# WCF XXI - What is regulated? Public worship? Private worship? Both?



## Dan.... (Dec 17, 2005)

First, here is the chapter:



> I. The light of nature showeth that there is a God, who hath lordship and sovereignty over all, is good, and doth good unto all, and is therefore to be feared, loved, praised, called upon, trusted in, and served, with all the heart, and with all the soul, and with all the might.[1] But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshiped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the Holy Scripture.[2]
> 
> 
> II. Religious worship is to be given to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; and to him alone; [3] not to angels, saints, or any other creature:[4] and, since the fall, not without a Mediator; nor in the mediation of any other but of Christ alone.[5]
> ...



Now to my questions:

Only under sections 6 and 8 are there distinctions made between public and private worship.

Section 5 lists those elements which are lawful in worship. Why doesn't the Confession distinguish whether these elements are meant for public worship, or for private worship, or for both? 

Specifically the sacraments, (which I am aware that the Confession limits the adminstering thereof to those who are lawfully called), can a pastor (read: one who is lawfully called) administer the sacraments at home to his family as a part of private worship? (I know the answer to this question, but I am just wondering why the Confession doesn't distiguish whether is is a part of public or private worship).

I hope my questions made sense.


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## Arch2k (Dec 17, 2005)

I think that the confession is not intending to draw up distinct rules for private worship in that section. I also believe that the Regulative principle applies equally to both, but that the rules for each are a different _application_ of the RPW. For example, in public worship, preaching is commanded, but in private worship, a minister is not usually present, and given that the preached word is a public ordinance, it doesn't fit under family or private worship. On the other hand, the reading of the Word DOES fall under both public and private worship (see the DfFW).

In his article on 
The Regulative Principle of Worship and Christmas, Brian Schwertley argues for the application of the RPW to family and private worship:



> The problem with this view is that it presupposes that the Regulative Principle only applies to public worship. There is no biblical evidence to support the idea that the Regulative Principle was only meant for public worship. In fact, the biblical evidence supports the opposite view. Cain was condemned for an innovation in private worship (Gen. 4:2-8). Noah, in family worship, offered clean animals to God (Gen. 8:20-21). God was pleased and accepted Noah's offering on behalf of himself and his family. Abraham, Jacob and Job offered sacrifices to God in private or family worship, according to God's Word. God accepted these lawful offerings. The idea that innovations in worship are permitted in family and private worship is unbiblical; it is totally arbitrary because it is not based on divine revelation. If an innovation in public worship displeases God, then how does it please Him in private worship? Would it not be permissible, under such premises, to have little shrines in our homes where we burn incense, wear surplices, miters and such, as long as we keep such things out of public meetings?
> 
> There are some differences between public and private worship (e.g., private worship should occur two to three times a day, whereas public worship should occur at least once every Lord's day.) People in Reformed denominations who brought in unbiblical innovations such as Christmas, women teaching the Bible and theology to men in Bible studies and Sunday school, hymns and Christmas carols, etc., did not seek to justify these new innovations by appealing to Scripture. Instead, they arbitrarily set these activities outside of the Regulative Principle by pronouncing them all as under the sphere of private worship. Pastors and their flocks are so in love with their innovations that they resort to mystification. They act as if their pastor is a pope or bishop and has the authority to turn private worship (where they assume human autonomy is permitted) into public worship (where the Word reigns supreme) by saying "thus begins the public worship of God." Where in the Bible is public worship relegated to a few hours on the Lord's day?39 Jesus Christ said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matt. 18:20). How is a woman teaching several men on the Sabbath private? How are fifty people singing Christmas carols engaging in private worship? Do not presuppose that God permits innovation and human autonomy in private worship. Try to prove it from the Word of God. You cannot. Do not arbitrarily declare what is obviously public worship as private. The rabbis of old justified all sorts of nonsense with such reasoning.



I believe that the confession does an excellent job of making the case for the elements of worship in the public assembly. The Directory for Family Worship likewise contains the elements necessary for family and private worship. I would like to see more discussion on how the word differentiates between the rules for each.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 17, 2005)

Good thoughts, Jeff. 

