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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Order of Worship | 1 Cor 14:26 | Aixen7z4 | 150949 | ||
Hello Tim: On question 1: Is giving worship? I am sure it depends on one’s definition of worship. In common parlance, worship has come to mean “The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object”, “The ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed”, “Ardent devotion; adoration“, etc. As I understand it, the essence of true worship to God is to bow down before him (Psalm 95, etc.). Yet some feel it is appropriate to bring a gift as we do so. The wise men certainly did (Matthew 2). Paul was teaching, as Isaiah had (chapter 66) that giving to God is not acceptable worship. The reason he gives immediately; God does not need anything. This, of course, we learn from Psalm 50. If we do bring a gift, then God is looking for a humble and contrite heart (Psalm 51) submission to his word (Isaiah 66) and the fruit of our lips (Hebrews 13:15). On question 2: Is 1 Corinthians 14:26 proscriptive, or descriptive (or prescriptive)? That is the key, isn’t it? Is he saying, “How is it that you do that?” or “Here‘s what you have been doing“ or “Here’s what you should do.” Most translations leave the matter ambiguous, while some, with brackets and italics, show a bias one way or the other. As always, I believe the meaning is in the context. There is no indication that they were coming prepared with those things. But according to Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4, Colossians 3, they should have. Contrariwise, they seemed to be coming with only one thing, namely, speaking in tongues. Paul seemed to be calling for variety, for diversity, for a contribution from many. They should come prepared. But they should control themselves. They should share only that which edifies. They should take turns. They should make sure that all was done in an orderly manner. There is much in 1 Corinthians that Paul was correcting, but there is no evidence that he was against variety in the meeting. But are you certain that “Scripture goes out of it's way to not proscribe (prescribe?) a certain manner and order of worship“? It seems to me that the Old Testament prescribed in minute detail the manner in which God was to be viewed (Exodus 20, etc.) and approached (Exodus 24, Exodus 25, Leviticus 17, etc.). God’s anger and punishment was severe against those who violated those procedures (Leviticus 10). As time went on and things deteriorated, God considered their ceremonies to be at best a waste of time and at worst an affront to him (Isaiah 1:13; Malachi 1:7, etc). Would God who is a God of order leave that order up to man‘s ingenuity? It seems to me that God has prescribed an order, and men either disregard it and develop their own liturgies, or they allow the meeting of the church to descend into apparent chaos and disorder. But there are some who find guidelines in passages such as 1 Corinthians 14, the grounds for them having been laid in chapters 10, 11, 12, and 13. It might be good to look for those guidelines and principles. Otherwise we will tend to justify what we presently do. |
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2 | Order of Worship | 1 Cor 14:26 | Morant61 | 150960 | ||
Greetings Aixen! On to the second question! :) First of all, thank you for the correction. I thought I might be using the wrong word, but I didn't have time to look it up! :-) Secondly, I should have said that the New Testament seems to avoid 'prescribing' a certain style of worship. The OT certainly does go into quite a bit of detail with the temple worship. One thing I can say for certain is that 'has' in the Greek text of 1 Cor. 14:26 is not imperative. It is a simply indicative verb. Thus, I would say that 1 Cor. 14:26 is descriptive, not prescriptive. So, I would certainly agree that there are principles in the NT concerning worship, but I just do not see any prescribed order. Your Brother in Christ, Tim Moran |
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