considered a classic in its
field, this book of over 550 pages takes on Charles Hodge and his views
concerning original sin.
The author states that the "doctrine concerning Imputation and Original
Sin" as taught "for many years past, in the Theological School at
Princeton" is a "radical departure from... recognized Augustinian
theology, or Calvinism." The author also notes "that the difference
in this issue is fundamental to evangelical doctrine. The design of the present
tractate, therefore, is to furnish a thorough historical, theological, and
exegetical discussion of the essential points which this issue involves." Furthermore,
Landis writes (concerning Hodge's view) that "the church herself can
ultimately and logically have no possible alternative but either to abandon all
the distinctive principles of the Augustinian or evangelical system of
doctrine, or to reject this (i.e. Hodge's--RB) theory utterly and in all its
parts."
KNOX,
JOHN
Against
an Anabaptist: In Defense of Predestination
Curt Daniel calls this "Knox's
major theological work."
Moreover, he states that this is "more than a short answer (to the
Anabaptist--RB, 468 pages), it is a complete exposition and defence of the
Reformed doctrine at the height of the Scottish Reformation" which helped "guide early
Presbyterianism and build the theological bridge between Edinburgh and Geneva." This work was much esteemed by
Knox's Puritan friends in England and "Calderwood, in summing up Knox's
character, remarks: 'How profound he was in divinity, that work of his upon
Predestination may give evidence"
(Laing. ed., p. 17). Quoting freely from Calvin, his major influence in this
work, Knox lays low the heresy that man plays any part in his own salvation. This heresy, of man's pretended ability
to save himself (in any way), is at the root of all defection from the
sovereign God of Scripture and is rampant today! As Kevin Reed notes, in
refuting this Anabaptist, Knox unequivocally states, "For with the
Pelagians and papists, you have become teachers of free will, and defenders of
your own justice," clearly recognizing that, "the defence of man's
free will, to do good and avoid evil," is "the damned heresy of
Pelagius."
NESS,
CHRISTOPHER
An
Antidote Against Arminianism (1700)
Recommended by John Owen, John
Gill, and Augustus Toplady. An easy-to-read but devastating critique of the
Arminian heresy. A treatise to refute all five points of Arminianism, setting
forth predestination and the five points of Calvinism clearly and forcefully,
along with numerous Scripture proofs.
OWEN,
JOHN
A
Display of Arminianism: Being A Discovery of the Old Pelagian Idol of Free
Will, With the New Goddess Contingency Advancing Themselves Into the Throne of
the God of Heaven, to the Prejudice of His Grace, Providence, and Supreme
Dominion Over the Children of Men...
This was Owen's first
publication (1642) and immediately brought him into notice. It contains
numerous useful charts contrasting Arminian doctrines, from some of their major
teachers, with those of Scripture (Calvinism) in a side-by-side format. Owen
leaves no room for compromise with Arminianism as he shows why this is, when
sincerely believed, a dangerous, devilish and damnable heresy!
RICE,
N.L.
God
Sovereign and Man Free: or the Doctrine of Divine Foreordination and Man's Free
Moral Agency, Stated, Illustrated, and Proved from Scriptures (1850)
SPURGEON,
CHARLES H.
Spurgeon's
Sovereign Grace Sermons
Completely retypeset and
unedited, this book (of 188 pages) contains ten stirring Spurgeon sermons
focusing on the sovereignty of God, the five points of Calvinism and the
triumph of Christ as King.
Sermons included are:
1.
God's Will and Man's Will
2. High Doctrine
3. The Sure Triumph of the
Crucified One
4. The Perpetuity of the Law
of God
5. The Unconquerable King
6. Human Inability
7. Christ's Work No Failure
8. Christ Crucified
9. The Doctrines of Grace Do
Not Lead to Sin
10. Election.
TOPLADY,
AUGUSTUS
A
Letter to John Wesley Relative to His Pretended Abridgment of Zanchius on
Predestination
Toplady here documents Wesley's
deliberate lies and deception concerning Calvinism. He shows how Wesley
abridged certain Calvinistic writings and attributed the abridgments to
Toplady. This book also exposes Wesley as a plagiarist, pointing out his
pro-monarchy and anti-American sentiments.
