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 "We must hold it as a first principle, that as often as any form is assigned to God, his glory is corrupted by an impious lie." - John Calvin ( Institutes of the Christian Religion 1.11.1)
"Calvin's argument is that there is no such thing as an 'innocent' religious image. Their acceptance alone is an act of idolatry, so that as soon as images appear, religion is corrupted and adulterated." - Carlos Eire, War Against the Idols: The Reformation of Worship from Erasmus to Calvin, p. 226 (cf. Institutes, 2.8.17).
"Question 51: What is forbidden in the Second Commandment?
Answer 51: The Second Commandment forbiddeth the worshipping of God by images, or any other way not appointed in His Word." - Westminster Shorter Catechism
Excerpt: After reading Hymns, Heretics and History, which makes the point that singing is a powerful form of teaching, and churches that would never allow women to teach men (1 Corinthians 14:34-35) nevertheless sing hymns written by women. I looked in the most recent (red) Trinity Hymnal, which as you know is used by many Reformed churches, to see if there were any hymns with lyrics written by women. There are at least 86. There may be more -- some of the first names are initials. That represents 13% of the total (742). Those songs attributed to "The Psalter" are 75 in number (10%). So there are more hymns with words written by women in the Trinity Hymnal than there are Psalms, or even what may be paraphrases of Psalms. Also, there are 35 hymns written by Isaac Watts, who at the least had unorthodox views of the Trinity and seems closer to Arianism.
The definitive audio series defending exclusive Psalmody.
 Psalm Singing In The Early Church. Concerning the early Church, Bushell notes that, "The introduction of uninspired hymns into the worship of the Church was a gradual process, and it was not until the fourth century that the practice became widespread." G.I. Williamson further points out that a "second noteworthy fact is that when uninspired hymns first made their appearance, it was not among the orthodox Churches but rather the heretical groups ... If the Church from the beginning had received authority from the Apostles to make and use uninspired hymns, it would be expected that it would have done so. But it did not.Rather it was among those who departed from the faith that they first appeared." This historical testimony raises a number of interesting questions for those who claim to adhere to the regulative principle of worship and yet maintain the use of uninspired hymns in public worship. First, if the Psalter had been insufficient, why was there no command to produce new songs for worship, only commands to sing that which was already in existence? Second, if a new manual of praise was necessary, why was it that the Apostles did not write any new songs under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit? Third, why is it that we do not find even one "hymn" fragment among all the early church writings that have survived to this day. Moreover, there is not even one mention of the use of uninspired "hymns" among orthodox Christians until they began to be written in reply to the heretical "hymns," which had not surfaced until late in the second century? (8. The first use of uninspired "hymns" was found among a heretical group called the Bardessanes. Cf. Williamson, Singing of Psalms, p. 16. 9. Bushell, Songs of Zion, p. 125.) Fourth, why was there still strong opposition to the introduction of uninspired hymns well into the fifth century? The Synod of Laodicea (A.D. 343) and the Council of Chalcedon (A.D. 451) both opposed the introduction of uninspired "hymns." In addition to this Bushell states that "as late as the ninth century we find appeals to the earlier Councils in support of a pure psalmody." - PSALM SINGING IN SCRIPTURE AND HISTORY by Dr. Reg Barrow (emphases added)
God not only rejects all invented manners of worship but strongly abominates them. It must be said, in fact, that as soon as men seek to worship God by their own judgment, whatever they produce is foul profanation. - John Calvin, Calvin's Ecclesiastical Advice (Translated by Mary Beatty and Benjamin W. Farley; Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991), 19.
