The History of our Worship Gatherings - Worship: Reformed According to Scripture by Hughes Oliphant Old Book Review

THE HISTORY OF WORSHIP

What kind of church background do you come from?

In 21st Century American Christianity, we can sometimes be a little isolated from church history. Most of it did not happen in our nation and what we’ve got going on right now may feel like it works well enough, so why look back and reflect? In the classic historical study Worship: Reformed according to Scripture, Hughes Oliphant Old traces the history of all of the main elements of worship (praise, preaching, communion, baptism & more), and shows how the practice of worship has developed from Old Testament times to today.

One thing I really appreciated about Old’s approach in doing this survey is that he focused on key points of development in church history. While reading, you will often learn about Augustine’s approach to whatever issue he is talking about, and then later in the survey you will read how the Reformers interacted with Augustine. Not only that, but Old has a particular interest in the Reformation, so you will learn why Luther’s church had better music than Calvin’s, and what Zwingli thought about the Lord’s Supper in relation to Calvin. 

The section I was most encouraged by was Old’s chapter on the ministry of the Word. My heart was warmed as I read of the history of exposition of Scripture in the church. Although each era of church history had its unique strengths and weaknesses (with an especially dark age here and there), I was struck by the unity the church has had around the exposition and explanation of the Word of God on the Lord’s Day. When you listen to a sermon tomorrow, you are participating in a practice that is as old as the church itself. 

The acts of singing to the Lord and hearing his Word preached unite us not only to one another in this year, but a chain of God’s people that goes all the way back to Pentecost. Be encouraged in that today!