Theology of Worship
A Biblical Theology of Christian Worship
Cultivating and Enjoying a Right Relationship with the Triune God
Eben Drost
DWS 701: Biblical Foundations and Historical Development of Christian Worship
August 31, 2024
Outline
I. Introduction
II. A Focused Event
A. The Power of the Event: God’s Special Presence
B. The Structure of the Event: Revelation and Response
C. The Focus of the Event: The Story of God
D. Summary
III. Cultivating a Right Relationship with God
A. Gathering
B. Listening
C. Responding
D. Sending
E. The Arts
F. Summary
IV. Enjoying Our Relationship with the Triune God
V. Conclusion
Introduction
It is said that the famous dancer Isadora Duncan was once asked to explain the meaning of a dance, to which she responded, “No, I can't explain the dance to you; if I could tell you what it meant, there would be no point in dancing it.”[1] Analogously, Christian worship cannot be adequately understood apart from its actual practice. It is an encounter with the living God that engages our hearts, minds, bodies, and wills in ways that are irreducible to words (1 Pet 1:8), though poetry can get us closer.[2] Still, working definitions of Christian worship can provide fruitful starting points for deeper understanding and practice. With the opportunities and limitations of such definitions in mind, in this paper I define Christian worship as a focused event where we cultivate and enjoy a right relationship with the triune God. As the paper progresses, each part of my definition will provide a launch point for the exploration of key concepts, in conversation with Scripture and a variety of thinkers, both past and present.[3] Taken together, these explorations will function like pieces of a mosaic that produce a coherent, though not exhaustive, picture of Christian worship.
A Focused Event
I have defined worship as “a focused event.” Already, some clarification is needed, for worship is not always associated with events or gatherings. Many will first associate it with other things, like a disposition of the heart, or spontaneous singing. John Witvliet helpfully clarifies that the word worship has at least three different connotations in modern English. It can refer most generally to our calling “to offer our work, our leisure, our family life, and every other aspect of life to the Lord,” more particularly to how Christians “gather for events, ritual practices, or liturgies called ‘worship services,’” or even more narrowly to “specific acts of adoration and praise.”[4] This paper will focus on the second meaning, in reference to the “common worship” of the gathered church (though not to the exclusion of the other meanings of worship, since all are part of a seamless whole in the Christian life).[5] One important reason for this focus is the unique mode of God’s presence in the assembly of the worshiping community. Understanding this will be foundational for an overall theology of worship.
The Power of the Event: God’s Special Presence
Alongside descriptions of God’s general, universal presence (Ps 139:7), other biblical passages indicate that God can be present in more special and specific ways.[6] These passages give rise to Old Testament intuitions about sacred space (Gen 28:10-17) and sacred time (Ex. 20:8-11). We see God’s special presence vividly when his glory fills the tabernacle (Ex 40:34) and later the temple (2 Chron 7:1). For this reason, the tabernacle and temple are the focal points of Israel’s worship.
In the New Testament, the focal point of God’s special presence shifts from the temple to Jesus himself (Matt 1:23, John 2:21).[7] Jesus then promises a special mode of his presence among his gathered people (Matt 18:20). David Peterson notes that Paul also “suggests that God presences himself in a distinctive way in the Christian meeting through his word and the operation of his Spirit.”[8] The people become, both individually and collectively, temples of the Spirit (1 Cor 3:16; 6:19). In addition, there is God’s sacramental presence in Communion (1 Cor 11:23-34), and through the variety of gifts he distributes to his body (1 Cor 7:7). As Robert Webber explains, “No one person fills all the offices or possesses all the gifts, but worship brings believers together and arranges them according to their functions.”[9] Through the full range of these gifts in the gathering, we perceive Christ’s presence tangibly.[10]
The Structure of the Event: Revelation and Response
Corresponding to God’s special presence in the assembly is a specific structure of worship. The paradigmatic Old Testament example is the assembly of the Israelites at Mount Sinai (Ex 19-24). Having been delivered from Egypt, the Israelites assemble together in the special presence of God to formally identify as his people, constituting themselves as the assembly of God (in Hebrew, the qehal Yaweh).[11] They receive communication from him about what it means to be his people, accept their covenantal vocation through verbal assent and ritual sacrifices, and are expected to live out that vocation when they disperse.