"Hymns of human composition are used so commonly now in public worship by Presbyterian churches that it is difficult to believe that the practice is not a hundred years old, and that in some of the churches it is of very recent date. On the supposition that it is good and dutiful and wise to sing such hymns in worship, it is equally difficult to account for the neglect of the churches at the time of the Reformation, and for generations afterwards. What could have so blinded the reformers as to make them reject hymns and sing the Psalms alone? How could the Westminster Divines, in framing their Confession of Faith and Directory for Worship, have been so unanimous in the blunder that the service of praise is to consist of the 'singing of Psalms?' And apart from the aspect of duty, how could the Presbyterian churches, for about a hundred and fifty or two hundred years after the Westminster Assembly, have been so insensible to the power of hymns as an attractive addition to their public services? We cannot by any means understand how it was that, if it was dutiful to use hymns in worship, the reformers did not discover the Scriptural warrant for the duty, especially as hymns had been used for centuries by the Church of Rome. Nor can we understand how they rejected the hymns and used the Psalms alone, unless on the supposition that they believed the use of hymns to be part of the will-worship of Rome. If they were wrong on this point, then Rome and our modern Presbyterian churches are right. In that case, the Puritans and Covenanters were fanatics, and Romanists were truly enlightened! And most of our Presbyterian churches of the present day were fanatical too, and did not become truly enlightened and liberal till they got back to the Romish practice!" - James Dick, Hymns and Hymn Books(1883) on the Puritan Hard Drive
What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. - Deut. 12:32, KJV
Why Most Worship Is Idolatry According To the Bible (the Second Commandment Or The Regulative Principle Of Worship, RPW) By Jim Dodson, the Westminster Assembly, Greg Price, John Calvin, Dr. Steven Dilday, Jonathan Edwards, W.J. Mencarow, John Owen, Kevin Reed, Thomas Watson and Others (Free Puritan and Reformed MP3s, Books, Videos, Etc.)
All human inventions which are set up to corrupt the simple purity of the Word of God, and to undo the worship which he demands and approves, are true sacrileges, in which the Christian man cannot participate without blaspheming God, and trampling his honour underfoot. - John Calvin
If you love the Bible, then you may well be Reformed. If you think of yourself as Reformed, but you have seldom or have never read older Reformed literature, prepare to be challenged. The Puritan Hard Drive provides primary sources and depth of theological and spiritual insight which is lacking in much of what is passed off as genuine Reformed theology. If you think of yourself as conservative, the older Puritan and Reformed authors will help you sort reality from myth in your quest to be truly Reformed. There are more solid resources for less money here than anywhere else.I highly recommend you take responsibility for your soul and spend a few shekels for this cup of cold water in the midst of the modern religious desert.- Jim Dodson, Reformed Presbyterian Scholar, http://www.covenanter.org/
MANY MORE FREE REFORMATION RESOURCES FOLLOW THE LOAN OFFER BELOW 
But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. - Matthew 15:9, KJV
The human mind is, so to speak, a perpetual forge of idols. - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book One, Chapter 11.8, Beveridge Edition
Some one will therefore ask me what counsel I would like to give to a believer who thus dwells in some Egypt or Babylon where he may not worship God purely, but is forced by the common practice to accommodate himself to bad things. The first advice would be to leave [i.e. relocate - GB] if he could... If someone has no way to depart, I would counsel him to consider whether it would be possible for him to abstain from all idolatry in order to preserve himself pure and spotless toward God in both body and soul. Then let him worship God in private (at home - ed.), praying him to restore his poor church to its right estate. - John Calvin, Come Out From Among Them, The Anti-Nicodemite Writings of John Calvin, Protestant Heritage Press, "A Short Treatise," pp. 93-94, emphases added. Calvin quote (above) cited in Appendix G in The Covenanted Reformation Defended by Greg Barrow and on the Puritan Hard Drive
"...which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart."
"...God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, "I have not commanded them," whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions, than that they are not commanded by God: for when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to his commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship, in which they absurdly exercise themselves, would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words then are very important, when he says, that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind; as though he had said, that men assume too much wisdom, when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew."
