I just went back to Piper's book Desiring God - Meditations of Christian Hedonist. This is Calvinism in the tradition of Jonathan Edwards, make no mistake. And it is full of purple passages about the emotions or affections that seem to ring true:
Where feelings for God are dead, worship is dead...
True worship must include inward feelings that reflect the worth of God's glory.
These are strong statements - but surely right! Piper says that the right affections give authenticity to the external acts of worship, performed as they are by the will. He turns to the Psalms, especially as they give expression to a genuine brokenness and contrition on the one hand, and to the hearts right desire for God himself on the other.
5 comments:
Amen brother. It seems that the problem so often in Sydney is that we have forgotten that there is a relationship between the affections and true worship of God. Perhaps our desire to correct an emotion driven worship of God (one not drawn from biblical roots) has lead us down a path which artificially separates the mind from the affections. True worship is indeed affectatious in nature and arises from the throne of the mind.
Hear, hear! It's not just Edwardsian Calvinism (better named the Reformed tradition), much of it has been derived from Puritanism pure and simple.
John Owen says that one has not done theology until the head, heart, and hands have all been affected. If it only stirs the mind, Owen calls it "Christian philosophy" but not theology.
This, of course, has antecedents all the way back in Duns Scotus.
dare we say Christianity at its purest simplest and best?
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind & strength", not the mind alone!
And Jesus worshiped God with his whole self. Zeal for God's house consumed him (John 2:17). The Spirit filled him with joy (Luke 10:21).
I dunno. You'd want to be pretty careful putting things this way, it seems to me.
What if someone were to look inwardly, sadly conclude that they have no feelings for God, and so even more sadly conclude that they could not worship God. Talk about Anfechtung!
Surely such a person should be directed to Christ, especially as he promises to make himself graciously present to them (and I would add, as he makes himself graciously present in the sacrament, in the liturgy, which is primarily God's service to us), rather than their feelings.
In taking hold of Christ they could let him create the fitting feelings. And that would be true worship, in good conscience, according to the promises of Christ.
Or did I get the wrong end of the stick?
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