Why are most common Evangelical Protestant Christians way of worship not Liturgical?

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Jon_Hus said:
A better question to ask is why do Liturgical groups do this and where do they get the material? However, since the Bible doesn’t talk about it at all, as long as it doesn’t contain things contrary to the Bible, I personally see not harm in it. But it does get tiresome, week after week, in my opinion.
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Agreed
 
Mannyfit75 said:
I have always ponder about this? How come Evangelical Protestant Christians like Non-Denomination, Baptists, and Penecostal worship is not Liturgical worship like Catholics, Angelicans, Lutherans, and Eastern Orthodox? I think they are missing the most ancient form of Christian worship.
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In the highly reformed methodist church I use to attend to we used semi-rock music for worship rather than hymms.
 
Why?

Perhaps a church which is to tied to form and liturgy can not do things like start televised and internet services to reach people otherwise unreached. It takes pressure from other groups with less concern about form to bring new technologies and ideals to the tool box of evangelism.
 
gurneyhalleck1 said:
An even better question is why are we looking into the Bible to try and see how worship should be conducted when we see little in Scripture indicating anything worship-wise? Why apply sola scriptura and ignore the fact that the early church that was persecuted, illegal, largely in catecombs and in homes, was LITURGICAL. Have you ever read the Didache? It’s a late first/early second century Church manual and it actually spells out how liturgy was conducted and it’s very similar to Catholic/Orthodox worship. It’s very structured, detailed, and says what responses should be. I highly recommend you get out of the Bible-only box, realize the Church came before the NT was even finished, and that works like the Early Church Fathers’ writings and the Didache are very important in understanding the Early Church.

And “tiresome” is all in the eye of the beholder. I say “thanks be to God” several times each week at Mass, never tire of it! I say, “Lord I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed.” The Centurian said it to Jesus, Jesus appreciated the man’s faithful words, so I have no problem saying it." I like saying the Creed. I believe it. I like saying “glory to you Lord” and the Our Father. What is so tiring about the liturgy? I suppose if you’re looking for entertainment at church and can’t say the liturgy with a heartfelt feeling then you’d be right. I believe liturgy is the only way to fly. It’s the entertainment-minded, televangelist crying and ranting and raving and arms flailing of modernity that the early Christians never exhibited. The Catholics and Orthodox have it right.
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So then you believe that all of the churches of the NT were all the same?? I think you better read the differences of how Paul and James preached to the different churches based upon what it was that they needed.
 
4Squarebaby said:
Why?

Perhaps a church which is to tied to form and liturgy can not do things like start televised and internet services to reach people otherwise unreached. It takes pressure from other groups with less concern about form to bring new technologies and ideals to the tool box of evangelism.
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The church service isn’t the way to reach the unchurched. Evangelism works on a one-to-one basis. The Eucharist is a rite for initiates, not for “seekers”.
 
Proallen said:
So then you believe that all of the churches of the NT were all the same?? I think you better read the differences of how Paul and James preached to the different churches based upon what it was that they needed.
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All the contemporary sources we have that mention worship in the early Church suggest that its worship was liturgical. The exact order of service may not have been the same from Jerusalem to Ephesus to Antioch, but they all followed a set order of service. Within that service certain prayers were extemporaneous (Hippolytus & the Didache both suggest that part of the Canon was extemporized), but there is nothing to suggest that early Christian worship was a hectoring lecture sandwiched by praise songs–much less a Bible study class. (Who owned Bibles in those days, anyway?)
 
Palaeologos said:
All the contemporary sources we have that mention worship in the early Church suggest that its worship was liturgical. The exact order of service may not have been the same from Jerusalem to Ephesus to Antioch, but they all followed a set order of service. Within that service certain prayers were extemporaneous (Hippolytus & the Didache both suggest that part of the Canon was extemporized), but there is nothing to suggest that early Christian worship was a hectoring lecture sandwiched by praise songs–much less a Bible study class. (Who owned Bibles in those days, anyway?)
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That’s a fair statement. My point was that all of those churches although most likely very liturgical, had obvious differences and needs based upon what we see in the Epistles.
 
Proallen said:
That’s a fair statement. My point was that all of those churches although most likely very liturgical, had obvious differences and needs based upon what we see in the Epistles.
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Bearing in mind, of course, that the Epistles were mostly written to correct errors and address issues that had been presented to Paul for arbitration. If we’re not careful, we can get a skewed idea of what was going on the Church if we try to abstract normative practice from them; kind of like reading only warning letters sent from school to the parents of specific students and then trying to work out what school is like.
 