TRAILL,
ROBERT
Select
Practical Writings of Robert Traill
Traill was a persecuted
covenanter, 1642-1716. His father was once severely wounded when he refused to
submit to Cromwell, during a siege by the English army at Edinburgh, and was
later imprisoned by Charles II. Thus he (Robert) learned early of hardships
brought by faithfulness to truth. Later he was forced to flee Scotland because
of Prelatical persecution. In Holland, a shelter for persecuted Presbyterians,
he assisted in publishing Rutherford's Examination of Arminianism. When he returned to Scotland, he risked
his life to preach (without Episcopalian ordination) at field conventicles, a
capital offence in those days. This is the 1845 edition and clearly shows the
excellence of Traill's works. Written during the times of life and death
struggles for Christ's crown and covenant, these are no ivory tower essays.
Contains: "By What Means May Ministers Best Win Souls," "The
Protestant Doctrine of Justification Vindicated from the Charge of
Antinomianism," and
much more.
ZANCHIUS,
JEROM
The
Doctrine of Absolute Predestination
Atherton calls this "one
of the best, if not the best book ever issued on Absolute Predestination."
This
CD contains the 101 FREE bonus books and articles
listed in the summary for Reformation Bookshelf CD #1 ( http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-bookshelf-CDs.htm ).
Also free on this CD are the following audio (MP3)
tracks:
John Calvin - Election and
Reprobation: Concerning Jacob and Esau #6
Reformed Presbytery - An
Explanation and Defence of the Terms of Communion, Adopted by the Community of
Dissenters, etc. (1/2)
Reformed Presbytery - An
Explanation and Defence of the Terms of Communion, Adopted by the Community of
Dissenters, etc. (2/2)
R.J. George
- The Badge of Popery: Musical Instruments in Public Worship
Greg Price - Corrupt Worship &
God's Anger With the Church and the Nations (Micah Series, Micah 1:1-7)
Greg Price - What is Biblical
(Presbyterian) Worhsip?
Greg Price - Regulative Principle of
Worship in the Old Testament
Greg Price - Regulative Principle of Worship
in the New Testament
Greg Price - Exclusive Psalmody 1/7
(Inspired Song vs. Uninspired Song)
Greg Price - Exclusive Psalmody 2/7
(God's Covenant Songs in Worship)
Greg Price - Exclusive Psalmody 3/7
(Sufficiency of the Psalter)
Greg Price - Exclusive Psalmody 4/7
(Exclusive Psalmody & the Regulative Principle)
Greg Price - Exclusive Psalmody 5/7
(Exclusive Psalmody in Church History)
Greg Price - Exclusive Psalmody 6/7
(& the Westminster Standards)
Greg Price - Exclusive Psalmody 7/7
(Objections to Exclusive Psalmody Answered)
Lyndon Dohms and Family - 50 Suggested
Tunes for Use With the Scottish Metrical Psalter
John Howie - Biographia Scoticana: or,
A Brief Historical Account of the Lives, Characters, and Memorable Transactions
of the Most Eminent Scots Worthies (2/21) (Second
edition, corrected and enlarged, 1781)
This CD
contains approximately ???? pages of material.
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REFORMATION CD SUPER SALE ENDS SOON
(at the end of the day on this coming Monday, September 13, 2010) (click on
the first link below for details)!
Reformation CD set (30 CDs): Reformation Bookshelf CD
Series Super Sale
http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/reformation-bookshelf-CDs.htm
"Still Waters Revival Books... have
released an incredible array of... compact disks which contain over 2,000
titles of some of the best Reformation and Calvinistic books ever written.
It is by far the best and widest collection of Reformed literature ever
assembled...
more"
- The Five Points of Calvinism: Defined,
Defended, and Documented, Second (Special 40th Anniversary) Edition, Updated and
Expanded (p. 76, 2004, Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company) by David
N. Steele, Curtis C. Thomas, and S. Lance Quinn, Foreword by Roger Nicole,
Afterword by John MacArthur (emphases added).
Resource 1. CALVIN,
JOHN
Necessity of Reforming the
Church
(1544)
C.H.