This covenantal framework continues throughout the Old Testament and into the history of the church. The ritual of Baptism marks entry into the people of the New Covenant, and corresponds to the crossing of the Red Sea in the Exodus (1 Cor 10:2). In weekly worship, a structure emerged that is often called “the basic ordo, that deep, abiding structure which expresses the living faith of the church.”[12] The ordo is fundamentally a pattern of revelation and response, which God initiates. Early descriptions of Christian worship describe one service in two movements (bookended by the gathering and the dismissal of the people): the service of the Word, and the service of the table.[13] These two services correspond to God’s revelation and our response. This pattern has biblical precedent, as in Luke 24:13-25, where Jesus opens up the scriptures to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, and they respond by recognizing him in the breaking of the bread.[14]
The Focus of the Event: The Story of God
The revelation of God unfolds in the history of his creative and salvific works and words. The “story of God” is thoroughly triune, as the Apostles’ Creed teaches by associating different parts of the narrative with each member of the Trinity (creation with the Father, redemption with the Son, and new life with the Holy Spirit).[15] Still, the story centers on Jesus (Luke 24:27). Theologian Miroslav Volf sums it up well: “The church manifests itself as church insofar as it understands itself as defined by the entire history of Jesus Christ, by his past, present, and future.”[16]
To be defined by a history requires ongoing communal practices of remembrance (Deut 6:21-25). Worship includes recalling God’s objective acts in history through prayer and proclamation. These practices of remembrance go deeper than just cognitive recollection. This depth is explained by the biblical concept of anamnesis, the Greek word often translated as “remembrance” in the narrative of Jesus’ last supper (Luke 22:18-20). Webber explains that anamnesis “is not ‘mere memory of the mind’ as we have interpreted it in our Enlightenment-conscious world. Rather, in the ancient world it carried a more active connotation. In the anamnesis, Christ is proclaimed in word and deed.”[17] In Christian worship, the power and saving benefits of Christ’s sacrifice can be experienced anew in the present. Taking Communion is also a chance to look back and remember our baptismal commitments. David Peterson rightly reminds us that “The initial presentation of ourselves to God in Christ, made at conversion/baptism, needs to be renewed on a regular basis.”[18] The one-time Sacrament of Baptism is renewed in the ongoing Sacrament of Communion.
God’s story is not just in the past; it continues in the present. Worship involves celebrating and discerning his current activity, and engaging with our own subjective experiences of God in the present.[19] Constance Cherry describes this as telling “our story within God’s story.”[20] In practice, this subjective element of worship can look like congregants sharing prophetic insights into present circumstances as the congregation prayerfully tests what is said (1 Cor 14:29-3), teachers sharing how Scripture speaks to us in the present (2 Tim 2:15), or people singing about their experiences of God’s faithfulness to encourage the larger body (Ps 107:2; Eph 5:19).
Worship also looks forward to the future. The presence of the Holy Spirit in worship is an arrabon, or foretaste of the future (Eph 1:14; 2 Cor 1:22). The epiclesis prayer, which is a prayer that invokes the Spirit’s presence in Communion, demonstrates the Christian belief that the Communion meal anticipates the eschatological banquet (Luke 22:16). Remembering the future (as paradoxical as that sounds) is a source of strength and comfort in the midst of suffering (Rev 1:9); but it also creates a sense of dramatic tension in worship, as present experiences of suffering and injustice come into sharp contrast with our future hope. Worship thus includes lament and prophetic witness to the transience of evil.
Summary
The triune God is uniquely present when his people gather for worship. Through his Word, Spirit, sacramental presence, and spiritual gifts, he graciously meets with us, and we respond by recommitting to our baptismal vocation. The worship gathering is not structured arbitrarily, but intentionally, according to the dynamic of revelation and response. The focus of the gathering is the story of God, in its past, present, and future dimensions. As we “rehearse” this story, we manifest our identity as God’s people.[21] With this foundation laid, we can now explore the practices of worship through which we cultivate a right relationship with the triune God.