- John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah 7:31
" ... by communicating with idolaters in their rites and ceremonies, we ourselves become guilty of idolatry; even as Ahaz, 2 Kings 16:10, was an idolater, eo ipso, that he took the pattern of an altar from idolaters. Forasmuch, then, as kneeling before the consecrated bread, the sign of the cross, surplice, festival days (like Christmas, Easter, etc.- ed.), bishopping, bowing down to the altar, administration of the sacraments in private places, etc., are the wares of Rome, the baggage of Babylon, the trinkets of the whore, the badges of Popery, the ensigns of Christ's enemies, and the very trophies of antichrist, -- we cannot conform, communicate and symbolise with the idolatrous Papists in the use of the same, without making ourselves idolaters by participation. Shall the chaste spouse of Christ take upon her the ornaments of the whore? Shall the Israel of God symbolise with her who is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt? Shall the Lord's redeemed people wear the ensigns of their captivity? Shall the saints be seen with the mark of the beast? Shall the Christian church be like the antichristian, the holy like the profane, religion like superstition, the temple of God like the synagogue of Satan?" - George Gillespie, A Dispute Against English Popish Ceremonies, volume one, p. 80, on the Puritan Hard Drive
 Take heed of all occasions of idolatry, for idolatry is devil-worship. Psalm 106: 37. If you search through the whole Bible, there is not one sin that God has more followed with plagues than idolatry. The Jews have a saying, that in every evil that befalls them, there is uncia aurei vituli, an ounce of the golden calf in it. Hell is a place for idolaters. 'For without are idolaters.' Rev 22: 15. Senesius calls the devil a rejoicer at idols, because the image-worshippers help to fill hell. - Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments (emphases added) on the Puritan Hard Drive
Colossians 2:8,20-23. The emphasis of the great apostle throughout this chapter is on forsaking the traditions and commandments of men, and rather clinging to Christ and His commandments, for "in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge . . in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (Col 2:3,9-10). Dear ones, you are not complete in yourself or in any man-made ceremonies in worship. You are complete, made full and acceptable through His work on your behalf. He is the head of the church, not you or me. He is our Prophet, Priest, and King. He alone directs our worship and presents it acceptable to the Father. Paul infers that to practice any "will-worship" (or "self-imposed religion" Col. 2:23) "according to the commandments and doctrines of men" (Col. 2:22) is to undermine the finished work of Christ (Col. 2:11-23) and toseek to usurp the headship over the church that rightly belongs to Christ (Col. 2:8-10,18-19). Self-imposed worship (i.e. any religious act, gesture, symbol, or ceremony in worship) is expressly condemned by Christ and His apostles. It is in fact false worship which no Christian should tolerate in the house of God without a verbal protest to the leadership and separation from this false worship until there is biblical reformation in worship ("The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counselling, commanding, using, and any wise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself" (The Larger Catechism, Question 109). - Greg Price, Foundation for Reformation: The Regulative Principle of Worship, free online at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/REFORMATION-RPW-GP.htm (emphases added above) or on the Puritan Hard Drive
 'That God's word damns your ceremonies, it is evident; for the plain and straight commandment of God is, 'Not that thing which appears good in thy eyes, shalt thou do to the Lord thy God, but what the Lord thy God has commanded thee, that do thou: add nothing to it; diminish nothing from it.' Now unless that ye are able to prove that God has commanded your ceremonies, this his former commandment will damn both you and them.' With this understanding of worship, the Scottish Church cast out a multitude of the monuments of idolatry which were part of papal worship; graven images, the Mass, false sacraments, Romish liturgical ceremonies, and Roman bishops were all removed from the Church. Ecclesiastical holidays were also expelled from the Church of Scotland. - Kevin Reed, Christmas: An Historical Survey Regarding Its Origins and Opposition to It, free online book.
What's Wrong With Worship In Most Churches -- False Worship (Violations Of the Second Commandment Or the Regulative Principle of Worship) and Well Intentioned Idolatry Brings God's Wrath and Even Death by Jim Dodson, John Owen, Jonathan Edwards, Greg Price, John Calvin, Kevin Reed, David Steele, William J. Mencarow, John Flavel, Dr. Steven Dilday, John Girardeau, John McNaugher and Others (Free MP3s, Videos, Books, Kindle, Etc.)
And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the ark of God. - 2 Samuel 6:6-7, KJV
"By all which, you see where the idolatry of worship lies. The instituting of any, though the smallest part of worship, in and by our own authority, without scripture-warrant, makes it idolatrous, as well as if we worshipped an idol" (Ex: 20:5). - The Works of John Flavel, Vol. 4, p. 527 (on the Puritan Hard Drive).
If you love the Bible, then you may well be Reformed. If you think of yourself as Reformed, but you have seldom or have never read older Reformed literature, prepare to be challenged. The Puritan Hard Drive provides primary sources and depth of theological and spiritual insight which is lacking in much of what is passed off as genuine Reformed theology. If you think of yourself as conservative, the older Puritan and Reformed authors will help you sort reality from myth in your quest to be truly Reformed. There are more solid resources for less money here than anywhere else. I highly recommend you take responsibility for your soul and spend a few shekels for this cup of cold water in the midst of the modern religious desert. - Jim Dodson, Reformed Presbyterian Scholar, covenanter.org
"The Regulative Principle of Worship declares that God alone is sovereign in worship. The Regulative Principle of Worship simply applies the principles of Calvinism (i.e. God's sovereign Lordship) to worship, whereas the view that what God doesn't forbid in worship is permitted is applying the principles of Arminianism (i.e. man's sovereign lordship) to worship. Just as fallen man naturally seeks to impose his will in salvation (e.g. "I can cooperate with God in salvation", or "I have a natural freedom to choose Christ"), so fallen man naturally seeks to impose his will in worship ("I can cooperate with God in worship by adding what I desire so long as God doesn't specifically forbid it"). But just as God condemns a man-centered salvation, so God condemns a man-centered worship (Col. 2:23 specifically condemns all will-worship, i.e. all worship instituted by man)." - Greg Price, Foundation for Reformation: The Regulative Principle of Worship, p. 10 (Free Book) or on the Puritan Hard Drive
"All worshipping, honoring, or service invented by the brain of man in the religion of God, without His own express commandment, is idolatry." - John Knox cited in Greg Price, FOUNDATION FOR REFORMATION: THE REGULATIVE PRINCIPLE OF WORSHIP, free at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/REFORMATION-RPW-GP.htm
"All things considered, certainly it is no small condemnation of us to behold what an ardent zeal the holy martyrs had in the past, especially in comparison with the nonchalance we demonstrate. For as soon as a poor man of that time got so much as a little taste of the true knowledge of God, he did not hesitate to expose himself to the danger involved in confessing his faith. He would have preferred to be burned alive than to go so far as to commit some outward act of idolatry." - John Calvin
"... which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart."
