Throwback Thursday: Contemporary Worship, the Anabaptists, and the Hindus
Note: This was originally published on April 15, 2013. ~ Ed.
This article appeared in the Michaelmas 2011 print edition of Gottesdienst. As promised in the most recent edition, it is being posted here for perusal, in response to a request in the Letters section.
I guess Father Braaten was right. Our development officer—no, really, we have one—has been telling us that what our readers are likely most interested in is the provision of some clarity in theological thought and basis for our incessant objections to contemporary worship. So I dutifully proceeded to attempt to put some meat on the bones of our insistence that when the style of one’s worship is not traditional, something is amiss. In the Trinity 2011 issue, I sought to demonstrate that contemporary worship was fundamentally Arminian in nature, and that the drumbeats of its praise bands sought to excite what for Jacob Arminius would be the natural will’s innate capacity to make the right choice and follow Jesus. And almost before the ink was dry, we started receiving a good number of positive replies, in accord with Father Braaten’s expectations.