wraezor
Puritan Board Freshman
Hello folks,
We've recently had a sermon on singing as an ordinance of worship. This inevitably led to some discussions about RPW and EP. Some of the examples and anectdotal arguments got me thinking about the inherent properties, similarities and differences in our ordinances, particularly prayer and singing.
Prayer
a) Offered 'upward' to God (similar to singing)
b) Auditorily monotone or melodic (similar to singing)
c) To be performed in corporate, in family, and in private worship (similar to singing)
d) Verbalized by a single voice (different from singing)
e) Content can be extemporaneous (different from singing)
Singing
a) Offered 'upward' to God (similar to prayer)
b) Auditorily monotone or melodic (similar to prayer)
c) To be performed in corporate, in family, and in private worship (similar to singing)
d) Verbalized by all voices participating in the worship (different from prayer)
e) Content is provided in Scripture (different from prayer)
The reason I'm approaching it this way is to see what fundamentally distinguishes these two ordinances. Am I correct in saying (point b) that personal prayers can be expressed melodically without it falling under EP? If true, the nature of singing is unique in its properties of congregational participation and regulated content. That, more than the monotony or melody of the expression is what defines it as an ordinance.
Are there better arguments about the prayer/singing distinction that can shed light on this?
We've recently had a sermon on singing as an ordinance of worship. This inevitably led to some discussions about RPW and EP. Some of the examples and anectdotal arguments got me thinking about the inherent properties, similarities and differences in our ordinances, particularly prayer and singing.
Prayer
a) Offered 'upward' to God (similar to singing)
b) Auditorily monotone or melodic (similar to singing)
c) To be performed in corporate, in family, and in private worship (similar to singing)
d) Verbalized by a single voice (different from singing)
e) Content can be extemporaneous (different from singing)
Singing
a) Offered 'upward' to God (similar to prayer)
b) Auditorily monotone or melodic (similar to prayer)
c) To be performed in corporate, in family, and in private worship (similar to singing)
d) Verbalized by all voices participating in the worship (different from prayer)
e) Content is provided in Scripture (different from prayer)
The reason I'm approaching it this way is to see what fundamentally distinguishes these two ordinances. Am I correct in saying (point b) that personal prayers can be expressed melodically without it falling under EP? If true, the nature of singing is unique in its properties of congregational participation and regulated content. That, more than the monotony or melody of the expression is what defines it as an ordinance.
Are there better arguments about the prayer/singing distinction that can shed light on this?