 "... God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, "I have not commanded them," whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions, than that they are not commanded by God: for when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to his commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship, in which they absurdly exercise themselves, would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words then are very important, when he says, that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind; as though he had said, that men assume too much wisdom, when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew."
- John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah 7:31
Take heed of all occasions of idolatry, for idolatry is devil-worship.
Psalm 106: 37. If you search through the whole Bible, there is not one sin that God has more followed with plagues than idolatry. The Jews have a saying, that in every evil that befalls them, there is uncia aurei vituli, an ounce of the golden calf in it. Hell is a place for idolaters. 'For without are idolaters.' Rev 22: 15. Senesius calls the devil a rejoicer at idols, because the image-worshippers help to fill hell. - Thomas Watson, The Ten Commandments (emphases added), on the Puritan Hard Drive
Colossians 2:8,20-23. The emphasis of the great apostle throughout this chapter is on forsaking the traditions and commandments of men, and rather clinging to Christ and His commandments, for "in Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge . . in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power" (Col 2:3,9-10). Dear ones, you are not complete in yourself or in any man-made ceremonies in worship. You are complete, made full and acceptable through His work on your behalf. He is the head of the church, not you or me. He is our Prophet, Priest, and King. He alone directs our worship and presents it acceptable to the Father. Paul infers that to practice any "will-worship" (or "self-imposed religion" Col. 2:23) "according to the commandments and doctrines of men" (Col. 2:22) is to undermine the finished work of Christ (Col. 2:11-23) and to seek to usurp the headship over the church that rightly belongs to Christ (Col. 2:8-10,18-19). Self-imposed worship (i.e. any religious act, gesture, symbol, or ceremony in worship) is expressly condemned by Christ and His apostles. It is in fact false worship which no Christian should tolerate in the house of God without a verbal protest to the leadership and separation from this false worship until there is biblical reformation in worship ("The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counselling, commanding, using, and any wise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself" (The Larger Catechism, Question 109). - Greg Price, Foundation for Reformation: The Regulative Principle of Worship (Free Online Book)
"Christmas was not celebrated by the apostolic church. It was not celebrated during the first few centuries of the church. As late as A.D. 245, Origen (Hom. 8 on Leviticus) repudiated ...the idea of keeping the birthday of Christ, "as if he were a king Pharaoh." By the middle of the 4th century, many churches in the Latin west were celebrating Christmas. During the 5th century, Christmas became an official Roman Catholic holy day. In A.D. 534, Christmas was recognized as an official holy day by the Roman state.The reason that Christmas became a church holy day has nothing to do with the Bible. The Bible does not give the date of Christ's birth. Nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to celebrate Christmas. Christmas (as well as many other pagan practices) was adopted by the Roman church as a missionary strategy." - The Regulative Principle of Worship and Christmas by Brian Schwertley (FREE BOOK) or on the Puritan Hard Drive.
"The regulative principle of worship has clear implications for those who want to promote the celebration of Christmas. The Regulative Principle forces those who celebrate Christmas to prove from Scripture that God has authorized the celebrating of such a day. This, in fact, is impossible." -From the free online book The Regulative Principle of Worship and Christmas by Brian Schwertley.
 There are 547 Reformation resources (books, MP3s and videos) under the category "Reformed Worship, The Regulative Principle, Etc.," and 126 Reformation resources (books, MP3s and videos) under the category "Psalters, Psalm Singing and Music," on the Puritan Hard Drive.
