Spurgeon on Liturgy
Tuesday, October 6, 2009 at 10:20AM It isn't often that I want to go on record opposing C.H. Spurgeon. It shouldn't be easy to oppose the Prince of Preachers, who was much smarter than I will ever be. But I have to admit struggling with what Spurgeon says about the liturgy.
Some samples from Lectures to My Students:
Where in the writings of the apostles meet we with the bare idea of a liturgy? Prayer in the assemblies of the early Christians was unrestricted to any form of words. Tertullian writes, "we pray without a prompter because from the heart." Justin Martyr describes the presiding minister as praying "according to his ability." It would be difficult to discover when and where liturgies began; their introduction was gradual, and as we believe, co-extensive with the decline of purity in the church; the introduction of them among Nonconformists would mark the era of our decline and fall. (p.56)
Whence shall our help come? Certain weaklings have said, "Let us have a liturgy." Rather than seek divine aid they will go down to Egypt for help. Rather than be dependent upon the Spirit of God, they will pray by a book! For my part, if I cannot pray, I would rather know it, and groan over my soul's barrenness till the Lord shall again visit me with fruit-fulness of devotion. If you are filled with the Spirit, you will be glad to throw off all formal fetters, that you may commit yourself to the sacred current, to be borne along till you find waters to swim in. (pp.236-237)
No need to guess what he really thinks.
I'm interested in what you make of this. Tomorrow I'll tell you where I think Spurgeon is right, and where I think he's wrong on this topic.
Reader Comments (2)
In answer to Spurgeon's first question - perhaps in Philippians 2:5-11 we have the bare bones of a liturgy. I would think that I could pray a memorized prayer from the heart in the way that Tertullian said. It is possible for a man to use a written prayer and still pray according to his ability and it is possible to show no ability at all when praying extempore.I think we need to be aware of the culture in which Spurgeon's words were made. It also seems that he may have been reflecting a church tradition of his own in his disagreement. I know that the tradition in which I was raised, to read a prayer was to confess oneself as a liberal. It ranked right up there with movies and dancing. (Not as serious as drinking though).I would agree with you Darryl that liturgy is not the father of decline that CHS said it was, but I try to understand the tradition from which he spoke and remember that it is mine and it has done me a great deal of good. If I had to choose between liturgy OR extemporaneous worship I would choose the latter. CHS didn't seem to be able to see how both could live together and that is a shame I think. Truth is, even our worship has more form than many who agree with CHS would like to admit.
Ken:Good comments. I think I'm with you. You should be scared. ;)