Sample Chapter

About

Does God care how we worship? For thousands of years, believers have answered with a resounding yes! Ever since the days of Cain and Abel, God has emphasized right worship, and it’s clear that careless worship can have serious consequences.

Worship consciously regulated by God’s Word is a distinct characteristic of the Reformed church. Yet today many churches do not understand that both the Old and New Testaments have much to say about appropriate worship before God. Ligon Duncan lays the foundations of the regulative principle in worship, providing full biblical support as well as historical context. He also answers objections: Is this “right worship” essentially European? Is it flexible to different churches and contexts? Is it really still applicable today?

Originally published in Give Praise to God: A Vision for Reforming Worship (P&R Publishing, 2003). Content has been edited for this new format.

Endorsement

“Does God care how we worship? Indeed he does, and Ligon Duncan’s practical explanation of biblical principles for public worship will help pastors, musicians, and other churchgoers to find greater enjoyment in the God they love to praise.”

—Philip Graham Ryken, President, Wheaton College

The Author

Ligon Duncan

Ligon Duncan (MDiv, Furman University; MA, Covenant Theological Seminary; PhD, University of Edinburgh) is chancellor and CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary. Previously he was the senior minister of the historic First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi. He also served as president of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals from 2004–12.

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