Spurgeon once said, "[t]he longer I live the clearer does it appear that John
Calvin's system is the nearest to perfection." (cited in Christian
History
magazine, Vol. 5, No. 4). Ironically, Credenda
Agenda (a magazine that denounces
those who uphold what Calvin teaches about worship in this book) reviewed this
work stating,
...the relevance of Calvin's book today is exceptional. Apart from the grace of
God, the human heart never changes. Men have always loved external religion,
and unless God saves them, they always will. But God demands heart religion...
His writing is relevant because the church today is in dire need of a similar
reformation and revival. Like Calvin, some few believers today see 'the present
condition of the Church... to be very miserable, and almost desperate.' Our
context is different in one key respect however. The church needing reformation
in Calvin's day was the tradition-encrusted church of Rome. Shortly after the
Reformation, for those leaving Rome behind, two streams became apparent. One
was the stream of classical Protestant orthodoxy, represented today by a
handful of Gideons in their desktop publishing winevats. The other was the left
wing of the Reformation -- the anabaptist movement. In the early years, the
anabaptists were suffering outsiders. But today the anabaptist church is the
Establishment -- an establishment governed by a chaos of traditions instead of
biblical worship. Everywhere we look we see
Christians approaching God with observances in worship which Calvin calls 'the
random offspring of their own brain' (which
was Calvin's way of rebuking those who reject the regulative principle of
worship; which ironically, the writers of this very statement [Credenda
Agenda] do--RB).
Though this
work is not an elaborate systematic presentation of the foundations of
Christianity, such as Calvin's Institutes, it has still
been correctly acknowledged as one of the most important documents of the
Reformation. Calvin here pleads the cause
dearest to his heart before an assembly perhaps the most august that Europe
could have furnished in that day. It has been said that the animated style used
by Calvin in this work would not lose by comparison with any thing in the
celebrated "Dedication" prefixed to his Institutes. To this day, The Necessity of Reforming
the Church
remains a powerful weapon, both defensive and offensive, to fight the
contemporary battle for true doctrine, faithful (or biblically regulated)
worship and Scriptural church government. Here, in one of Calvin's classic
works, we find the answers to many of the vexing questions which continue to agitate
the Church in our day -- over four and a half centuries after this great
Reformer first penned these words. 114 pages.
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THIS ITEM IS ALSO AVAILABLE on THE NEW
Presbyterian Heritage Publications CD ($US98.98), along with the whole PHP
collection. For the complete contents of this CD see: http://www.swrb.com/Puritan/presbyterian-heritage.htm ). Calvin's The
Necessity of Reforming the Church is also FREE on our web page at: http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/NRC_ch00.htm
Resource 2.
BUSHELL, MICHAEL
The Songs of Zion: A
Contemporary Case for Exclusive Psalmody (third edition, 1999)
Contains one of the best
explanations of the Scriptural law of worship (also known as the regulative
principle of worship) in print today. For this and a number of other
reasons this is one of the most significant books published this century
concerning worship! Furthermore, it demonstrates and defends (from Scripture,
history and the creeds) the Reformation practice of exclusive Psalmody. It
dovetails splendidly with Eire's celebrated War Against the Idols, setting forth foundational principles that lay at the very heart of
Reformation thought, theology and practice.
For as Bushell points out, "Purity of worship and uniformity of worship go
hand in hand because they are both founded upon the assumption that the
Scriptures contain clear, sufficient and authoritative directions as to the
proper way of worshiping God. The diversity of worship practice that we see in
our churches arises ultimately from a denial of this assumption, and it
constitutes, therefore, a denial of a central aspect of the doctrine of the
sufficiency of Scripture. There is much more at stake, then, in this whole
discussion than the mere observance or non-observance of a few external
rites" (2nd edition, 1993, p. 3). If you
are a Calvinist and have not read this book, you are missing a real treat!
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Resource 3.
