John Frame on the Regulative Principle and Music

Continuing on from the post on 5-26, Contemporary Worship Music - A Starting Point, let's look at Frame's view on the Regulative Principle (RP) in so much as it relates to music in the worship service. Before we begin, Frame's basis, and I heartily agree, is 1 Cor 14. Music, as in all parts of worship, must be understandable to anyone who may join the service. So, not only the spoken word but also the music must be in the vernacular.

From the WCF 21.1, ...But the acceptable way of worshipping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture.

Frame does not deviate from the accepted and applied understanding of the confession here at 21.1. Where he would differ in understanding is in 1.6 as it would apply to 21.1. 1.6 states, ... there are some circumstances concerning the worship of God, and the government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the Word, which are always to be observed. Here there is not even agreement of past or current adherents to the confession of the definition of "circumstances." Regardless, these decisions should still be made to the Glory of God. Further he writes concerning this, ...the term best suited to describe the sphere of human judgment is not "circumstance," but "application" (pg. 41, Worship In Spirit and Truth). Applications would include issues such as Scripture instructing us to pray, but does tell us what words to pray. Scripture instructs us to meet, but not when or where. We must us our best judgment in these issues. So, some issues are and some are not common to human actions and societies. Hence, the RP for worship applies here as well. This does not give us carte blanche to do as we please in worship. We must exercise godly judgment. We must, however, recognize that Scripture draws distinctions in different situations. Such as, to use Frame's examples again, the Lord's Supper is not an common meal, if some are hungry let them eat at home, not at the worship service. He advocates that in the decision making process that we are always subject to Scripture whether about worship or any other sphere of life. Lastly, he adds, Human wisdom may never presume to add to its [Scripture] commands. The only job of human wisdom is to apply those commands to specific situations.

Carrying this into the realm of music, Scripture does not in my opinion, based again on 1 Cor. 14, define what we are to sing. Often, I believe we should sing the Psalms or other portions of the Bible, but that's based on pragmatic reasons rather than biblical. It would be great to sing the Psalms to modern music. Frame in his book Contemporary Worship Music expertly lays out his position on this.

Returning to the first principle, he rightfully claims on page 67 of WISAT, ...Scripture also tells us, and more explicitly and emphatically, that worship should be intelligible. It should be understandable, to the worshipers, and even to non-Christian visitors (1 Cor. 14, especially vv. 24-25). And intelligibility requires contemporaneity. When churches use archaic language and follow practices that are little understood today, they compromise that biblical principle.

I hope I have accurately portrayed Frame's views here. To be sure, buy the book, give it a read and let's explore this area of RP and CWM.

John Frame on 1 Corinthians 14

In studying worship in the church I have found John Frame’s book Worship In Spirit & Truth most helpful, reasonable and very balanced. Many answers to the "how & why" of worship can be answered in 1 Cor. 14 &, in fact, it is the most quoted passage in the book. The book on the whole was very refreshing.

On page 8 he writes ...And we should make sure that our worship is edifying to believers (1 Cor. 14:26). First Corinthians 14 emphasizes the importance of conducting worship, not in unintelligible "tongues," but in language understandable to all. Even an unbeliever, when he enters the assembly, should be able to understand what is taking place, so that he will fall down and worship, exclaiming, "God is really among you" (vs. 25). So, worship has a horizontal dimension as well as vertical focus. It is to be God-centered, but also to be both edifying and evangelistic. Worship that is unedifying or unevangelistic may not properly claim to be God-centered.

On page 67 we read, ...Scripture also tells us, and more explicitly and emphatically, that worship should be intelligible, It should be understandable to the worshipers, and even to non-Christian visitors (1 Cor 14, especially vv. 24-25). And intelligibilty requires contemporaneity. When churches use archaic language and follow practices that are little understood today, they compromise that biblical priciple.

Referring to contemporary Christian worship music Frame asserts on page 117...To a certain extent, these developments in church music legitimately reflect the biblical and Reformation principle that worship is to be intelligible, and therefore vernacular, and in one sense "popular" (1 Cor. 14).

Again referring again to music he states ...If we are to pursue the biblical goal of intelligible worship (1 Cor. 14), we should seek musical settings that speak the musical languages of our congregation and community. To do this is not to cater to human taste, but to honor in his desire to edify people in his worship. (page 140)

May we all spend some time rethinking our traditions and preconceived notions and seek out what Scripture truly teaches concerning worship.

Worship in Spirit and Truth

Music Is Not Amoral

I find this kind of thinking about CCM here on Christian Research Net most disturbing. The line of reasoning, of what there is, does not even make sense. Its a huge leap to go from Cain whose worship was unacceptable, to Jubal, his descendant, the "father of all who play flute and harp," to the assertion that all music is amoral. What? To the author, I respectfully fail to see the logic. God is the ultimate first cause of all things, including all music styles, and therefore all music is good. It is what man does with it that makes it worshipful or sinful. Not to mention the fact that Cain's unacceptable worship had nothing to do with music. For the record, I have not read this book and based on this blurb I won't. I hope the author's reasoning is much clearer in his book. For a better understanding of this issue I recommend John Frame's books, Worship In Spirit & Truth and Contemporary Worship Music: A Biblical Defense.

