In the German language, Schwerpunkt is the word
for a point of emphasis. And one of the main Schwerpunkte of Puritanism
is the regulative principle of worship and church-government. Today’s
post is a summary of what that principle is, and in later posts we’ll be
looking at what Scriptures it is based on and what specific Reformed authors
had to say about it.
To give a simple definition, the Reformed regulative
principle states that, in addition to not performing acts of worship that are
directly condemned in God’s Word (i.e. idol worship), we are also not
permitted to add anything to the worship of God and the government of His
Church beyond what His Word has commanded, except what is required to maintain general
decency and order.
Now, why is the regulative principle important? Or, more
to the heart of the matter, why should we care? What does it mean for us?
Well, Jesus said that if we love him, we will keep his
commandments (Jn. 14:21), and the apostle John (1Jn. 5:3) went so far as to say
that the love of God is keeping his commandments. And this should make a
basic kind of sense to most of us. In a romantic relationship, if I say I
love my fiancée, but when it comes time for her birthday, I show that love by
giving her a present that she doesn’t really want, that says something very
profound about me. It says I either don’t know my beloved well enough, or that
I don’t care enough to serve her in a way that would please her. God is not so
different. If we say we love Him, we need to serve Him in exactly the
way He has told us will please Him.
Now, a difficulty I have with many contemporary Reformed
authors who are writing about the regulative principle for a popular audience
is that, having defined it, they explain how it works without any reference
whatsoever to how classical Reformed authors defined it. But it’s important
that we do this so that we can be sure that the regulative principle as we
are practicing it is the same regulative principle it has always been. That’s
why one of the priorities of Achtung-Puritaner! as a blog is to point
you to primary sources.
But which primary sources should we start from? Well, whenever
you want to learn about what a group of people believes, the first thing you
should do, before you go digging around for particular authors, is find some
kind of consensus statement of their beliefs. That will give a good broad
understanding of the belief, and then hopefully as you read specific authors
you can answer any lingering questions you have.
So if we want to find consensus statements of the
Reformed doctrine of the regulative principle, our best starting points would
be the two most popular official confessions of faith in Reformed history: the
Belgic Confession (1561) and the Westminster Confession (1647).
The Belgic Confession (1561)
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| The Belgic Confession |
So, the Belgic Confession (La Confession de foi
des églises réformées Walonnes et Flamandes), was first written in 1561 in French
by the Walloon pastor Guido de Brès with assistance from some of his colleagues.
(Wallonia is the French-speaking part of southern Belgium.) The Confession was
subsequently revised by the Frenchman François du Jon in 1566. This 1566
edition was adopted by various Dutch Reformed synods of the late 16th century
before it was finally revised again at the Second Synod of Dordt in 1619. Most
Reformed churches of the Dutch and German traditions today hold to some form of
the 1619 edition.
With respect to the regulative principle of worship and
church-government, Article XXXII of the
Belgic Confession (1619 edition) reads,
In the mean time we believe though it is useful and
beneficial that those who are rulers of the Church institute and establish
certain ordinances among themselves, for maintaining the body of the Church;
yet they ought studiously to take care that they do not depart from those
things which Christ, our only master, hath instituted. [Col. 2:6,7] And,
therefore, we reject all human inventions, and all laws which man would
introduce into the worship of God, thereby to bind and compel the conscience in
any manner whatever. [1Cor. 7:23, Matt. 15:9, Is. 29:13, Gal. 5:1, Rom.
16:17,18] Therefore we admit only of that which tends to nourish and preserve
concord and unity, and to keep all men in obedience to God. [1] [2]
We can note a couple of things here. First, we see that
the Confession forbids the Church from adding anything to the worship of God
that Christ himself did not command. Second, we notice that an exception is
made for “ordinances” that the Church makes only for the purpose of preserving
unity and maintaining obedience.
Therefore, there are only two categories of things that
the Church may arrange for worship and government: (1) institutions of
Christ given by commandment, and (2) ordinances of the Church made for
the general purpose of decency and order.
In present-day terminology, most people would call these
“elements” and “circumstances” of worship. But we must be careful not to jump
to the conclusion that the Belgic Confession’s theology is exactly the same as
ours just because it looks the same on the surface. Remember, what we just read
was a summary of belief that was intended to be read by a general
audience. We will need to dig a little deeper into contemporary writings to
find out exactly what the writers of the Confession would have included under
the categories of institutions and ordinances. Which I intend to
do in a later post.