GIRARDEAU, JOHN
Instrumental Music in the
Public Worship of the Church (1888)
"To
sing the praises of God upon the harp and psaltery," says John Calvin, "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." Calvin continues:
With
respect to the tabret, harp, and psaltery, we have formerly observed, and will
find it necessary afterwards to repeat the same remark, that the Levites, under
the law, were justified in making use of instrumental music in the worship of
God; it having been his will to train his people, while they were yet tender
and like children, by such rudiments until the coming of Christ. But now, when the clear light of the gospel has dissipated
the shadows of the (ceremonial--RB) law and taught us that God is to be served
in a simpler form, it would be to act a foolish and mistaken part to imitate
that which the prophet enjoined only upon those of his own time.
Calvin further observes,
We
are to remember that the worship of God was never understood to consist in such
outward services, which were only necessary to help forward a people as yet
weak and rude in knowledge in the spiritual worship of God. A difference is to be observed in this respect between
his people under the Old and under the New Testament; for now that Christ has
appeared, and the church has reached full age, it were only to bury the light
of the gospel should we introduce the shadows of a departed dispensation. From this it appears that the Papists, as I shall have
occasion to show elsewhere, in employing instrumental music cannot be said so
much to imitate the practice of God's ancient people as to ape it in a
senseless and absurd manner, exhibiting a silly delight in that worship of the
Old Testament which was figurative and terminated with the gospel.
Written in
1888, this book was highly praised by R.L. Dabney
(in a review which we have bound together with this printing). Dabney notes,
Dr.
Girardeau has defended the old usage of our church
with a moral courage, loyalty to truth, clearness of
reasoning and wealth of learning which should make every true
Presbyterian proud of him, whether he adopts his conclusions or not. The
framework of his argument is this: it begins with that vital truth which no
Presbyterian can discard without a square desertion of our principles. The man who contests this first premise had better set
out at once for Rome: God is to be worshipped only in the ways appointed in His
Word. Every act of public cultus not positively enjoined by Him is
thereby forbidden. Christ and His apostles ordained the musical worship of the
New Dispensation without any sort of musical instrument, enjoining only the
singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Hence such instruments are
excluded from Christian worship. Such has been the
creed of all churches, and in all ages, except for the Popish communion after
it had reached the nadir of its corruption at the end of the thirteenth
century, and of its prelatic imitators.
Arguments from
Scripture, history and creedal standards are all considered, while objections
are noted and countered. Defending the Apostolic (and later Puritan and
Reformed) position, against Popish innovations, Girardeau clearly lays down
what God requires in the area of public worship. Given
the present rejection of the regulative principle of worship (which is nothing
less than the biblical application of the second commandment) in most
Protestant quarters, this book is even more valuable today than when it was
first written. It contains the best discussion of biblical and godly
guidelines regarding worship in general, and the instrumental music question in
particular, that has come to us out of the 19th century. 208 pages.
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Resource 4. PRICE,
GREG
Foundation for Reformation:
The Regulative Principle of Worship (1995)
"The central focus
of Reformed Protestantism was its interpretation of worship,"
points out Eire (War Against the Idols [$US39.95], p. 3). Acknowledging this
fact in the idea that the regulative principle is just
the application of sola Scriptura and the sovereignty of God to worship,
Price convincingly argues for a return to Scriptural purity in worship. He
maintains the regulative principle of worship,
in all its beauty and splendor, as that which came from the hand of God, and as
an indispensable component of true Christian piety.
Furthermore, it should be noted, that "it is also important to realize that the regulative
principle also provides the basis for the positive work of reformation. That
is, it not only requires the exclusion of man-made worship; but it points us to
the divine pattern of true worship" (Kevin Reed, John Knox:
The Forgotten Reformer, [PHP CD, $98.98). Little children, keep yourselves from
idols. Amen. (1 John 5:21). A antidote to
Arminianism in worship.
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RELATED RESOURCES
Greg Price cassettes on sale at
50% off our already discounted
price until September 13, 2010 -- only
$1.98 US funds each!
