With Reverence and Awe

Even among Reformed Christians, worship is a fighting word. Conflicting expectations for worship reveal that there is significant confusion about its nature, purpose, and practice. Originally designed for Sunday school classes, this book is a primer to the fundamentals of worship, drawing from Scripture and Reformed confessions. By overviewing how Reformed theology informs how we think about, put together, and participate in a worship service, Hart and Muether prepare us to gather corporately for worship in ways that are appropriate to our triune God.

About the Author :
D. G. Hart studied American history at the Johns Hopkins University and has served as Director of the Institute for the Study of American Evangelicals at Wheaton College and Academic Dean and Professor of Church History at Westminster Seminary in California. He is currently Visiting Professor of History at Hillsdale College. His books include Defending the Faith: J. Gresham Machen and the Crisis of Conservative Protestantism (1994); The Lost Soul of American Protestantism (2002); With Reverence and Awe: Returning to the Basics of Reformed Worship (2002); John Williamson Nevin: High Church Calvinist (2005); and A Secular Faith: Why Christianity Favors the Separation of Church and State (2006). John R. Muether (MAR, Westminster Theological Seminary) is librarian and associate professor of church history at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. The coauthor of four volumes, Muether has served on the Harvard Divinity School library staff and has been librarian at Western Theological Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary. He has served on the editorial board of Regeneration Quarterly and on the board of directors of Mars Hill Audio. He is historian of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and serves on that denomination's Christian Education Committee.

Review :
When the forms and styles of contemporary worship first arrived on the conservative Presbyterian scene, Reformed traditionalists were caught off guard. Instinctively many reacted negatively, recognizing immediately that more than taste was at risk, that indeed something of great value was in danger of being lost. The agents of change were first in print with articles and books enthusiastically advocating a "kinder, gentler" Presbyterianism of lay worship leaders, pop music, topical sermons, drama, dance, and talk-show formats, all in a "lighter" and more "lively" context. Now at last Hart and Muether have provided the first comprehensive book-length answer to the challenge of contemporary worship. Their clear and forceful presentation will help ministers, elders, worship committees, and believers of every stripe understand the distinctives of Reformed worship, why they are worthy of preserving, and why contemporary innovations should be resisted.--Rev. Terry L. Johnson, The Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, GA A well-written, thought-provoking volume. . . . Laymen and ministers shold read this discussion of the value of Reformed worship and what Reformed worship is.--Christian Observer A work of great importance to the discussion of Reformed worship. After several generations of books and essays on worship that seemed completely uninformed on the central concerns of our tradition, we are at last beginning to hear from Reformed scholars who know something about the subject.--Hughes Oliphant Old - Princeton Theological Seminary The authors are measured, balanced and compactly comprehensive. The book is after all, a primer, so they shorthand some of the more controversial or questionable Old School hermeneutics. It's nonetheless heartily recommended to pastors and elders.--Gerry Wisz - Christian Renewal This is a good book, which ought to be read by every believer who wishes to engage in worship that is pleasing to God because it is worship that is in harmony with God's will as revealed in the inspired, infallible Scriptures.--Robert D. Decker, Protestant Reformed Theological Journal