THE TRUE WORSHIP
By John Blackburn
Chapter Two. 126 pages
ISBN 1 85307188 9
This book is from the stable of the Plymouth Brethren, and argues for simple worship - that is, worship unadorned by any musical accompaniment or anything else those Brethren deem 'unscriptural'.
There are good things in this book, undoubtedly. It is warmly and well written, with a sometimes poetic (though old-fashioned) feel to it. Its emphasis too, that worship is not merely outward acts but a heart condition, is undoubtedly Scriptural.
But to make its case it has to descend into unproven assumptions ('harp, lute and psalter are [in the NT era] replaced by making melody in our hearts to the Lord'. What, did the psalmists know nothing of melodious hearts and spiritual worship?) and even absurdity: ('Neither the worship of El Shaddai nor that of Jehovah was the true worship', for example, or the statement that 'psalms' in Ephesians 5.19 cannot be the psalms of the Old Testament because these cannot be the vehicles of the true worship).
If you're a convinced PB, this will help you. If you're not, it won't convince you.
Gary Benfold,
Moordown Baptist Church, Bournemouth