Cultivating a Right Relationship with God
Instructively, some languages describe common worship using words related to cultivation. As James F. White writes,
In English, cult tends to suggest the bizarre or faddish, but it has an esteemed function in languages such as French and Italian. Its origin is the Latin colere, an agricultural term meaning to cultivate. Both the French le culte, and the Italian il culto, preserve this Latin word as the usual term for worship.[22]
Like fields or gardens, relationships need to be cultivated if they are to bear fruit. Because worship is fundamentally relational, cultivating our relationship with God involves a kind of conversation.[23] We will now explore some of the classic practices of hearing from God and responding to him that move the conversation and relationship forward.
Gathering
Common worship begins with the act of gathering. White notes, “We usually treat the act of assembling as merely a mechanical necessity, but coming together in Christ’s name is itself an important part of common worship.”[24] In coming together, at least three important things happen: we distinguish ourselves from the wider world and identify with God’s covenant people (2 Cor 6:14-18), we anticipate the eschatological gathering of all of God’s people (Rom 8:23), and we connect ourselves with the community that has mediated the faith of the apostles and prophets for centuries (Eph 2:20).[25]
Having gathered, God’s presence is invoked in prayer. God’s gracious words of welcome are spoken to us (Rev 1:4-6), and we are called to worship him (Ps 95). We praise God for his character, what he has done historically, what he will do in the future, and his activity in our lives. In praise, we “reorder reality” by reaffirming the sovereignty of God and the eternal victory of his purposes (sometimes despite what seems to be evidence to the contrary).[26]
Focusing on God’s glory in praise and adoration has the natural effect of exposing the ways we fall short of it, which is why many traditions practice confession and pray for God’s mercy near the beginning of the service. Like pulling weeds allows more nutrients to get to garden plants, confession gives us an opportunity to weed out sins which sap our spiritual vitality, and strain our relationship with God (Jas 5:16). Confessing our sins at the beginning of a worship service also allows us to be in right relationship with God before taking Communion later in the service (1 Cor 11:27-32). It should always be remembered that confession takes place within a larger context of grace. God’s prevenient love has already been expressed in words of welcome, which give us courage to acknowledge our sin, rather than hide it. Following confession, we also hear God’s assurance of his love and forgiveness (1 John 1:8-9).
Both praise and confession are ways we submit our lives to God, so that we may resist the devil (Jas 4:7). Worship can be an arena of spiritual battle. In the Old Testament, the connection between worship and battle is made explicitly, as a choir singing God’s praise leads Jehoshaphat’s army in battle (2 Chron 20:21-23). Surrendering to God brings freedom and the ability to clearly hear his liberating truth, which counters Satan’s lies (John 8:44).
Listening
Hearing God in the gathering primarily involves listening to Scripture being read and taught (Neh 8:1-8). Scripture is both informative (2 Tim 3:15-17) and transformative (Heb 4:12). It is the lifeblood of worship, as it reveals God and animates our response to him. Churches have different methods of regularly reading Scripture in common worship, such as using a lectionary, going through one book of the Bible over time, or choosing passages based on topical preaching. Whatever the method, the reading and teaching of the “whole will of God” (Acts 20:27) in Scripture is at the heart of worship. In fact, it is likely that many of the documents of the New Testament were originally meant to be read in the context of corporate worship.[27] Scriptural truth can also be condensed into creeds that can be memorized and recited.
Preaching is often the focal point of the ministry of the Word. The preacher is tasked with prayerfully searching the scriptures and discerning what God has to say to the congregation in the present. The sermon is the revelatory moment of sharing his or her findings. Though the preacher is the primary human actor, the congregation is not passive. All can pray for God’s voice to be heard clearly, and exercise discernment as they listen. In some traditions, the congregation actively participates during the sermon by saying “amen” or some other word, phrase, or vocalization, to signal their sense that God is speaking.
The biblical Psalms hold a special place in the church’s worship. In Hebrew, the book is titled Tehillim,meaning songs of praise (though the Psalms are not restricted to the genre of praise).[28] In these inspired poems, we hear God speak to us, and are also given language to speak to God. The placement of a psalm about meditating on God’s Word at the beginning of the Psalter attests to this dynamic. Brevard Childs writes, “It is highly significant that the psalmist understands Israel’s prayer as a response to God’s prior speaking. Israel’s prayers are not simply spontaneous musings or uncontrolled aspirations, but rather an answer to God’s word which continues to address Israel in his Torah.”[29] The canonical ordering of the Psalms thus underscores God’s initiative in the conversation.
