Journal: Westminster Theological Journal
Volume: WTJ 67:2 (Fall 2005)
Article: Covenantal Worship: Reconsidering The Critics
Author: R. J. Gore, Jr.

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WTJ 67:2 (Fall 2005) p. 363

Covenantal Worship:
Reconsidering The Critics

R. J. Gore, Jr.

R. J. Gore, Jr., is Professor of Systematic Theology and Dean of Erskine Seminary in Due West, S. C.

I. Introduction

It was with some hesitancy that I opened the Westminster Theological Journal to read David Gordon’s review.1 His short review in Modern Reformation led me to assume, rightly as it turns out, that I was again in for a real thrashing. Gordon finds little value in my book and much that is “unwarranted” or “problematic” (WTJ, 350), “irresponsible” (WTJ, 352), and obtuse (WTJ, 353), involving profound misunderstandings (WTJ, 354) and “terminological confusion and significant methodological errors” (WTJ, 355). The reviewer goes on to say that “a book like this is a reviewer’s nightmare” (WTJ, 355). But, with all that he condemns in the book, he does find a few virtues to praise. While speaking of my “boldness” and “candor” in repudiating “the teaching of the Westminster Assembly regarding worship,” he pauses to compliment my writing style, describing it as “clear, uncluttered prose that is effortlessly read” (WTJ, 346). I am afraid I must not have been as clear as he alleges, since I am unable to recognize my views at all in Gordon’s presentation of my book.

I find the issues here of such importance that I must seek to answer his charges (even at the risk of adding more confusion) and, if possible, help to clarify the issues before us. There is little, if anything, in the Reformed tradition that is more important than understanding the way in which Scripture regulates the whole of our life and service to God, especially the worship we give to God. I make this response to my reviewer with the same aim as I expressed in the book, “not as the final word on the regulation of worship, but as a modest attempt to further the discussion. It is my prayer that this work will facilitate fruitful dialog within the Presbyterian churches” (C W, 7). I have not written as

WTJ 67:2 (Fall 2005) p. 364

an iconoclast against the right of God to regulate His worship, but as a student of the Word and the history of this controversy who wants to make sure that we have neither added to, nor taken away from, what God has commanded us in the Holy Scriptures. In the ensuing discussion, I will try to address the crucial issue of terminology and then respond to each of the reviewer’s main objections to CW.

II. Relevant Terms

First, there is the issue of terminology. What do we mean by the Puritan regulative principle of worship—the subject...

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