It's also worth noting the WCF, XXIX:



> IV. *Private masses, or receiving this sacrament by a priest, or any other alone;[7]* as likewise, the denial of the cup to the people,[8] worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about, for adoration, and the reserving them for any pretended religious use; *are all contrary to the nature of this sacrament, and to the institution of Christ.[9]*



Additionally, the 1644 Directory for Publick Worship makes clear what the Westminster Assembly envisioned for public worship, and while the Directory for Family Worship was prepared by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, rather than the Westminster Assembly, nevertheless, it reflects the Puritan understanding that the regulative principle applies to all forms of stated worship: private and family, as well as public, though as Jeff noted, the rules for each setting are not the same.

See the DPW on the sacrament of baptism:



> *Nor is it to be administered in private places, or privately, but in the place of publick worship,* and in the face of the congregation, where the people may most conveniently see and hear; and not in the places where fonts, in the time of Popery, were unfitly and superstitiously placed.



The Form of Presbyterian Church Government sheds further light on how the WA viewed elements of public worship because it clearly states that only ordained ministers can administer sacraments (see the office of pastor) and the context is clearly public worship.

[Edited on 12-17-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## Dan.... (Dec 17, 2005)

Thanks for the quotes and references to the Directories for public and family worship. 

I just read the Directory for Family Worship for the first time. (It has smacked me between the eyes.) I am printing this out for reflection together with my wife for structuring our family worship on the Lord's Day.


A few quick questions:

1. (Not looking for an EP argument. This question is for EPers only) I understand that you hold that hymns are forbidden in public worship, is this also the case for family worship and private meditation? Is it ever lawful in any context for family, friends or individuals to ever sing non-inspired hymns?

2. When the Directory for Family worship says the following:



> III. As the charge and office of interpreting the holy scriptures is a part of the ministerial calling, which none (however otherwise qualified) should take upon him in any place, but he that is duly called thereunto by God and his kirk; so in every family where there is any that can read, the holy scriptures should be read ordinarily to the family; and it is commendable, that thereafter they confer, and by way of conference make some good use of what hath been read and heard. As, for example, if any sin be reproved in the word read, use may be made thereof to make all the family circumspect and watchful against the same; or if any judgment be threatened, or mentioned to have been inflicted, in that portion of scripture which is read, use may be made to make all the family fear lest the same or a worse judgment befall them, unless they beware of the sin that procured it: and, finally, if any duty be required, or comfort held forth in a promise, use may be made to stir up themselves to employ Christ for strength to enable them for doing the commanded duty, and to apply the offered comfort. In all which the master of the family is to have the chief hand; and any member of the family may propone a question or doubt for resolution.



what specifically does it mean by "_As the charge and office of interpreting the holy scriptures is a part of the ministerial calling, which none (however otherwise qualified) should take upon him *in any place*, but he that is duly called thereunto by God and his kirk_"? As written, it seems that this limits the individual from thinking for himself.

3. In the quotation above from Brian Schwertley, how can he contend that the context of Cain's sin was private worship and in no way a matter of public worship? In the context, it appears that the family was together for worship; however, there was only one family on earth at the time. Can one clearly distinguish between family worship and public worship in this context? The same is true for Noah and his family. They were the only family present. How can we limit this to family worship and not public worship? These arguments appear weak in that all the ones he presents are either with only one family on earth, or only one family that is in the church (Abraham).


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 17, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Dan...._
> Thanks for the quotes and references to the Directories for public and family worship.
> 
> I just read the Directory for Family Worship for the first time. (It has smacked me between the eyes.) I am printing this out for reflection together with my wife for structuring our family worship on the Lord's Day.



Dan,

I pray that you and your family will be blessed by hearkening to the Directory for Family Worship. It has been a blessing to my family. You may have an interest in obtaining as well the Commentary on the DFW by Doug Comin which is available at Crown & Covenant Publications. It provides much good practical application for our day.