In the Psalter, we encounter the full range of human emotions. Often, interacting with God is like an emotional wrestling match (Gen 32:28), as we honestly bring all our feelings before him, and invite his guidance and discipline (Ps 139:23-24). Ambrose famously referred to the Psalms as a “gymnasium for the soul,” where we cultivate our spiritual muscles, so to speak.[30] Like the Psalms, worship should be an occasion to exercise our souls and express deep human emotions. Sometimes, this involves the discipline of remembering that our emotions are not automatically reliable guides. Our sacrifice of worship may involve doing things we do not feel like doing, and clinging to God’s promises when they do not feel possible (Rom 4:18). Worship may also call us into prayerful solidarity with others who are experiencing emotions we do not currently feel.
Responding
There are a number of ways that worshipers can respond to God throughout the service. Prayer is central. In addition to prayers of praise, confession, thanksgiving, and personal petition, intercessory prayer on behalf of the world has historically been an important part of common worship. It reflects the priestly calling of believers to represent the world before God (1 Pet 2:9). This priestly calling was dramatically depicted in the early church when, like the Old Testament priests, believers were anointed with oil after their baptism.[31]
The mutual edification of believers is also a response to God’s gifts. Paul gives an anatomical image: “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (Eph 4:15-16). Space can be made in common worship for prophetic words, testimonies, or other words and actions that edify the congregation. Hospitality should also be a priority, for each member is valuable and needed. Attention should be given to appropriately inclusive language, accessibility, and giving special honor and attention to those who are often considered weaker by the world (1 Cor 12:21-26).
The Sacrament of Communion has historically been the quintessential response to the service of the Word. It is the covenant meal, where we once again remember the central events of our salvation, and identify as God’s people who aspire to live according to his ways. The term Communion is related to Paul’s use of the word koinōnia,often translated as “participation” (1 Cor 10:16). The meal is also known as the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11:20), and the Eucharist, in reference to Jesus’ act of taking the cup and giving thanks (eucharistēsas) in Matthew 26:27. While Communion is a way Christ offers himself to us, it has also historically been understood as our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, and an offering of our whole lives to God.[32]
For early Christians, Communion was also a time of offering money and resources to benefit those in need.[33] This highlighted the connection between worship and justice, already made explicit by the Old Testament prophets, who expressed God’s abhorrence of ritual sacrifice disconnected from lifestyles of justice (Isa 1:11-17). The Communion table ought to be a picture of social barriers being broken by the Gospel (Gal 3:28). It should be a prophetic witness to the dignity of every person, as those who are normally looked down on are honored, and those who are normally powerful are humbled (1 Cor 7:22). In this meal, the church is primed for acts of social justice in the world.
Communion is also connected to healing. Ignatius of Antioch referred to the meal as “the medicine of immortality.”[34] While he was speaking primarily of spiritual healing, Christians have long recognized connections between physical, mental, and spiritual healing (Jas 5:16), even as they have known that healing will not always be complete this side of eternity (Matt 25:36). The connection between Communion and health can also be seen in its opposite, when Corinthian believers who took Communion unworthily received judgment and became sick (1 Cor 11:29-30). Healing is not limited to the moment of taking the elements; rather, the whole service can promote holistic healing, through prayer, loving fellowship, cathartic emotional expression, and encounters with liberating truths.
Sending
After Communion, Christians are sent out into the world again. In the sending, we clearly see the connection between worship and mission. Missiologist Scott Sunquist likens worship and witness to the Chinese concepts of yin and yang:
The two foundational purposes of the church—worship and witness—work together like yin and yang. When one collapses into the other, the church does not exist as it was intended; it becomes something different. When they work in perfect harmony, the witness brings people to faith and brings them to worship the Triune God, and the worship moves people to confession, repentance, and then out to witness.[35]
Worship is meant to launch us into a life on mission with God, and later receive us back when we return for strength from God and the community. The primary Roman Catholic worship service, the Mass, reflects this understanding in its name. The term “Mass” comes from the Latin word “missa,” once spoken by the priest at the end of the service: “Ite, missa est” (meaning “Go, the dismissal is made”).[36] Tellingly, missa is etymologically related to the English word “mission.”[37] In this one word, we see that worship and mission are organically related, and are both part of the church’s fundamental identity.[38] The sending is also accompanied by words of blessing that assure us of God’s presence and faithfulness as we go.