The Westminster Confession (1647)
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| The Westminster Confession |
For now, let us move on to the Westminster Confession
(The Humble Advice of the Assembly of Divines, Now by Authority of
Parliament Sitting at Westminster, Concerning a Confession of Faith). In
the 1640s, England had erupted into a state of civil war. It was Cavaliers
versus Roundheads, Anglicans versus Puritans, Royalists versus
Parliamentarians. The Puritans who led the English Parliament in revolt against
King Charles I. forged an alliance with the Scottish Presbyterians and, under
oath, hashed out a united confession of faith that was intended to reform the
church of England, Scotland, and Ireland. This was the Westminster Confession,
completed in 1646 and printed in 1647. The Puritans and Presbyterians won the
civil war, but lost the peace, yet the Westminster Confession was preserved until
the present day within the various Presbyterian churches of Scotland and their
spin-offs in America.
Concerning the regulative principle, the 1647 printing reads
in Chapter I, Section vi.:
The whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary
for His own glory, man’s salvation, faith and life, is either expressly set
down in Scripture, or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from
Scripture; unto which nothing at any time is to be added, whether by new
revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men. [2Tim. 3:15-17, Gal. 1:8,9,
2Thess. 2:2] Nevertheless we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit
of God to be necessary for the saving, understanding of such things as are
revealed in the Word: [Jn. 6:45, 1Cor. 2:9,10,12] And that there are some
circumstances concerning the worship of God, and the government of the Church,
common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of
Nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word,
which are always to be observed. [1Cor. 11:13,14; 14:26,40] [3]
Note that, like we saw in the Belgic Confession, the
Westminster Confession only describes two categories of things in relation to
worship and church-government: (1) things necessary, and (2) circumstances.
However, there is a slight difference of detail in the
second category. The Belgic only speaks of ordinances as arrangements made to
maintain unity and obedience. The Westminster specifies that circumstances of
worship and government must be determined by (a) the light of Nature and (b)
the general rules of Scripture.
Nevertheless, there are no inconsistencies between the
Belgic and Westminster confessions. They both summarize the regulative
principle in the same way: There are some circumstance-ordinances of worship
and government that must be arranged to keep decency and order, but apart from
those, only necessary institutions of God are allowed.
Conclusion
Let us bear these things in mind as we approach God in
worship, whether in public or as families or in private. If you are in a
Presbyterian or Reformed church and have doubts about whether its worship
practices are binding on your conscience, ask yourself: (a) Is it commanded or
even just hinted at in Scripture? If so, then it is a necessary institution.
(b) If it is not even hinted at in Scripture, is it being done to meet the
general requirement that worship be decent and orderly, without any extra religious
significance? If so, then it is a circumstance-ordinance. (c) If it is neither
even hinted at nor required for decency and order, am I not displeasing God by
participating in it?
In subsequent posts, we will move beyond summary and
examine the writings of various early Reformers and Puritans to see, in detail,
what constitutes a necessary institution and what constitutes a
circumstance-ordinance. However, before that, in my very next post, I would
like to take some time to review the proof texts of the Belgic and Westminster
confessions.
Remember, Haltet ihr seine Gebote, und lasset alles ehrbar und ordentlich zugehen—Keep his
commandments, and let all things be done decently and in order.
---NOTES---
[2] The 1562 French edition of the
Belgic Confession can
be accessed for free here:
http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k114504k.r=.langEN.
In the original French print, Article XXXII reads, “
Nous croyons cependant, que combien qu’il ſoit
vtile & bō aux gouuerneurs des Égliſes, d’or donner certain ordre entr’eux,
pour l’entretenemēt du corps de l’Égliſe, qui’ils ſe doyuēt toutesfois biē
garder de decliner de ce que Chriſt noſtre ſeul maiſtre nous a ordōné :
& pourtāt nous reiettons toutes inuentions humaines, et toutes loix qu’onvoudrait
introduire pour ſeruir dieu & icelles lier les conſciēces. No9 receuons donc ſeulemēt
ce qui eſt propre pour entretenir concorde & vnion, & entretenir tous
en l’obeiſſance de Dieu…” It ought to be pointed out that the 1566 revisions to Article
XXXII, which were retained in 1619, were quite minor and do not affect the
fundamental teaching of
1561/62
original; the only alterations were the additions of the phrases “and
compel” and “in any manner whatsoever.”
[3] The text I have given here is my own editing of the
1647 printing, which brings the spelling and capitalization up to date but
leaves punctuation as is. The original print reads, “
The whole Councell of God
concerning all things neceſſary for his own Glory, mans ſalvation, Faith and
Life, is either expreſly ſet down in Scripture, or by good and neceſſary
conſequence may be deduced from Scripture; unto which nothing at any time is to
be added, whether by new revelations of the Spirit, or traditions of men.
Nevertheleſs we acknowledge the inward illumination of the Spirit of God to be
neceſſary for the ſaving, underſtanding of ſuch things as are revealed in the
Word: And that there are ſome circumſtances concerning the Worship of God, and
the Government of the Church, common to humane Actions and Societies, which are
to be ordered by the Light of Nature and Chriſtian Prudence, according to the
general Rules of the Word, which are alwayes to be obſerved.” The original may
be accessed here:
https://archive.org/details/humbleadviceofas00west
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