Theses on worship: Notes toward the reformation of worship by James B. Jordan

Theses on worship: Notes toward the reformation of worship Reviews

• 
  Jacob Aitken

  Despite a lot of negative press about the FV, this book is useful in its applications and also in that it saw a positive movement away from both 1) liturgical minimalism in Reformed worship and 2) slappy clappy stuff.
  
  The heart of Jordan's argument can be seen in thesis 7: Thesis 7: The heart of worship is Amen to God’s three gifts: New Person, New Community, and New sacraments of life. In a so-called Covenant Renewal service we would see something like this:
  
  Order of Worship
  
  Confession of sinfulness (Dispositional perspective, ala Frame)
  Declaration of Forgiveness and glorification.
  Response of Praise to the Father (psalms and hymns)
  Hearing of the Word of God (Normative Perspective)
  Response of consecration (offertory)
  Response of prayer (symbolized by Incense)
  Receiving the sacrament (Presentation of world) (Situational perspective)
  Rest in God.
  
  The New Man hears the New Word and makes a New World
  
  Key argument: if worship is turned into evangelism, then it is no longer prayer (Jordan 37).
  
  Glorification music, that which follows the confession, should be powerful (the Lutherans got this right in “A Mighty Fortress…”)
  
  Some comments:
  
  There is a typo on p.64. “Admit” should read “omit.”
  
  What a wonderful chapter on the psalms.
  
  the author recalls a story where his friend in the Reformed Episcopal Church was going for ordination and was asked if he thought the psalms were useful for counseling, prayer, etc. Of course, he said yes. The older minister then asked him to summarize each of the 150 psalms. The young man, having grown up in a liturgical church, had a number of them memorized, but eventually he gave up. The older minister opposed his ordination.
  
  Metrical psalms are an application of the psalter, but they are not the psalter.
  
  Seminaries have chapel services several times a week (if not daily). In these services how many are teaching how to chant the psalms? (I could make some embarrassing….ah, I’ll stop here).
  
  
  
  
• 
  Grant Van Brimmer

  Jordan insightful as usual.
• 
  Chris Comis

  This is Jordan's more positive presentation of the Reformed catholic approach to worship/liturgy. Lot's of good stuff to consider and debate, especially the section on "closed worship." My wife and I had a grand time debating this one.
• 
  Lynn

  James Jordan is such an egghead, and I say that with affection. I read this book many years ago and decided to revisit it. Sometimes the things that Jordan sees and articulates about worship in the Bible (and in the modern church) are so mind-blowing and shocking…and yet when you consider the Scriptures in this new light, they often make surprising sense. He just throws things out there like, “Worship is private. Unbelievers have no business being there at all,” and “To stay away from worship without good reason is to spit in the face of God.” He looks at types and symbolism in the Bible in ways that most of us haven’t considered. He lays the groundwork for covenant renewal worship. The blurb on the back cover refers to the book as “stimulating.” That it is. Everyone ought to take a walk on the wild side with Jordan sometime - you’ll end up thinking he might not be so wild after all.
• 
  Peter Jones

  A book on worship that shifted my paradigm from worship as evangelism to worship as discipleship several years ago. Just read it again. Not as much exegesis as I would like, but solid insights abound. If his advice on the Word in worship and particularly the psalter was followed the Church's worship would be more robust, effective and God-honoring.
• 
  Kris

  I think this was the first book of Jordan's that I read, and it was in my transformational year of 2003. This book is one of three thin volumes on worship by Jordan that completely changed how I view Lord's Day worship and the purpose of gathering as a Church. Foundational--- proves you don't have to be long winded or comprehensive to be influential.
• 
  Douglas Wilson

  Interesting.
• 
  Brian

  These are essentially articles on worship grouped together for the reader's convenience. Good stuff, of course, but not necessarily a "great book."
• 
  Jonah

  An important work. Smashes modern evangelical ideals of worship, and restores worship according to a biblical framework. Excellent.