Worship on Christopher Carter

The Regulative Principle of Worship Explained and Defended

Wed, 13 Aug 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Introduction

Classically, Reformed theology has used the Regulative Principle of Worship to inform which elements of worship are permissible. According to the Regulative Principle, the Word of God regulates what is allowed in worship; if it isn’t commanded by God, then it isn’t permitted.

While this view was widely held by Reformed Christians up through the puritans, it has largely fallen by the wayside in the present day. The opposing principle, the Normative Principle of Worship, has become the dominant view in American Protestantism. It is more lenient, permitting whatever is not forbidden outright in the scriptures.

Make Your Home

Sun, 16 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Young men, fill your home with as much joy, beauty, and meaning as you can. Teach your family to sing, worship, laugh, read, work, and do every other good and natural thing. Make your home a safe haven, a little world unto itself; a beacon of hope and joy in the gloom of this vast dystopia.

On Imprecatory Prayers

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 20:10:24 -0400

There is much to be gained by singing and praying the Psalms. Aldo Leon has compelling sermons on the benefits of doing so here and here. In short, the Psalms teach us how to pray, and how to sing. They are divinely inspired songs and hymns and prayers, serving as precise regulation of God on how his people are to sing and pray to Him.

In a day of happy slappy Christianity and worship songs from Big Eva Christian Music Inc. (which are theologically and spiritually shallower than a plate of cereal), the Psalms provide guidance for how we are to approach God in the sundry circumstances of everyday life. Are you grieving? Sing Psalm 6. Are you victorious? Sing Psalm 21. Are you praising God? Sing Psalm 150. Are you vexed over the wicked? Sing Psalm 37. Are you in sin? Sing Psalm 51.