The Worship of God: Some Theological, Pastoral, and Practical Reflections
Overview
While most Christians today value worship and regard it as a vital part of the church’s life and witness, there is also a wistful yearning that contemporary worship be vastly improved and given a more satisfying rationale. Calling his book a “compact guide to some of the main themes of the worship of God,” and believing that the agenda of worship “needs a serious overhaul in our churches,” well-known theologian Ralph P. Martin here reexamines the concept of worship, “recasting … its meaning in such a way as will express its essentially theological dimension and yet will relate its practice to the concerns, interests, and needs of men and women in our world.” To that end, Martin discusses several elements of worship: praise, prayer, hymns, the offering, the creeds and confessions, the sermon, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and the role of the Holy Spirit. The main thrust of Martin’s discussion it to consider, in the light of Scripture and history, the theological rationale for the practice of each element. A final chapter summarizes the author’s definition of worship and diagrams a “service of worship” that involves all the aspects of worship he has discussed. Both theologically adequate and pastorally helpful, the book is designed for ministers and theological students, as well as lay leaders in the churches.
- Title: The Worship of God: Some Theological, Pastoral, and Practical Reflections
- Author: Ralph P. Martin
- Publisher: Eerdmans
- Print Publication Date: 1982
- Logos Release Date: 2016
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Public worship; Liturgics
- ISBNs: 9780802819345, 0820819346, 0802819346
- Resource ID: LLS:WRSHPGDPRFLCTNS
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-25T21:11:02Z
Ralph P. Martin (1925–2013) served as scholar-in-residence at several schools, including Fuller Theological Seminary, Haggard School of Theology, and Azusa Pacific University. He was a professor emeritus of New Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary and an associate professor in biblical studies at the University of Sheffield in England.
Martin earned degrees at University of London and King’s College. He has written several commentaries and books, including Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching Ephesians, Colossians, and Philemon, the commentaries on 2 Corinthians in the Word Biblical Commentary series, and many more!