Introduction
Models and theories of corporate worship are currently a hot topic in the evangelical world. Everyone seems to have their own opinion about just exactly what worship should be or do, and it those differing opinions are not limited to different denominations. Often within a denomination (or a church even) there is a wide variation in what is considered appropriate worship. D.A. Carson has given the evangelical world a mighty asset for the subject of worship in his book, Worship by the Book. Here, Carson, along with Mark Ashton, R. Kent Hughes, and Timothy J. Keller explore exactly what the Bible has to say about worship and look at how three different faith traditions interpret biblical worship within their own contexts.
Though the contributing authors each come from a different faith tradition, it is interesting to see that they have much more in common in their understanding of corporate worship than differences. Their commonality is seen in the fact that each is dedicated more to the worship of a Holy God than the satisfaction of their denominational standards. Ashton points out that Thomas Cranmer’s conviction concerning worship was that it should be biblical, accessible, and balanced (70). It is obvious that each of the contributors to this book view worship in the same spirit as Ashton and Cranmer. Worship by the Book shows that worship services must focus primarily on the worship of God, but that worship done correctly will also be edifying and evangelistic.
Summary
A book such as this one is not easily summarized for it does not flow in a definite pattern. Because it is essentially a collection of four essays by four different authors, it is difficult to do either or all justice by examining the book as a collective whole. The first chapter, written by D.A. Carson, is an attempt to construct an abbreviated theology of worship. In this chapter Carson constructs a theology and a definition of worship that is the foundation for the remainder of the book. His definition includes, “Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God, ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator-God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so” (26). Though he expands this thought in detail, it is fair to say that the first chapter is the path toward and explanation of a definition of worship.
The remaining three chapters are written by pastors of various denominations and represent their convictions about worship. In the second chapter, Mark Ashton with C.J. Davis explains the Anglican perspective on worship based upon Thomas Cranmer’s convictions and writings in the Book of Common Prayer. Ashton holds that the Anglican Church found its identity in years past not only in the Bible, but through the Book of Common Prayer that helped ministers to grasp Scripture and to balance the interpretation of Scripture with prayers and edifications for believers. This liturgical guide also ensured that Anglican churches covered the entire canon of Scripture. Ashton laments that the lack of dedication to Cranmer’s book has caused an identity crisis in the Anglican Church (65). This crisis stems from the fact that the church has chosen not to use Scripture as the basis for recent liturgical guides and have therefore lost their focus in worship. True worship that binds the church together, says Ashton according to Cranmer, is biblical, accessible, and balanced (70).
R. Kent Hughes addresses a very different worship perspective in his essay on the worship in the free church. The challenge for the free church is not to maintain its identity with its denomination, but it is still much the same as that of the Anglican church. Worship must still be about God and His word, but in the free church it is essential to encourage worship of God beyond the Sunday morning service. Hughes believes that worshippers must be taught to live lifestyles of worship rather than depending only corporate worship experience (142). Thus he says, “I have come to see that while all of life is worship, gathered worship with the body of Christ is at the heart of a life of worship (142).” The free church, with its lack of liturgy has to work to remain “God-focused” in the light of increasingly human-focused worship services within the evangelical free churches (149). Further he reminds leaders of the free church that corporate worship must be Word-centered if it is to glorify God (159), but as important as being focused on preaching the Word of God is for the listener to focus intently on listening to God’s Word (163).
Timothy J. Keller, coming from a Presbyterian perspective faces yet another set of problems but with much the same solution as the other authors. Worship, he agrees, must focus on God and his Word if it is to be effective and acceptable. Keller, however, grapples with the proper style for a worship service in New York City. To find his balance, Keller turns to the reformation and to John Calvin. Calvin believed in glorifying God in the context of gathered worship but refused to “pit the glory of God against the edification of the participants” (203). Keller believes that worship that truly brings glory to God’s name will by its very nature edify the believers present during the worship event. Worship, says Keller, exists to bring people “face to face with God” (210). He emphasizes that because worship is such an important occurrence it must be done with excellence and practice (211). His points are best summarized in the statement, “Christian worship is both a cause and an effect of our being a very distinct community” (219).
Critical Evaluation
My overall evaluation of Carson’s book is very strong. He has compiled a book on worship that is not only scholarly, but is very comprehensive as it covers worship from three different denominational perspectives. The book’s strongest contribution is the denominational variety from which its contributors make their observations and suggestions. Churches can gain a lot by understanding how other denominations perceive and go about worship of God.