What Is RP and What Does It Have To Do With Music In Church?

What Is RP & What Does It Have To Do With Music In Church?

RP is the Regulative Principle in Worship. It essentially states that whatever is not commanded in Worship (this is formal Lord’s Day worship) is forbidden. Most churches worship under the normative principle which, simply put, is that if it’s not forbidden it’s acceptable in worship. From Wikipedia:
The regulative principle of worship is a Christian theological doctrine teaching that the public worship of God should include those and only those elements that are instituted, commanded, or appointed by command or example in the Bible; that God institutes in Scripture everything he requires for worship in the Church, and everything else is prohibited.
The regulative principle is often contrasted with the normative principle of worship, which teaches that whatever is not prohibited in Scripture is permitted in worship, so long as it is agreeable to the peace and unity of the Church. In other words, there must be agreement with the general practice of the Church and no prohibition in Scripture for whatever is done in worship.
The normative principle of worship is the generally accepted approach to worship practiced by the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans and Methodists. The regulative principle of worship is generally practiced by the conservative Reformed churches, Restoration Movement, and in other conservative Protestant denominations, and it finds expression in confessional documents such as the Westminster Confession of Faith and the London Baptist Confession of Faith.
Some groups reject the use of musical instruments in worship on this ground [1]. Such groups may argue that there is no example of musical instruments for worship in the New Testament, and/or that the Old Testament uses of instruments in worship were specifically tied to the ceremonial laws of the Temple in Jerusalem (like the Old Testament sacrificial system), and are not applicable in the church. Many early Calvinists eschewed musical instruments in worship, and this practice typified Presbyterians, and other Reformed and Calvinist churches. In recent times, since the 1800s, most of these churches no longer exclude instruments.
(The above article is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulative_principle_of_worship)

So why is this important and why is it important to the Christian music community and to others that simply just want to go to church and worship? Two reasons, those churches that adhere to the RP normally, but not always, also subscribe to Exclusive Psalmody (singing only the Psalms) and do so with no musical instruments. Let me interject at this point that I wholeheartedly agree with RP and Psalmody except for a few areas which I will detail here. I am staunchly Reformed! However, I am not the only one who disagrees with the notion that to be RP one also must be EP. Take, for example, the Bible Presbyterians. View their website here: http://bpc.org/ and read their articles on music in worship. With great clarity they explain why EP it not required when a church otherwise follows the RP.

So where does this leave us? Let me put forth a few thoughts for the reader to consider.
Though I am not EP I am very close to it. Why, I here you asking? Because of the plethora of Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) that has such poorly written and/or downright unbiblical lyrics. (Add to that the feminized, over-emotional lyrics to many of these songs – guys how can you sing these and not feel a twinge of uneasiness?) Solution? Sing the Psalms. We don’t have to concern ourselves with theological error if we do.

My overall suggestion, therefore, is to sing the Psalms more often and more often to modern tunes. It’s interesting to note that singing the Psalms exclusively somehow also means to old tunes exclusively, often old hymn tunes. Now I find nothing wrong with the old tunes until they’re thrust upon me to use them exclusively. Musical worship can and should be a blend of old and new tunes, Psalms, hymns, songs, etc., reverently used with Christian wisdom and prudence befitting Lord’s Day Worship. But as I don’t believe we are required to be EP, what about hymns and songs? As long as the lyrics are not in theological error let’s go for it and in like manner, i.e., with some modern tunes.


But there is the next rub. Those in the EP camp sing only acapella. There are good arguments for using instruments and those have been made so I won’t detail those here (once again, see the articles at the Bible Presbyterian website and by the way, I do not belong to that denomination). Suffice it to say that I am not in that camp. Have you heard a congregation sing the Psalms acapella? Ouch! It’s painful. Off key, off tempo, monotone and altogether not praiseworthy. If we are to be giving our best in worship having the musical accompaniment makes it easier for the congregation to sing the correct notes and make the music what it should be. The music should accompany the lyrics, not overtake. This is praise to our God, not a concert.


I keep advocating modern tunes, why? Well, as stated above, I’m not advocating the discontinuation of the older tunes; many of them are pretty sweet. Nor am I pushing anyone to sing death metal. But as time marches on so should we. Why should we only sing tunes that are 100, 200, and 300 years old? Our old tunes were new then. As we continue to strive to learn and work for our Lord in every other area of human endeavor we should not neglect music. Some of us are musicians so let them write pleasing music that can be played and sung to our Great God.

Let me summarize all these disjointed ramblings:

Let’s mostly sing the Psalms
Let’s sing hymns and songs after careful scrutiny of the lyrics
Let’s sing the Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to old tunes and new tunes
Let’s sing with musical accompaniment used judiciously