Has anyone heard of the book "Covenantal Worship: Reconsidering the Puritan Regulative Princple" by R. J. Gore? It is being promoted as the book to read for anyone interested in the RP and concludes by saying:
"At the beginning of this study, Presybterian worship was described as confused due to the lack of consensus regarding foundational liturgical principles. Indeed, this problem is real. The answer, however, is not to repristinate the past. The notion that some past era was the golden age of liturgical faithfulness falls apart in the light of the cold, hard reality of history. So efforts to return to the Geneva of the sixteenth century, or to the Scotland of the seventeenth century, are not the real answers to our difficulties. Instead, the answer lies in the genius of the Reformed liturgy: the church's faithful application of abiding truths to the changing situations of the day.
So we return once more to the liturgical confusion that surrounds us. Our study has provided evidence that this description of the situation is fundamentally correct. And there are reasons for that confusion. We have seen that the Puritan regulative principle of worship was an exaggeration of, and departure from, the worship practice of John Calvin, whom the Puritans regarded as a leading father in the faith. We have also seen that the Puritan regulative principle of worship has been fraught with difficulties from the very beginning. Further consideration of biblical and theological principles has established beyond any reasonable doubt that the Puritan regulative principle exceeded the bounds established in Scripture and imposed strictures on its adherents that were unduly narrow."
First Question: Is Gore right in his conclusion? It doesn't sound right to me, but then again, I have not studied this area enough to be certain.
Second Question: Can anyone recommend some books/online articles I could recommend for the people looking to learn about the RP?
Thanks for any help!
"At the beginning of this study, Presybterian worship was described as confused due to the lack of consensus regarding foundational liturgical principles. Indeed, this problem is real. The answer, however, is not to repristinate the past. The notion that some past era was the golden age of liturgical faithfulness falls apart in the light of the cold, hard reality of history. So efforts to return to the Geneva of the sixteenth century, or to the Scotland of the seventeenth century, are not the real answers to our difficulties. Instead, the answer lies in the genius of the Reformed liturgy: the church's faithful application of abiding truths to the changing situations of the day.
So we return once more to the liturgical confusion that surrounds us. Our study has provided evidence that this description of the situation is fundamentally correct. And there are reasons for that confusion. We have seen that the Puritan regulative principle of worship was an exaggeration of, and departure from, the worship practice of John Calvin, whom the Puritans regarded as a leading father in the faith. We have also seen that the Puritan regulative principle of worship has been fraught with difficulties from the very beginning. Further consideration of biblical and theological principles has established beyond any reasonable doubt that the Puritan regulative principle exceeded the bounds established in Scripture and imposed strictures on its adherents that were unduly narrow."
First Question: Is Gore right in his conclusion? It doesn't sound right to me, but then again, I have not studied this area enough to be certain.
Second Question: Can anyone recommend some books/online articles I could recommend for the people looking to learn about the RP?
Thanks for any help!