The Arts
Our interaction with God is deepened by our use of the arts. Another word semantically related to “cult” is the word “culture.”[39] Culture can refer to the range of humanity’s creative expression and development, and more specifically to our artistic creations. The arts are a fundamental way we express ourselves and make sense of reality, and are frequently connected to worship in the Bible. The building of the tabernacle required Bezalel and Oholiab to be filled with the Spirit, so they could have the artistic skill necessary (Ex 31:3-6); David danced before the ark (2 Sam 6:14); the Psalms are poetry set to music; Old Testament rituals, and rituals like Baptism and Communion, dramatically “communicate the meaning of the event.”[40]
The arts help us holistically cultivate our relationship with God. According to James K. A. Smith, Christian anthropology takes us beyond modern sensibilities that focus almost exclusively on our cognitive faculties. Instead, it offers “a nonreductionist understanding of human persons as embodied agents of desire or love.”[41] The arts move not just our rational minds, but our bodies, hearts, affections, and imaginations. They have a unique communicative power. Cecilia González-Andrieu clarifies: “Creative works engender wonder in us because they effectively pass along someone else’s experience of wonder in a way that approximates such experiences.”[42]
Embodied worship practices, enhanced by the arts, are also deeply formative. People tend to be “shaped into the image of that which they worship.”[43] Worship practices will often have to push back cultural pressures that vie for our “worship,” and do not conform us to the image of Christ. [44] While being appropriate to their cultural contexts, and pursuing meaningful cross-cultural engagement when possible, worship practices must conform to Biblical norms, and sometimes be counter-cultural.[45]
In the history of Christian and Jewish worship, music has been an especially important art form. Constance Cherry writes, “To make the claim that worship services need music overreaches; nevertheless, music is a gift from God for the sake of worship and has, therefore, played an incredibly prominent role in Judeo-Christian practice from its inception.”[46] Music does a number of things, such as engaging our bodies and emotions along with our minds as we sing texts, allowing a group of people to sing in unison (providing a picture of our unity), expressing our unity-in-diversity through harmony, and giving structure and momentum to prayer.
Summary
This section has described the ways common worship is meant to cultivate our relationship with God. The relationship involves a kind of conversation, that God initiates. It is naturally expressed in worship through a fourfold order of gathering, listening, responding, and being sent. Artistic expression deepens the conversation, engaging us at an affective level. Worship forms us, and sometimes needs to be counter-cultural, even as it celebrates what is good in culture, and aims to engage cross-culturally.
It must be remembered that, as important as our actions are, worship can only be enabled by God himself. Human effort cannot accomplish what only God can do. Worship in “the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24) is primarily referring to worship enabled by the Holy Spirit, who brings us into the trinitarian fellowship.[47] This brings us to the next section.
Enjoying Our Relationship with the Triune God
At the heart of worship is an experience of being brought into the trinitarian fellowship. Theologian William Dyrness describes this fellowship as fundamentally “a dynamic movement of love and beauty.”[48] By the Spirit, we are united with Christ in his offering to the Father (Heb 9:14). Analogous to how work is oriented towards sabbath rest (Gen 2:1-3; Heb 4:11), the “work” of cultivating a right relationship with God is oriented toward enjoying him. Worship is not only a “gymnasium for the soul,” but also a playground. In his writing on the liturgy, Romano Guardini compares worship to play: “[Play] is life, pouring itself forth without an aim, seizing upon riches from its own abundant store, significant through the fact of its existence.”[49] Like play (and love), worship needs no external justification.
One important way worship helps us enjoy our relationship with God is by anticipating heavenly worship. Our common worship can mirror the worship of the saints and angels, and anticipate the joyful worship of the new creation, freed from sin. The book of Revelation gives us a window into this into this deeper reality (Rev 7:15-17). The Eastern Orthodox tradition also emphasizes this perspective through its use of icons in worship, which function as windows into heaven. Worshipers are reminded that they are joining with the heavenly hosts in a cosmic, eternal, and joyful worship service.
