Jash Comstock
Puritan Board Freshman
I have some questions regarding the Regulative Principle and Church History. I'm not trying to debate the scriptural validity of the RPW, I'm just curious about these questions from a Church History perspective.
1. Was RPW worship normative in NT times? Considering Churches like Corinth as an example?
2. If RPW worship was normative in NT times, how did it devolve so quickly into liturgy and the like, as recorded in the Didache and Justin Martyr? Are there any historical examples of Regulative Worship in the Early Church?
3. Why has RPW worship not been normative throughout the majority of Church History? It seems to me that the overwhelming majority of Church history has been very strictly liturgical (prayerbook and liturgical calendar). Obviously the corruption of Rome had a huge part in this, but even after the Reformation the Lutheran and Anglican traditions continued in non-RPW worship. We seem to be the only vein of Reformed folks who uphold the RPW..
Again, I understand that Church History isn't authoritative, and doesn't replace Sola Scriptura as our guide for worship and church practice, but I am curious as to why this doctrine was a minority view throughout most of Church History.
1. Was RPW worship normative in NT times? Considering Churches like Corinth as an example?
2. If RPW worship was normative in NT times, how did it devolve so quickly into liturgy and the like, as recorded in the Didache and Justin Martyr? Are there any historical examples of Regulative Worship in the Early Church?
3. Why has RPW worship not been normative throughout the majority of Church History? It seems to me that the overwhelming majority of Church history has been very strictly liturgical (prayerbook and liturgical calendar). Obviously the corruption of Rome had a huge part in this, but even after the Reformation the Lutheran and Anglican traditions continued in non-RPW worship. We seem to be the only vein of Reformed folks who uphold the RPW..
Again, I understand that Church History isn't authoritative, and doesn't replace Sola Scriptura as our guide for worship and church practice, but I am curious as to why this doctrine was a minority view throughout most of Church History.
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