From a book entitled A Short History of Christianity by Stephen Tomkins I quote as follows: "The basic difference between Zwingli and Luther was in their attitudes to the Bible. Zwingli saw it as a precise blueprint for church life. For Luther, what is not forbidden is permitted; for Zwingli, what is not permitted is forbidden." (page 141) Both Zwingli and Luther lived in the Age of Reformation, often referred to as the Protestant Reformation, and both men were leading figures in its beginnings.
The subject of this
article is the issue that separated Luther from Zwingli, namely, the silence of
the scriptures. While I will be
concentrating primarily on issues related to worship practices in this article
the principles enunciated extend beyond what happens inside the doors where we
meet for worship weekly. Does the
silence of the scriptures permit a practice or forbid it in Christianity?
This can only be
answered by an appeal to the scriptures to which we will go but before doing so
it would be good to make the point that some have answered this question
without an appeal to scripture at all. Authority
within the Roman Catholic Church, for example, resides in the church itself,
the Magisterium, not in scripture. However,
I suppose, if one was forced to put them in either Luther’s camp or Zwingli’s
camp they would have to be placed with Luther.
When one takes the position
Luther took one cannot complain too much, and be consistent, about wild
innovations in the church. If what is
not forbidden is permitted then pretty much anything goes. On what basis could you forbid it?
But what do the
scriptures teach for those desiring to know?
If there was only one passage one could use to settle this debate as it
relates to worship it would be for me John 4:24, "God is Spirit, and those
who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." (NKJV) It is easy to overlook a very important word
in this passage, the word "must."
That means neither you nor I have any choice in the matter. It is we "must." It is the only worship God will accept, that which
is in spirit and truth, or else the word "must" is a word without
meaning.
We know what is meant
when we are told we must worship in spirit.
I think we all agree about the meaning of that part of the
passage. That leaves only the word truth
and the question about that only revolves around what is truth, where it’s
found, and how you can know it. The Bible
tells us.
"Truth came through Jesus Christ."
(John 1:17 NKJV) Whatever Jesus spoke
was "truth." In prayer to the
Father, Jesus said, in John 17:17, "Your
word is truth." (NKJV) The
words Jesus spoke, whatever, wherever, to whomever were truth. He spoke the words the Father had given him. Hear Jesus, “I have not spoken on my own, but
the Father himself who sent me has given me a command to say everything I have
said.” (John 12:49 CSB) And, again, “I speak just as the Father has
told me.” (John 12:50 CSB)
All the words of the
New Testament, red letter or not, are the words of Jesus, the words of God the
Father, the words of truth. After Jesus’
death and ascension, when the Holy Spirit was given to men, the Holy Spirit did
not speak independently of Jesus and the Father. Jesus referred to the Spirit calling him “the
Spirit of truth.” (John 14:17, 15:26 NKJV)
Jesus further speaking of
the Holy Spirit said, “He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak
on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you
things to come. He will glorify Me, for
He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine
and declare it to you.” (John16:13-15 NKJV)
To worship in truth, then, involves worshiping by the word of God.
That means, and it seems so obvious that I do not see how men overlook
it, that if there is no word from God there is no truth in matters religious. If God has not spoken on a practice how does
man practice that thing, whatever it be, and say he is worshiping in truth?
Additionally, how can we
have faith in a worship practice if there is no word from God when “faith comes
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom.10:17 NKJV) And, again, “Whatever you do in word or deed,
do all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” (Col. 3:17 NKJV) If there is no word from Jesus (God) how do
you practice an activity in worship “in the name of the Lord Jesus”? Perhaps it would be more accurate to say we
are doing it in our own name.
There is such a thing as
the teachings of men. Listen to Jesus
again, "Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
…'And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.'
" (Matt. 15:7-9 NKJV) Paul says in
Titus we are to not give heed "to
Jewish fables and commandments of men who turn from the truth." (Titus
1:14 NKJV) A worship practice that does
not have a book, chapter, and verse for it in God’s word is a commandment of
men, an invention of men, and is certainly not worship in truth for if it was book,
chapter, and verse could be provided.
Now I know many are with
Luther on this—if a practice or act is not specifically forbidden then it’s
permitted. If he was right then truth,
God’s word, does not matter and one can on his own authority, manmade and man-given, institute worship according to one's desire.
Paul's rebuke of the
Corinthians regarding the Lord's Supper provides further evidence that what is
not clearly revealed in scripture is prohibited. The Corinthians had been taught about the
Lord's Supper or else they would not have been observing it, correctly or
incorrectly. Furthermore, Paul comes
right out and tells us they had been taught when he says, "For I received
from the Lord that which I also delivered to you." (1 Cor. 11:23 NKJV) That is past tense. Since he had last met with them they had obviously
made some changes in the way they were partaking of the supper. I ask—on whose authority did
they do so?
Note the principle Paul
is establishing. He is telling the
Corinthians to do what you are told to do by inspiration and do not make changes, or additions, or subtractions. To do so
is to change the word of God and is to go outside of truth for one's worship.
In the book of
Deuteronomy, we find Moses addressing the children of Israel, acting as God's
spokesperson. Hear what he has to say,
"You shall not add to the word which
I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD
your God which I command you." (Deut. 4:2 NKJV) Upon what evidence do you think that
principle has changed today? Do you
think that today God does not mind us adding to his word or taking from it?
We recognize the
principle of silence being prohibitive in human wills and legal documents. Why do we not recognize the same principle in
the last will and testament of our Lord and Savior, the New Testament? What was left out of that will was left out
for a reason.
If a doctor writes you a
prescription for drug X then you cannot use it to get drug Y in addition to
drug X. The silence of the prescription
prohibits that. And there is no
substitution unless it is specifically written on the prescription that is
allowed, normally to a generic. Silence
has meaning. Silence prohibits and does
not authorize. It is impossible to gain
authority from silence.
The police need a search
warrant to search your home. That
warrant does not give them the legal right to search your neighbor's home. Why not?
Because the warrant is silent, it does not speak about your neighbor's
house. You cannot have faith in silence
no matter how strongly you may feel about what ought to be. Our faith must be in what is written, not in
the unsaid.
We cannot change what is
written in the New Testament (the guide for Christians and Christ's last will
and testament). If we add to it we do so
without having the authority to do so and thus do so as men using man's
authority, not God's. If we take away
from what is written, ignoring it, then we may as well take a pair of scissors
and cut it out of the biblical text. Who
would dare do that? There is a Day of
Judgment when men must stand before God and tampering with his word is not
something you want to do when you contemplate that fearful day.
A practical application
of all of this, because it is such a widespread practice, is that of the use of
instrumental music in worship. It
was allowed under the Law of Moses.
Why? Because there was word from
God commanding it (see 2 Chron. 29:25).
It is prohibited, even though commonly practiced, under the law of
Christ (Gal. 6:2, 1 Cor. 9:21) under which we live today. Why?
There is no command for it. The
scriptures are silent. You can only
bring it into New Testament worship by adding to the words of Christ.
The secular history of
the church is such that it can be proven instrumental music was not used in the
New Testament church for a few hundred years after the first century. Most historians date it to the late seventh
century. The Jews were a people well
versed in the use of harps and other musical instruments. One must ask why Jewish Christians did not
use them in the earliest years of the church.
I think the answer is self-evident.
I close this by reiterating
what I have already said. If the silence
of the scriptures allows freedom to do as we please there is no end to the man-made innovations that men can dream up and bring into the church. Who can believe we can do anything and
everything with God’s approval?
[To download this article or print it out click here.]