> A few quick questions:
> 
> 1. (Not looking for an EP argument. This question is for EPers only) I understand that you hold that hymns are forbidden in public worship, is this also the case for family worship and private meditation? Is it ever lawful in any context for family, friends or individuals to ever sing non-inspired hymns?



It is my belief that the Second Commandment and Regulative Principle of Worship apply to stated times of worship, private, family and public, as I noted before. That being the case, the psalms only are acceptable as the content of praises sung to God in those settings. As the DPW says:



> "œIt is the duty of Christians to praise God publickly, by the singing of psalms together in the congregation and also privately in the family"



William Young, _The Second Commandment: The Principle that God is to be Worshipped Only in Ways Prescribed in Holy Scripture and that the Holy Scripture Prescribes the Whole Content of Worship, Taught by Scripture Itself_, found in _Worship in the Presence of God_, edited by David Lachman and Frank J. Smith, p. 75:



> The principle in question may then be stated simply by the latter proposition, i.e., "The Holy Scripture prescribes the whole content of worship." By this is meant that all elements or parts of worship are prescribed by God Himself in His Word. This principle has universal reference to worship performed by men since the fall. In other words it has equal application to the Old and New Testament. It is also universal in that it is regulative of all types of worship, whether public, family or private. It is in order to observe the universality of this principle, although our special concern is with public worship under the New Testament.



To say that the RPW applies to all of life, as some try to do, and as I have argued against often on the Puritan Board, is to misunderstand the distinction between stated times of worship and the rest of life in general. Not everything we do is worship, although it may be done to God's glory. It is edifying to read a Christian poem or sing a Christian song (or read a sermon by a Puritan for that matter) when the context is appropriate. It is not worship, but may nevertheless be done to God's glory. But when it comes to stated times of worship, which we are commanded to observe, only that which God has commanded has warrant, and he has not commanded us to read or sing uninspired compositions of men in his worship. 



> 2. When the Directory for Family worship says the following:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



See this thread. 



> 3. In the quotation above from Brian Schwertley, how can he contend that the context of Cain's sin was private worship and in no way a matter of public worship? In the context, it appears that the family was together for worship; however, there was only one family on earth at the time. Can one clearly distinguish between family worship and public worship in this context? The same is true for Noah and his family. They were the only family present. How can we limit this to family worship and not public worship? These arguments appear weak in that all the ones he presents are either with only one family on earth, or only one family that is in the church (Abraham).



Thomas Manton's Epistle to the Reader of the Westminster Standards makes reference to the common Reformed understanding that Adam's family, including Cain and Abel, were engaged in family worship in Genesis 4 and that Cain strayed from the God ordained precepts of worship in what he did. 



> Religion was first hatched in families, and there the devil seeketh to crush it; the families of the Patriarchs were all the Churches God had in the world for the time; and therefore, (I suppose,) when Cain went out from Adam's family, he is said to go out from the face of the Lord, Gen. 4:16.



I think it is reasonable to say that public worship did not become possible until there was more than one family on the earth.


[Edited on 12-18-2005 by VirginiaHuguenot]


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## NaphtaliPress (Dec 17, 2005)

*Manton Epistle*

Another bit of trivia regarding the traditional contents of the Westminster Standards, regarding the first two documents in that collection. The following is from _Antiquary,_ "The Development of the Traditional Form of the Westminster Standards," in the 2005 issue of _The Confessional Presbyterian_ journal p. 170 (more here).


> 1. _To the Christian Reader, Especially Heads of Families_ (Rothwell, 1658" ). [signed by 44 Puritan divines].
> 2. Mr. Manton´s Epistle to the Reader (Rothwell "˜B´, 1658" ). Earlier variants of Rothwell lack this epistle to the Christian reader by Thomas Manton. Carruthers put the final tally of Rothwell variants at five, with one following what he styled as "œRothwell A", and two following his "œRothwell B," which is titled by the publisher as the "œSecond Edition" (Three Centuries, 55).


" This is the earliest edition I found in my search.