I believe, however, that the book would have had more value had Carson, or some other contributor, made an effort in a final chapter to compare the worship styles and recommendations discussed by Ashton, Hughes, and Keller. The book does a great job explaining what worship is and looks like from three different perspectives, but it does not say what a reader is supposed to do with the information that she receives from this book. The book needs a section that gives suggestions and insight into how to apply the ideas discussed by each of the contributors into the Twenty First Century church.
Beyond a chapter to tie up loose ends, Carson could have done more in the opening chapter to make it more accessible and worthwhile. His definition of worship (26) is far too cumbersome. Further, he suggests in his closing paragraph that it is necessary “to explain that genuine worship is nothing more than loving God with heart and soul and mind and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves, but also show what a statement like that means in the concrete decisions of life” 63, but he does nothing to tell how this can be done. If Carson is going to suggest discussion and explanation about the true nature of worship, he has a responsibility to his reader to explain what that means.
In the end, the book carries great weight, not because it is a theological treatise, but because it is practical and thorough enough for the scholar yet easy for the average church attendee to understand. Its greatest value is probably not for the seminary classroom, but rather for the local church setting where lay members and ministers alike can benefit by examining their own worship services and styles in light of the worship of others. Worship is easily misconstrued and misunderstood when it is viewed within a vacuum, but Worship by the Book gives its readers the opportunity to experience some of what worship is in other church settings without missing the experience of worship in their home church.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Worship by the Book is a wonderful contribution to the study and lifestyle of worship within the evangelical church. Worship is about more than music; for the believer, a lifestyle of worship is demanded by God. Carson and the other contributors to the book do a great job to show that, at its core, worship is about man’s response to God as God intends it and not about man’s interpretation of what God desires. Corporate worship in the New Testament is a two-fold experience of God’s glory and believer’s edification, and neither can or should be divorced from the other. True worship finds its definition and meaning in God’s Word and within that Word it is apparent that true worship is biblical, balanced, and accessible by all.
Models and theories of corporate worship are currently a hot topic in the evangelical world. Everyone seems to have their own opinion about just exactly what worship should be or do, and it those differing opinions are not limited to different denominations. Often within a denomination (or a church even) there is a wide variation in what is considered appropriate worship. D.A. Carson has given the evangelical world a mighty asset for the subject of worship in his book, Worship by the Book. Here, Carson, along with Mark Ashton, R. Kent Hughes, and Timothy J. Keller explore exactly what the Bible has to say about worship and look at how three different faith traditions interpret biblical worship within their own contexts.
Though the contributing authors each come from a different faith tradition, it is interesting to see that they have much more in common in their understanding of corporate worship than differences. Their commonality is seen in the fact that each is dedicated more to the worship of a Holy God than the satisfaction of their denominational standards. Ashton points out that Thomas Cranmer’s conviction concerning worship was that it should be biblical, accessible, and balanced (70). It is obvious that each of the contributors to this book view worship in the same spirit as Ashton and Cranmer. Worship by the Book shows that worship services must focus primarily on the worship of God, but that worship done correctly will also be edifying and evangelistic.
Summary
A book such as this one is not easily summarized for it does not flow in a definite pattern. Because it is essentially a collection of four essays by four different authors, it is difficult to do either or all justice by examining the book as a collective whole. The first chapter, written by D.A. Carson, is an attempt to construct an abbreviated theology of worship. In this chapter Carson constructs a theology and a definition of worship that is the foundation for the remainder of the book. His definition includes, “Worship is the proper response of all moral, sentient beings to God, ascribing all honor and worth to their Creator-God precisely because he is worthy, delightfully so” (26). Though he expands this thought in detail, it is fair to say that the first chapter is the path toward and explanation of a definition of worship.
The remaining three chapters are written by pastors of various denominations and represent their convictions about worship. In the second chapter, Mark Ashton with C.J. Davis explains the Anglican perspective on worship based upon Thomas Cranmer’s convictions and writings in the Book of Common Prayer. Ashton holds that the Anglican Church found its identity in years past not only in the Bible, but through the Book of Common Prayer that helped ministers to grasp Scripture and to balance the interpretation of Scripture with prayers and edifications for believers. This liturgical guide also ensured that Anglican churches covered the entire canon of Scripture. Ashton laments that the lack of dedication to Cranmer’s book has caused an identity crisis in the Anglican Church (65). This crisis stems from the fact that the church has chosen not to use Scripture as the basis for recent liturgical guides and have therefore lost their focus in worship. True worship that binds the church together, says Ashton according to Cranmer, is biblical, accessible, and balanced (70).
