Questions and Answers

What were the main controversies about worship in the Puritan period?

According to Dr. Packer, there were three main controversies: First, the sense in which Scripture is authoritative for worship—whether anything not contrary to Scripture is acceptable (Luther and Anglicans) or whether only what Scripture specifically prescribes is permitted (Calvin and Puritans). Second, what regulations are proper for public worship—whether to have a set liturgy, a directory manual, or complete freedom. Third, what discipline is appropriate regarding worship—the problem being that Elizabeth and later 1662 demanded strict uniformity, which was too restrictive, though the question of appropriate discipline remains relevant today.

What is worship according to the Puritan understanding?

Dr. Packer explains that worship is "an activity that is intended to raise unto God a revenue of glory out of the creation." In the broadest sense, all godliness is worship—all respect, reverence, obedience, and service to God. More narrowly, worship comprehends all Christian communion with God, both individually and corporately, including prayer, meditation, hearing God's Word, and devotional exercises. Worship must be in spirit (a matter of the heart, inwardly real) and in truth (a response to revealed realities of God's will and work).

What makes Gospel worship beautiful according to John Owen?

Dr. Packer quotes John Owen extensively on this point: Gospel worship is beautiful by reason of its Trinitarian character. It is worship of the Father, through the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Owen writes that "the whole blessed Trinity and each person therein distinctly do, in that economy and dispensation wherein they act severally and peculiarly in the work of our redemption, afford distinct communion with themselves unto the souls of the worshippers." This Trinitarian pattern is the true decency, order, and beauty of Gospel worship—more important than any external ornament or elaborate ritual.

What does spiritual worship involve for the individual worshipper?

According to Stephen Charnock's analysis that Dr. Packer presents, spiritual worship involves several essential elements: knowledge (you cannot worship God you don't know), regeneration (only the born again can perform true worship), dependence on the Holy Spirit, sincerity and wholehearted devotion, hard work and energy (worship isn't passive), faith and love, thankfulness, delight and joy in God, humility, reverence, purity, and approaching God through the mediation of Christ. It requires the whole person—understanding, will, and emotions—going out to God.

Why did the Puritans place such emphasis on preaching in worship?

Dr. Packer explains that for Puritans, preaching was supremely "the ministration of the Holy Spirit" in a way that mere Scripture reading ordinarily is not. Thomas Goodwin wrote that "it is not the letter of the word that ordinarily doth convert, but the spiritual meaning of it, as revealed and expounded." The preacher opens the husk to reveal the kernel—the spiritual meaning that converts and turns people to God. Therefore, hearing sermons was the most solemn thing in a believer's life, requiring careful preparation, attentive listening, note-taking, remembrance, meditation, and application.

What is the relationship between public, family, and private worship?

Dr. Packer states that Puritans distinguished three spheres which should ideally be concentric: public worship in the church (broadest), family worship in the home (narrower), and private worship in the closet (most narrow). Public worship must be first in priority—believers should arrange family and private worship around participation in public worship. God is glorified more in public worship, more of His presence is enjoyed, there is more edification, and it is more like heaven. Yet family and private worship must not be neglected, with the head of household serving as minister of the home church.

How should believers prepare for worship according to the Puritans?

Dr. Packer emphasizes that preparation is essential. George Swinnock wrote that "thy profit by a Sabbath depends not a little upon thy preparation for the Sabbath." Believers should take time on Saturday night to confess and bewail sins, shame themselves for unfruitfulness, entreat God to prepare their hearts, consider God's infinite majesty and holiness, and reflect on the weight and importance of worship. Swinnock uses the metaphor: "The oven of thine heart, thus baked in as it were overnight, would be easily heated the next morning." Without preparation, the heart is foul and cannot relish spiritual food.

What did Dr. Packer suggest is missing in modern worship?

Dr. Packer concludes by questioning whether the focus of modern liturgical movements is misplaced. He suggests that our trouble is not that we need new forms of worship, but that "we don't take our worship according to the old forms which we know and have inherited...seriously enough." He argues that we would find far more life and power in traditional forms "if only our hearts were right." No new forms can help us until our hearts are right. The supreme need is to focus on preparing our hearts and approaching worship with the seriousness, solemnity, and expectation that the Puritans demonstrated.