The Liturgy Trap is a helpful introduction to Biblical worship. But it accomplishes more than a basic premise for Christian worship, it is also a helpful refutation to Roman, Orthodox and Anglo-Catholic forms of liturgy. Though Jim criticizes the abusive trap of three of the major Christian traditions, he also finds plenty of reason to criticize modern evangelical sloppiness in worship. According to Jordan “Christian worship…is not a technique for obtaining grace, but is a response to truth.” (xiii)
Jim sees the following practices as serious corruptions to the gospel:
a) veneration of the ‘saints’, b) bowing down to created things other than human beings, c) confirmation as a second work of grace, d) exaltation of virginity and celibacy and e) the misuse of the doctrine of real presence. (xvi)
The primary question that seeks to be answered is: “Are these practices Biblical and are they healthy for the life of the people?
(to be continued)
I have not read the book yet, but liturgical worship presumes that one’s heart is in God.
Indeed.