R. Kent Hughes addresses a very different worship perspective in his essay on the worship in the free church. The challenge for the free church is not to maintain its identity with its denomination, but it is still much the same as that of the Anglican church. Worship must still be about God and His word, but in the free church it is essential to encourage worship of God beyond the Sunday morning service. Hughes believes that worshippers must be taught to live lifestyles of worship rather than depending only corporate worship experience (142). Thus he says, “I have come to see that while all of life is worship, gathered worship with the body of Christ is at the heart of a life of worship (142).” The free church, with its lack of liturgy has to work to remain “God-focused” in the light of increasingly human-focused worship services within the evangelical free churches (149). Further he reminds leaders of the free church that corporate worship must be Word-centered if it is to glorify God (159), but as important as being focused on preaching the Word of God is for the listener to focus intently on listening to God’s Word (163).
Timothy J. Keller, coming from a Presbyterian perspective faces yet another set of problems but with much the same solution as the other authors. Worship, he agrees, must focus on God and his Word if it is to be effective and acceptable. Keller, however, grapples with the proper style for a worship service in New York City. To find his balance, Keller turns to the reformation and to John Calvin. Calvin believed in glorifying God in the context of gathered worship but refused to “pit the glory of God against the edification of the participants” (203). Keller believes that worship that truly brings glory to God’s name will by its very nature edify the believers present during the worship event. Worship, says Keller, exists to bring people “face to face with God” (210). He emphasizes that because worship is such an important occurrence it must be done with excellence and practice (211). His points are best summarized in the statement, “Christian worship is both a cause and an effect of our being a very distinct community” (219).
Critical Evaluation
My overall evaluation of Carson’s book is very strong. He has compiled a book on worship that is not only scholarly, but is very comprehensive as it covers worship from three different denominational perspectives. The book’s strongest contribution is the denominational variety from which its contributors make their observations and suggestions. Churches can gain a lot by understanding how other denominations perceive and go about worship of God.
I believe, however, that the book would have had more value had Carson, or some other contributor, made an effort in a final chapter to compare the worship styles and recommendations discussed by Ashton, Hughes, and Keller. The book does a great job explaining what worship is and looks like from three different perspectives, but it does not say what a reader is supposed to do with the information that she receives from this book. The book needs a section that gives suggestions and insight into how to apply the ideas discussed by each of the contributors into the Twenty First Century church.
Beyond a chapter to tie up loose ends, Carson could have done more in the opening chapter to make it more accessible and worthwhile. His definition of worship (26) is far too cumbersome. Further, he suggests in his closing paragraph that it is necessary “to explain that genuine worship is nothing more than loving God with heart and soul and mind and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves, but also show what a statement like that means in the concrete decisions of life” 63, but he does nothing to tell how this can be done. If Carson is going to suggest discussion and explanation about the true nature of worship, he has a responsibility to his reader to explain what that means.
In the end, the book carries great weight, not because it is a theological treatise, but because it is practical and thorough enough for the scholar yet easy for the average church attendee to understand. Its greatest value is probably not for the seminary classroom, but rather for the local church setting where lay members and ministers alike can benefit by examining their own worship services and styles in light of the worship of others. Worship is easily misconstrued and misunderstood when it is viewed within a vacuum, but Worship by the Book gives its readers the opportunity to experience some of what worship is in other church settings without missing the experience of worship in their home church.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Worship by the Book is a wonderful contribution to the study and lifestyle of worship within the evangelical church. Worship is about more than music; for the believer, a lifestyle of worship is demanded by God. Carson and the other contributors to the book do a great job to show that, at its core, worship is about man’s response to God as God intends it and not about man’s interpretation of what God desires. Corporate worship in the New Testament is a two-fold experience of God’s glory and believer’s edification, and neither can or should be divorced from the other. True worship finds its definition and meaning in God’s Word and within that Word it is apparent that true worship is biblical, balanced, and accessible by all.
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