Palaeologos said:
Bearing in mind, of course, that the Epistles were mostly written to correct errors and address issues that had been presented to Paul for arbitration. If we’re not careful, we can get a skewed idea of what was going on the Church if we try to abstract normative practice from them; kind of like reading only warning letters sent from school to the parents of specific students and then trying to work out what school is like.
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But also, there are some very solid things that we can see such as how the Corinthians were not celebrating the Eucharist in a correct manner and St. Paul called them on it. But I do get your point of always seeing the discipline over and above the whole big picture.
 
gurneyhalleck1 said:
Agreed on which part?
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[SIGN]Originally Posted by Jon Hus
A better question to ask is why do Liturgical groups do this and where do they get the material? However, since the Bible doesn’t talk about it at all, as long as it doesn’t contain things contrary to the Bible, I personally see not harm in it. But it does get tiresome, week after week, in my opinion.[/SIGN]
 
Dokimas said:
[SIGN]Originally Posted by Jon Hus
A better question to ask is why do Liturgical groups do this and where do they get the material? However, since the Bible doesn’t talk about it at all, as long as it doesn’t contain things contrary to the Bible, I personally see not harm in it. But it does get tiresome, week after week, in my opinion.[/SIGN]
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If the worship of the Church is becoming tiresome, that is more of a judgment on the person becoming tired than on the worship or the Church.
 
Palaeologos said:
If the worship of the Church is becoming tiresome, that is more of a judgment on the person becoming tired than on the worship or the Church.
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Maybe or maybe it’s a commentary on the practice having too much of a ritual for some people. Jesus was anything but ritualistic. He didn’t even heal the blind the same way twice (at least the specific ones mentioned in the Gospels). There is freedom in Christ.
 
Dokimas said:
Maybe or maybe it’s a commentary on the practice having too much of a ritual for some people. Jesus was anything but ritualistic. He didn’t even heal the blind the same way twice (at least the specific ones mentioned in the Gospels). There is freedom in Christ.
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He was anything but ritualistic? How do you know?

Hmm, let’s see, I’m sure he never went to the Temple. Or to the synagogue, eh?

But that’s beside the point. The liturgy wasn’t instituted for God’s good. There is nothing we can give him that he doesn’t already have; he is a complete Being. The liturgy is for our formation, our edification, and our spiritual health. To abandon the liturgy is to abandon the worship of God in spirit and in truth, to our own peril. It doesn’t hurt him; it hurts us.
 
Palaeologos said:
He was anything but ritualistic? How do you know?

Hmm, let’s see, I’m sure he never went to the Temple. Or to the synagogue, eh?
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I already gave you an example.​

Your ‘Temple’ example doesn’t do your point much good. He wasn’t a qualified scribe, levite, or rabbi. Yet when He went into the Temple He taught, the so called ‘unlearned’ teaching the learned. I’m quite sure His interaction in the Temple was anything but the norm. Didn’t those who heard Him marvel at the authority with which He spoke? NOT normal for those of His human stature.
 
Palaeologos in black; Doki in color.

The liturgy wasn’t instituted for God’s good. Agreed. Is it the only way to worship God? There is nothing we can give him that he doesn’t already have; (thanks for reminding me) he is a complete Being (again, thanks). The liturgy is for our formation, our edification, and our spiritual health. (and it’s the only way for us to get formed, edified, spirtual health???) To abandon the liturgy is to abandon the worship of God in spirit and in truth (so there’s not other way??? And we get accused of putting God in a box or limiting Him.?.?), to our own peril. It doesn’t hurt him; it hurts us.
 
Dokimas said:

I already gave you an example.​

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If you’re going to give an example, then give an example which has to do with a liturgical occasion. Healing isn’t a liturgical act; you might as well cite an example of Jesus donning his sandals.

In any case, Christianity isn’t merely a case of “monkey-see-monkey-do” imitation of everything Jesus did, and avoidance of anything he isn’t recorded as doing. He can promise the thief that they will be together that night in Paradise; neither you nor I can make such a promise.
 
Dokimas said:
Palaeologos in black; Doki in color.

The liturgy wasn’t instituted for God’s good. Agreed. Is it the only way to worship God?
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It is the only way to worship Him as a body. Privately, you can pray however you wish, knowing that it will be heard. But as a church, we worship decently and in order, and according to the same form that the Church has always worshipped. If you depart from that because you find it boring, that says more about your own disposition than it does any defect in the liturgy.

As the priest said to the Baptist pastor, “Fine; you go ahead and worship God in your way, and we’ll go ahead and worship him in His.” 🙂
 
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