As the persuasion again becomes more common among Presbyterians that the Reformed Church of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was right to make the Book of Psalms the church's manual of worship song, objections are raised. Some who would retain uninspired hymns are convinced that the Bible teaches the confessional Reformed principle that the form of worship must be limited to what God has prescribed in his Word. And so they seek a rationale for the use of uninspired compositions which would be compatible with this regulative principle. Their arguments will be examined, and denials that the regulative principle is relevant to the question will be tested.

The biblical regulative principle is formulated in the Reformed confessions in opposition to the Lutheran and Anglican rule that anything may be introduced into God's worship which the Scriptures do not expressly reject. The regulative principle of worship is repeatedly taught by John Calvin.(1) The Westminster Confession of Faith enunciates the principle and its corollaries,(2) and demonstrates its confidence in the specificity of Scripture by enumerating the parts of worship and institutions of church government which Scripture warrants.(3)

The argument begins with the unique inspiration of Scripture as the Word of God. The reading of the Scriptures is an element of the church's worship, and the only permissible text for this exercise is that found in the canon. God's provision of a canonical text implies a restriction that allows the use of no other text. Similarly, God has by inspiration provided us with a text for worship song, and we are thereby laid under obligation to use it. We may no more bring to the church's worship the singing of noncanonical texts in place of the Scriptures, than we may substitute noncanonical texts for the public reading of the Word of God. The reading of Scripture and the singing of Scripture are acts of the church's worship in which the Lord has prescribed a canonical text. This consideration might have no force if the canon included only materials for reading. But the Lord has also provided within the canon materials designed to be sung in the worship of God, and has designated them as such in the biblical narrative. And so the argument touching the use of canonical reading material in the church's worship is also true concerning the materials for song.

We shall treat in turn each of those objections which are at heart a denial that the regulative principle is applicable to the question of a prescribed text for worship song, and we shall also assess attempts to implement the regulative principle which are accompanied by a claim that the use of uninspired song in worship is positively authorized by Scripture.

Chapter I: Is Singing Of Psalms A Worship Ordinance?

Worship Ordinances and Worship Functions

It has become common to object that the regulative principle is not applicable to the question of a text for worship song, on the ground that singing is not a separate element of worship. The argument posits that only the ends, goals and general functions of worship, such as praise and instruction, are commanded in Scripture. Therefore the action of singing, being nothing more than a means of reaching those goals, is not governed by the regulative principle.

This objection appeared in 1974 in an article by Vern S. Poythress, who is now Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, and a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. Writes Poythress, "One basic difference between the exclusive-psalmody position and the didascalia-position is this. The exclusive-psalmody position tends to see 'singing' as a separate 'element' of worship alongside prayer and preaching. The didascalia-position ["words that communicate the teaching of Scripture" may be used] sees singing as another means, alongside poetic speech and prose speech, of praying, praising, confessing, teaching, preaching, admonishing, etc. In this latter case, singing does not actually need a separate justification at all. It is justified simply by the fact that praying, praising, confessing, teaching, etc., are justified."(4)

The argument was repeated in an exchange concerning psalmody in the pages of Antithesis, a magazine published by Covenant Community (Orthodox Presbyterian) Church of Orange County, California. Writing as "Advocate 1," Orthodox Presbyterian minister Greg Bahnsen declared that "since it is not a separate element of worship, singing does not require a separate Biblical justification." "Singing is rather just one of the many legitimate means of pursuing the various elements of worship. Prayer, praise, exhortation and teaching, are among the proper elements of worship (as regulated and restricted by the word of God). But all of these can be pursued by various means: meditation (e.g., silent prayer, reflection on Scripture), plain speech (e.g. praying aloud, preaching a sermon), or in song (i.e., with increased melody and rhythm). Singing, you see, is just one of the ways in which we pray, or praise, or exhort, or teach one another."(5) Bahnsen identifies singing as "one 'circumstance' by which we perform various elements of worship (praise, prayer, instruction, testimony)."(6)

Scripture, however, commands more than only the general functions of worship, such as praise or instruction. Scripture commands the specific observances we are to use in the pursuit of those functions. The Westminster Confession plainly asserts this. Having named "prayer, with thanksgiving," as "one special part of religious worship" (XXI.iii), the Confession identifies the other actions which are to be observed as ordinances in the worship of God: "The reading of the scriptures with godly fear; the sound preaching, and conscionable hearing of the word, in obedience unto God, with understanding, faith, and reverence: singing of psalms with grace in the heart; as also the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ; are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God: besides religious oaths and vows, solemn fastings, and thanksgivings upon several occasions, which are, in their several times and seasons, to be used in an holy and religious manner" (XXI.v). The Confession provides biblical proof texts for each of these distinct parts of worship.