"Hymns of human composition are used so commonly now in public worship by Presbyterian churches that it is difficult to believe that the practice is not a hundred years old, and that in some of the churches it is of very recent date. On the supposition that it is good and dutiful and wise to sing such hymns in worship, it is equally difficult to account for the neglect of the churches at the time of the Reformation, and for generations afterwards. What could have so blinded the reformers as to make them reject hymns and sing the Psalms alone? How could the Westminster Divines, in framing their Confession of Faith and Directory for Worship, have been so unanimous in the blunder that the service of praise is to consist of the 'singing of Psalms?' And apart from the aspect of duty, how could the Presbyterian churches, for about a hundred and fifty or two hundred years after the Westminster Assembly, have been so insensible to the power of hymns as an attractive addition to their public services? We cannot by any means understand how it was that, if it was dutiful to use hymns in worship, the reformers did not discover the Scriptural warrant for the duty, especially as hymns had been used for centuries by the Church of Rome. Nor can we understand how they rejected the hymns and used the Psalms alone, unless on the supposition that they believed the use of hymns to be part of the will-worship of Rome. If they were wrong on this point, then Rome and our modern Presbyterian churches are right. In that case, the Puritans and Covenanters were fanatics, and Romanists were truly enlightened! And most of our Presbyterian churches of the present day were fanatical too, and did not become truly enlightened and liberal till they got back to the Romish practice!" - James Dick, Hymns and Hymn Books (1883), on the Puritan Hard Drive.
"Gradual reformation is not the matrix in which the church has functioned since its inception in the Garden of Eden... It would be wise imitating Hezekiah, Josiah, Luther, Calvin and the Lord Jesus Christ in the achievement of immediate reformation. Compromise is a lie. Gradual reformation in this regard is intolerable; both for the people of God who are deceived as to what real reformation and truth are about, and to the minister who compromises his beliefs, and neglects the honor of God's desire in true spiritual worship." - Dr. C. Matthew McMahon, from Gradual Reformation Intolerable
The Regulative Principle of Worship (which is really just sola Scriptura in worship - ed.) as found in God's Word is accurately summarized for us in the Westminster Confession of Faith 21:1:
 But the acceptable way of worshiping the true God is instituted by himself, and so limited by his own revealed will, that he may not be worshipped according to the imaginations and devices of men, or the suggestions of Satan, under any visible representation, or any other way not prescribed in the holy Scripture.
In like manner, carefully note the answer given to question 109 of the Larger Catechism ("What are the sins forbidden in the second commandment?"):
The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counselling, commanding, using and any wise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself; tolerating a false religion; the making any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature whatsoever... corrupting the worship of God, adding to it, or taking from it, whether invented and taken up of ourselves, or received by tradition from others, though under the title of antiquity, custom, devotion, good intent, or any other pretence whatsoever... all neglect, contempt, hindering, and opposing the worship and ordinances which God hath appointed.
A short summary of the Regulative Principle of Worship is simply this: What Scripture does not authorize it forbids. Most churches (Romish churches, Orthodox churches, Anglican churches, Lutheran, Baptist, Methodist, Pentecostal, Evangelical, and most Reformed and Presbyterian churches) are operating on an altogether different principle from the one just stated. The principle they are operating on is: What Scripture does not forbid, it permits. Since Christ in the New Covenant has not expressly forbidden drama, dancing, candles, incense, musical instruments, uninspired hymns, crossing oneself, banners, crosses, images, etc. within the house of God, the vast majority of churches today permit these (to lesser or greater degrees) and many more practices into their worship services.
However, the Regulative Principle of Worship would prevent all the above practices into the worship of God because they are all without the authorization of Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant. In other words, every religious practice or symbol in the worship of God's people must have a divine warrant from God's Word either by (1) command; or by (2) authorized example of the apostles; or by (3) good and necessary inference.
