Regulative Principle

[Iosias]

The “regulative principle” is the Reformed view of how God regulates our worship and provides that worship is by divine appointment. Everything we do in worship must be divinely warranted. And since Scripture is the sufficient Word of God, everything we do in worship must be “prescribed in the Holy Scripture.”

In A Fresh Look at the Regulative Principle, John Frame writes:

I have affirmed that in worship “everything must be divinely warranted” and “everything we do in worship must be “prescribed in the Holy Scripture.”

On my view, God’s prescriptions for worship are somewhat general, and when we consider alternative applications of those general prescriptions it is important to ask if any are forbidden by Scripture. As we consider Scriptural prohibitions, of course, our discussions will sound somewhat like discussions among Lutherans. So I am willing to grant that in some ways my approach brings Reformed and Lutherans closer together than does Gordon’s.

Is that bad? I find it interesting that some Reformed people tend to reject any idea (say, “view A”) that they see as muting somewhat the traditional Reformed polemics against historic opponents, even if that idea has much otherwise to recommend it.

From such people we hear that “view A is not distinctively Presbyterian” or “view A does not set us sharply enough over against the (Lutherans, Catholics, et al).” On the contrary, I think that the visible unity of the church is important to God.

If we can find genuinely scriptural formulations that bring historically warring parties together, that is a good thing. If we can find some legitimate common ground with Lutherans, Anglicans, Charismatics, even Roman Catholics, shouldn’t that be cause for praise?

Shouldn’t we be pleased with such discoveries, even if they force us to amend our traditional formulations (and polemics) in some way? I for one will be delighted if my formulation in some small way brings Reformed, Lutherans, and Anglicans closer together. But of course our views must ultimately be determined by Scripture, not by the course of historical debate.