The Regulative Principle of
Worship
2 cassettes, $7.96 [$3.96 until September 13, 2010]
Exclusive Psalmody Series
7 tapes, $27.86 [$13.86 until September 13, 2010]
Individual titles in this series
include:
1. Exclusive Psalmody (1/7)
Inspired Song Vs Uninspired Song, $3.98 [$1.98
until September 13, 2010]
2. Exclusive Psalmody (2/7)
God's Covenant Songs in Worship, $3.98 [$1.98
until September 13, 2010]
3. Exclusive Psalmody (3/7)
The Sufficiency of the Psalter, $3.98 [$1.98
until September 13, 2010]
4. Exclusive Psalmody (4/7)
Exclusive Psalmody & the Regulative Principle, $3.98 [$1.98 until September 13, 2010]
5. Exclusive Psalmody (5/7)
Exclusive Psalmody in Church History, $3.98 [$1.98
until September 13, 2010]
6. Exclusive Psalmody (6/7)
Exclusive Psalmody & the Westminster Standards, $3.98 [$1.98 until September 13, 2010]
7. Exclusive Psalmody (7/7)
Objections to Exclusive Psalmody Answered, $3.98 [$1.98
until September 13, 2010]
Instrumental Music in Public
Worship
2 cassettes, $7.96 [$3.96 until September 13, 2010]
Terms of Communion:
Presbyterian Worship and Government
2 cassettes, $7.96 [$3.96 until September 13, 2010]
Christmass Condemned By Christ
Some great teaching on the application of the
regulative principle of worship.
3 cassettes, $11.94 [$5.94 until September 13, 2010]
Micah 1:1-7 (#1) Corrupt
Worship & God's Anger With the Church & the Nations (1998)
Cassette, $3.98 [$1.98 until September 13, 2010]
You Saw No Form (Images &
the Regulative Principle)
Cassette, $3.98 [$1.98 until September 13, 2010]
Pictures of Christ and Idolatry
Cassette, $3.98 [$1.98 until September 13, 2010]
Motives for Pure Worship
2 cassettes, $7.96 [$3.96 until September 13, 2010]
I John #27 (Keep Yourselves
From Idols)
Cassette, $3.98 [$1.98 until September 13, 2010]
Resource 5. EIRE,
CARLOS M.N.
War Against the Idols: The
Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin
Eire shows that
as the Reformation progressed the primary focus of
the Reformers became upholding God's sovereign prerogative in worship -- what
today is called the regulative principle of worship. Eire's War Against the Idols demonstrates the extent
of the Reformers clear condemnation of Arminianism
in worship (i.e. will-worship [Col. 2:23]) in rejecting all elements of worship
that did not have Scriptural warrant. In fact, Calvin was so intent
on highlighting this point, concerning the centrality of worship (and the
application of Sola Scriptura as exhibited in the regulative principle of worship),
that he placed worship ahead of salvation in his list of the two most important
elements of Biblical Christianity. Regarding Calvin's On the Necessity of
Reforming the Church
Eire notes,
Calvin
speaks about the nature of worship and about the seriousness of the sin of
idolatry in his 1543 treatise, On the Necessity of Reforming the Church, where he concentrates on
the significance of worship for the Christian religion. Calvin's argument, as
indicated by the title of the treatise, is that the Church had reached such a
corrupt state that its reform could wait no longer. The
most significant aspect of corruption singled out by Calvin is the perversion
of worship, and it is in explaining this issue that he set forth the
basis for his attack on idolatry.
Calvin
begins by studying the place that worship holds in the Christian faith, and he concludes
that it is one of the two elements that define Christianity:
If
it be asked, then, by what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing
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 right way to worship God; and
secondly of the source from which salvation is to be sought. When these are
kept out of view, though we may glory in the name of Christians, our profession
is empty and vain. (War Against the Idols, p. 198, citing from
Calvin's On the Necessity of Reforming the Church [FREE at: http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualnls/NRC_ch00.htm ] , emphases added).
The scholarly translational work found in Eire's book
also gives insights into the worship question not
found in any other English history books (concerning Calvin, Knox, and a
host of others) -- for it contains much from
previously untranslated (into English, that is) Reformation documents.
