Ray
Puritan Board Freshman
Hello Brothers and Sisters I’ve been dialoguing with a Brother about Exclusive Psalmody and the Regulative Principle. I was trying to explain to him about how Singing is a separate element of worship. And he responded to me with this:
V. The Arbitrariness of regulating the words of one element of worship differently than the
words of other elements of worship
This conundrum mentioned above reveals what many of us have frequently found to be
curious about exclusive psalmody: It has a different criterion for regulating worship-song than it
does for regulating the administration of the word or sacraments, or prayer. It is not wrong to
preach sermons “of human composition;” it is not wrong to pray prayers “of human
composition;” nor is it wrong to confess the faith in creeds “of human composition;” but it is
wrong, by their theory, to sing songs of human composition. Further, I’ve not yet discovered a
place where exclusive psalmists argue for why the element of singing praise is different from
other elements of worship in such a manner that requires or permits this element to be differently
regulated than other elements.
So my question is may a more informed Exclusive Psalmist help me with a response to him because I do not know how to properly respond.
Thank you
Grace n Peace.
V. The Arbitrariness of regulating the words of one element of worship differently than the
words of other elements of worship
This conundrum mentioned above reveals what many of us have frequently found to be
curious about exclusive psalmody: It has a different criterion for regulating worship-song than it
does for regulating the administration of the word or sacraments, or prayer. It is not wrong to
preach sermons “of human composition;” it is not wrong to pray prayers “of human
composition;” nor is it wrong to confess the faith in creeds “of human composition;” but it is
wrong, by their theory, to sing songs of human composition. Further, I’ve not yet discovered a
place where exclusive psalmists argue for why the element of singing praise is different from
other elements of worship in such a manner that requires or permits this element to be differently
regulated than other elements.
So my question is may a more informed Exclusive Psalmist help me with a response to him because I do not know how to properly respond.
Thank you
Grace n Peace.