 | | JOHN CALVIN |
"To sing the praises of God upon the harp and psaltery," says Calvin, "unquestionably formed a part of the training of the law and of the service of God under that dispensation of shadows and figures, but they are not now to be used in public thanksgiving."1 He says again: "With respect to the tabret, harp, and psaltery, we have formerly observed, and will find it necessary afterwards to repeat the same remark, that the Levites, under the law, were justified in making use of instrumental music in the worship of God; it having been his will to train his people, while they were yet tender and like children, by such rudiments until the coming of Christ. But now, when the clear light of the gospel has dissipated the shadows of the law and taught us that God is to be served in a simpler form, it would be to act a foolish and mistaken part to imitate that which the prophet enjoined only upon those of his own time."2 He further observes: "We are to remember that the worship of God was never understood to consist in such outward services, which were only necessary to help forward a people as yet weak and rude in knowledge in the spiritual worship of God. A difference is to be observed in this respect between his people under the Old and under the New Testament; for now that Christ has appeared, and the church has reached full age, it were only to bury the light of the gospel should we introduce the shadows of a departed dispensation. From this it appears that the Papists, as I shall have occasion to show elsewhere, in employing instrumental music cannot be said so much to imitate the practice of God's ancient people as to ape it in a senseless and absurd manner, exhibiting a silly delight in that worship of the Old Testament which was figurative and terminated with the gospel."3
ENDNOTES:
1. On Ps. Lxxi. 22.
2. On Ps. Lxxxi. 3.
3. On Ps. xcii. 1.
In 1899, the General Assembly of the PCUS was overtured to give a "pronounced and explicit deliverance" against the recognition of "Christmas and Easter as religious days." Even at this late date, the answer came back in a solid manner: "There is no warrant in Scripture for the observance of Christmas and Easter as holydays, rather the contrary (see Gal. 4:9-11; Col. 2:16-21), and such observance is contrary to the principles of the Reformed faith, conducive to will-worship, and not in harmony with the simplicity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ." - Kevin Reed, Christmas: An Historical Survey Regarding Its Origins and Opposition to It (Free Online Book), emphases added.
It is commonly objected, that we may as well keep a day for the nativity, as for the resurrection of Christ. We have answered already, that Christ's Day, or the Lord's Day, is the day appointed for remembrance of his nativity, and all his actions and benefits, as well as for the resurrection. - David Calderwood (Covenanter), emphases added
All human inventions which are set up to corrupt the simple purity of the Word of God, and to undo the worship which he demands and approves, are true sacrileges, in which the Christian man cannot participate without blaspheming God, and trampling his honour underfoot. - John Calvin, emphases added
A search for the word "Easter", using the Master Search index on the Puritan Hard Drive, brings up 7,325 results in 662 documents, all of which gives you the search term in the context of one line (under each book title in which they are found) -- and when you click on this line the Puritan Hard Drive opens the correct book, to the correct page, and highlights your search term. There are also 112 Reformed resources under the category "Holy Days (Lord's Day, Christmas, Easter, etc.)" and 25 resources with the word "Easter" in the title on the Puritan Hard Drive.
Trying the Spirits To Avoid Antichrist, His False Doctrine (Arminianism, Sacramentalism, Etc.), His False Worship (the Mass, Man-Made Hymns, Musical Instruments, Etc.), His Holy Days and Much More by Jim Dodson and Others (Free MP3s, Books, Videos)
Are Christmas (Christ-Mass), Easter, Other Popish/Pagan Holy Days (Not Authorized In the Bible), Man-Made Hymns and Musical Instruments In Worship, Etc., Idols? By Jim Dodson (Free MP3) -- Click Here To Learn Much More About the Classic Reformed View Of The Second Commandment, or What Is Now Called the Regulative Principle Of Worship, and How It Applies To Worship In Our Day, By Various Puritans, Reformers, Covenanters and Westminster Divines, Greg Price, Jim Dodson, Kevin Reed (Presbyterian Heritage Publications), W.J. Mencarow, Dr. Steven Dilday and Others (Free Reformed MP3s, Videos, Books, Etc.)
 Hymns of human composition are used so commonly now in public worship by Presbyterian churches that it is difficult to believe that the practice is not a hundred years old, and that in some of the churches it is of very recent date. On the supposition that it is good and dutiful and wise to sing such hymns in worship, it is equally difficult to account for the neglect of the churches at the time of the Reformation, and for generations afterwards. What could have so blinded the reformers as to make them reject hymns and sing the Psalms alone? How could the Westminster Divines, in framing their Confession of Faith and Directory for Worship, have been so unanimous in the blunder that the service of praise is to consist of the 'singing of Psalms?' And apart from the aspect of duty, how could the Presbyterian churches, for about a hundred and fifty or two hundred years after the Westminster Assembly, have been so insensible to the power of hymns as an attractive addition to their public services? We cannot by any means understand how it was that, if it was dutiful to use hymns in worship, the reformers did not discover the Scriptural warrant for the duty, especially as hymns had been used for centuries by the Church of Rome. Nor can we understand how they rejected the hymns and used the Psalms alone, unless on the supposition that they believed the use of hymns to be part of the will-worship of Rome. If they were wrong on this point, then Rome and our modern Presbyterian churches are right. In that case, the Puritans and Covenanters were fanatics, and Romanists were truly enlightened! And most of our Presbyterian churches of the present day were fanatical too, and did not become truly enlightened and liberal till they got back to the Romish practice! - James Dick from Hymns and Hymn Books (1883, reprinted by Still Waters Revival Books) as excerpted from The Original Covenanter magazine (Dec, 1883, vol. 3, No. 12). Both items are on the Puritan Hard Drive.