A large portion
of this book centers on Calvin, but its major thrust is to reveal the single most burning issue confronting the Reformers:
purity of worship! Furthermore, this book's teaching regarding the
Reformers (and their view of the Scriptural law of worship) is as applicable
today as it was in the days of the first Reformation -- for it brings to light the time-tested Biblical principles which
guard against the errors, excesses, and idolatries of the Roman harlot (Roman
Catholicism), Eastern Orthodoxy and all liturgical innovators on one hand and
the modern "evangelicals" (including the sub-Reformed movement headed
up by the likes of Steve Schlissel, John Frame, Doug Wilson et al.), Anabaptists and Charismatics on the other. This is, without a doubt, one of the best
Reformation history books available -- stirring, scholarly, relevant and
edifying!
As far as we
know this book may be out of print in the near future, so those interested
would be advised to obtain a copy as soon as possible.
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FREE! (Contra
Schlissel's Denial of Reformed Worship)
An irenic letter written to a PCA
elder, regarding Steve Schlissel's recent attacks on historic Reformed
(biblical) worship, is FREE at: http://www.cashflows.org/rpw.htm
A Brief Critique of Steven M.
Schlissel's Articles Against the Regulative Principle of Worship, by Brian M.
Schwertley, is free at: http://reformedonline.com/view/reformedonline/schlissel.htm
Resource 6.
GILLESPIE, GEORGE
A Dispute Against the English
Popish Ceremonies Obtruded on the Church of Scotland (1637,
reprinted from the 1660 edition)
George Gillespie was one of the Scottish
commissioners to the Westminster Assembly, the youngest member there, and
undoubtedly one of the most influential. William Hetherington observes "The effect produced by this singularly able work may be
conjectured from the fact that within a few months of its publication, a
proclamation was issued by the Privy Council, at the instigation of the
Bishops, commanding that all copies of the book that could be found be called
in and burned by the hangman. Such was the only answer that all the learned
Scottish Prelates could give to a treatise written by a youth who was only in
his twenty-fifth year when it appeared" ("Memoir,"
from the Works of George Gillespie, p. xviii.). James Bannerman notes, "This was Gillespie's first work, and it may be truly said
to have settled the controversy which called it forth, so far as argument was
concerned. No answer to it was ever attempted by the Prelatic party; and no
answer was possible. It displays singular acuteness, learning, and force of
reasoning; and the thoroughness of the discussion is as remarkable as the power
with which it is conducted" (The Church of Christ, vol. 2., p. 435). Possibly the best uninspired book ever written on
biblical worship, an extensive and thorough masterpiece that leaves no stone
unturned. For advanced study.
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Resource 7. DICK,
JAMES
Hymns and Hymn Books (1883)
Greg
Price calls this one of the best short defences of exclusive Psalmody. It is excerpted from The
Original Covenanter magazine (Dec, 1883, vol. 3, No. 12). Here is a taste of
Dick's writing,
Hymns
of human composition are used so commonly now in public worship by Presbyterian
churches that it is difficult to believe that the practice is not a hundred
years old, and that in some of the churches it is of very recent date. On the
supposition that it is good and dutiful and wise to sing such hymns in worship,
it is equally difficult to account for the neglect of the churches at the time
of the Reformation, and for generations afterwards. What
could have so blinded the reformers as to make them reject hymns and sing the
Psalms alone? How could the Westminster Divines, in framing their Confession of
Faith and Directory for Worship, have been so unanimous in the blunder that the
service of praise is to consist of the 'singing of Psalms?' And apart from the
aspect of duty, how could the Presbyterian churches, for about a hundred and
fifty or two hundred years after the Westminster Assembly, have been so
insensible to the power of hymns as an attractive addition to their public
services? We cannot by any means understand how it was that, if
it was dutiful to use hymns in worship, the reformers did not discover the Scriptural
warrant for the duty, especially as hymns had been used for centuries by the
Church of Rome. Nor can we understand how they
rejected the hymns and used the Psalms alone, unless on the supposition that
they believed the use of hymns to be part of the will-worship of Rome. If they were wrong on this point, then Rome and our modern
Presbyterian churches are right. In that case, the Puritans and Covenanters
were fanatics, and Romanists were truly enlightened! And most of our
Presbyterian churches of the present day were fanatical too, and did not become
truly enlightened and liberal till they got back to the Romish practice!
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