Like John’s experience of being “in the Spirit” on the Lord’s day (Rev 1:10), worship is sometimes the occasion of ecstatic experiences (2 Cor 12:1-4). In the Psalms, Asaph has a transformative and possibly ecstatic experience when he enters God’s sanctuary (Ps 73:17). He gains a new perspective on the world, and finds a sense of peace as he glimpses the end of the wicked. In worship, we can gain a new perspective, and experience (even for a moment) a heightened sense of the abundant life Jesus came to bring. Often, these experiences powerfully fuel the church’s witness.[50]
A threat to our enjoyment of God is an overly utilitarian or instrumental vision of life and worship. Significantly, God’s covenants were never purely instrumental. For example, Terrence Fretheim argues, “the Sinaitic covenant, far from establishing the relationship between God and Israel as is commonly thought, is a vocational covenant with those who are already God's people.”[51] In other words, the utilitarian purposes of the Mosaic covenant existed within the larger context of a previously established unconditional relationship with the patriarchs (Rom 11:28-29). Neither was the incarnation purely instrumental. In addition to dealing with sin, Christ’s incarnation simply brought a deeper fellowship between God and humanity.[52] These theological insights suggest that, in the final analysis, authentic worship transcends any kind of utilitarian calculus. It invites us to linger in moments of praise, adoration, silence, laughter, and fellowship. There is profound truth in Marva Dawn’s provocative description of worship as “a royal waste of time.”[53]
Conclusion
We have explored how worship is a focused event where we cultivate and enjoy a right relationship with the triune God. God is specially present in the gathering of his people, by his Word, Spirit, sacramental presence, and the spiritual gifts he has distributed throughout his body. In this gathering, Christians cultivate their relationship with God through an ordo of worship that is fundamentally relational. The ordo is generally expressed in a pattern of gathering, listening to God’s Word, responding at the table, and being sent back into the world with God’s blessing to live as his witnesses. By the Spirit, we are brought into the trinitarian fellowship and united with Christ in his offering to the Father. Practices within the ordo of worship cultivate the personal and communal relationship of worshipers with God; but these practices are ultimately aimed at enjoying a relationship with God. Authentic worship transcends any kind of utilitarian calculus.
Worship also transcends any attempt to fully define or systematize it. My definition is one of many possible starting points for exploration. There is always an element of mystery when we attempt to speak of worship. The deeper knowledge comes from the actual encounter with God. I will give the last words to Dallas Willard: “In worship we strive for adequate expression of God's greatness. But only for a moment, if ever, do we achieve what seems adequacy. We cannot do justice to God or his Son or his kingdom or his goodness to us. So we must constantly return to worship.”[54]
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[1] https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/62793-if-i-could-tell-you-what-it-meant-there-would.
[2] W. David O. Taylor, Glimpses of the New Creation: Worship and the Formative Power of the Arts (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2019), 122.
[3] Key conversation partners include Simon Chan, Constance Cherry, David Peterson, Robert E. Webber, and James F. White.
[4] John Witvliet, “On Three Meanings of the Term Worship,” accessed August 31, 2024, https://worship.calvin.edu/resources/resource-library/on-three-meanings-of-the-term-worship/.
[5] James White, Introduction to Christian Worship, 3rd ed., rev. and expanded. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2000), 29.
[6] The distinction between general and special presence was brought to my attention in a lecture by Andrew Hill.
[7] Though the New Testament era brought changes to the times and places for worship, the Church did not entirely abandon Old Testament intuitions about sacred space and time. A church calendar developed, centered on weekly Sunday worship. Sunday was also known as the “Lord’s day” (Rev 1:10), since it was the day of Christ’s resurrection. The calendar expanded to observe special days each year related to the life of Christ (e.g. Easter, Pentecost, and Epiphany). Christians have continued to create meeting spaces that facilitate worship, and like the temple, often evoke a sense of God’s majesty and transcendence.
[8] David Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2002), 196.
[9] Robert E. Webber, Worship Old and New, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009), Chap. 6, Logos.
[10] God’s special presence may be best understood not as a fundamentally different kind of presence, but a different degree of presence. See James K. A. Smith, “The Spirit, Religions, and the World as Sacrament: A Response to Amos Yong’s Pneumatological Assist.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 15, no. 2 (2007).
[11] Robert E. Webber, Worship Old and New, Ch. 2, Logos.
[12] Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology: The Church as Worshiping Community (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2006), 49.
[13] Justin Martyr, The First Apology, 67.
[14] Constance Cherry, The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and Biblically Faithful Services (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2021), 33.