John Girardeau, in his INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IN THE PUBLIC WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH (pp. 63, 64, on the Puritan Hard Drive), citing John Calvin, writes,
 "To sing the praises of God upon the harp and psaltery," says Calvin, "unquestionably formed a part of the training of the law and of the service of God under that dispensation of shadows and figures; but they are not now to be used in public thanksgiving." He says again: "With respect to the tabret, harp, and psaltery, we have formerly observed, and will find it necessary afterwards to repeat the same remark, that the Levites, under the law, were justified in making use of instrumental music in the worship of God; it having been his will to train his people, while they were yet tender and like children, by such rudiments until the coming of Christ. But now, when the clear light of the gospel has dissipated the shadows of the (ceremonial - ed.) law and taught us that God is to be served in a simpler form, it would be to act a foolish and mistaken part to imitate that which the prophet enjoined only upon those of his own time." He further observes: "We are to remember that the worship of God was never understood to consist in such outward services, which were only necessary to help forward a people as yet weak and rude in knowledge in the spiritual worship of God. A difference is to be observed in this respect between his people under the Old and under the New Testament; for now that Christ has appeared, and the church has reached full age, it were only to bury the light of the gospel should we introduce the shadows of a departed dispensation. From this it appears that the Papists, as I shall have occasion to show elsewhere, in employing instrumental music cannot be said so much to imitate the practice of God's ancient people as to ape it in a senseless and absurd manner, exhibiting a silly delight in that worship of the Old Testament which was figurative and terminated with the gospel."
 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. - The Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 15:9, KJV)
Trying the Spirits To Avoid Antichrist, His False Doctrine (Arminianism, Sacramentalism, Etc.), His False Worship (the Mass, Man-Made Hymns, Musical Instruments, Etc.), His Holy Days (Christmas, Michaelmas, Candlemas, Easter, Good Friday, Ash Wednesday, Assumption of Mary, Immaculate Conception, All Saints Day, Etc.) and Much More By Jim Dodson, John Calvin, Greg Price, John Knox, Dr. Steven Dilday, Westminster Divines, W.J. Mencarow, John Owen, Richard Bennett, Jonathan Edwards and Others (Free MP3s, Videos and Books Online)
 "...which I commanded them not, neither came it into my heart." "...God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, "I have not commanded them," whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions, than that they are not commanded by God: for when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to his commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship, in which they absurdly exercise themselves, would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words then are very important, when he says, that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind; as though he had said, that men assume too much wisdom, when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew." - John Calvin, Commentary on Jeremiah 7:31, emphases added
 1. In the pure Apostolical times there was no Christ-mass day observed in the Church of God. We ought to keep to the primitive Pattern. That Book of Scripture which is called, The Acts of the Apostles, saith nothing of their keeping Christ's Nativity as an Holy-day. The [Cent. 2.] Centuriators, and many others take notice that in the first Ages of the New-Testament Church, there were no stated Anniversary Holy-days among Christians. Easter was kept a long time before the Feast of the Nativity, and yet the Apostles never ordained that, as [Lib. 5. c. cap. 22.] Socrates (the most excellent of the Ancient Ecclesiastical Historians) does truly observe. Had there been the least hint of any such day observed in the primitive times, learned Vossius would have told the world of it. One [Voetius in Disput. de Nativ. Christi. p. 22.] saith of him, Si pergama dextra defendi possunt etiam hac defensa fuissent. But he acknowledges that the Feast of Christ's Nativity was not kept in the first nor yet in the second Century. After Prelatical writers have said all they can say, Chemnitius [Contra Conc. Trial. part. 4 de Festis. p. 262.] his words will be found true. Anniversarium diem Natalis Christi celebratum fuisse, apud vetustissimos nunquam legitur. The most Ancient writers speak not the least word concerning the celebration of Christ's Birth-day.
 | | JOHN KNOX |
With the CDs, it took a little while to go to the index of each set, locate the documents I needed, and then find the correct CD. Of course, the time was always well spent in finding that particular document that I needed.