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## Contra_Mundum (Dec 17, 2005)

> _Originally posted by VirginiaHuguenot_
> 
> 
> > Religion was first hatched in families, and there the devil seeketh to crush it; the families of the Patriarchs were all the Churches God had in the world for the time; and therefore, (I suppose,) when Cain went out from Adam's family, he is said to go out from the face of the Lord, Gen. 4:16.
> ...



I preached a sermon on Genesis 4:25-26

NKJV text: "œAnd Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and named him Seth, "œFor God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed." And as for Seth, to him also a son was born; and he named him Enosh. *Then men began to call on the name of the LORD.*

Calvin's remarks on this verse go something like this:
"And after he [Seth] begat a son, like himself, and had a rightly constituted family, the face of the church began distinctly to appear, and that worship of God was set up which might continue to posterity."

The purpose for this passage is to teach you that: despite the tragedy of sin upon the earth, here is the beginning of a people who "call on the name of the Lord." I want you to learn something today, _grasp_ something, and do/practice something. If you are one who "calls on the name of the Lord," this is the beginning of your spiritual heritage. I want you to 1) appreciate this heritage; 2) appropriate this heritage; and 3) and pass this heritage on.

I. You need to know -- God will not fail to have a people for his own
II. You need to grasp -- the faithful family is the fundamental unit of God's people
III. You must pass on -- your commitment to "call on the name of the Lord"


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 17, 2005)

I concur that public worship, properly so-called, began in Genesis 4.26. Matthew Henry:



> Now men began to worship God, not only in their closets and families, but in public and solemn assemblies.


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## Dan.... (Dec 18, 2005)

Thanks for the help.


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## Arch2k (Dec 18, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Dan...._
> 1. (Not looking for an EP argument. This question is for EPers only) I understand that you hold that hymns are forbidden in public worship, is this also the case for family worship and private meditation? Is it ever lawful in any context for family, friends or individuals to ever sing non-inspired hymns?



It also interesting to note that the Directory for family worship does not suggest singing as a part of family worship (or private worship for that matter).

As a side, the WLC also excludes singing (at least to my knowledge) in it's discussion on the means of grace.



> Question 154: What are the outward means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of his mediation?
> Answer: The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to his church the benefits of his mediation, are all his ordinances; especially the Word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for their salvation.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 18, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Jeff_Bartel_
> It also interesting to note that the Directory for family worship does not suggest singing as a part of family worship (or private worship for that matter).



I think that "praises" are mentioned as a duty in family worship in section II.


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## VirginiaHuguenot (Dec 18, 2005)

> _Originally posted by Jeff_Bartel_
> As a side, the WLC also excludes singing (at least to my knowledge) in it's discussion on the means of grace.
> 
> 
> ...



I think here the Word is referred to in all its proper uses whether preached, read, or sung. 

The WLC on the Second Commandment commands the use of the elements of worship that God has ordained -- which are listed in the WCF chapter on religious worship and include *"singing of psalms with grace in the heart"* and references Col. 3.16 as a proof text: COL 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, *singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.*

Also the DPW says:


> In singing of psalms, the voice is to be tunably and gravely ordered; but *the chief care must be to sing with understanding, and with grace in the heart,* making melody unto the Lord.


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## Arch2k (Dec 18, 2005)

Thanks Andrew. I think you're definitely on to something.


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## Arch2k (Dec 27, 2005)

*From the Directory for Public Worship:*



> IT is the duty of Christians to praise God publickly, by singing of psalms together in the congregation, *and also privately in the family*.



I guess it is time to invest in a couple of Psalters!


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## NaphtaliPress (Dec 27, 2005)

Here's a good one: 
http://www.fpcr.org/catalog/catalog-online.htm







> _Originally posted by Jeff_Bartel_
> 
> 
> > IT is the duty of Christians to praise God publickly, by singing of psalms together in the congregation, *and also privately in the family*.
> ...


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## WrittenFromUtopia (Dec 27, 2005)

Corporate, Familial, Private


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