Several worship ordinances serve a teaching function. Among them are the reading of the Scriptures, the preaching of the Word, the singing of Psalms, baptism and the Lord's supper. Inasmuch as Scripture institutes each of these parts of worship, the regulative principle descends to the level of these actions, requiring the use of them specifically, and excluding any others from the church's worship.

We may note some of the positive biblical authorization for a number of the ordinances. Baptism is a washing with water in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 28:19-20); if any of this content were omitted, it would not be Christian baptism (Acts 19:1-5). In the Lord's Supper bread and wine are given and received, to show forth the Lord's death (Matt. 26:26-29, I Cor. 11:23-29). The reading of Scripture and the preaching of the Word are distinct parts of worship, the first being the recitation of the words of the Bible itself (Exod. 24:7, Deut. 31:9-13, II Kings 23:2, Neh. 8:1-8, Luke 4:16-20, Col. 4:16, I Thess. 5:27), and the second being an explanation of the sense, and an exhortation of the hearers in terms of the message of the canonical text (Neh. 8:7-8, Acts 13:14-43, 20:7, I Tim. 4:13, II Tim. 4:1-2). Alongside these is the singing of Psalms (II Chron. 29:30-31, Matt. 26:30, I Cor. 14:26, Col. 3:16), and prayer to God (Nehemiah 9, Acts 4:23-31, Phil. 4:6, I Tim. 2:8).(7)

Now if the regulative principle is not applicable to the means by which the teaching function is carried out, we can imagine what other means men might introduce as a teaching device. If the church judges that additional sacraments would be beneficial for teaching or praise, why may not men institute such? But of course Scripture does regulate which actions may be used in carrying out worship functions, for as soon as the Bible institutes specific ordinances, such as preaching the Word and singing of Psalms, then the regulative principle comes into play, and we may use no other means than those authorized in God's Word. Officers in Presbyterian churches, by virtue of their subscription to the Westminster Confession, have undertaken a commitment concerning what the Scriptures require in this matter.

Notes
(1) John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, II.viii.5, IV.viii.13, and IV.x.8, 11, 16-17, 23-25. Cf. idem, "The Necessity of Reforming the Church," in Calvin's Tracts (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1844-51), 1:128-29, 132-33, and 151-53; idem, Commentaries on the Last Four Books of Moses (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1852-55), 3:305 and 406; idem, Commentaries on the Twelve Minor Prophets (Edinburgh: Calvin Translation Society, 1846-49), 1:300-301, 305-306, 365-66, and 451-52, and 4:196-97.
(2) Westminster Confession, I.vi, XVI.i, XX.ii, and XXI.i; cf. Larger Catechism 109 and Shorter Catechism 51.
(3) Westminster Confession, VII.v and vi, XXI.ii through viii, XXII, XXV.ii through iv, and XXVII through XXXI.
(4) Vern S. Poythress, "Ezra 3, Union with Christ, and Exclusive Psalmody," Westminster Theological Journal 37 (1974-75): 231; cf. pp. 224 and 225-26.
(5) Greg Bahnsen, "Exclusive Psalmody," Antithesis 1, no. 2 (March-April 1990): 49; cf. pp. 51 and 53.
(6) Ibid., p. 53.
(7) Cf. John Murray, "The Worship of God in the Four Gospels," in The Biblical Doctrine of Worship, ed. Philip W. Martin, John M. McMillan and Edward A. Robson (Pittsburgh: Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, 1974), pp. 97-98; idem, "Worship," in Collected Writings of John Murray (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1976), 1:165-68.

Go to the next installment:
II. Singing of Psalms: Cultural Relatives