"Mere Worship: Exploring Christian Worship" is about exploring and developing a theology of worship. The work is grounded in Scripture, theology, and Church history. Years of experience in working through various worship ministries have shaped and developed my own outlook on worship. "Mere Worship" is heavily influenced by C.S. Lewis' "Mere Christianity" and Alister McGrath's writings. These two authors and many others have shaped and challenged my own ideas and concepts on Christianity, theology and worship. "Mere Worship" tries to bring together a coherent picture of the Christian vision of God. It is written in a way that explains difficult ideas and concepts into managable and memorable ways. It was written out of the conviction that the Church simply does not understand why we do certain things in worship. It tries to bring together research from scripture, theology, philosophy, history and practical ministry.

Liturgical theology tends towards the anthropocentric, focussing primarily on the behaviour of the worshippers. The theology of Thomas F. and James B. Torrance, however, provides an alternative approach: a Trinitarian and Christocentric study of liturgy, which decentralises the worshippers' position in liturgy and focusses instead on Christ, the One who is worshipped. In Trinitarian Doxology, Kevin J. Navarro examines the Torrances' theology, explicating and illuminating their work, whilst simultaneously providing critical analysis which provides a lens for deeper understanding.

Includes Belief in God, The Jesus of History, The Word of the Cross, The Power and the Wisdom, The Spirit of the Lord, The People of God, The Means of Grace, The Written Word, The Double Cure, and The Hope of Glory.

In this concise yet comprehensive guide to using and praying the psalms in worship services, John Witvliet first offers summary of key biblical-theological themes related to the practice of worship, and he continues with reflections on every step in the process of preparing to use the psalms in worship, drawing on insights from writings in the history, theology, and pastoral practice of worship, liturgy, and preaching. Including patristic testimonies as "prelude" and both Reformation-era and modern testimonies as two "interludes," the volume also offers a comprehensive list of currently available liturgical and musical resources. Witvliet offers a first -- a book designed to speak at once to both "traditional " and "contemporary " worship practices. The Biblical Psalms in Christian Worship will appeal to a wide range of readers, including college and seminary students, scholars and teachers, church educators, worship leaders, musicians, and librarians.

Seeking a faithful solution to conflict over musical worship, the pastor/musician author begins with biblical principles for worship, examines historical and contemporary models for worship, and evaluates worship practices in one presbytery of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), to propose guiding principles and specific applications for the use of music in worship. The project shows biblical worship to be described by a number of characteristics and grounded in God's Word, presence, and community. After exploring these principles biblically, historically, and culturally, the outcome of the project is a significant collection of music-related worship resources for use in the local church and for equipping in broader teaching contexts.

In discussions of worship, the term ’participation’ covers a lot of ground. It refers not only to concrete acts in gathered liturgy, but also to some of the loftiest claims of Christian theology. In this book, Alan Rathe probes the ways in which North American evangelicals have in recent years regarded the landscape of participation. Rathe presents a broad review of evangelical worship literature through a lens borrowed from medieval theology. This brings into surprising focus not only evangelical understandings but also evangelical identities and the historical traditions they reflect, and offers fresh perspectives on such current theological concerns as God’s triunity, missio Dei, and the practical theology of participation. Offering a fresh contribution to a young but important discipline, the liturgically-informed study of evangelical worship practice, this book reconnects the evangelical tradition to the ’Great Tradition’ and in the process re-appropriates classic concepts that are full of promise for contemporary ecumenical dialogue.

In discussions of worship, the term ‘participation’ covers a lot of ground. It refers not only to concrete acts in gathered liturgy, but also to some of the loftiest claims of Christian theology. In this book, Alan Rathe probes the ways in which North American evangelicals have in recent years regarded the landscape of participation. Rathe presents a broad review of evangelical worship literature through a lens borrowed from medieval theology. This brings into surprising focus not only evangelical understandings but also evangelical identities and the historical traditions they reflect, and offers fresh perspectives on such current theological concerns as God’s triunity, missio Dei, and the practical theology of participation. Offering a fresh contribution to a young but important discipline, the liturgically-informed study of evangelical worship practice, this book reconnects the evangelical tradition to the ‘Great Tradition’ and in the process re-appropriates classic concepts that are full of promise for contemporary ecumenical dialogue.

The Mosaic of Atonement offers a fresh and integrated approach to historic models of atonement. While modern treatments of the doctrine have tended toward either a defensive hierarchy, in which one model is singled out as most important, or a disconnected plurality, in which multiple images are affirmed but with no order of arrangement, this book argues for a reintegration of four famous "pieces" of atonement doctrine through the governing image of Christ-shaped mosaic. Unlike a photograph in which tiny pixels present a seamless blending of color and shape, a mosaic allows each piece to retain its recognizable particularity, while also integrating them in the service of a single larger image. If one stands close, one can identify individual squares of glass or tile that compose the greater picture. And if one steps back, there is the larger picture to be admired. Yet in the great mosaics of age-old Christian churches, the goal is not for viewers to construct the image, as in a puzzle, but to appreciate it. So too with this mosaic of atonement doctrine. While no one model is set above or against the others, the book notes particular ways in which the "pieces"--the feet, heart, head, and hands--mutually support one another to form a more holistic vision of Christ's work. "This is my body," Jesus said to his followers, and by reintegrating these oft-dismembered aspects of atonement, we will note fresh ways in which it was given for us.