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Calvin on a Fixed Form of Worship—A Note in Textual Criticism
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 February 2009
Extract
‘On every hand one encounters a new interest in worship. The liturgical renewal has led to a fresh examination of our Reformation heritage both on the Continent and in America.’
Although Calvin's own views regarding a fixed form of worship are of prime importance for the understanding of our tradition, critical scholarship is not in agreement here. On the one hand, W. D. Maxwell and others stress Calvin's attachment to fixed forms. On the other hand, Wilhelm Niesel insists that ‘The form of divine service is obviously not of fundamental importance for the Reformed Churches. The service can be ordered in this way or in that’—although of course Niesel goes on to recognise that the service must be ordered and not arbitrary. This point of view finds recent agreement in T. Watson Street.
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References
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