[15] Constance M. Cherry, The Music Architect: Blueprints for Engaging Worshipers in Song (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2016), 21.
[16] Miroslav Volf, After Our Likeness: The Church as the Image of the Trinity (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 1998),129.
[17] Robert E. Webber, Worship Old and New,Ch. 7, Logos.
[18] David Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2002), 177.
[19] Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology, 90. See also Paul F. Bradshaw, Two Ways of Praying (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1995). Bradshaw describes two different ways of praying that correspond to either the objective pole (“cathedral prayer”) or subjective pole (“monastic prayer”).
[20] Constance M. Cherry, The Music Architect, 25.
[21] Robert Webber, Worship Old and New, Ch. 6, Logos.
[22] James F. White, Introduction to Christian Worship, 27 (emphasis original).
[23] Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, and Faith Alive Christian Resources, The Worship Sourcebook (Grand Rapids, MI: Calvin Institute of Christian Worship: Faith Alive: Baker Books, 2004), 16.
[24] James F. White, Introduction to Christian Worship, 29 (emphasis original).
[25] Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology, 130.
[26] Mark Labberton, The Dangerous Act of Worship: Living God’s Call to Justice (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2007), 90.
[27] Justo L. González and Catherine Gunsalus González, Worship in the Early Church, First English ed. (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022), 53.
[28] Brevard S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture, First American ed. (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1979), 514.
[29] Brevard S. Childs, Introduction to the Old Testament as Scripture, 513.
[30] Ambrose, Explanatio psalmi i, 9.
[31] Justo L. González and Catherine Gunsalus González, Worship in the Early Church, 157.
[32] “We celebrate the memorial of our redemption, O Father, in this sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving.” The Book of Common Prayer (New York: Church Publishing Incorporated, 1979), 363.
[33] Justin Martyr, The First Apology, 67.
[34] Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Ephesians, 20.
[35] Scott W. Sunquist, Understanding Christian Mission: Participation in Suffering and Glory (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2013), 283-84.
[36] The Catholic Encyclopedia, https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09790b.htm.
[37] Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "mission,” accessed August 31, 2024, https://www.oed.
com/.
[38] Miroslav Volf and Maurice Lee, “The Spirit and the Church,” in Advents of the Spirit: An Introduction to the Current Study of Pneumatology, ed. Bradford E. Hinze and Lyle D. Dabney, 382-409 (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2001), 399.
[39] Oxford English Dictionary, s.v. "culture," accessed August 31, 2024, https://www.oed. com/.
[40] Robert Webber, Worship Old and New, Ch. 7, Logos.
[41] James K. A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009), 47.
[42] Cecilia González-Andreiu, Bridge to Wonder: Art as a Gospel of Beauty (Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2012), 43.
[43] Scott Sunquist, Why Church? A Basic Introduction (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2019), 57.
[44] James K. A. Smith, Desiring the Kingdom, 87-88.
[45] “Nairobi Statement on Worship and Culture,” 4.1-2, https://worship.calvin.edu/resourc es/resource-library/nairobi-statement-on-worship-and-culture-full-text/.
[46] Constance Cherry, The Music Architect, 40.
[47] David Peterson, Engaging with God, 99.
[48] William A. Dyrness, A Primer on Christian Worship: Where We’ve Been, Where We Are, Where We Can Go (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2009), 82-82.
[49] Romano Guardini, The Spirit of the Liturgy, trans. Ada Lane (London: Sheed and Ward, 1937), 99. Quoted in Simon Chan, Liturgical Theology, 54.
[50] Scott Sunquist, Why Church?, 76.
[51] Terence E. Fretheim, “The Reclamation of Creation: Redemption and Law in Exodus,” Interpretation 45, no. 4 (1991): 361 (emphasis original).
[52] For a thought-provoking argument against a purely instrumental view of the incarnation, see Edwin Chr. Van Driel, “Incarnation and Israel: A Supralapsarian Account of Israel’s Chosenness.” Modern Theology 39, no. 1: 3–18.
[53] Marva Dawn, A Royal Waste of Time: The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World (Grand Rapids, MI: W.B. Eerdmans, 1999), 1.
[54] Dallas Willard, Renewing the Christian Mind: Essays, Interviews, and Talks, ed. Gary Black (New York: HarperOne, 2016), 43.