However, now that I have the Puritan Hard Drive, I am able to use my time much more efficiently in finding that particular document I need by quickly searching for it and finding it in a matter of seconds. It's like going from "dial up" to "high-speed" Internet!
And for all of those documents that have a font that are in block letters, I am able to simply cut and paste from the Puritan Hard Drive to my own document with ease.
Amazing surprises do come in small packages!
If you want to understand Reformed theology (i.e., the whole counsel of God) the Puritan Hard Drive is unsurpassed, outside the Bible itself. The First and Second Reformations gave us the most faithful Scriptural teaching and preaching since the time of the Apostles, and there is no other resource, outside Scripture itself, where you can find so much of God's truth as in the Puritan Hard Drive.
May the Lord continue to use this most profitable tool to promote a Third Reformation that encompasses the whole world (Isaiah 2:2-4)!"
"Nevertheless, whereto we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us mind the same thing." - Philippians 3:16, which applies just as much to the family, the church and the state, as it does to the individual.
PASTOR W. J. MENCAROW REVIEWS AND RECOMMENDS THE PURITAN HARD DRIVE
 "The Puritan Hard Drive is the must have digital learning device for Puritan and Reformed studies.
Nothing like it has ever been available before!
If you don't have it you are almost certainly not learning as much as you could about God, or growing in grace at a pace that the Puritan Hard Drive, by the grace of God, facilitates.
There is no other way to get such easy, convenient and inexpensive access to so many great works from the best Reformation and Puritan preachers and teachers, past and present -- and the study software on the Puritan Hard Drive is out of this world in terms of usefulness!
If necessary, sell what you have (that does not draw you closer to God) to get the Puritan Hard Drive, and prayerfully use it until you become, by the Lord's sovereign and sanctifying grace, the most extraordinary Christian you can be (for His glory!)."
- W.J. Mencarow (Author, Pastor of Reformation Church, Boerne, Texas [San Antonio area] with free MP3 sermons on Sermonaudio,
Editor of The Paper Source Journal, etc. Pastor Mencarow has also been interviewed on numerous radio and TV programs (including "Good Morning America"), most networks and in major U.S. newspapers and magazines.
We also recommend that you listen to what may be the best audio commentary ever recorded, on the book of Revelation, by W.J. Mencarow (100+ free MP3s as of this writing), on Sermonaudio.
The common Christian can now have a world-class Presbyterian and Reformed library at his fingertips, for only pennies per volume.
I do not think that it is an exaggeration to say that the Puritan Hard Drive presents an historic and singular opportunity.
The works on the Puritan Hard Drive have been invaluable to me in sermon preparation and in improving personal and familial piety. If these had been the only blessings attached to the reading of these documents, the expense (even if it had been much greater) would have been justified; but there is more here.
In this present time, a great many Presbyterians (particularly in North America) have forgotten and implicitly (perhaps unwittingly) rejected their Presbyterian heritage. Strangely, Westminster confessing churches have rejected the theological distinctives of the Westminster Standards.
However, we may yet entertain the hope that these great attainments are rejected largely because of ignorance. The best books on these subjects have not been readily available; but (thanks be to God) they are available again on the Puritan Hard Drive.
For anyone interested in recovering our Presbyterian and Reformed past, the Puritan Hard Drive is a must.
It is my hope and prayer that the Puritan Hard Drive will be used by God to bring to light the things that were hidden, to call to remembrance the things that were forgotten."
- Dr. Steven Dilday, Pastor of Liberty and Grace Reformed Church in Northern Virginia (free MP3 sermons online at http://www.sermonaudio.com/PRCNOVA) and founder of Liberty and Grace Reformed Theological Seminary (with distance learning).Dr. Dilday is currently translating (from Latin to English) the "Synopsis" written by the Puritan Divine, Matthew Poole. This project when completed will consist of approximately 82 volumes. Many free MP3s messages by Dr. Dilday are also at: HISTORY OF HOLY DAYS (CHRISTMAS, EASTER, CHRISTIAN SABBATH, JEWS, etc.), IDOLATRY, ICONOCLASM, etc., The History of the Service of Song: Real Reformation, Faithful Worship And Praising The Lord Jesus Christ Through Songs by Dr. Steven Dilday and a collection of some of Dr. Dilday's most important messages at Sermonaudio.
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From Facets of Grace
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